How to Use the Live Draft Software

Before your scheduled draft date, be sure to test your system's compatibility by clicking the test link from the draft page. It ensures your computer will be able to use the live draft software. When you click the test link, you may be prompted to download and install the Java plugin. This is safe and easy to do. Java is used to run applets, a common extension to web pages. Most computers already have Java installed. If you are unable to install the plugin, it might be because your are prohibited from installing applications on your computer (this is common in a work or school environment). You should find a different computer to use on draft day. If your system fails the test, it means you are behind a firewall that won't allow access to the Fleaflicker draft room. This is very rare, but happens in some school or work environments. You should find a different computer to use on draft day.

The live draft looks and works much like a chat room. You can communicate with the rest of your league and see which team owners are online. You can also view the rosters of all the teams in your league (as they are drafted), a round-by-round summary, and a visual representation of the draft order during each round. If you trade away your pick for a particular round, or finish drafting early (due to a surplus of earlier picks), you will be listed as Not Drafting This Round.

The center of the live draft room is the chat window where you can talk to other league members. Fleaflicker will occasionally display important events under the name Draft Host. You will also receive import draft advice from the Draft Advisor. If you find these alerts to be unnecessary, disable them by right-clicking anywhere in the chat window.

When you are on the clock, it means that it is your turn to select a player. You can browse and search a list of available players. This is displayed in a table at the top left. You can sort this table by various categories. To make drafting easier, each owner has a player queue. You can use your queue to track players in which you are interested. The queue is also used to guide your auto-pick selections when you are away (i.e., the top player in your queue will be selected automatically when you are away). To add a player, drag that player from the table to the queue, or right-click the player and select Add To Queue. To remove a player from the queue, highlight that player and press Delete or right-click the player and select Remove From Queue.

On the right, there is a list of all team owners in the league. Owners that are not present will appear grayed out and italicized. A green arrow indicates the direction of the draft order and the currently drafting team.