scoutgroove

I took the site down entirely. I'd rather lose all the hard work I put into it than deal with people like you.

...and by the way, if that is what you had an issue with, then fine. Removed. No big deal. I'm fine with you sending a screenshot to BSA, because if they feel like they need to send me a "Cease and Desist" because they feel like I infringed on something, then I have complied. If they want to bill me for using the likeness of something of theirs, then I'll work with them on it. I'd rather not deal with drama from people like you.

You act like I ran over your kitten or something because I'm trying to put together something that could make life easier for people who *choose* to use it.

So silly.

John-in-KC,

Why ARE you and several others so incredibly hostile for no apparent reason? I don't get it. If I wanted to hide my personal information from a WHOIS lookup, I would have. You are so completely ridiculous.

Regardless, I'm done here. Its pointless to argue with people like you.

Thanks sailingpj - that is not intentional. The only time an email address should be required is when someone signs up. That's a bug - I'll fix it.

I mis-typed #2. I meant to say "Email addresses for people you add to your account/units are not required", period (except when signing up because it doubles as your username to make it easier to remember.

nldscout:

1. Can you elaborate?

2. Email addresses and all account information are not required. They are for your own use only. All account information is encrypted and highly protected. Of course it would never be given to anyone else.

3. Why does it matter? If you want to call me to have a decent conversation, I'd be happy to share that info.

4. What gives you the impression that the information you enter is not secure? Your information is encrypted. If you are speaking of an SSL certificate for the site, I do have plans on adding one.

5. And how did you arrive at that number ($1)?

Why so hostile? "Only an Idiot would use this" is an outright insult, not constructive criticism. Seriously, I expected more respect from a group of fellow scouters, no matter how suspicious you are of my motives (as I have mentioned repeatedly above).

Thanks for your candid thoughts shortridge, I appreciate it. You certainly have a good point about "Never do anything that a Scout can do himself."

Yes, you are rude. Not to mention entirely self-righteous. I'm sorry I rubbed you the wrong way. Despite what you think, my intentions were not to spam. Its clear all you want to do is argue, so I'm done. Discussing this any further with you will get us nowhere.

For anyone else that comes across this post, I am sorry if it came across as spam.

No need to be rude Beavah. Do you really think I'm trying to become a millionaire off of some scouting product? Come on. All I ever hope to do is pay for hosting costs. I don't need lectures from someone who doesn't know me nor my intentions about ethics.

I have invested months of my personal time building this. I have invested hundreds of dollars, so far (which will undoubtedly turn into thousands) because I want to build something useful for scouters to use. Not for a profit, but to simply (hopefully) one day break even on some very real hosting and maintenance costs. I don't work on this full time. It is essentially a hobby. I am not trying to market here. There are far more productive ways to market a site than post on forums. Sheesh. If you're not interested, continue on your merry way. You don't need to be rude to one of your own members that has been following and reading posts on here for years, regardless of whether I've actually posted much. You are clearly not interested. That's fine.

I welcome anyone else who would be willing to provide honest feedback.

Thank you so much for the feedback artjrk. That's exactly what I was hoping for

Part of what I was hoping for was to make sure I was headed in the right direction. One of the things that is certainly missing are reports, such as the one you mentioned.

I think a report that outlines which scouts in a Patrol haven't completed a particular set of requirements would certainly be helpful. Thanks for that suggestion.

What do you think about giving the PLs the ability to log in to pass off requirements on MBs? Do you think they would be inclined to use that feature, or that over-doing it? Even in small groups of scouts, I've found that its easy to lose track of who has passed off what when someone doesn't show up one day. I know that should be their responsibility to track, but in reality they always seem to need a little help.

I think one other thing that would be helpful would be to keep a history of who has what responsibility/role within each Patrol. What do you think? Along those same lines, I agree that it would make sense to be able to track campouts and activities. That should probably be at the top of my list for things to work on next.

Also near the top of my list is the ability to restrict (as you alluded to) access to different users. So, for example, PLs could only see members of their own patrol.

Thank you so much for the feedback. I appreciate you taking time out to have a look. I would love to hear anything else that comes to mind!

Wow.

I was looking for FEEDBACK, not customers. If anyone here wants a free account, please let me know what email you sign up with and I'll gladly make it free, forever. Sheesh.

I sure hope other members of this community are kinder than you are. I've been reading here on the forums for ages. Way to make someone feel welcome when he reaches out for some honest feedback from fellow scouters.

Good morning all! In follow-up to my previous thread (http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=283768#id_283941), I just wanted to let everyone know that after a lot of hard work, I've created an early version of my new Scout management/tracking service that I truly hope will make things a little easier for those who are inclined to try it.

Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback, good or bad. I would love to hear anything you have to offer!

Take a look at http://www.scoutboost.com

Buffalo Skipper - Again, thank you so much for your perspective. I find it extremely valuable, and I appreciate how candid you are! I completely understand your point about connectivity and the pain that would be associated with trying to transfer all of your old records to a new system.

