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Getting Started — Overview

2026-05-11

Getting Started — Overview

FanPoolHQ is a commissioner-run fantasy hockey platform organized around leagues. To get going, you create an account, join a league, and let your commissioner assign you a team — then you can manage your roster, watch the draft, and follow the standings.

What FanPoolHQ is

FanPoolHQ is a full-featured fantasy hockey league management app built for groups that want to run a real season together — not a one-click public-league setup. Every league has a commissioner who controls the rules (salary cap, scoring, position limits, deadlines), a roster of teams, and a season of NHL stats that drive scoring. The platform handles drafts, trades, the waiver wire, category pools, league records, and the dozens of small commissioner chores that used to live in a spreadsheet.

You can belong to multiple leagues at the same time. FanPoolHQ keeps each league's roster, settings, and history isolated, and a small league-picker in the header lets you switch contexts.

What a "league" means here

In FanPoolHQ, a league is the root object for everything you'll see in the app. Each league has its own:

  • Teams — the GMs in your group, each with a roster, salary cap budget, and history
  • Settings — scoring rules, position limits, monthly roster-change limits, trade approval rules
  • Draft — snake, linear, lottery, or auction format, run live in the draft room
  • Pools and tools — category pools, playoff pools, head-to-head matchups, awards, and records

When you're signed in, the active league determines what data the sidebar, standings, and roster pages show. If you only belong to one league, FanPoolHQ picks it automatically.

What to do first

The shortest path from a new account to playing the game looks like this:

  1. Create your account. Sign up with email and password or with Google. FanPoolHQ uses NextAuth to handle both methods, and your email is verified before you can join a league.
  2. Join a league. Public leagues show up on the Discover page, and private leagues use an invitation code or a direct invite from a commissioner. See Joining a League for the full workflow.
  3. Wait for a team assignment. Once your commissioner accepts you, they link your user account to one of the league's teams. You'll see the team appear under Roster Management in the sidebar.
  4. Set your favorite NHL team (optional). This unlocks the Franchise page in the LEAGUE section and personalizes a few widgets.
  5. Explore. The Standings, Stats, and Leaders pages show how the season is going; Roster Management is where you live during the season.

Where to go next

  • Creating Your Account — sign-up methods, email verification, and profile basics.
  • Joining a League — public leagues, invitation codes, and the join-request workflow.
  • Navigating the App — the sidebar sections, the mobile drawer, and where to find league switching.

If you're a commissioner setting up a new league from scratch instead of joining an existing one, head to the Commissioner category — the League Setup Wizard walkthrough takes you from an empty league to a playable season.