Difference between revisions of "ScoutsTracker"

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===Sending emails===
 
===Sending emails===
 
Using the ST system to send emails is easy and you can track when the emails are opened.  It is best to set up the Scouters to be in the "To" line and parents in the "Bcc" line.  To do this, click on "Account", then click on "Logins" in the "Roster" section.  For each youth, check the "is this a parent email address?" checkbox and the "Is a 'Bcc' email address" checkbox.
 
Using the ST system to send emails is easy and you can track when the emails are opened.  It is best to set up the Scouters to be in the "To" line and parents in the "Bcc" line.  To do this, click on "Account", then click on "Logins" in the "Roster" section.  For each youth, check the "is this a parent email address?" checkbox and the "Is a 'Bcc' email address" checkbox.
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Sometimes parents have one login, but the emails go to two people.  This is buried under Account>(Beaver/Cub/Scout)>Email contacts.  Under here, set the second email address to be a Bcc also.
  
 
===Section File Storage===
 
===Section File Storage===

Revision as of 09:29, 9 October 2017

General

We use a web-based program called ScoutsTracker as a calendar and a badge tracking system.

Scouters can add events and manage events, activities and badges that will be worked on at the events, track meeting and camp attendance, track camp fees, and track progress towards badges and awards.

Parents can see the Section calendar, monitor their youth’s progress, and sign up for camps.

Cost

The cost is ~$30 per Section per year and this is covered by the Group. There is no cost for leaders or parents.

We combine forces with other Groups in the Coho area to do a group license purchase and get a discount. Our license expires on October 24th every year.

Calendars

The Group and Section calendars can be remotely accessed by adding a calendar to your computer or phone.

The links to the Section Events as follows:

The links to the Scouter Events (planning meetings, items that are in the planning stages and not ready to release to the parents, etc. ) are as follows:

There is no combined, all-Section calendar, so if you want to see all Sections, you need to add all the calendars to your phone or computer. Parents with youth in multiple Sections should note this.

You can copy and paste the above links when adding a calendar to your phone, or you can use the following procedure:

  • Log into ScoutsTracker.
  • Review and accept the "Terms of Service" if this pops up.
  • Click on "Schedule" under Links on the left sidebar.
  • On the bottom right corner of the calendar, click the Subscribe button.
  • Click on the "Quick Add" button to add the webcal link to your device.
  • Parents should add the Section Events. Scouters should add both Section Events and Scouter Events.

To share a Section calendar with another ScoutsTracker user (another Section or Group), you need to share a share a “Section Key”. Our keys are as follows:

  • Group Committee level: 11-619-ccdd9098fb8af6c7
  • Beaver Colony A: 3-729-9698f88d9a39f491
  • Beaver Colony B: 3-730-0c0a621b671dd698
  • Cub Pack A: 0-1856-903c1fdbb90c8c5b
  • Scout Troop: 1-1955-01a653a5021f7e7b
  • Venturer Company: 2-668-d5d712e1456378e2

Parent Access

Parents can use ScoutsTracker to sign their youth up for camps, fundraising activities, etc.

Parents can access the Section calendar to their phones, so information about all meetings, camps, etc. is readily accessible.

A parent cannot mark an badge achievement as completed, but they can indicate that the skill is "ready to demonstrate".

Parents who have children in multiple Sections will have to log into the system for the Section their youth is in. Sign into https://scoutstracker.ca/cubs for Cubs, https://scoutstracker.ca/beavers, for Beavers, etc.

If multiple youth are in one Section, select the name from the dropdown under "Current Beaver (or Cub, etc.)" to select the youth.

A great Parent Cheat Sheet is on the ScoutTracker website.

Training Videos

Tips

There is an on-line quick reference guide at https://scoutstracker.ca/w/index.php/Quick_Reference_Guide and a few items of particular use are listed below.

