I’m Unit Commissioner for a Scout Troop that has contacted me to say " The new Merit Badge Citizenship in Society is not available to select in Scoutbook/Internet Advancement. That badge is not listed in the drop-down selection. " I’ve looked through the forum and found a discussion from 4/22, “CIS Merit Badge not in IA - #7 by DonovanMcNeil” That comments, “Are you using Internet Advancement or Scoutbook? It is available in Scoutbook.” Isn’t this contradictory? Is/was this a bug in IA2? As a commissioner I have no visibility into SB or IA, but I said I would look into the matter. Is this user error, or an actual bug? I would think that there would be a lot more discussion of it if this was a bug. Thank you, Dustin Clampitt, Daniel Webster Council, NH.
Generally speaking, I’ve found that most of the time something is missing, it’s because my browser has cached an old version of the interface. That’s what was wrong in this case. The user can try clearing cache or logging in using a private browsing/incognito window (or whatever their browser calls it).
In Scoutbook, users can check to make sure that the scout doesn’t already have the merit badge started. It will appear in the list of badges on their Advancement page, rather than in the Start a New Merit Badge drop-down since it’s not new in that context.
Getting a screenshot without any names showing would help us with where they are in the UI, also.
Thank you, Charley. Thank you, Jacob.
My Unit leader is using the Chrome browser on a PC FWIW. I’ve suggested and sent instructions regarding clearing the cache. No response, yet. I’ve pasted the screen shot she sent to me, with the user’s name blanked out. Hopefully you can view it. I don’t see any way to simply attach a .jpg file to the reply. Charley, I will forward your text to her. Thank you very much.
Dustin Clampitt
The screenshot is from IA2, so they may still have some luck using Scoutbook, even if it is an actual IA2 bug.
Hello Jacob,
I have responded within the forum discussion, and also uploaded a screen shot. I’m sending this reply as well as I don’t know if you would be notified that I responded within the discussion thread.
Thank you,
Dustin Clampitt
Post the Scout’s BSA Member ID (no names) and we will have the IA developers investigate. I see CIS in IA for the Scouts I have checked.
Thank you Charley.
OK. So, here is an idiot end user question: What is the difference between accessing IA via SB, or separately? I have no idea how to interpret the advice you are giving me, which I’m certain is excellent. 
I have no ability to access IA or SB to any meaningful degree.
I think I’m gonna have to ask for a Zoom call with screen sharing to work through this with her.
As far as I can tell the BSA does not provide Unit Commissioners with ANY meaningful access to IA or SB. None. This is a case of the blind (me) leading the blind (non-technical unit advancement leader). I’m very frustrated with how the BSA and local Council expect Unit Commissioners to function without access to appropriate tools. And what tools I have seen in the past have been poorly implemented. IMO. (Just venting a bit. )
CIS not showing IS a cache issue. They could log in with a private window as well
Short-ish answer:
Scoutbook and IA2 both look at the same underlying advancement database, but using different user interfaces.
The Scoutbook interface is reached from https://scoutbook.scouting.org. It’s a different interface, so it has slightly different options. When the unit leader logs in, they would go to:
My Dashboard → Administration → My Units → Troop ### → Troop Roster → Scout’s Name → Scout’s Advancement
Scroll down to the merit badges section. If CiS is already listed, click on the name. If not, go to Start a New Merit Badge near the bottom, and start CiS.
Once in the CiS MB, the leader can click on the checkbox for Completed and set a date, and on Leader Approved.
Long-ish Answer:
There are a lot of help and training pages here:
In particular, I’d recommend these for unit scouters getting started with Scoutbook:
- Getting a Unit Started in Scoutbook - Scoutbook Knowledge Base
- Scoutbook for Leaders (Videos) - Scoutbook Knowledge Base
- Feature Assistant - What is it?
- Troop Advancement Using Scoutbook (Video) - Scoutbook Knowledge Base
- Cub Scout Advancement Using Scoutbook (Video) - Scoutbook Knowledge Base
- Granting Roles and Permissions in Scoutbook (SB) - Scoutbook Knowledge Base
- Using Scoutbook Calendars (SB) - Scoutbook Knowledge Base
- Using Scoutbook to Communicate With Your Unit - Scoutbook Knowledge Base
and this one for parents getting started with Scoutbook:
Thank you, Donovan. I will suggest that to my user.
Thank you, Charley. Yes, I hear you loud and clear; It is definitely time for me to Read The Fine Manual. Hopefully there is a sandbox for non-privileged users, such as myself, who don’t usually have a need to interface with SB or IA.
Dustin
I think that the sandbox works for anyone:
Thanks @JohnClampitt That is the Internet Advancement user interface. As such, they need to follow Donovan’s suggestion to use a private or incognito window.
Sometimes they might need to update their version of Internet Advancement. I’m not sure exactly what it says, but there will be a message near the top that basically says click here to update Internet Advancement.
Thank you, Jennifer. I will suggest that the user check for latest update to IA.
D
@JohnClampitt - it relates to session cache as all api based ui needs to be refreshed.
Problem solved. Thank you all for your assistance. Now I have some reading to do to learn about Scoutbook.
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