From the first knot tied to final hours of service performed, the Scouting experience is a journey like no other. Scoutbook ensures not a moment is missed – tracking advancement, milestone achievements and all the fun along the way.
If you need specific assistance, please ask on the forums. The forums are available here.
A short parent guide handout is available here.
Logging in to Scoutbook for the first time
Parents need to be connected to their Scouts and invited to participate in Scoutbook by the unit Scoutbook administrator. This may have happened automatically by the system if you are on your child’s application as a parent or have either entered an application online or logged into my.scouting.org. If you have done either of those, go to http://scoutbook.com and login using your my.scouting.org credentials. You should see your Scout on your dashboard.
If you have never logged into my.scouting before go to http://my.scouting.org and create an account. Then use the credentials (userID and password) you create there to login to http://scoutbook.com.
If not:
If you are not sure if that has happened, please contact your unit. If needed, the unit your Scout belongs to will connect you to your Scout in Scoutbook. When they do, you will receive an invitation email from your unit similar to the one below. If you did not get an invitation, notify your Scoutbook unit administrator and they can send you one. If they need assistance, they can see our unit getting started guide here.
OR
If you have a Scoutbook account or a My.Scouting account you can attach yourself to your scout. Log into Scoutbook at http://scoutbook.com, with your Scoutbook or my.scouting.org account credentials then navigate to My Dashboard -> Administration -> My Account -> My Connections and click the new “Connect to your Scout” link. The search requires the Scout’s BSA Member ID, last name, zip code (as recorded in Scoutbook) and date of birth. Once the Scout is found and confirmed, you will be connected to your Scout with Full Control. Your unit leaders can give you the member ID for your Scout.
If the unit connects you, you will receive an invitation that looks like this:
If you did not get an invitation, notify your Scoutbook unit administrator and they can send you one.
In the email, Click the “Learn More and Login Now” link. This will take you to the Scoutbook page.
Click the “Login” button to login to Scoutbook. Log in using the account and temporary password. If you misplaced the password given to you, click on Forgot password? At the bottom of the login prompt.
There are a few reasons why someone would not be able to login to Scoutbook. 1. Passwords are case sensitive. If your password is A13BD you need to enter it exactly like that. a13bd will not work. 2. Password has expired. Each time you are sent an invite in Scoutbook a new temporary password is sent via email to the user/parent. Any previous invites automatically expire when a new invite is sent. If the parent finds more than one invite in their inbox they must use the most recent one in order to login successfully. 3. Your browser must accept cookies. Most browsers are setup to accept cookies. Scoutbook uses cookies to throughout the site. If the user has turned off cookies in their browser settings they will not be able to login.
There are more login helps here. If you continue to have login issues, contact your local council.
You can always get back to this login page by going to the website: scoutbook.com You do not need a special app for these steps.
After Logging In
After login in, click “My Dashboard”
• Which will bring you to these options. Note the handy tips!
Viewing/Editing your child’s profile
• Now click your child’s name (note the examples are for a Cub Scout, but they will be similar for Boy Scouts) This will open the scout’s Scoutbook page where you can see the scout’s rank, advancements, and awards.
• As the scout’s parent, you have full control and can edit the scout’s profile. Please click on Edit Profile and verify the information is correct. You may also upload a photo of your child to their profile.
• PLEASE do NOT change First / Middle / Last name or BSA ID number. These must match what you wrote on the official scout application. You are welcome to add a Nickname and contact information. Changes here will be reflected in your official BSA records for your Scout.
Viewing Advancements and Marking Requirements Complete
• You can view the progress your child is making to rank in real time at any time you wish by logging into Scoutbook.
• Your scout’s den or Scout leader will record requirements completed. You will record completion of family requirements or those assigned as homework.
BEFORE MARKING ANYTHING AS COMPLETE, TALK WITH YOUR UNIT LEADERS TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN SYNC WITH THEIR ADVANCEMENT PRACTICES
• Your scout’s first homework is to complete requirement with you, reviewing the pamphlet “How to Protect your Children from Child Abuse” in their scout handbook. This is a Bob Cat or Scout Rank requirement
• When complete, click advancement, then Bobcat (or Scout for a Boy Scout)
• Next, click #7 (#9 for a Boy Scout) Note all the requirements are listed.
• Parents enter the date the requirement was completed, and the Scout leader marks approved.
Scoutbook is setup so that as a Scout matures, the Scout can be tracking their own Scouting experience but – especially at younger ages – the parent guides that experience.
