…and it isn’t desirable to use both, why have a link in Scoutbook?
Matt - I had the same thought but if they are rolling up new content and structure perhaps it was an attemp to get it out there. I know when I did use IA exclusively I had a shortcut to the site. Just my own thoughts…the ramblings of an old guy.
the best we can guess it this - there are several links in IA2 to SB - National wants to get all units on SB so they have the advancement records - our guess on the IA2 link in SB is:
#1 what stephen mentioned
#2 so non-SB users can find IA2 if they click a SB link
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Ok. I guess I get #2.
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So I guess we can ignore the old guy… 
I didn’t mean to ignore you, but I did see your proposed thought process that others had, but think the logic behind it crazy. Not that it was your logic, but the logic you were assuming others had. It is crazy to put in Scoutbook a link to IA2 when the WHOLE POINT of IA2 is for people who don’t use Scoutbook. Then having to label the link “Don’t Use” for those who use Scoutbook.
So, the link is most accessible to the people who you don’t want to use it (Scoutbook users) and, by design, not accessible to people who do use it (IA2 users, non-Scoutbook users). Seems like broken logic to me. The one group will never see it and the other group that does, you don’t want to use it.
Please consider yourself duly un-ignored! 
Matt - thanks for not ignoring me. I totally get where you are coming from but certainly getting folks to use the new IA will take what ever means are possible. As I noted I did not ever look in my.scouting to get to IA…it was a shortcut from a web search for internet Advancement. So in the end I consider myself un-ignored.
After a closer read of the IA 2.0 Notice to Users one could believe the notice is Scoutspeak for Scoutbook and IA 2.0 do not synchronize.
If IA 2.0 is meant for non-Scoutbook users why have it at all? Simply allow the exiting IA 1.0 to remain available.
I am not yet convinced the Scoutbook advancement functions are stable. I have confirmed that entries into IA 1.0 update to Scoutbook. I have not attempted the reverse operation.
Eric - IA1.0 is hosted on a system that exceeded its useful life and must be decommissioned hence IA2.0.
How about updating the look of the IA 1.0 user interface and installing the software and data on new hardware?
Eric - the entire platform of scoutnet is beyond its useful life. All features hosted there will be migrated over. I can state that any advancement approved in scoutbook do indeed transfer to akela which is the foundation of my.scouting.org.
Eric,
IA2.0 is the tool that had the internal working name of Scoutbook Lite. It reads/writes the Scoutbook Database. The reason we are telling users of Scoutbook not to use IA2.0 is there are issues in IA2.0 that are causing problems for those that use Scoutbook for Advancement. IA2.0 is intended for units that do not use Scoutbook.
As Stephen said, IA1.0 must be retired. It is running on both hardware and software platforms that are no longer supported. IA2.0 is running on a modern, supported platform and since it shares the Scoubook database, there is no syncing required between SB and IA2.0.
How do I switch between units? I am Cubmaster for a Pack that is using Scoutbook, so we will continue to use SB as we have in the past. I am also Advancement Chair for a troop, that is not using Scoutbook at all, except for recording advancements. The only unit showing up on IA2.0 is the Pack, and I cannot find a way to switch between units to use it with the Troop.
Susanne - if you click on the cub icon in the upper right what happens ?
Are you listed as Advancement Chair for the troop in Organization Security Manager in my.scouting.org? One of your Key 3 members of the troop will need to check.
If you are using Scoutbook to record advancements, you do not need to use IA2.
We have used it only one time now, out of necessity, since BSAIA transitioned to Scoutbook to record completed ranks and merit badges. The Troop has no other use for Scoutbook than to get the completed advancements to council.
It is confusing that Pack is listed on the IA2.0 since we are fully using Scoutbook for everything.
I will check with my Key 3 to see if I am listed as Advancement Chair in my.Scouting.org
Thank you.
All units are listed in IA2. We are advising those that are using Scoutbook for advancement to not use IA2 but continue using Scoutbook.
I just do not understand why there are so many different platforms to track Advancements. There is too much confusion. They just need to pick one and move on.
I think the issue is that there are so many different levels of interest in using software out there that it’s difficult to get a one-size-fits-all interface. For example, the ability to track (and share) electronically whether or not a particular award has been approved, by whom, when, and whether or not it has been presented to the scout is very useful for me in a large unit. I’m also pretty tech-savvy.
However, there are people out there who would just as soon continue using the old paper forms and having council do all of the input, so even an interface like IA/IA2 is more software than they want to deal with. That said, improving the recordkeeping means reducing the number of points of failure (e.g. illegible handwriting, misspellings, wrong awards selected, etc), so moving from paper to electronic is useful. Moving from separate databases to one (with both Scoutbook and IA2 as UIs to the database) is another step in that direction. I suspect that, over time, there will be more streamlining so that the application of the different interfaces can be made more comprehensible. In my mind, it’s the same issue that the BSA regularly has: poor communication of the plans, timelines and specific intent of particular implementations, whether in software or wetware programs.
