Program Builder Online Users Guide

Transcription

1 Program Builder Online Users Guide Welcome! Programs Builder Online is a web-based program planning tool designed to make it easier for leaders to plan outings and weekly meetings. The tool allows leaders to build, save, print and programs as well as search for activities that might support a specific theme or topic. You can also contribute your tried and tested activities for others to share! This user guide will give you step by step instructions as well as hints and tips on how to accomplish certain tasks efficiently. If you have any feedback on the system, we would be pleased to receive it. There is an option to provide us with your feedback by clicking on the Feedback link on the navigation bar. We are not able to acknowledge all feedback, however, we will take your comments and views into consideration as we progress this project. CONTENTS CONTENTS... 1 GETTING STARTED... 2 Accessing Programs Online...2 Username and Password...2 PROGRAM BUILDER ONLINE HOME PAGE... 3 Welcome to Program Builder Online...3 CREATING A NEW PROGRAM (Weekly Meetings or Outings)... 4 Program Builder Online New Program...4 ADDING or EDITING PROGRAM ACTIVITIES... 4 Program Builder Online - Program...4 PRINTING YOUR PROGRAM... 6 Program Builder Online Output a program to PDF...6 SENDING YOUR PROGRAM TO OTHERS... 6 Program Builder Online Send program...6 SEARCHING FOR ACTIVITIES... 7 Program Builder Online Search for an activity...7 Program Builder Online Search results...7 Program Builder Online activity name...7 CUSTOM ACTIVITES... 8 Adding a Custom Activity...8 Using Custom Activities...8 Program Builder Online Custom activity list...8 Program Builder Online activity name...8 CONTRIBUTING TO PROGRAM BUILDER ONLINE... 9 Stage Stage Stage

2 GETTING STARTED Accessing Programs Online Programs Builder Online can be found at: You can also find a link to this page on the front page of the Scouts Canada webpage: Username and Password In order to access the Program Builder Online you must register first by clicking the click here in the sentence If you do not have a login click here to register. Once you have registered you can gain access to the system by putting in your address and the password you supplied upon registering. If you have forgotten your password you can have sent to you by clicking on the link in the sentence If you have forgotten your password, click here. Help Hotline at SCOUTS NOW. Please note: Log in may take up to 60 seconds the first time you sign in. 2

3 PROGRAM BUILDER ONLINE HOME PAGE Welcome to Program Builder Online provides you access to all the functions of the Program Builder tool The page banner will appear at the top of each of the Program Builder Online pages. The navigation (Home, For Parents, For Scouters, etc.) take you to pages in the main Scouts Canada site. This navigation bar relates to the Program Builder Online pages. Use the Program Builder Online tab to return to the home page. The Personal Calendar allows you to scroll the months ahead and access the programs you have already created. Clicking on a highlighted date will take you to the program you have created for that day. These four controls take you to the listed functions: Build new outings and weekly meetings. 5 Recently 6 Future Viewed Activities This area keeps track of the activities that you have most recently explored. Programs This is a list of all the meetings and outings that you have entered 7 My Details This information is used as the From info when you send any of your programs to others by . The name can not be changed but you can change your address. 8 Activities of the Month Special timely activities will be featured here by Scouts Canada. Find an activity that supports your program. Do you have a special activity that you would like to share? Click here and enter the details. Check and edit the custom activities that you have already entered. When items 3,5,6,and 7 appear on subsequent pages, the information may be hidden. Simply click on the heading to reveal the details. Another click will hide the content. 3

