Q. Where is Draft Buddy?

A. Draft Buddy is a separate file included in the same download file as the Cheatsheet Compiler. Buddy can be “found” a few different ways, including:

• If you used the Windows .exe download file, by default it installs the Compiler and Buddy in the directory /Program Files/Cheatsheet Compiler/ From Excel, choose File > Open, browse to that directory, select the Buddy file and Open.
  
  
• From the Compiler, find the custom top menu “Cheatsheet Compiler”. Under this menu select Setup Draft Buddy, and it will open Draft Buddy, copy over your Compiler created cheatsheets and prepare Buddy for your league draft.
  
  
• If you used the Mac .zip download file, open that file (folder) and you should see the individual Compiler and Buddy files. These files should be copied to a new location outside the .zip file prior to using them.

Q. Where is Projection Pal?

A. Projection Pal is a separate download from the same member access download page that the Compiler and Draft Buddy are downloaded from. The link to Pal is in a small box on the right of this page.

Q. Is the Cheatsheet Compiler and Draft Buddy compatible with OpenOffice?

A. Unfortunately, no. Neither the Compiler or Buddy work in OpenOffice due to the backend programming that is only supported by a full version of Microsoft Excel. However, you can download a trial version of Office direct from Microsoft. Excel is included in Microsoft Office. The trial version is fully functional and good for 60 days of use.

Q. Why am I getting an error message when the Compiler tries to open the first time after installing on my computer?

A. Make sure you downloaded the correct version for your version of Microsoft Excel. There are various files available from the member access download page. The Excel 2007 version with .xlsm on the end of the unzipped filename will not work in versions of Excel prior to 2007. The older Excel versions with .xls on the end of the file will work in all versions of Excel, including 2007.

Q. What version of Excel do I have?

A. Refer to the following images to determine which version of Excel you have.

Q. Can the Cheatsheet Compiler and Draft Buddy be on two computers (home and work)?

A. Yes. You can save the files and move them around pretty easily. The best way to move the files between computers is to use a flash/USB drive. You can also copy the files onto a CD, but do not run the Compiler and Draft Buddy off the CD because then you cannot save your changes.

Q. Why am I having trouble using the Copy League Profiles feature to copy over all my league data from the prior year?

A. 95% of the time this issue is due to a mistyped 2006 Cheatsheet Compiler filename. The filename specified that you want to copy league profiles from must be typed exactly, and include the “.xls” on the end. Windows does not necessarily make it easy, because in some setups it hides the .xls file extension. Also, try keeping both the 2006 and 2007 files open at the same when trying to copy league profiles.

Q. How do the Overall Rankings / Custom Baselines options work?

A. The overall rankings and custom baseline options are used to adjust the comparison player of each position from which the player values are calculated for the overall rankings. Essentially, they are two different ways to put more or less emphasis on certain positions, which will increase or decrease the positions’ value in the overall rankings.

Here is an example of how the comparison player is determined: In a 12 team league with 1 QB starter and 2 RB starters and using the last starter overall ranking method gives us a comparison QB of the 12th QB, and a comparison RB of the 24th RB.

The "recommended" methods are not as simple as last starter or last drafted, but rather apply some pre-set custom baseline adjustments to various positions to try to account for position scarcity and risk by weighting some positions more valuable (i.e. RB) and some positions less valuable (i.e. K) relative to each other.

For more on this, go to the Advanced Features page and scroll down to the section Overall Ranking Methods for more insight.

Q. What Overall Rankings Method do you recommend?

A. Compiler Draft Pick Recommended for most traditional fantasy football leagues, which use a draft pick style draft and teams start 1 QB.

Compiler Auction Recommended for similar leagues but that use an auction style draft. Note auctions, and assessing appropriate player values for auctions, are more variable from league to league based on subjective factors such as how aggressive or conservative the owners are bidding on players. If your league has some prior year auction history, review this to assess the appropriateness of the Compiler values.

For leagues that start 2 QB, then the Median Players Drafted tends to be a good method.

Where is the IDP (defensive player) cheatsheet?

