Event Emails w/ RSVP should allow immediate Yes/No

The notification emails about RSVP events only include text telling the invitee that they should RSVP, with a link to the event.

It’d be a LOT more useful if the email included a Yes and a No link they could click to RSVP for their Scout right then. Our parents rarely bother to click the event link, I suspect because they’d have to sign into Scoutbook.

As an IT professional (I originally wrote ID, Aaagh!) for almost 40 years, I recognize that anyone with access to this message could respond for them; so it’s not as secure as forcing them log in, then respond. They’ve already authenticated that they have access to this email account. To reduce the chance that someone else would respond Yes/No for them, any RSVP notification could instruct them not to forward the message to others.

So I’d suggest that the impact and possibility of someone spoofing their response is very low - definitely worth the added functionality of improving the ease of response and provide accurate, helpful info for the unit.

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Stewart,

This is a good idea and I’ll add it to the backlog if it is not already there. Unfortunately it requires a major update to the reminder function of the calendar since it would require a unique e-mail be sent to each recipient. Currently a single e-mail is sent to each recipient of the reminder.

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Ed,

Thanks for the response.

I recognized that it would require a major enhancement to process the Yes/No URLs.

But I’m confused by your statement that “Currently a single e-mail is sent to each recipient of the reminder.” I know I’ve gotten multiple notification emails for RSVP events, even after I’ve confirmed via Scoutbook that I’ll attend (or not). I must be misunderstanding your point?

Thanks for all you do for Scoutbook and Scouting.

Stew

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A mass BCC email is sent to all invitees is what Ed is saying. Depending on how the Admin sets it up - you can receive more invites after you have already accepted, as the emails are generated and queued when the admin sets it up with no check on response status.

Donovan,

Thanks for the clue. I use the mass BCC feature, so didn’t consider each message as a single email.

Since you brought it up, I’d humbly suggest that, for any RSVP messages, the email system should check the Response Status before sending additional notifications. I get confused when I get these, when I’ve already signed up, wondering if my Yes/No wasn’t saved (or I’d forgotten to do it!).

Finally, that brings me around to thinking about how the Yes/No response might be implemented. I know the sending address is Scoutbook.DoNotReply@scouting.org (and I’m sure people reply anyway). What if the email recipient could reply Yes or No, and the email server process that. It should reduce the security concern, since the user has already authenticated, by sending from their email address.

Thanks to you too, for all you do for Scoutbook and Scouting,

Stew

A complication, and possibly what Ed is getting at, is that I receive a single reminder for an event when both of my scouts and I are all invited. Would a simple yes/no apply to all family members? Just me?

We agree.

To complicate it more, if I already RSVP’d yes, I still like the reminder. If I said no, then I don’t want to hear about it.

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