Verbiage change request

Scoutbook New Scoutbook Feature Requests
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1

In scoutbook plus, the scout or parent has the ability to mark rank requirements as “completed”. when they have not been tested by the authorized signer.

Can this verbiage be changed to “ready to test”

This has been a problem for parents in our unit. they are thinking that their scout is ready for a board of review, despite being told repeatedly the scout has not yet been tested or signed by the authorized signer.

2

@AmiKendra

There are no plans to change the verbiage because this has been in Scoutbook since day 1 before it was purchased by Scouting America. It would cause more confusion with the current user base than it would solve future issues.

3

To Expand on what @edavignon said - this exact thing has been discussed before - and both SUAC and IT have decided it would cause more issues than resolve.

4

that is disappointing to hear. I imagine we are not the only unit with unnecessary strife happening due to bad wording from the software.

5

@AmiKendra - simply put completed is the scout stating that they have completed the requirement and marked the left hand column. Does not need to be over complicated.

6

I’m going to respectfully push back on the dismissal of this feature request.

When I, as a Scoutmaster, look at a report or a screen, generated by Scoutbook/Scoutbok Plus, that shows a Scout is 90-ish% complete with a rank, and they ask me for a Scoutmaster conference, I go ahead and schedule that conference. Then, when I actually sit down with them and pull up Scoutbook/Scoutbook Plus to have a conversation with them, only to realize that they (or their parent) marked them Complete on any percentage of the requirements, I now either have to send them back to be tested somehow (the 2nd step of Advancement, according to the Guide to Advancement) or I have to test them there, which is often not possible. Either way, the Scout is discouraged, confused, or annoyed, all of which are detrimental to their progress and the program itself.

As an IT person, I can empathize with the “cause more issues than resolve” statement. But at the same time, as a Scoutmaster, I can tell you this causes a tremendous number of issues. I can also tell you that IT frequently causes issues in order to resolve others (MFA adoption, as an easy example), and that change is often necessary, even if the tool came that way when we bought it.

So, as an IT person, let me propose a two-step option for improvement in this area:

  • Stop making “Completed” calculate into the progress bar for the advancement item. This is a huge issue and confusion to multiple parties.
  • Add a “To Test” sub-tab under Roster > Advancements, and have it show me all the Completed (or, if we change it, To Test) items. While we’re at it, make that Printable, by Scout, so that I can easily print that and hand it off to my other leaders as Action Items for meetings.
    • Important to note: Right now these items do show up, but under the To Approve sub-tab. That’s not accurate, though; right now I have a Scout waiting to “Approve” the Cycling MB requirement 5 (Demonstrate basic bicycle handling skills to your counselor), but it was marked Complete by his Father. I as Scoutmaster don’t Approve MB requirements, and the requirement clearly says “Demonstrate … to your counselor”. But to the Scout, and the Parent, it says Complete. They don’t understand the difference and changing that verbiage helps to make it more clear to both parties.

I appreciate the impacts that seemingly small changes in a web service has on its users; I’m the one who frequently answers those questions of my users in my organization. But I also appreciate the importance of upgrades and growth in a service and how it contributes to the organization as a whole. We all recognize that there are many changes in a service to deliver improvements (hence an entire “Scoutbook Change Log” section here), so I would hope that we could be open to considering a feature change here, even if it isn’t the verbiage change that’s requested in this situation.

7

@TimothyCooper

There is NO requirement that a Scoutmaster Conference (SMC) be the last thing done before the Board of Review. You could hold the SMC at any time, even immediately after the Board of Review for the Scout’s current rank. When I was SM, I frequently held SMCs early to check in on where the Scout was, talk about their goals and help them understand what still needed to be done to complete the rank they are working on.

If I had a Scout who had 90% marked complete but not approved, I would be talking to my Scouts and other leaders to find out WHY very little was approved. I would not blame it on the word Complete in Scoutbook. This is more a failure of individuals to understand the process. I encouraged my Scouts to get tested and signed off as close to completing the requirement as possible. I frequently had Scouts come up to me and ask to be tested.

As we have said, this discussion has been held multiple times and the decision each time has always been that the terms are not the issue and no change will be made.

8

Again, my suggestion wasn’t a change in the verbiage, but I presented an improvement to Scoutbook functionality based on something that is clearly brought up frequently enough to be a genuine need for users.

9

@TimothyCooper

There already is a “To Test” tab under Roster → Advancements. It is labeled “To Approve”. Any item under To Approve is something that is completed but not approved.

I do not see a compelling reason to print a list of “complete not approved” items to hand to a Scout. The discussion when handing this list to the Scout would be no different than what is needed if you simply tell a Scout to log in to Scoutbook and look themselves.