ThemeBoy

Complete documentation for the SportsPress Pro WordPress plugin — events, teams, players, staff, calendars, league tables, settings and more.

SportsPress

SportsPress Pro is a premium WordPress plugin for club and league management, developed and sold by ThemeBoy. It extends the free SportsPress plugin (10,000+ active installs, 4.7/5 stars on WordPress.org)…

What Is SportsPress Pro?

SportsPress Pro extends the free SportsPress plugin with additional modules. The tables below show what each tier includes so you can decide which fits your league or club.

Free vs Pro Feature Comparison

SportsPress and SportsPress Pro have specific WordPress, PHP, and server requirements. Check the sections below before installing to confirm your hosting environment is compatible.

Minimum Requirements

SportsPress organizes sports data in a layered structure. Understanding this hierarchy makes it easier to set up the plugin correctly and avoid common configuration mistakes.

Data Hierarchy

Overview

SportsPress Pro is delivered as a ZIP file. After purchasing, a download link is sent to your email and the latest version can be retrieved at any time from your…

Installation

A license key is required to receive automatic over-the-air updates and to access private support. Without an active key, the plugin still works in full but updates must be applied…

Activating Your License

The setup wizard runs automatically after the first activation and guides you through the minimum configuration needed to get a working sports site. It is completely optional — you can…

Setup Wizard

A sport preset is a bundle of pre-configured data for a specific sport. Applying a preset populates your site with the correct positions, outcomes (win/draw/loss), results (goals, points, etc.), performance…

Choosing a Sport Preset

Competitions and Seasons are shared taxonomies that must exist before creating events, teams, or players. All SportsPress content — events, league tables, player lists — requires at least one competition…

Competitions and Seasons

SportsPress includes sample data that you can load to see how the plugin looks with real content in place. This is useful for exploring features, testing themes, and development environments.

Loading Demo Content

Follow these steps in order when setting up SportsPress Pro for the first time. Each step links to the relevant detailed article.

Initial Setup Checklist

After activating SportsPress Pro, the WordPress admin menu gains a **SportsPress** top-level section. This article walks through each item in that menu and what it is for.

Dashboard Overview

Getting Started

The Configure screen is where you define the data model for your sport. It controls what values SportsPress tracks, what they mean, and how they are calculated. Every league table…

The Configure Screen

Event Outcomes define the possible results of an event from a single team's perspective — for example, Win, Loss, and Draw. Each outcome is a WordPress post of type `sp_outcome`.…

Event Outcomes

Event Results are the scored values that teams accumulate in a single event — for example, Goals in soccer or Points in basketball. Each result is a WordPress post of…

Event Results

Player Performance items are the per-event statistics tracked for individual players. Examples include Goals Scored, Assists, Yellow Cards, Minutes Played, and Saves. Each performance item is a WordPress post of…

Player Performance

League Table Columns are the calculated columns that appear in league table standings — for example, Played, Won, Drawn, Lost, Goals For, Goals Against, Goal Difference, and Points. Each column…

League Table Columns

Player Metrics are static data fields attached to individual players — for example, Height, Weight, or Date of Birth. Each metric is a WordPress post of type `sp_metric`.

Player Metrics

Player Statistics are calculated values that aggregate a player's performance data across multiple events — for example, Total Goals, Goals per Game, or Minutes per Goal. Each statistic is a…

Player Statistics

Conditional equations let you include comparison logic in league table column and player statistic formulas. Instead of a pure arithmetic expression, you can write a formula where a sub-expression evaluates…

Conditional Equations

Configure

The Events list screen is where you create, edit, sort, and bulk-edit every event published on your site. This article walks through the columns, filters, and inline actions available there.

Managing Events

To create a new event, go to **Events → Add New** in the WordPress admin. The Add New Event screen contains several meta boxes, each covering a different aspect of…

Creating an Event

Results are entered from within the event editor. The **Results** meta box displays a table with one row per team and one column per configured result variable (e.g., Goals, 1st…

Entering Results

The **Player Performance** meta box (also referred to as the box score) is where you record per-player statistics for an event. It appears below the Results meta box on the…

Box Score and Player Performance

The Events list screen includes three event-specific bulk actions in addition to the standard WordPress bulk actions. These actions let you update the status of multiple events at once without…

Bulk Actions

SportsPress includes a built-in CSV importer for events. Go to **Tools → Import**, select **Events (CSV)**, and upload your file.

Importing Events via CSV

Events

A calendar is a saved query that collects events matching specific criteria and displays them in one of several layouts. Once saved, a calendar can be displayed as a standalone…

Creating a Calendar

The **Calendar** format displays events in a monthly grid, one month at a time, with navigation links to move between months.

