# How to Use Online Play and Leaderboards — User Guide | PuzzleBuilder > URL: https://puzzlebuilder.co/docs/how-to-use-online-play-and-leaderboards/ Learn how to publish your puzzle online, share the game link and QR code with guests, track scores on the live leaderboard, and manage your online play settings in PuzzleBuilder. --- ## How to Use Online Play and Leaderboards This guide explains everything you need to know about Online Play — how to publish your puzzle, share it with players, track scores on a live leaderboard, and customize the page your guests will see. ### 1. What Is Online Play? Every puzzle you create in PuzzleBuilder can be played in two ways: printed on paper, or published online. When you publish a puzzle, it gets its own public page that anyone can open in a browser — on a phone, tablet, or computer. Players don't need to create an account, download an app, or install anything. With scoring enabled, every player's result is recorded and ranked on a live leaderboard, turning your puzzle into a real-time competition — whether your guests are in the same room or on the other side of the world. Online Play is available on all paid packages. Free plan users can build and preview puzzles but cannot publish them. ### 2. Publishing Your Puzzle Open your puzzle in the builder and click the **Publish** button in the top toolbar. The publish dialog gives you everything you need: - Password Protection (optional): Enter a password if you want only invited guests to access the puzzle. Leave the field empty to make the puzzle open to anyone with the link. Set the password before clicking Publish. - Publish: Makes your puzzle live and generates its public link. - Unpublish: Takes the puzzle offline at any time. Once published, the dialog shows your puzzle's **Public Link** — a unique URL in the format _puzzlebuilder.co/puzzle/{id}/_. Click **Copy** to copy it to your clipboard. **Live updates:** If you edit a published puzzle and save your changes, the online version updates instantly. There's no need to unpublish and republish — players who open the link always see the latest version. **Unpublished puzzles:** When you unpublish a puzzle, its link stops working — anyone opening it will see a "page not found" error. You can publish the puzzle again at any time. You can check the online status of any puzzle from your dashboard: each puzzle card shows whether it's **Online**, **Online · Password Protected**, or has **Online Play: Disabled**. ### 3. Scoring and Leaderboard Settings Two toggles in the publish dialog control the competitive side of your puzzle: - Enable scoring & leaderboard: Turns on the scoring system. Each player's score, completion time, hints used, and failed attempts are tracked and recorded. - Show leaderboard to players: Appears when scoring is enabled. When on, the leaderboard is displayed on the puzzle page for everyone to see. When off, players can't see the leaderboard or each other's scores — but results are still recorded, and you can view them privately from the publish dialog. Keeping the leaderboard visible works best for live competitions where the rankings are part of the fun. Hiding it is useful when you want to collect all the results first and reveal the winner yourself — for example, announcing it as a surprise at the end of the event. ### 4. Sharing Your Puzzle Once your puzzle is published, share the link wherever your players are: - Messaging apps: Paste the link into WhatsApp, a group chat, or an email invitation. - Social media: Post it to your story or feed and let followers play. - QR code: Display the puzzle's QR code on a screen or print it on cards and signage — guests scan it with their phone camera and start playing immediately. This is the easiest way to get a whole room playing at once. If you set a password, share it alongside the link — players will be asked for it before they can start. ### 5. Customizing the Online Puzzle Page The page your players see can be styled to match your event. Go to **My Puzzles**, find the occasion your puzzle belongs to, and click **Edit**. In the Edit Details dialog, open the **Customize Online Puzzle Page** section: - Header Title: The main title displayed at the top of the puzzle page — for example, Kate & Jack's Wedding. - Header Text: A short subtitle under the title. Use it to set the tone: "How well do you know the happy couple? Race the clock and climb the leaderboard." - Header Image: Choose from a collection of ready-made header designs — florals, watercolors, playful patterns, and more — or upload your own image (JPG, PNG, WebP, or GIF, up to 5 MB). You can remove the current image at any time. - Color Scheme: A set of color palettes generated automatically to match your selected header image. Pick the one that fits best — it's applied across the puzzle page, from buttons to the leaderboard highlight. Click **Save** to apply your changes. The customization belongs to the occasion, so it's applied to the online pages of the puzzles within it. ### 6. What Players See When a player opens your puzzle link, they land on a welcome screen showing your header design, the puzzle title, and a name entry