THIS!
And what is happening to activity logging in the Scouting app?
Were we not previously told that you should not use both Scoutbook and IA2 for fear of data corruption of some sort? So how does a unit that uses Scoutbook use the activity log feature, if they cannot use IA2?
And that is exactly why this process has become a royal pain. Your average user of Scoutbook doesnât care about JTE. Once a year a unit has to come up with JTE numbers, forcing a program to be modified just so JTE numbers are easier to get is ridiculous. My troop didnât enter their activities at all until moving to Scoutbook and with this mod, will probably move back to solely tracking in the books again, are you going to create a rule that troops have to enter their data in this, if not then it is a waste because you are still going to have the same problem acquiring the data. If it is a rule, you will get pushback.
Scoutbook was sold as a place where you can do it all, now it is no longer that. It is and will be a pain to get people accounts within Scoutbook, now knowing it is just a temporary location for things, why bother.
As the Scoutbook evangalist / admin / non-key-3 for my unit, I can tell you that as a result of this change, we will no longer be tracking activities at all. Period. There is no way I am going to be able to get anyone to do it, especially not using a different application outside of Scoutbook, and especially because it will now require duplicated data entry of attendees. Youâve transformed what used to be a few mouse clicks and a few keystrokes into a data entry nightmare.
I am expremely disappointed.
There is no requirement or direction for JTE Camping data to be logged anywhere. All that is required the dates camped, so I am not surprised you are not getting more than that.
As for service hours, you are required to enter those on the JTE website to get credit.
So, if Iâm a big Scoutbook devotee, and IA2 is the future, should we start using it more and providing feedback?
An example would be it is nice to have profile picts for Scouts and leaders.
No, features in Scoutbook will gradually be moved to IA. It is known that it is deficient in many areas.
Having experienced and been a physical part of upgrades and enhancements I can add to the conversation. The primary goal was to move away from scoutnet and itâs modules (support is long gone) the major one was internet Advancement. The ongoing task from the purchase of scoutbook has been enhancement but that would run into roadblocks as itâs code presents issues with itâs lifecycle. It would be logical to bring features into an environment with current code, modular structure and scalable features. Folks complain about missing the ability to do x,y &z in scoutbook or that there are oddities in function. This may be symptomatic of code related flaws that get exposed when an enhancement or a change is made elsewhere. It would be one thing if this was sneaker ware, but it is online and needs to be available so, you spin up parallel and build out in a new framework and stack. Yeah, things will change and migrate as all things do. I just can not see the expense of my energy being enraged over something like this. Development and change has to happen somehow.
Thank you this is a helpful way to explain what is going on. My earlier comment showed my frustration at not understanding why this would happen. You have explained in a way that, as a non-coder, I can understand the why of this. It would have been helpful for me to know this is where things were headed, because this does feel contrary to what I was led to believe when I began using Scoutbook. However, I am grateful to understand the why.
@AngelaKoch - you are very welcome. I did my best to have my post make sense to those not involved in programming and system deployment. I understand the confusion and frustration, heck I have been there done that. I realize that as this is web based you cant exactly shut the door while you re-work or rebuild and so I adapt and overcome. One thing that can be noted are the similarities between IA2 and the scouting app. In the end the goal would be to have something that can be added to without creating issues in other areas. There is only so far you can carry legacy code and systems. Now on a real life experience. I was tasked with building an exchange cluster at work. The first build was fine or so I thought until I had to build that same cluster 6 more times after that in the same day as the team pounded away at it to make sure all features worked as they expected. This was done along side the active existing cluster that had to be deprecated. Once the build was good it was time to flip the new one to active and remove the old one.
I am feeling the same. I have spent HOURS getting parents, Scouts and fellow leaders to use Scoutbook for EVERYTHING not to mention the HOURS spent double-checking, updating, entering the Troopâs history. Reluctant parents and leaders have slowly come on board, especially for the messaging feature, because I told them Scoutbook was the new BSA platform. Now it seems that information has changed. Uggh.
We can have our cake and eat it too if they do a good/better job of these updates being integrated into Scoutbookâs HMI. For example, the reports are mostly IA2, but no one really cares since they are integrated into Scoutbook. So, no need to tell people to go somewhere else.
Maybe we can weather this transition time better if they were to keep the spots in Scoutbook for the logs, but clicking on each takes you to the new system.
The reality is, getting the parents setup and connected was the big hurdle, if we donât have to re-invite and redo the SSO process, it should be fine to transition in the end. The Scouts are usually good with new technology, itâs the parents that struggle and then I end up with one-on-one IT sessions with each one to get them going. And the âshare screenâ open has been, âsend me a picture.â Now that we are using Zoom, even that has gotten easier!
So, in the end, I guess, my request is: please make it a smooth crossover process, and all is good. Thanks! I do appreciate Scoutbook!
And having migrated the forums outside of scoutbook (a processing load reduction) you all get the chance to still complain while scoutbook may be down for maintenance. See⊠there are advantages to change. 
Good point. We all get to complain before we even use it.
Better point: reports are out, forums are out, this is really the next step. They have mentioned calendars a bit in the past. I wouldnât be surprised if this moves out next. The advancement and communication will be some of the only items left.
I donât understand how scouts and parents are supposed to input their Camping overnights. I tried to log in, but it says I am not a key3 so there I canât? How do families do this?
There are some âdetailsâ in the video @DonovanMcNeil posted. IIRC, the parent/scout interface will be via the Scouting app and IA2 (scoutbook.scouting.org). As @Stephen_Hornak noted, the system is still inaccessible at this time.
Re:
I agree that âdirectionâ is poorly publicized. I suspect that unit reporting requirements vary by council (and perhaps by district).
This is not what the worksheets for the district camping record at the JTE website require. The council counts groups of people and the number of units (pack, troop, crew, ship) participating in camping activities by district. It looks like having a way of adding a camping category to an individual activity, if not already done, in the camping log would facilitate data consolation.
Will I as a non-Admin adult still be able to input my own camping/hikes, since I donât have access to IA?
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Bill Nelson
Scoutbook User Advisory Council
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