A. If any of the IDP positions (DL, LB, DB) are input as starters on the setup tab, then after hitting Compile Cheatsheets the IDP cheatsheet will appear between the offense and overall cheatsheet on the cheatsheets tab.

Q. My league is a keeper league. Where do I input the keepers?

A. The keepers are input in Draft Buddy. First create cheatsheets in the Compiler which include all players. This is necessary to make sure the Compiler appropriately values the players for your league. Then run the Draft Buddy Setup which will copy over the cheatsheets to it. As long as you specified back on the setup tab in the Compiler it is a keeper league, then a keepers tab should appear in Buddy where you will input those players. Then they will drop off the cheatsheets and teams rosters are updated.

The only exception to this is if it costs a draft pick to keep players from the prior year. In that case input keepers on the draft input tab beside the pick it costs to keep the player.

Q. What do the “U” and “D” mean beside the player names on the cheatsheets?

A. These identify the players whose projections were increased (moved up - U) or decreased (moved down - D) in the last projection update since the prior projections.

Q. Can I change the ranges in the Distance Scoring boxes on the scoring tab?

A. No. Only cells highlighted in yellow on the scoring tab are intended to be changed.

Q. My league uses a Team QB position. How can I incorporate that into the Compiler?

A. Download this file which includes formulas to create team QB projections. The formulas add all of the individual player projections by team, and puts the sum beside the QB who is #1 on the depth chart. Open the file, copy the formulas and paste them to the same spot in your copy of the Cheatsheet Compiler.

Then, you need to change the allocation key on the QB tab in your Compiler to point the projected fantasy points calculations to the new team QB projections. Scroll to the left on the sample file and you'll see a note identifying where to do this.

Q. My league uses an Offensive Team position. How can I incorporate that into the Compiler?

A. The following steps will work for adding an Offensive Team position, an Offensive Line position, or separate Special Teams position (split off from Team Defense), but only if your league does not use one of DL, LB or DB positions:

1. 1. Go to the DEF tab and copy all the team names.
   
   
2. 2. Go to the DL tab and paste the team names over the top 32 DL players.
   
   
3. 3. On the DL tab, delete all of the projections. Then under one of the columns (say Tackle), rank the offensive teams from 1 to 32, 32 being best and 1 being worst.
   
   
4. 4. Go to the scoring tab and change the tackle scoring for DL to equal 1 point per 1 tackle.
   
   
5. 5. Go to the setup tab and insert 1 starter for DL.
   
   
6. 6. Hit Compile Cheatsheets.

Now your offensive teams should be split out separately from the DEF and ranked on the IDP cheatsheet. This should carry over to Draft Buddy. Note prior to updating projections, click the "Skip IDP Update" option on the update tab, otherwise it will overwrite the changes made to the DL tab.

Q. How do I input a custom draft order (not serpentine or straight) in Draft Buddy?

A. Click on the team (or owner) names on the draft input tab beside each pick under the Original Draft Pick Owner column. You will notice a drop-down box appear, from which you can select a different team that owns the draft pick. Continue this same method for the entire draft. If some rounds are the same, then copy and paste (suggest Edit > Paste Special > As Values) one round to another to help speed up the process.

Note if you input a custom draft order, DO NOT use the straight or serpentine drop-down as it will remove your custom draft order.

Q. How do I save multiple leagues in Draft Buddy?

A. To work with multiple leagues in Draft Buddy, each league will have its own Buddy file, each with a different filename. For example, for league A I would set up the Compiler, make sure the rankings are to my liking, and then in Buddy hit Setup, it copies over league A info and I save Buddy as (option File > Save As..) LeagueA_Buddy.xls. Then league B I go back to the Compiler, re-run rankings, go to Buddy, hit Setup and save as LeagueB_Buddy.xls. Then which ever Buddy I want to work in, open the appropriate file.

There is a button on the setup tab in Buddy which automatically prompts to save the league as a unique filename. This is also triggered when running the Draft Buddy Setup from the Compiler.

Questions?
Check out the Compiler Message Board or send an email to Mike MacGregor and he will respond ASAP.