Calendar Layout

The **List** format displays events as a sortable, paginated HTML table. Each row represents one event.

List Layout

The **Blocks** format displays events as card-style blocks, one block per event, typically showing team logos, the date, and the result or kick-off time. This layout is well suited for…

Blocks Layout

Every calendar post in SportsPress exposes an iCal feed that external calendar applications can subscribe to. The feed updates automatically whenever events are added or changed.

iCal and Feed Integration

Calendars

Venues are a hierarchical taxonomy in SportsPress. They are taxonomy terms (not posts), so they are managed on the taxonomy term screens rather than the post editor. Each venue can…

Creating and Managing Venues

Venues

The Teams list screen is where you create, edit, sort, and assign teams to competitions. This article walks through the columns, filters, and assignment actions available there.

Managing Teams

Adding a team is the second step in setting up SportsPress, after creating a competition and a season. This article walks through the team creation form and the meta boxes…

Creating a Team

SportsPress includes a built-in team importer that creates team posts in bulk from a CSV file.

Importing Teams via CSV

Teams

League tables display team standings for a competition and season. Each table is a separate post that you configure, then embed on any page using a shortcode.

Creating a League Table

League table columns are controlled at two levels: the global Configure screen defines which columns exist and how they are calculated; the individual league table edit screen controls which of…

Configuring League Table Columns

The Adjustments table lets you add or subtract a fixed amount from a team's calculated column value without replacing the automatic calculation entirely.

Manual Adjustments

By default a league table counts events with two WordPress post statuses: published events (results entered) and scheduled future events (results not yet entered). You can restrict a table to…

Filtering by Event Status

League Tables

The Players list screen is the starting point for finding, filtering, and editing player records in bulk.

Managing Players

Navigate to **Players > Add New** to open the player editor. The screen is composed of the main content area and several meta boxes in the sidebar and main column.

Creating a Player

SportsPress distinguishes between two types of player data: **Metrics** and **Statistics**. They look similar on the frontend but are stored and calculated differently.

Metrics and Statistics

Career totals summarize a player's statistics across all seasons and leagues into a single row.

Career Totals

A dedicated "Player of the Match" feature does not exist in the SportsPress or SportsPress Pro codebase. There is no `sp_award`, `sp_player_of_the_match`, or equivalent meta field on events, no admin…

Player of the Match

SportsPress includes a built-in CSV importer for players. Access it at **Tools > Import**, then click **Run Importer** next to **SportsPress Players (CSV)**.

Importing Players via CSV

Players

Player lists are the primary way to display groups of players with statistics on pages and team profiles. Navigate to **Players > Player Lists > Add New** to create one.

Creating a Player List

The List format renders players in a data table. It is the default format for player lists.

The Gallery format displays players as a photo grid rather than a data table.

Gallery Layout

A ranking chart is not a separate format or post type in SportsPress. It is a player list configured to sort by a statistic column in descending order, so players…

Ranking Charts

Player Lists

Positions are a WordPress taxonomy (`sp_position`) used to classify players by their role in a sport — for example, Goalkeeper, Forward, Midfielder.

Managing Positions

Positions

The Staff list screen is the central place for viewing, filtering, and bulk-editing all staff members in your SportsPress site. Navigate there via **Staff** in the WordPress admin menu.

Managing Staff

Navigate to **Staff → Add New Staff** to open the new staff member screen.

Creating a Staff Member

SportsPress includes a CSV importer for bulk-creating staff members. Navigate to **Tools → Import**, then click **SportsPress Staff (CSV)** and follow the on-screen steps.

Importing Staff via CSV

Staff

Jobs are the titles assigned to staff members — for example, Head Coach, Assistant Coach, Physio, or Manager. In SportsPress, "Jobs" is the user-facing label for the `sp_role` taxonomy.

Managing Jobs

Jobs

**Path:** SportsPress → Settings → Modules

Modules

**Path:** SportsPress → Settings → General

General Settings

**Path:** SportsPress → Settings → Events

Event Settings

**Path:** SportsPress → Settings → Teams

Team Settings

**Path:** SportsPress → Settings → Players

Player Settings

**Path:** SportsPress → Settings → Staff

Staff Settings

**Path:** SportsPress → Settings → Text

Text Settings

**Path:** WordPress Dashboard → Settings → Permalinks (scroll to the SportsPress section)

Permalink Settings

**Path:** SportsPress → Settings → System Status

System Status

Settings

SportsPress adds five custom user roles to WordPress: League Manager, Team Manager, Event Manager, Staff, and Player. These roles control what SportsPress content a user can create, edit, publish, or…