field. - Password-protected puzzles: If you set a password, players see a Password Required screen first. They enter the password and click Unlock Puzzle to continue. - Name entry: Players type a display name (letters, numbers, and spaces only) and tap Start Playing. This name is how they appear on the leaderboard. - One attempt per name: Each name can play the puzzle once. If a player enters a name that already has a saved score, they'll see a message explaining this and can either view the leaderboard or try a different name. Below the game, the puzzle page also includes a **How to Play** section that explains the rules of that specific puzzle type — so even first-time players know exactly what to do. ### 7. Playing the Game Once the game starts, a status bar at the top of the page shows the player's **time**, remaining **hints**, **name**, and current **score**, along with a **Help** button that reopens the instructions and a **Finish Game** button to end the round. The gameplay itself depends on the puzzle type — a crossword plays differently from a Trivia Quiz or a Photo Challenge. Here's how it works for a crossword, as an example: - The player taps a cell in the grid (or a clue in the Across/Down lists) to open the word panel. - They type their answer and tap Check to submit it. - Hints: Players get three hints for the whole game. While a word is open, tapping Hint reveals one random letter in that word. Each hint used reduces the final score. - Wrong answers: Submitting three incorrect checks for the same word locks that word out — it can no longer be solved, and its squares stay empty. The exact rules for each puzzle type are explained in the How to Play section on its puzzle page and in the guide for that builder. ### 8. How Scoring Works A player's final score is based on three things: - Accuracy: Correct answers earn points; failed attempts count against the result. - Speed: Faster completion times earn higher scores. - Hints: Each hint used costs points. In short: the best scores go to players who solve quickly, answer correctly, and save their hints. This keeps the competition fair — a fast player who burned all three hints can still be beaten by a careful player who didn't need any. ### 9. The Leaderboard The leaderboard appears on the puzzle page (when you've chosen to show it) and updates in real time as players finish. For each player it displays: - Rank — with medals for the top three finishers - Name — the display name entered before playing - Score — the final calculated score - Time — how long the player took to finish - Hints — how many hints were used - Failed — the number of failed attempts Players are ranked by score. When two players finish with the same score, the faster time wins — so every second counts. #### Viewing and Resetting the Leaderboard As the puzzle owner, you can always view the leaderboard from the publish dialog by clicking **View Leaderboard** — even if you've hidden it from players. The **Reset Leaderboard** button permanently deletes all scores for the puzzle. You'll be asked to confirm before it happens, because this action cannot be undone. Resetting is useful when you've finished testing your puzzle and want a clean leaderboard before sharing it with real players. ### 10. Tips for a Great Online Game - Test it yourself first: Open your own puzzle link and play through it once. Check that the clues make sense, the scoring works, and the page looks right on a phone. - Reset before the event: After testing, use Reset Leaderboard so your test scores don't appear alongside your guests' results. - Customize the header: A personalized title and matching header image make the page feel like part of your event, not a generic game link. - Use a password for private events: If the puzzle contains personal details, password protection keeps it between you and your guests. - Announce a time window: For live competitions, give everyone the same five-minute window — project the leaderboard on a screen and let the rankings do the rest. - Include remote guests: Share the link with people who couldn't attend. They play from wherever they are, and their scores land on the same leaderboard. ### Need Help? If you have any questions or run into any issues with Online Play, contact our support team through the [Support page](https://puzzlebuilder.co/support/?contact). #### All Documents - How to Use the Crossword Builder - How to Use the Word Search Builder - How to Use the Number Hunt Builder - How to Use the Photo Challenge Builder - How to Use the Bingo Challenge Builder - How to Use the Sudoku Builder - How to Use the Spy Challenge Builder - How to Use Online Play and Leaderboards - Printing Guide - How to Print Your Puzzles - How to Use the AI Clue Generator - The Complete Guide to Designing Print-Ready Puzzle Cards - How to Create Engaging Classroom Puzzles for Any Subject [← Back to Support](https://puzzlebuilder.co/support/) ### Ready to make your event unforgettable? Open the editor and build your first puzzle in minutes. You only pay when you're ready to download or publish — and every purchase is covered by a 14-day refund. 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