The part missing here, I don’t think I’ve seen in documentation that to setup the meetings, you have to click on your profile icon → Your Dens → setup den to then actually walk through the process of creating the meeting plan (if you so wanted). That at least appears to be the process for an existing Den in ScoutBook. I have not undertaken the process as I still use ScoutBook and am waiting for the events to flow from ScoutBook into this new tool.
@DonovanMcNeil how about a kid who attends but doesn’t hit the requirement? Say for example s/he was there, and maybe could say the Outdoor Code but forgot the Leave No Trace… if I mark that youth as having been present, s/he gets credit for completion. If I mark him/her absent, s/he won’t be credited for anything that WAS completed. And the auto-planning of meetings seems a bit weird - it sounds like the app fills it in for us, but what do I do if it plans a nature hike for me in February and we are in Minnesota? (Many of the BSA Cub requirements seem to assume we are in a warm climate all year, and we sure are not!) We very carefully plan our Den calendar around our other meetings, holidays, prior experiences, Pack activities, and with the weather in mind so that we are indoors for the times when we need to meet but can’t count on the weather outside to cooperate. Plus we then need to use the Scoutbook calendar? We haven’t used it because it was awkward. New joins late in the year didn’t get included in the calendar for the unit or den. Has this been fixed? We get a lot of late registrations.
I get the basic idea, but this is very much in beta. Our leadership know how to plug things into the Scoutbook site, and the adventure quick entry seems to be a much more straightforward way of doing this. AND offers us a lot of flexibility that the Den Leader interface does not.
@JoshuaNixon the Den Leader Login does not deal with late arrivals, early departures, etc… All things that have been noted.
As stated in my initial post - For Green Den Leaders or struggling Dens I think this is GOLD. For Experienced Den Leaders who already use Scoutbook - you all already have a system in place
Noticed that there are only two options on the den setup screen, which only allow you to choose girl den or boy den. We have a mixed den since there are only 3 girls. Will there be an option given for mixed dens?
@JohnBonner I don’t see that being an option. Dens are supposed to be single gender. You’ll need to set them up as separate dens.
A few things to note here. National is looking at comments and suggestions conveyed here. The aim is to make this tool user friendly for ALL den leaders (myself included). Among the items mentioned here, the ability to move/remove/edit meetings from the calendar within the new experience is on the top of the list and projected to be released soon. Also, catch-up content (if the Scout missed half, most, or all of the meeting) will be available and fed to the Scouting App where parents can help track their Scout’s progress, complete the missed requirements, and send that back to the den leader.
A lot more is still to come. As @WilliamNelson mentioned, questions and issues can be sent to the Scoutbook support email.
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This process will be simplified and made to be more intuitive.
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The interface looks ripe for an accompanying iOS/Android app. Would that potentially be in the pipeline (granted, there’s lots more that needs to be fixed in this alpha/beta first to have it be functional and truly ready for prime time - in its current state, I can’t recommend it to new Den Leaders, yet…)?
Everyone, please list your ideas on how to improve the tool here. Remember it is initially being aimed at Den Leaders.
Hey thanks for the info
I do think a CM or other leader sign in is needed so meetings can be established before there is a DL - as a CM going to someone and saying here is what you need and handing them a schedule done makes the SALE easier I think.
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This is a progressive web app setting that leaves lots of room for possibilities.
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I have found that you have to add yourself as a “den admin” for each den to be able to set things up for those dens.
I agree 100% - dont click on it! I did and it auto-generated the entire year of meetings and put all the info into the Scoutbook calander. It has my meetings on the wrong day, the wrong time (who meets at 9:30pm???) the wrong order of what will working on… and there is no way for me to edit or delete these meetings from Scoutbook, so I’m afraid my families will be getting all the wrong info!!!
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the events are simple to change date of in SB or flat out delete them as long as you are at least a Den Admin
My feedback: bake the login into the standard login. Proliferating logins isn’t a good idea.
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This is GREAT - thank you for sharing Albert!!! I’m starting my 3rd year as Den Leader (Wolves now) and continue to look for ways to improve how I deliver the BSA program. I agree with all the points on your council’s web page introducing these streamlined adventure plans. After following the Tiger DL Guide closely last year - which I found helpful and effective - I decided to attempt to provide a better balance of outings vs “classroom”. I’m eager to try these!
I couldn’t agree more Matt. This is just one more place to log in and work out of. There needs to be a vision of consolidation of tools which Scoutbook very well could and should be. All the functionality tied together in one place: Advancement, Calendar, Communication (email and text), Training, Roster maintenance.
This thing currently has caused a train wreck and nothing should ever be put out that can’t be undone somehow.
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