4 CREATING A NEW PROGRAM (Weekly Meetings or Outings) Weekly meetings or occasional outings are started by clicking on Program Builder Online New Program presents the first step. The following notes will help you complete the form: 1. Use your mouse to hover over the icon to get specific instructions about what is required in each field. 2. Enter the start and end date for your program. This can be entered manually by typing in the dates or by using the calendar function (accessed by clicking on the icon). This can be a maximum of seven days. 3. Enter the start and end time for your program. If you have created a program before the system will remember your settings assuming that you will run a Section meeting at the same time each week. 4. Enter the title of the program. This is simply the name or theme of the program. (i.e. Weekly Meeting, Spring Camp, ScoutTrees Outing ) 5. Enter the name of your Group then select the Section from the drop down box. 6. Enter notes that are relevant for the leadership team in the Notes field. 7. Enter notices that you need to convey to the youth in the Notices field. Before you start creating programs for your weekly meetings you might consider creating some custom activities for those that are repeated every week. Beaver Openings, Grand Howls, Troop Opening Horseshoes, are typical of the type of custom activity that you can enter. (ADVANTAGE: Custom Activities can be flagged to appear on each new program!) Enter custom activities by clicking on View My Custom Activities and then on the Add Custom Activity button at the bottom of that page. (See Adding a Custom Activity later in this manual for more information). When you have completed this stage, click on Create program at the bottom of the form. ADDING or EDITING PROGRAM ACTIVITIES Program Builder Online - Program After you have created a new program or clicked on the date of a previously created program in your personal Calendar or you clicked on view beside the program listed under Future Programs you will arrive at this page. You are now ready to add or change activities. There are some points to note about the information displayed on this screen: The Program bar on the right hand side represents your program. The start time and the end time are displayed in the left, and the total time in your program at the bottom. To alter the time, date, title or anything entered to create the program, simply click on the Edit button at the top of the bar. 4

5 If you need to shift a program or series of programs to new dates simply change the date. Program Builder Online allows several programs to be assigned to the same date and time. The program that was originally set for that date can be reschedule to its new date later. To delete the entire program, click the Delete button. You will be prompted to confirm that you wish to permanently delete the program. To add an activity that is already described in Program Builder Online select: Note: You can also search your custom Activities using this tool. To add an activity that you have already entered as a Custom Activity select: To add a new custom activity select: You can see the details of any activity that you have added by clicking on the activity in Program column. To return to the original content of the Program Builder Online Program page, click on Save Changes at the bottom of the Program column. Activities can be moved to a different time by clicking and dragging the green box up and down the bar. The time in the top right corner of the green box alters as it is dragged. To edit the duration or notes of the activity click on the Edit link in the bottom right corner of the green box. To delete the activity, click the in the top right of the green box. You will be prompted to confirm that you wish to permanently delete the activity from the program. Remember! You must click on Save Changes if you make any changes to the activities. Note that the Save Changes button is not activated until there are changes or you have viewed the details of an activity. To print your program click on To send this program to others click on 5

6 PRINTING YOUR PROGRAM On the Program Builder Online Program page select Program Builder Online Output a program to PDF offers several options: Output a program summary to pdf. Output a program summary, and activity sheets (one per activity) to pdf. Output program with activity sheets and resources. Note: 1. The program (regardless of the option you select) is displayed as a PDF document. You will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the files. Details of how to obtain Adobe Acrobat Reader (which is a free resource) are available on this page. 2. You must disable any popup blocker software that you have running. 3. The PDF document will load in a separate window. SENDING YOUR PROGRAM TO OTHERS On the Program Builder Online Program page select Program Builder Online Send program has several fields to fill. Make sure the Reply Address has the address you want others to respond to. The default value is set in My Details found in the right hand column of most pages. Enter the address(es) of the recipient(s) in the To Address: Enter the addresses directly using a new line for each address. and/or Select recipients from the Contacts list. and/or Use the Add new contact fields to add a recipient to the To address and the Contact list To remove a recipient from the To address list simply highlight the address and use the delete key. (Remove the blank line as well!) 6

