Hello,
Our Troop is new to Scoutbook. I learned how to assign MBCs to some of my Scouts. One of those MBCs approved one of my Scouts for the Snow Sports MB. He did this via Scoutbook, meaning the MBC marked the Scout as complete.
However, I didn’t get any kind of notification that the item is now there waiting for recording/approving?
When I go to Roster then Advancements, there’s no alert of any kind
And when I go to the NEXT tab called “To Approve” and expand the section for Merit Badges, the Snow Sports MB for this Scout IS waiting there to be approved.
But I wouldn’t have known it was there if the MBC had not copied me on his email to the Scout.
So I’m clear - will I (Advancement Chair) not receive notifications (via the bell icon up top) that something is waiting there for my attention/recording/approving?
@NicoleAllen3- i have it as part of my SOP to regularly check the to approve and to purchase tabs to make sure nothing is missed regardless of what may be in the notification bell.
Yeah. I’ll need to do that too.
This is definitely a bug. I’ll check if it’s known or report it if not.
There are known issues regarding indications on the Advancements tab.
As for MBs not indicating on To Approve, this should not be a big deal. The Guide to Advancement says the SCOUT is to have a conversation with the Scoutmaster when the MB has been signed off by an MBC. It is the Scout’s responsibility to approach the Scoutmaster for this conversation, not the Scoutmaster, Unit Advancement Chair or any other adult’s responsibility to approach the Scout. This is not a retest but a chance for the Scout and Scoutmaster to discuss the MB experience.
Leader Approved on a completed MB indicates this conversation took place and the MB can be purchased. It is equivalent to the 2nd Scoutmaster signature on the Blue Card.
This is all good information but it’s not the point of my new topic on this using Scoutbook Plus forum.
I am not the Scoutmaster nor the MBC. I am simply processing the administration of advancement, using Scoutbook Plus. And to that end, I was just pointing out that the notification bell is not reflecting items in wait.
I am not gatekeeping the MB. I have absolutely nothing to do with the MB. Our Scoutmaster and MBC and Scout are working together on that. And they finished. And then it’s my job to make sure I have the physical badge for our upcoming COH - hence my post.
Scoutbook Plus is the record keeping mechanism, no one should be relying on it as a substitute for the Guide to Advancement. And I am really enjoying it so far. I think it has a lot of features that are great, better than Troopmaster. Unfortunately I’m still in the mode of trying to figure out how to do everything I need to do. Especially what I do in Scoutbook Plus vs Scoutbook Legacy, which I have to admit is a little frustrating. This morning I wanted to know how many of my boys still need reqt 8 of the Communication MB. And even though Scoutbook Plus has a “report builder”, it doesn’t appear to include anything related to MBs. I finally remembered to go check Scoutbook Legacy, and figured out how to run the report I need there.
My understanding is that at some point Scoutbook Legacy and Scoutbook Plus will be merged. I’ll be looking forward to that.
It is not a big deal. At all. I just need to update my shopping cart so I can get the badges I need for COH. So in a fairy tale world of getting everything I want, I was just pointing out that I wish the notification bell would alert me to something there waiting to approve/record/purchase/award. That’s all. Instead, I am just keeping a paper log of everything I need to approve (thanks for @Stephen_Hornak for that suggestion). But of course, keeping a paper log is counterintuitive to BSA spending $$ creating Scoutbook Plus - which is supposed to be the 2025 version of keeping a paper log. 
@NicoleAllen3- there is the in progress mb report and in report builder i have an eagle required mb report. I added the gatekeeper link only because some uac think they run the unit.
@NicoleAllen3
The SM should either be updating the Leader Approved in Scoutbook Plus or notifying you that it can be approved. Either way, a mark on To Approve is not needed give your role.
There are performance issues related to adding an indication on each tab under Advancements. Until the developers can address these issues, I do not expect to see any change related to these notifications.
@edavignon
Thanks for sharing about the performance issues. I get that. Takes up processing. Perhaps just not doable. I’ll do as @Stephen_Hornak suggested and just make it part of my weekly routine to check for items that need processing.
I have to admit I don’t understand what “a mark on To Approve is not needed given your role”.
If it’s not approved in Scoutbook Plus=.Roster=>Advancement tab=>To Approve/To Purchase/To Award", how does anyone track what needs to be awarded at the COH and how do the badges get purchased from the Scout Shop?
@NicoleAllen3- for items to be purchased I download the PO from the to be purchased along with the advancement report. For a Coh I use this report
I think the mark on To Approve might mean the indicator on every item like the red dot count
@Stephen_Hornak Are you in a role of Scoutmaster or Advancement Chair or another position?
@NicoleAllen3- I am commiittee chair of a troop and crew.. and formerly of a pack (it folded). I will only do the scout shop for the troop and crew if needed. Even in scoutbook classic I would not rely on the number count on the approval/purchase/awarded reports I just made a habit of checking. They eventually got rid on the number count and put a hash on the report lines as it was a performance killer there as well.
Per the Guide to Advancement, the Unit Leader (ex: Scoutmaster) is the sole leader responsible for advancement. Unless the Unit Leader delegates authority to others, only the Unit Leader should be approving advancement. The only exceptions are Merit Badges and Cub Scout advancement.
It is the Unit Leader or designee that should be looking at To Approve.
