Tabroom Integration

One of the best things about DebateFlow is how it works with Tabroom. Once connected, your assignments appear automatically, details are pre-filled, and submitting ballots is just copy-paste.

Connecting your Tabroom account

To use Tabroom integration, you need to connect your Tabroom.com account to DebateFlow.

To connect your account:

1. Click your profile picture in the top right corner
2. Select Settings from the menu

3. In the Settings page, find the Tabroom Integration section
4. Enter your Tabroom.com username and password
5. Click Connect

Once connected, you'll see a green checkmark confirming the connection is active.

Once connected, DebateFlow will automatically check for your upcoming assignments.

Your assignments appear automatically

After connecting, check your dashboard. You'll see Upcoming Judging Assignments pulled directly from Tabroom.

As soon as Tabroom publishes assignments for a tournament, they'll show up here. You don't need to manually enter anything.

On the day of judging

When ballots become available on the day of the tournament, your assignments will update to show that you're ready to judge. Just click Start Round when you're ready.

Everything pre-filled

When you start a round from a Tabroom assignment, all the details are already filled in:

• Tournament name
• Both team names (schools)
• All four speaker names
• Round number

Just double-check that everything matches what you see on your Tabroom schematic, confirm recording consent, and click Start Round.

First time: Pick sides

The first time you start a round, you'll be asked to tell us which side each team is on (Aff or Neg). This is because Tabroom doesn't always make it clear which school matches which side.

Compare to your Tabroom schematic and select the correct sides. DebateFlow will remember this for future rounds.

Submitting your ballot

After you've completed your feedback, you'll see the Preview for Tabroom screen.

This shows everything you need to submit to Tabroom:

• Winner (clearly highlighted)
• Speaker points for all four debaters
• Your complete RFD (Reason for Decision)
• Feedback for each school

Copy with one click

Next to each piece of information, you'll see a Copy button.

Click to copy that text to your clipboard, then paste it into the corresponding field in Tabroom. It's that simple.

Typical workflow:

1. Open Tabroom in another tab
2. Navigate to your ballot
3. In DebateFlow, click Copy next to Winner → Paste into Tabroom
4. Click Copy next to each speaker's points → Paste into Tabroom
5. Click Copy next to RFD → Paste into Tabroom
6. Click Copy next to each team's feedback → Paste into Tabroom
7. Submit your Tabroom ballot

Done in under a minute.

Export from dashboard

If you need to access your ballot later, you can always export it from the dashboard.

Find the round in your "Your Rounds" section and click the export icon. You'll see the same "Preview for Tabroom" screen with all your copy buttons.

What if something goes wrong?

Assignments not showing up

If your assignments aren't appearing:

• Make sure you've connected your Tabroom account in Settings
• Check that Tabroom has actually published the schematic for your tournament
• Try disconnecting and reconnecting your account
• Check that your Tabroom credentials are correct

Details don't match

If the pre-filled details don't match what's on your schematic:

• The tournament director may have updated information in Tabroom after we synced
• You can manually edit any field before starting the round
• Let us know if this happens frequently—it might be a bug

Can't copy/paste

If the copy buttons aren't working:

• Make sure your browser allows clipboard access (you may see a permissions prompt)
• Try clicking the button again
• As a backup, you can always select the text manually and copy it the old-fashioned way

Why Tabroom integration matters

Without DebateFlow's Tabroom integration, you'd have to:

• Manually look up your assignments
• Type in all team names and speaker names by hand (with risk of typos)
• Remember round numbers and tournament details
• Type your entire RFD and feedback into Tabroom's text boxes

With integration, all of that happens automatically. You spend less time on data entry and more time on actually judging.

What we don't do (yet)

DebateFlow doesn't automatically submit ballots to Tabroom. You still need to paste your decision into Tabroom manually.

Why? Because ballot submission is a serious responsibility. We want you to review everything one more time in Tabroom before you hit that final submit button.

We're exploring ways to make this even more seamless in the future, but for now, copy-paste is the safest approach.

Tips for smooth Tabroom use

Connect early. Link your Tabroom account before the tournament starts, not when you're rushing to submit a ballot.

Double-check sides. The first time you judge teams, verify which side they're on. This prevents mistakes later.

Keep Tabroom open. While judging, have Tabroom open in another tab so you can quickly paste and submit when done.

Don't wait too long. Copy your ballot to Tabroom soon after the round. Tournaments have ballot deadlines, and you don't want to hold things up.

What's next?

You now know everything you need to use DebateFlow effectively! Here are some helpful resources:

• FAQ - Common questions and troubleshooting
• Settings - Customize your DebateFlow experience