7 SEARCHING FOR ACTIVITIES Program Builder Online Search for an activity allows you to search for possible activities that support the current program you are planning. Only enter information in the various fields that you think is critical. (e.g. Checking Cubs will ensure the suggested activities are appropriate for youth that age) If you do not care what is used for a particular field then leave the field blank or at the default setting. Notes: 1. If you make a selection in the Section area, the content of the Program drop down will be limited to the program areas of that section. 2. There is the opportunity to search for custom activities that you have entered as well as the Program Builder s collection. Program Builder Online Search results displays the results of your search. If the list does not contain an activity that is useful, you can search again with different criteria (to search again click on here in Click here to adjust your search criteria at the bottom of the list). To view the full details of an activity, click on the title of the activity. Program Builder Online activity name shows the full details of the selected activity. At this point you have several options: If the activity is not what you need, return to your search result and select another possible activity (to return to your search results click on here in Click here to return to search results at the top of the page). Add this activity to your program. If you have arrived here from the Program Builder Online Program page, this activity will be added to the program. If you started by selecting Search for Activities from the Program Builder Online home page, this option will ask you to create a new program. This is not a problem if that is your intent but if you already have a program created for that date you will end up with two programs that can not be merged. Print the details. 7

8 CUSTOM ACTIVITES Adding a Custom Activity Many of the regular activities that make up your weekly meeting such as openings, closings, or grand howls are not found in the core collection of Program Builder Online. There are just too many variations. Also, many groups have developed their own specialized activities. The custom activities tool lets you enter the details of that activity. One advantage of custom activities is that you can flag it to appear every time you create a new program. When all of the details have been added beside the various headings, click on Submit at the bottom of the form. (Note: Do not forget to put a check mark in box beside Automatically Include on New Programs for regularly appearing custom activities!) Using Custom Activities Program Builder Online Custom activity list lists the heading for all the custom activities entered. Click on the activity you wish to use. Warning: Clicking on Add custom activity button at the bottom of the page will start a new custom activity entry. It will not add an existing activity to your program. Program Builder Online activity name offers the following options: As with the activities you listed as the result of a search, if you have arrived here from the Program Builder Online Program page, this activity will be added to the current program that you are modifying. If you started by selecting View my Custom Activities from the Program Builder Online home page, this option will ask you to create a new program. This is not a problem if that is your intent but if you already have a program created for that date you will end up with two programs that cannot be merged. 8

9 A PDF saved. file will be created contains all the details of this activity. It can be printed or Caution! This option will delete this custom activity from your list permanently. Program Builder Online Edit custom activity lists all the information that you originally entered for this activity. Any of the information can be changed for this one occurrence or for all occurrences in your programs. If you are changing this activity only for this occurrence change the name to reflect the difference! Custom activities can also be listed as a result of a search if you put a check mark after Search my custom activities: on the Program Builder Online Search for an activity page. CONTRIBUTING TO PROGRAM BUILDER ONLINE This button takes you to the Submit Activity tool. Stage 1 Complete each of the fields of this first stage. Use your mouse to hover over the question mark to get specific instructions for each field. Complete each field in a clear and concise manner. Avoid the use of jargon. Provide all of the required paper resources to support the activity (by uploading them to the system). If you do not have the resource in an electronic format, please indicate this in the Notes to content manager field. If you do attach resources and they are scanned from a publication or are from a website you must ensure that the source of the attachment is provided. Typically this should be the name of the publication, page and year of publication or the website address. Under Fulfillment enter the program elements of the targeted section(s) that this activity completes. The Starting Age and Ending Age field allow you to suggest limiting this activity to older or younger members of a section. When complete, click on the Save and progress to stage 2. 9

10 Stage 2 For Program area(s) click on Modify selection and select all the program areas that this activity applies to. For Methods(s) click on Modify selection and select all methods that can be used to complete this activity. When complete click on the Save and progress to stage 3. Stage 3 This stage asks you to list all the equipment that is necessary to carry out the activity you are submitting. You may find the equipment listed when you click on Make selection found beside the Equipment tab, if not, then list the equipment in the box beside Other Equipment. Finally enter a check mark confirming that you are the author of this activity and then click on the Submit activity button. A confirmation page will provide you with a unique reference number. After submission, each activity is checked (and edited if necessary) by the respective Content Manager. It may be necessary for the Content Manager to contact you should clarification be required. When this process is complete the activity will be available on Programs Online. Please note that Content Managers reserve the right not to publish activities. 10