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Edit Badges |
BadgeManager Plus |
The Badge Editor screen is the most complex data entry screen in BadgeManager Plus, so approach it with care. The vast majority of the time you won't need to use this screen, because BadgeManager Plus ships with a very complete master badge database. Reasons you might want to use the badge editor screen:
 | You want to add a new badge that doesn't exist in the badge master.
(Are you sure about that? If it's in one of the reference books, it's
supposed to be in BadgeManager Plus. Drop us a line at FSC@tds.net
if you come across a badge or patch that you think should be in the master list. We'll
issue an updated database.) |
| You need to add an activity or two to an existing badge. Same comments
as above: If we missed activities, let us know so we can fix the master list. |
| You need to fix an error in the badge, requirements logic, or activities. Please do let us know about this as well. |
Your Troop versus Badge Master
Under normal circumstances you should not need to mess around with the master badge database. By default the Edit button and menu choices are disabled when you're working with the master badge list. However, you can change this in the Preferences screen.
Editing an Existing Badge
The data entry screen is illustrated below. If you're fixing typos or adding an activity it's not too difficult to use. Going all the way and crafting a complex badge can be a bit intimidating, however.
Click on a screen element to learn more about it.
Badge Name (Text)
Enter the name of the badge. [Return to Top]
Badge Group (List)
Select a badge group from the list. The list comes from two sources:
When you copy a badge from the master badge list, the relevant badge group is added to the Your Troop list. This is why you might notice that you start out without any badge groups, and then gain them over time.
You can select Edit-Badge Groups from the menu and add to or change the list as desired. The screen is illustrated below. The Sort column is used to indicate the sort order, so the groups can be placed in the order they appear in the official materials or in any other order that you'd like to see.
Requirements (Text)
Enter the requirements for earning this badge. [Return to Top]
Generate Narrative (Button)
This button creates a machine-generated description of the requirements. While you can use the description as-is (there's even a button to copy it into the badge requirements field for you), the real intent is to "read back" the activity control configuration to you, so you can verify that it reads the way you intend.
Activity Control (Options)
This section is used to describe the activity requirements to BadgeManager Plus so it can mechanically search scout badges in-progress and detect the ones that have been earned. This can get very tricky to encode correctly.
Note: In this screen, the term optional means that the scout gets to pick the activities. It does not mean optional in the sense that they are not part of the requirements.
Here are the four options:
No requirements. If the scout completes a single activity, the badge is completed. This is intended for specialty badges and patches that have multiple activities and no specific number that must be completed. The scout can complete one, two, or all as desired.
Specified number of optional activities. This option is usually combined with the Required flag. The scout must complete all of the required activities (if any) plus the specified number of optional activities. Remember that optional means "the scout gets to pick".
Badge uses activity groups. An activity group is comprised of one or more activities along with an indication of how many are required. Once again you can combine this option with the Required flag. All required activities must be completed, plus the number of optional activities.
Badges use just about every conceivable type of control in combination. Fortunately there aren't many of these. Someone has to have a chat with the national organization and ask "what the heck were you thinking?" when they came up with the requirements. How it works: You enter the net total number of activities that must be completed, required/optional whatever. You also specify how many must come from specific groups. You also can mark activities as required. To earn the badge the scout must complete all required activities, must total up within the individual activity groups, and must hit the overall target number of activities. Sheesh. That ought to earn a badge all by itself, under World Of Confusion.
[Return to Top]
Activity Control Help (Button)
This button displays a help screen that describes how to use each of the four different ways to encode badge requirements.
Add New Activity (Button)
This button adds a new activity to the top of the list in the grid. The activity, labeled New Activity, is added at the top so you can find it easily. [Return to Top]
Activities (Grid)
In addition to the expected Description column, there are several others that you must configure properly:
| Sort, controls the order the activities are listed elsewhere in BadgeManager Plus. You can use letters or numbers. Note that the column is "alpha sorted", which means numbers are not treated as numeric values. This is a more flexible form of sorting but it can cause confusion because, for example, 11 comes after 1 and before 2, as illustrated below. Rather than using 2-digit numbers you should use alphabetic characters to keep the sort order how you want it. |
| Required, flags the activity as unconditionally required. |
| Activity Group, places an activity into a group. Activities do not need to be grouped. See the previous screen shot for an example of activity groups. In the screen fragment below, one of the activities shows the Activity Group assignment button selected and ready to press. |
Illustrated below is the screen used to select a group into which the activity should be placed. Double-click the group name, or select the name and click OK. The Remove from Group button does exactly that--the activity is no longer in any group.
Define Activity Groups (Command)
This button displays the screen illustrated previously, where you can add or edit activity groups as well as specify the number of activities that must be completed within the group. [Return to Top]
Adding a New Badge
To add a new badge, select Edit-Add New Badge from the menu. After filling in the prompt, press New Badge and you'll see an empty version of the badge editor screen.
Note: with your Preferences set correctly you can add a new badge to the master badge database. This is discouraged because your changes and additions will be lost should you ever download a free update the master database from our web site. [Return to Top]
Deleting Badges
If you find that you've created a new badge in error (or, have copied one or more by accident), you can delete them. To delete one badge at a time, select the badge and then chose Edit-Delete Badge from the menu. To delete multiple badges, check the boxes next to their names, then click the DELETE button in the bottom of the main screen. [Return to Top]