As a Scout completes requirements, they are marked ‘complete’ (check with the appropriate leader in your unit as to who should be marking them complete.) Then the appropriate leader marks the requirement as ‘approved.’ Once the requirement is approved, it is considered ‘signed off.’ More information on who signs off on different requirements is located in the Scout handbooks.
Parents who are also leaders – before approving advancement should confirm the approval policies of your unit.
Viewing Pack or Troop Information
Next, click your unit link
On this page you will see unit information, Upcoming events and a list of Dens or Patrols.
Click Upcoming Events to access the full calendar.
You can adjust which unit and calendar you are looking at by selecting the unit in the upper right and clicking on Calendar in the left hand window.
RSVPing to an Event as a Parent
When set as a parent in the upper right: Click on the event in the calendar you want to RSVP to. You should see My Youth Connection on the right where you can expand and select your Scout to RSVP
Linking the Calendar With a Third Party Calendar
If you would like to add the calendar to Google Calendar or another calendar you have that supports the iCal protocol, click on the link at the bottom of the calendar page; next to the calendar name. For more information on how to embed the calendar, contact the other calendaring software provider.
NOTE THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS MAY VARY DEPENDING ON 3RD PARTY APP and may change over time:
Clicking the link provides the URL you need to insert into the 3rd party app. There is a separate one for the pack or troop and each den or patrol. Once added to the 3rd party app, events in Scoutbook will automatically be added to your calendar on the 3rd party app.
GOOGLE:
-On your computer, open Google Calendar.
-On the left side, find “Other calendars” and click the down arrow. Select Add by URL.
-Enter the calendar’s address in the field provided. The address needs to be an ICAL link.
-Click Add calendar. The calendar will appear on the left side under “Other calendars.” Note: It might take up to 24 hours for changes to show in your Google Calendar.
iOS 11/12 CALENDAR
-Go to Settings > Mail > Accounts.
-Click Add Account > Other > Add Subscribed Account
-Paste the iCal link in the “Server” prompt. Click Next.
-Click Save (no user name or password required). Unit or Sub-unit events added in the future will automatically be added to your calendar on your iOS device.
MACINTOSH:
-In Calendar, choose File > New Calendar Subscription.
-Enter the calendar’s web address, and then click Subscribe.
-Enter a name for the calendar in the Name field and choose a color from the adjacent pop-up menu.
-To view a subscription calendar in Calendar on your Mac and on devices with iOS 5 or later without resubscribing to it, choose your iCloud account.
-To update your copy of the calendar when changes to it are published, choose the update frequency from the “Auto-refresh” pop-up menu.
-Click OK.
Some of the other things you can access on Scoutbook
Pack or Troop Roster
The Pack or Troop Roster will let you see the names of the Leaders and Committee members as well as a list of all the scouts in the unit (first names only).
Pack or Troop Forum
Is a private forum for unit discussions. There are also global forums where you can ask for advice from other scout parents and leaders not in your unit.
Send Message
Send Message will let you send an email to any leader or parent in the unit. It also allows the sending of texts. (to send Text messages, make sure you have verified your cell phone inside your edit profile page.)
Setting up an Account Your Scout Can Use
If you wish to have your child have the scout’s own account that they can log into. The parent should login to Scoutbook.scouting.org, click on their Scout, then Edit Extended Information. At the bottom of the page there is the link to add the Scout. The Parent enters the Scout’s email address and invite’s the Scout. The Scout gets an email with account info. The Scout accepts the invite and can now log in. Scouts who have done this will show up on the Messaging list. (if the parent doesn’t see the button, there are instructions on what to do after the image below.)
Here are the steps:
- Log into your own account on scoutBook.scouting.org
- Open ‘My Dashboard.’
- Click the ‘Child’ under My Family
- Click on your child’s ‘Edit Extended Information.’
- Go to the bottom and click ‘Invite xxx to Connect.’
- Enter your child’s email address
- Have your Scout log into their email account and ‘accept’ your invitation and choose a password.
If a parent does not see the Invite Scout to Connect button, it could be because the Scout already has been invited or has an email in the system already. Ask the Scout to go to http://scoutbook.scouting.org or http://my.scouting.org and click on forgot username / password and reset their username or password as needed.
The Leaders will never have access to the Scout’s email address or cell phone numbers. Additionally, the parents/guardians will be copied automatically on any messages / texts to the Scouts.
Text activation is done by a Scout them self once they have an account. Text activation is in the Edit Profile just like it is for an Adult.
Troubleshooting for setting up a Scout to use Scoutbook can be found here: https://help.scoutbook.scouting.org/knowledge-base/parent-cant-invite-scout-to-scoutbook/(opens in a new tab)