Many people want to build an app for various reasons. In this article we’ll give you a run down of how to build an app for your Sports Club or Team in our system, including what are the best features to use in our system for your app! 

Before you can start building your app, you need to start with a home screen feature. The home screen feature is the first thing that users see when they open your app. Some of the most widely used home screen features are:

The Folder feature is the most used feature in our system. It helps you organize your app with the ability to house folders within other folders thus allowing you to quickly and easily decide on a layout for your app.

The Action Items Folder is similar to the regular folder in how it’s used to house the features of your app, but if you’re looking for something with a different look than any of the layout options of the regular Folder feature, then this may be the feature for you.

The Catalog & Promote Folder allows you to promote key entries in it by adding a badge next to an item and you have the option to send out a push notification when promoting an item. 

The Grid Layout Launcher feature allows you to display the other features in your app in a grid. While you have less layout options than the Folder feature, using a grid layout is a tried and true method for providing navigational options for your users.

Once you’ve decided on which feature you’re going to use as your app’s home screen you’ll need to create an instance of that feature and assign it as your app’s Home Screen. Here’s how to do this:

Step 1: Go to the Feature Marketplace

Step 2: Locate the Feature that you want to use

You can either scroll through all of the features available in the Marketplace, or search for the feature you want to use.

Step 3: Click “Add”

Step 4: Give it a Title and click “Add” again

Once you have decided on the feature that you’d like to use as your home screen and have created an instance of it, here’s how to assign it as your home screen feature:

Step 1: Click on the Hamburger Menu at the right of the Feature Content Editor

Step 2: Select “Set As Home Plugin”

Now that you’ve assigned a feature as your Home Screen feature, you’ll need to build out your app using additional features found in our system so that your users can have a more complete app experience. Here’s some features in our system that we recommend you use:

As we mentioned earlier, Folders are a great way to help keep your app organized. With the ability to house folders within folders, we recommend that you use either the Folder, Action Item Folder, or Catalog & Promote Folder features to organize your app.
​
You can use the Folder features to layout different areas of your app such as Team Information, Training Camps/Classes, and Social Media links.

The main focus of a Sports Club or Team app is to provide your users with information about your team or club and any training classes or events that you’re holding. There’s a number of features that you can use, some of the ones that we recommend are:

The Flashcards feature allows you to create flashcards in your app which you can use as digital trading cards for your team, or you can use them to show people the correct technique and mechanics for playing a sport.

The Seminar & Lecture Notes feature was originally created for educational apps, but we’ve seen a number of Sports Club apps use this feature to provide their users with information on different sports techniques, such as types of pitches in baseball, that those users can bookmark and add their own personal notes to.

All throughout the year you can use the Image Gallery to show off behind the scenes photos of your team, or photos of your team’s latest win.

The Media Center Manual feature allows you to include multiple types of media in one feature. These can be anything from promo videos, podcasts, or instructional videos.

If you have an online blog with an RSS feed, you can use the Media Center RSS Feed feature to bring in the blog posts into your app. This is a great way to provide your team’s fans with the latest sports news.

Along with the Media Center Manual feature, you can use the YouTube and Vimeo features to bring your online videos into your app if you have accounts for those pages.

During your season you can use the Events Feed or Events Manual feature to let your fans know of upcoming games and special events. These are also great features for telling users when your training camps and classes are. With these features users can learn more about these events and add them to their own personal calendars on their phones.

You can also use the Places 2.0 feature to provide your fans with directions to the stadiums and areas where you’ll be playing as well as the locations that you’ll be offering training camps and classes.

Also, as some teams are apt to do, you may want to have a contest or giveaway to help grow your fanbase. With our TypeForm, JotForm, and Google Forms features you can quickly create a submission form for your fans to fill out in order to enter your contest.

With our People feature you can bring in a digital roster of your team with player bios, stats, and links to their social media pages. If you’re running a training camp you can use this feature to help users meet your trainers or staff and give them a way to get in contact with your team.

A great alternative to the People feature is the Contact Us feature which you can use as a way to provide your users with your organization’s contact information, as well as give them some information about your team like a history of your organization.

With the Premium Social Wall you can give your fans a way to converse with your team’s players and staff, as well as encourage discussions amongst themselves which can be a great way for them to feel a greater connection with your team 

If you would like to sell products in your app, we encourage you to use Shopify for your store, and our Shopify 2.0 feature to bring it into your app.

Along with these great features you can also showcase your social media pages with our social media features. You can use the Facebook feature to point your customers to your Facebook page. You can also use our Twitter feature to point your customers to your Twitter feed and our WebView feature to point your customers to your Instagram. You can also use the Folder feature as a “Social Media” folder to house all of these features within so that when your customers tap on that folder they’ll be brought to all of your social media features.

With the Share App feature you can give your users a way to share your app with their friends and family which is a great way to organically grow your user base!

For your most important features, we encourage you to add them to your app’s Side Menu as well for ease of access for your users. Here’s how you can make those features accessible in the Side Menu:

Step 1: Go To The Side Menu Page Found Under The Design Tab

On the left-hand side of the App Dashboard you’ll see a menu with a couple of options, the “App Components” tab being one of them. Click on that to expand it then click on “Side Menu” to access the Side Menu’s controls:

Step 2: Click On “Add Existing Feature” In the “Menu” Section Of The Side Menu Page

Clicking on “Add Existing Feature” will bring up a list of all of the features that you’ve built for your app. Select the feature that you want to add to the side menu by selecting the feature and clicking “Apply”.

This will add these features to your app’s Side Menu so that users can quickly and easily access them as they’re shopping in your app.

Along with selling products in your app, you can also make money from your app by offering in-app purchases and subscriptions. This is perfect for those who are looking to build apps for Training Camps or Sports Classes.

When you want to offer premium content (paid) in your app, such as advanced classes or techniques,  in-app purchases and subscriptions allows you to lock that content behind a paywall.  If you would like to learn more about how to set these up, we encourage you to check out our article on how to turn your app into a revenue stream.

Note: In order to take advantage of in-app purchases or subscriptions, you will need to be on our Professional or Enterprise level plans.

Congratulations! You know have all of the steps needed to build an app for your Sports Club! Still have questions? No problem! Reach out to us and we’d be happy to help!