User Roles Overview

The League Manager role (`sp_league_manager`) is the highest-privilege role added by SportsPress. It grants full access to every post type registered by SportsPress, plus broad WordPress admin access. It is…

League Manager Role

The Team Manager role (`sp_team_manager`) is designed for club officials who manage day-to-day team operations. Team Managers have full create, edit, publish, and delete access for players, staff, events, and…

Team Manager Role

The Event Manager role (`sp_event_manager`) is designed for users responsible for scheduling fixtures and entering match results. Event Managers have full publish, edit, and delete access for events, including the…

Event Manager Role

The Staff role (`sp_staff`) is designed for coaches, physiotherapists, and other support personnel who need a limited WordPress login. Staff members can view events, teams, players, and staff records, and…

Staff Role

The Player role (`sp_player`) is designed for registered players who need a limited WordPress login to maintain their own player profile. Players can view events, teams, and player records in…

Player Role

SportsPress adds a unique set of capabilities to its registered user roles. This article is a complete reference. For the capabilities assigned to each individual role, see the role-specific articles.

Full Capabilities List

User Roles

SportsPress shortcodes let you embed fixtures, tables, player stats, and other sports content in any WordPress post, page, or text widget.

Using Shortcodes

The `[countdown]` shortcode displays a live countdown timer to the next upcoming event. It shows days, hours, minutes, and seconds remaining, updating in real time in the browser (when live…

Countdown

The `[event_details]` shortcode displays a summary table of an event's metadata: date, time, league, season, match day, and full-time minutes. Which rows appear is controlled by the SportsPress settings under…

Event Details

The `[event_results]` shortcode displays the final score table for a completed event — one row per team with each result column (e.g. goals, points) and optional win/draw/loss outcome icons.

The `[event_performance]` shortcode displays the box score (player performance) table for an event — one table per team showing each player's recorded stats for that match.

Event Performance

The `[event_calendar]` shortcode displays a monthly grid calendar showing which days have events. Days with events are linked; clicking a day with a single event goes directly to that event,…

Event Calendar

The `[event_list]` shortcode displays events from a SportsPress Calendar as a sortable, paginated table with columns for date, event name (or home/away teams), time/results, venue, league, season, article, and match…

Event List

The `[event_blocks]` shortcode displays events as a vertical block layout — each event in its own card showing team logos, date, result or time, and optionally the event title, league,…

Event Blocks

The `[event_scoreboard]` shortcode displays a horizontally scrolling ticker-style scoreboard showing events with team names and scores or scheduled times. Each event card has a fixed width and users can scroll…

Event Scoreboard

The `[event_matrix]` shortcode displays a head-to-head results grid between teams. Rows and columns both represent teams; each cell shows the result of the fixture between those two teams. This is…

Event Matrix

The `[sportspress_timeline]` shortcode displays the match timeline for an event — a visual representation of key incidents (goals, cards, substitutions, etc.) plotted across the match duration.

Timeline

The `[tournament_bracket]` shortcode displays the bracket for a single-elimination or double-elimination tournament. The bracket renders all rounds with team names, logos, and match results.

Tournament Bracket

The `[tournament_winner]` shortcode displays the winner of a tournament — the team's featured image (logo) if available, otherwise the team name in bold text.

Tournament Winner

The `[league_table]` shortcode displays a team standings table with configurable stat columns, sorting, and pagination.

League Table

The `[player_details]` shortcode displays a player's profile details table — nationality, position, current and past teams, league, season, and any configured metrics (height, weight, age, etc.).

Player Details

The `[player_statistics]` shortcode displays a player's season-by-season performance statistics — one table per league, with per-season rows and optional career totals.

The `[player_list]` shortcode displays a roster table of players with their configured statistics columns. Players can be sorted, paginated, grouped by position, and filtered by team or season.

Player List

The `[player_gallery]` shortcode displays players from a Player List as a photo gallery — a grid of player photos with names as captions.

Player Gallery

The `[staff_list]` shortcode displays a roster table of staff members from a Staff Directory, with configured columns for role, contact information, and any custom metrics.

Staff List

The `[staff_gallery]` shortcode displays staff members from a Staff Directory as a photo gallery — a grid of staff photos with names as captions.

Staff Gallery

The `[sponsors]` shortcode displays a grid or randomized list of sponsor logos from the Sponsors post type, with optional filtering by sponsorship level and configurable image dimensions.

Shortcodes

This reference guide provides three-letter country codes for assigning nationalities to players and staff within the system. These codes are essential when using CSV importers to add players or staff.

Country Codes

SportsPress registers a number of named image sizes for use across the plugin. Use this reference when configuring artwork for teams, players, staff, and other media.