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I too struggle with this feature. It sometimes works and other times does not.
Today, the search is able to find the counselor I want to add as a connection/mb counselor for a Scout, it didn’t work. Following is the actions taken and the response from the system.
I entered the Scout’s record
Clicked on Advancement
Clicked on the merit badge that has been ‘started’ for a Scout. The ‘unit leader signature has been applied with a date’.
Clicked the ‘Invite Counselor’ button.
The add connection screen is displayed.
Clicked the ‘Add’ button
Searched for the counselor by entering his name, town and state and MBC only. It did find the counselor’s record.
Clicked the counselor’s record. A number of panels collapsed. The MB counselor checkbox is not clickable (disabled for some reason).
Filled in the ‘invite message’
Clicked the Invite button.
An error message then was displayed saying I needed to fill in gender, first name, last name, and email, and relationship
I verified that the counselor is active and available.
Here are the instructions to find the MBC:
NOTE: This only works if he is approved to council the badge they are trying to attach him to
Go to the Scout in question
Go to the advancements then the badge to connect the MBC to
Click on Invite Counselor
Click on Add
Enter the MBC name: and member ID (I think you can do it with MBC name and email too; but I think you need two fields)
MAKE SURE TO CHECK THE BOX Include MBC Only
Is the MBC already connected to the Scout? If so, on the Scout’s connection page, select the MBC, then set the MBC checkbox if necessary and select the MB.