Buffalo - Thanks for the candid reply! I want some realistic scenarios around why people would, or would not, want another more web-based option. If I get as many "I'd like an alternative" posts as "No thanks", I'll have to decide which way I want to go.

I have a couple of questions though: What about if you had an alternate way to get your troop's data other than directly through a website (like, for example on your iPhone/Blackberry/Android phone), that you could later sync up with the website when you get connectivity again (home, work, etc). Would that resolve your concerns there? The reason I ask is because I think that a decent mobile app would be absolutely crucial, since most leaders are not likely to be sitting at a computer when they need information on-the-fly.

Do you find that TM is easy to use? Or is it simply what you've become accustomed to? It just seems to be so confusing to new users. Mostly what I hear is essentially "Yeah, I use it, but I put up with it because there is no real solid alternative out there".

I'd love to hear more thoughts about what you think systems like TM are missing or could improve on.

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GKlose - Thanks for mentioning that link. That is an interesting concept. There are some really decent web-based alternatives out there, but not many of them seem to have much traction. Why do you think that is?

Some great thoughts and things to keep in mind. Thanks!

Thanks skeptic - I'll definitely look into that!

Thanks sailingpj - I'm actually really happy to hear you say that. I thought about Sea Scouts, but wasn't sure how much of a demand there would be. I may ask for some guidance from you on that

Eagle92 - Thank you so much for the feedback. You're absolutely right - it would be an uphill battle because Troopmaster (among others) has been around for a long time. At the same time, however, I see that as an advantage. Its a chance to build something from the ground up with the modern features that you really need, rather than a bunch of bloat from old or outdated features. Another reason it would be something of an uphill battle is because I would start out at a very basic level, let people start using it, and then iterate (improve incrementally) based on feedback. So someone expecting to get what they currently get with Troopmaster right off the bat would be disappointed. I'm not even necessarily out to kill of Troopmaster. There may very well be room for both of us (with my site being the more distributive/collaborative solution while Troopmaster continues to play to its strengths). Because it would start out basic and grow from there, I imagine that I would need to offer it for free initially, with the caveat that I would eventually need to charge for it so that I could spend more of my time improving it. (I would love nothing more than to be able to work on it full-time!). Its an uphill battle, but its a battle I'm willing to fight IF there is a sincere desire for the sort of features a web-based collaborative service can offer. I'm willing to stick it out as long as there is a core group of passionate users who can help me build something truly useful.

I think another key feature, as someone else suggested to me, would be the ability to export ALL of your data into Excel (or some other universally accessible format). The data is yours and you should be able to get it how and when you want. I'm not worried about my users taking their data to a competitor because I'm confident that I can build something they love. No need to be paranoid (on my part) about that

moosetracker - Thanks for your thoughts! I can certainly see your point. Integration and consistency is certainly a difficult thing to do well. There are so many systems to integrate with and they all have different requirements/formats. I think integration with ScoutNet is a must. I will probably defer that until I have a basic working model on a per-unit basis going first, assuming enough people agree there is a need for what I can build.

John - Thanks again for your thoughts. You make a good point about security and the ability to track who is doing what (as well as not allowing certain users to do things like delete advancements). I think a really modular authorization system would be key (e.g. user x can edit this, but only view that, etc)

Awesome. Thanks for the feedback Beavah

I should also mention that there are people that love Troopmaster, and that's totally ok! I'm sure that the creator of Troopmaster has worked hard to make it is. I just didn't care for it personally and think there may be others out there like me.

I'm just trying to understand if there is desire for an alternative, and if so, what features everyone would want to see.

Thanks John.

Troopmaster has certainly been around for awhile (I've used it a little and know plenty of others that do)... it just seems so archaic in places and outdated. It is certainly the most well-known though, I think. I know there are a few other alternatives. It just seems to me that they're all so confusing or overly complex.

I guess my thinking was just because Troopmaster is out there, doesn't mean it can't be done better I know its been tried before. I guess I'm just trying to get a feel for whether or not others are as confused and fed up with the hacked together programs that are out there as I am.

Thanks for the feedback! I'd love to hear any more anyone has. Is it worth my time? I'm certainly willing to invest it if so!

I'm a Scout enthusiast who also happens to be a programmer. I've noticed a few programs out there that help you manage your scouts and their advancements/progress, but MAN are they confusing and kind of slapped together.

Would there be any interest in a web-based (meaning that you go to a website and log in from any computer rather than install something on your computer) system that is super easy-to-use and actually makes your life easier in terms of tracking the progress of your scouts?

I want to make sure there is some real interest before I spend a few months building something.

What do you think? If you have a minute or two, I would REALLY appreciate any feedback you can give me here: http://scoutgroove.com/survey

I really hope this doesn't sound like spam. I don't mean it to be. I'm hoping to turn to you gurus to determine if there is an actual need out there!