RE: What happened to FreeTrak (for 2011)?

As I posted last April (in 2010), I decided (then) to discontinue further FreeTrak development due to bracket changes from the NCAA.  And while yes, on one hand, 68 teams sounds better than 96, it still would require me to spend quite a bit of time & coding effort to get it to work correctly.  Had the NCAA simply said "weakest 8 teams will play four play-in games to fill the 16-seed slots", then it would have been a piece of cake (well, maybe a few hours of work).  But with this whole "four teams playing for two 16-seed slots, two teams playing for a 12-seed slot, and two teams playing for an 11-seed slot", that turns the whole thing upside down (unless, of course, you just want to NOT pick any of the play-in games, and have people pick winners blindly -- not knowing who the actual winners are for those four spots).

Again, I sincerely appreciate those who have inquired about FreeTrak for this year, but family and job demands simply haven't allowed me the time to even think about rewriting the application (or even part of it).  And again, let me thank those who have donated over the years (faithfully).  Your kindess was/is greatly appreciated!

One Shining Moment...

All good things must come to an end.  And sadly, that is now the case for FreeTrak.  According to the latest things I'm hearing on the news, it almost seems certain that the NCAA tournament will indeed expand to (probably) 96 teams next year.  This "expansion" would require a complete rewrite of FreeTrak.  And while I've often said I'd like to rewrite it someday (using .NET), I am about 95% certain that it won't happen.  I'm still a huge hoops fan, but I honestly believe that most people are using online bracket managers these days (and I can't say that I blame them -- there are LOTS of good ones out there).  FreeTrak was written (almost 10 years ago) to fill a void -- there were no FREE Windows-based desktop applications for managing tournament bracket pools.  While I always maintained the FREE philosophy, the generous donations over the years always provided incentive to add new features and set up the import files each year (and make them available via the web).  But for the first year since its creation, there were ZERO donations this year.  And I'm NOT saying this to complain, but rather to point out that I simply don't think more than a handful of (loyal) people are still using FreeTrak.  And that's okay.  FreeTrak has been the most-downloaded tourney manager on Download.com (CNET) for the past 5+ years -- it's been a great run.  And I sincerely hope you all understand my difficult decision to stop future FreeTrak development.  For those of you who have donated in the past (and some have donated EVERY year -- wow!), please accept my heartfelt gratitude for your financial support. And thanks to EVERYONE for your support, encouragement, and kind words over the years -- and may God richly bless each of you.  --Kevin T.

2010 Womens Bracket Available

Once again, a helpful FreeTrak user (Paul G.) has provided us with a 2010 Women's Tourney bracket.  Until I get a chance to get a download link posted, please email me (freetrak@gmail.com) if you would like this XML file.  Thanks, Paul!

How to manage (export/import) picks

Currently, a FreeTrak administrator has two options for managing picks.  And you can easily use BOTH methods as needed.  (1) The long-handed way.  Participants give the administrator the old paper bracket (filled out), and the administrator simply enters them all by hand into the master copy of FreeTrak.  (2)  Participants download & install their own copy of FreeTrak, set up the tournament (downloading current config, importing teams for 2010), setting themselves up as the only player, and then make their picks. Picks (once made) can be exported into a file (e.g. JohnDoe.FTX), which can then be emailed to the FreeTrak administrator -- and the administrator can then import picks from that file by opening up a blank bracket for that participant and clicking the Import button (and selecting that person's .FTX file).  Once the participants have made their picks and exported them to the file, they can always uninstall FreeTrak at that point.

2010 Config and Team Import Files are AVAILABLE!

Sorry for the delay, but everything should be ready to go now.  Make sure and do Setup / Download Current Config to get the 2010 file.  THEN you should be able to do Setup / Teams/Regions and get this years bracket.  If you run into any issues, please send me an email at freetrak@gmail.com.  Let the fun begin!

Bracket & Team File Availability

As is usually the case, it will likely be around 8:00PM (CST) before I am able to get the 2010 team files (and bracket) posted.  Thanks for your patience.

Running FreeTrak on Vista and Windows 7

The only way that FreeTrak will work correctly on Vista and Windows 7 is if you change the shortcut to "Run as Administrator".  Unfortunately, the database engine that FreeTrak uses doesn't understand Vista (and later) file permissions properly, and thus you get "unable to access" error(s).  If I ever get around to rewriting this thing (using .NET), this won't be an issue.  Tomorrow is the big day (Selection Sunday)!