Sending emails

Using the ST system to send emails is easy and you can track when the emails are opened. It is best to set up the Scouters to be in the "To" line and parents in the "Bcc" line. To do this, click on "Account", then click on "Logins" in the "Roster" section. For each youth, check the "is this a parent email address?" checkbox and the "Is a 'Bcc' email address" checkbox.

Sometimes parents have one login, but the emails go to two people. This is buried under Account>(Beaver/Cub/Scout)>Email contacts. Under here, set the second email address to be a Bcc also.

Section File Storage

There is an area for each Section to link to externally stored Section files if you store them on Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.

  • Account>Advanced>URL’s for Section files
  • This gives an option to have a place for files that all users can see, or just Scouters.

Schedules

To view the Schedule of other Sections:

  • Schedule> Show other Schedules?> pick the Section you are interested in.
  • Hit the “<<Schedule” link in the top left.
  • Your Schedule will be populated with the other Section’s events along with yours.

Bulk changes for an individual youth:

  • Account>Scouts (or Cubs, etc.)>pick youth>In Bulk Initialization
  • Useful to set a starting point for youth have been in the program for a few years and who have received some badges and have a certain level of ability in Adventure Skills, etc.

All-Section events

To add an event to your Section that has been set up at a Group level:

  • Schedule> Show other Schedules?> pick 12th New Westminster – Group.
  • Then browse the calendar and look for the event with the purple banner (Group level) and click on the event.
  • Click on “Import” and then “Subscribe”. By “Subscribe”ing rather than “Copy”ing, changes made at the Group level will get updated in your event.
  • You can then manage your activities, Related Requirements (badges), attendance, etc.
  • The Date, Location, Plan (Program Areas, Description, Attachments) are managed at the Group level. If the Section would like something changed, communicate this to the organizer.
  • The Plan (Related Requirements), Do, and Review portions are managed individually by the Sections. This is good because it allows Beavers and Scouts (etc.) to work on different badge requirements at an all-Section event.
  • Pushing adds an event as a Scouter-only event (but the section administrators receive and email telling them this). I do this because the GC/AC might push out a "Area Cuboree" to all Packs, but if a Pack already had plans for that weekend, it could be confusing for parents if they don't know which Camp they are supposed to be attending! So it is up to the Scouters to decide if they want the pushed event to be exposed to the parents/youth.

Multi-Section events

To add an event to your Section that has been set up by another Section:

  • You can use this subscribe to another Section’s event (e.g. if a couple of Cubs go on a Beaver camp), have the main event set up by the Beaver Colony, and have the Cub Pack subscribe to the event and then manage the related requirements and attendance. If both Beaver Colonies go on a camp together, have one Colony create the event and the other Colony subscribe to it.
  • Schedule> Show other Schedules?> pick 12th New Westminster – (section you are interested in).
  • Then browse the calendar and look for the event and click on the event.
  • Click on “Import” and then “Subscribe”. By “Subscribe”ing rather than “Copy”ing, changes made by the organizing Section will get updated in your event.
  • You can then manage your activities, Related Requirements (badges), attendance, etc.
  • The Date, Location, Plan (Program Areas, Description, Attachments) are managed by the Section organizing the event. If subscribing Section would like something changed, communicate this to the organizer.
  • The Plan (Related Requirements), Do, and Review portions are managed individually by the Sections. This is good because it allows Beavers and Scouts (etc.) to work on different badge requirements at an all-Section event.

Individual Records

To see an individual record sheet for a youth:

  • Troop Reports > Record Sheets

Meetings that the youth don't attend

Some meetings like the Group Committee meeting, are set up at the Group level and subscribed to by the Sections. When this is done, the Section should edit their view of the event by going into Event, clicking on Visibility, and changing it from “Everyone” to “Scouters”. In this way, it will not appear in the Youth attendance records. If you want leave it as visible to everyone (to encourage parents to attend the GC meeting), you can change it Scouters after the fact.

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