Feature Friday #11: line builder, dynamic practice teams, cleaner plan editor

This week (October 2-9) we shipped: a line and pod builder, dynamic practice teams, a cleaner plan editor, a What's new modal, a keyboard shortcuts modal, and 53 smaller fixes.

Most of this release is about practice day. Every practice runs on the same few questions - who's coming, who's playing together, and what we're doing - and until now the answers lived in different places: the RSVP list, a captain's notes, a printed plan. This week they come together in one plan that keeps itself up to date.

Line and pod builder

A line's page: Line A with handler and cutter slots, one player in a handler slot and the rest marked Add handler or Add cutter, the Add players column beside it showing 1 of 7 filled, and the line's format below — Drag players from the roster into a line's slots.

Your lines and pods now live in Ulti-Mate, next to your roster.

Open Lines under Roster and drag players into handler and cutter slots to build a line, or a smaller pod that subs in together. On a mixed team, the builder keeps the ratio in check as you go, and a short checklist points out anything missing. Players see the lines they're on and get an in-app notification when that changes, and you can @-mention a whole line in any comment.

Lines are in beta and part of the Team plan. We'd love to hear how your team uses them.

Dynamic practice teams

The People panel in the plan editor on its Teams tab: the plan's sections to choose from, and three ways to split - 2 balanced random teams, Handlers vs cutters, and Other options — Pick how to split, for the whole practice or one section.

The same panel after splitting: 2 balanced random teams that update with RSVPs, Team A and Team B ready for whoever says yes, and a Re-deal button — Pick how to split, for the whole practice or one section.

Practice plans now make their own teams from your RSVPs, and keep them current as people respond.

Pick how to split - Random teams, Around pods or Handlers vs cutters - and Ulti-Mate deals the teams for the whole practice or a single drill. When someone new says yes, they're added without reshuffling everyone else. Players can open the plan ahead of time and see their team and what they'll be doing, so less of practice goes to sorting people at the field.

Coaches get a new People panel beside the plan, with the latest RSVPs and a card for each team you can drag players between. When the teams look right, turn off Update as RSVPs change to lock them.

Dynamic teams are in beta. Open a plan linked to a practice to try them, and tell us how the split works for your team.

Cleaner plan editor

The plan editor: a practice plan with its event, field and weather in the header, then Warm-Up, Split Work with cutters and handlers side by side, and Scrimmage, each group's activities as rows in one box — The whole practice, easier to scan.

We redesigned the plan editor to be quieter and easier to scan.

Activities are now compact rows, controls stay out of the way until you need them, and linking a plan to an event takes one field. Lines, pods and teams sit right in the editor - drag one onto a group to see who's going - and the print view now includes them too, with a Just me sheet for each player.

We're also introducing the Guide, in beta: a panel that checks your plan as you build - a warm-up, the time available, the heat - and takes you straight to each fix.

The Guide panel beside a plan: seven of eight checks done - named, date and time, location, focus, opens with a warm-up, no drill over 20 minutes - and one open, 120 min unplanned, with a link to open the library — The Guide checks the plan as you build.

The What's new modal: the latest Feature Friday with its new features as rows, each with a thumbnail, a one-line summary and a Try it button, and a dot on the ones you haven't opened — What shipped lately, without leaving the app.

Ulti-Mate now tells you what's new, inside the app.

Open What's new from your account menu to see the latest Feature Fridays, with screenshots and a Try it button for each feature. A small dot lets you know when there's something you haven't seen. From the same menu, Share feedback sends a note straight to us.

The Keyboard shortcuts modal over the schedule: Jump to today (T) and New event (N) under Schedule, the keys that work everywhere under General, and the Single-key shortcuts switch at the bottom — Press ? to see the keys for the screen you're on.

Every keyboard shortcut is now in one place.

Press ? on any screen to see the keys it supports, and hover over a button to see its shortcut. On the schedule, for example, T jumps to today and N starts a new event. If you use voice control or a screen reader, you can turn single-key shortcuts off in Preferences.

Smaller fixes

Starting a free trial now happens right in the app, from the feature you wanted to use.
Your preferences follow your account across devices.
Shared team links explain what to do when you can't open them.
Admin access is now separate from a player's roster role.
Plus the rest - 53 fixes in all this week, and the running list is in #changelog in the Discord.

What we're working on next

Text messages for RSVPs and reminders, so players can answer by replying to a text, and attendance stats on each player's page. We're also looking for more teams to try Ulti-Mate - if yours is interested, we'd love to hear from you.

Tell us what your team needs - the Discord or feedback@ulti-mate.app.

— Victor