I’ve searched high and low through the IA Calendar postings, so apologies if this has been addressed. Has there been any word on whether the new IA Calendar will offer Service Project event types? It’s been an ask since at least June 2019.
@ChipBulgin - when I edit an event in IA and click add service project i get this:
He is asking for Service Project to be added to the IA Calendar Event type list. He is not referring to the activity log.
I’ll request this be added to the backlog if it is not already there.
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@edavignon - thanks i misread the post.
@edavignon @Stephen_Hornak - Yes, included in the types of events that can be added to the calendar. Hopefully would tie in to attendance reporting, activity logs, and other back-end mechanisms.
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I am told by the project manager for IA Calendar that right now the type of events you can select are the same as in Scoutbook. When IA calendar will no longer have to support displaying the event in Scoutbook there are plans on expanding the event types.
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Please explain more about those tie-ins. Right now, the only functional purpose of the event type is to determine the default invitees.
ETA I see we also have an event type filter in the attendance report.
Once you know the type of event and attendance, there’s the opportunity to auto-populate fields in the activity logs and save a lot of data entry. For example, you could auto-populate the days/nights camping or the number of service hours earned from the event start/end dates and times.
The UI for activity logs and now calendar in IA is a step or two backwards from how they were/are implemented in Scoutbook. So anything the devs can do to reduce the amount of pointing, clicking, and typing would be most welcome.
Have you seen how the calendar events have activity log editing capability directly in them? We already have a request in to default the days and nights for camping based on the length of the event and a request to make the starting point based on attendance. But that is regardless of activity type, and I don’t see the same opportunity for service project event types.
You have start and end times, so you could easily default the hours for a service project event
Oh, that’s true of it’s a service project type. We’d still want service project logs to be available in other types. For example, it’s easy enough to include an hour of service during a campout, but other types would default to zero.
I will say, it’s not much work to type the number of hours on the group tab.
And to default everyone to the same hours would also have you editing to account for those who did not work the same hours. So it’s a 3 hour project but some worked 3, some 2 and some 1… or fractions thereof. The individual tabulation makes for a more accurate accounting of the project.
Default is the key word. There should be a convenient way to change it for individuals. Although, I honestly haven’t figured out the workflow for that yet.
The issue with service project start/end time in the calendar is it more frequently than not includes transportation time that is not part of the service.
For example, one project my troop frequently does is a 20 minute drive from our gathering location. Scouts only get credit for the actual service time, not the drive time. We have to set the start time about 30 minutes early so we have time to get to the actual service location. The end time is based on when families should pick scouts up, not when the service ends.
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Currently, when I create a new service project log entry I (1) select scout/adult attendees and (2) enter group hours for them. I then (3) switch to the Individual tab and adjust hours for those who came late and/or left early. It’s pretty straight-forward and a great time saver. If I already have the attendance saved and the start/end times, I don’t need to do steps (1) and (2)
Interesting. When I did your third step, it didn’t seem to stick when I reopened it.
I last created a service project log entry on October 7th and the behavior was as I described. It’s worked that way for me since they took log entries out of Scoutbook. Not sure if things have changed in the last couple weeks due to this calendar integration.
Right, but I’m referring to doing it within the calendar event.
If that’s not how it works from within a calendar event, then that’s a bug. The user interface behavior should be identical to activity logs.
IA is littered with little UI inconsistencies like this that drive me crazy.
I’d counter that that’s particular to your use case. My unit doesn’t set things up that way. If we have a service project that runs from 1pm to 4pm, that’s what we put in the event start and end times. That may mean that folks have to leave the house at 12:30.
Your use case is easily supported by what I’ve described elsewhere in this thread. Your entry would get pre-populated and the first (and maybe only) thing you’d do is adjust the group hours.
It’s cool to learn how people and units use features differently.
