Entering activities in Scoutbook

Scoutbook New Scoutbook Feature Requests
12

Charlie is quicker than I am. :slight_smile:

Short answer is no, not anymore.

Longer answer =

  1. The programming that creates the Scoutbook user interface is out of date, obsolete. BSA wants to move to current technology programming. The database which SB accesses seems to be current technology.
  2. When SB became a BSA thing, advice was to use only SB or only IA, but not both, as they were two different systems.
  3. Before the old Internet Advancement was retired, information from that legacy system was added to the SB database and a non-SB UI was created, IA2. (This was forecast to be named SB Lite, but on roll out was Internet Advancement 2.0)
  4. On roll out, instructions remained the same - use one or the other - but, because they are recording information to the same database, when there are problems/issues, sometimes the work-a-round involves using the other system. If you are a unit Key3, this is easy, as you have permissions in both systems. Problems arise when folks expect both systems to act the same.
  5. Major improvements will happen in the newer programming, resulting in functions being added to IA2, rather than the old SB. This is why the log functions moved from SB to IA2. The new logs allow for leader approval and expansion in the future for more logs. (Yes, the changeover was terrible from the volunteer perspective, due to the different permission systems in SB and IA2. Ongoing issues with this and the inability to edit the old logs have undermined trust with BSA systems.)
  6. BSA does not publicize specifics of their planned changes, neither a timeline nor detailed functions. However, in a refreshing change, a general forecast for 2021 was made public here. (Although discussing technology for commissioners, it has applications for all of us.)
  7. I have no insight into what happens behind the scenes with BSA IT. But I have some guesses.
  8. The calendar system in SB is cumbersome. In the past, this was being worked on. However, other priorities intervened. At some point, when BSA reworks it, I expect it to move to IA2. This may allow for coordination with the log system.
  9. The permission system in SB needs more gradations. This will require a rework of the whole permission system. When this happens, I expect the whole roster system to move to IA2.
  10. The IA2 UI does not produce the same user experience as the SB UI. I don’t remember any comments that IA2 is better than SB; rather, the opposite. I doubt BSA will do a total rework of the IA2 UI just to improve the UX. However, I want to be surprised.
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