Unit settings and features

This guide shows pack leaders how to update the pack's name and logo, set when the school year starts, connect the pack calendar, set event reminder timing, and choose which ScoutKeep features the pack uses.

Only leaders whose role includes the Manage adults, roles, and access permission can see Unit details, Features, Integrations, and Calendar in the settings menu. Other leaders see only their own Account and Notifications, plus Payment methods if they manage finances. See Roles and permissions.

Find the settings

1. Switch to Manage Pack at the top of the portal.
2. Select Settings in the menu.
3. Choose Unit details, Features, or Calendar from the settings menu.

The same menu has Account and Notifications for your own sign-in and messages (see Your account and sign-in), Integrations for Slack (see Connecting Slack), the website pages (see Your pack website), and Payment methods (see Finance and PayPal).

Update your unit details

The Unit details page holds your pack's name and logo.

1. Under Name and organization, enter the Unit name. It appears in the portal and in the unit chooser.
2. If you like, add the Chartered organization (optional) and Council (optional). Enter your council's name and number; families' health forms are filled in with it.
3. Select Save unit details.

The page also shows your Portal address. Changing the unit name doesn't change this address or your website address, and your website's name is set separately under Branding.

Set your school year

Under School year, choose the month in Starts in and the day in On day, then select Save school year. New packs start on August 1.

ScoutKeep uses this date, in your unit's time zone, to decide:

• which year's dens are current, and the start date for dens it creates for a new year,
• when current records end when you prepare the next school year (see Managing families and Scouts),
• which year's health forms count as turned in, and
• which dates each program year covers in Engagement analytics.

The new date applies from next school year: dens you've already set up keep their dates, and current records end the day before the new start when you prepare next year. ScoutKeep won't save a date that would change which school year is happening now, because this year's dens and health forms would stop counting. For example, in October you can move an August 1 start to September 15, but not to November 1.

Add a logo

Under Unit logo, select Upload logo and choose a PNG, JPG, or WebP image up to 5 MB. The logo appears on your website and in the portal, shown in full without cropping, and saves right away. Use Replace logo or Remove logo to change it later.

Connect your calendar

ScoutKeep doesn't create events itself. Your events come from a calendar you already keep, such as Scoutbook or another calendar with an ICS subscription link. Keep adding and editing events there, and ScoutKeep picks up the changes.

1. Open Settings, then Calendar.
2. Under Calendar source, paste the link into ICS subscription URL. It must be a public link that starts with https, with no username or password in it.
3. Select Save and check calendar. ScoutKeep loads the calendar right away to make sure it works.

Once connected, the section is marked Connected and shows when events were last updated. ScoutKeep checks the calendar every 15 minutes; select Refresh now to pick up a change right away. If the last check failed, you'll see when and why.

To switch calendars, paste a new link into Replace ICS subscription URL and save. To stop using a calendar, select Disconnect calendar. Attendance records stay as they are.

Tip: Only use a calendar meant to be your pack's public calendar, since its events appear to families. The link itself stays private.

Let families subscribe

After a calendar is connected, a Calendar subscriptions section appears. Select Turn on subscriptions so families can add the pack's events to Google Calendar or another calendar app. Anyone with the subscription link can see the events, whether or not your website is published. Select Turn off subscriptions to stop it; calendars that already subscribed stop getting updates. Families can learn how to subscribe in Calendar and RSVPs.

Set the time zone and reminder timing

Also on the Calendar page:

• Unit timezone sets the time zone used to show event dates and times, and to decide what today's date is for den rosters and your school year. Choose yours and select Save timezone.
• Event reminders sets when the pack's reminders go out before each event. Under Reminder times, select up to three of 1 week, 2 days, 1 day, 12 hours, 3 hours, and 1 hour, then select Save reminder timing. The default is 1 day. At least one time stays selected; once three are selected, turn one off to choose another. Adults can choose their own times in their notification settings. See Running events for more about reminders.

Turn features on or off

The Features page lets you choose what your pack uses, so tools you don't need stay out of the way. You can turn these on or off: Tasks, Surveys, Announcements, Prospects, Finance, Health form tracking, Public website, Member directory, Equipment, and Meeting minutes.

1. Check or uncheck each feature. Select Learn more next to any feature to see what it does, what happens when it's turned off, and what happens when it's turned back on.
2. Select Save features.
3. If you turned anything off, confirm by selecting Turn off features.

Turning a feature off hides its pages and pauses its messages, but keeps its data and role assignments. A few things to know:

• Recurring tasks and scheduled announcements stay paused when you turn the feature back on. Review them before starting them again. Messages that were skipped while a feature was off aren't sent later.
• The calendar and events are always available.
• Paid-event rules still apply when Finance is off. Turning Finance off doesn't make paid events free or clear charges.
• Announcements that link to a survey need Surveys turned on.
• With Health form tracking off, families can still find the health forms and how to turn them in. Only the turned-in status and its reminders are hidden.