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Scout Suite
Uniform designer

How-to guide

Importing from your old system

Scout Suite doesn't connect to your old system. You export files from it and upload them here, so nothing needs your old login and nothing changes there.

  1. Upload your waiting list

    Export the waiting list from your old system as a CSV (a waiting section's member list works too). Under Settings, open the importer for your old system and choose the CSV or drag it onto the waiting list box, then Import waiting list CSV.

    Each row needs a first name, last name and a parent email (Email or Email1). Section, date of birth, phone, postcode and sibling are optional. Uploading the same rows again updates them instead of adding duplicates.

  2. Bring badge awards across

    In your old system, open a section's Awarded Badges report for the dates you want and download it as a PDF. It can be grouped by badge or by member. On the same importer under Settings, choose the PDF on the badge awards card, or drag it there.

    Before anything is saved you see who and what each name matched. Choose the section the awards belong to. Badges whose names differ, like Hikes (1) for Hikes Away Stage 1, are matched for you. Anything marked Check this match or No match needs a look.

    If someone in the report isn't in Scout Suite, pick who they are if their name is spelled differently here, add them as a new young person, add them as someone who has left (keeping their badge history), or skip their awards. A badge that isn't official, like a fun badge, can be added as one of your group's own badges.

    As soon as the report is read, What this import will do sums it up: how many awards will be added and for whom, anyone or any badge being added, and what's being left out. It updates as you change the choices below it. Nothing is saved yet.

    Mark them as presented is ticked to start with, because awards in the report have usually been handed out already. Each one is then recorded as presented on its award date. Untick it if the young people haven't had their badges yet.

    Press Review and import to see the final summary, with the awards for each young person. Nothing changes until you press Import, and Go back lets you change anything first.

    Awards keep the date from the report. Parents aren't emailed and badge stock isn't changed. Awards a young person already has are skipped, so uploading an overlapping report again only adds what's new.

  3. Check what came across

    Previous imports lists each upload with how many rows were added, updated, unchanged or failed. Pick one to see the rows that couldn't be imported and why.

  4. Bring in everything else

    Young people, contacts, team, events, sections, badge awards and attendance come in through Settings → Import. Download a template, copy the columns across from your exports, then upload it. See Importing a group.

    This is not the same as the high-level Switching to Scout Suite page, which is planning copy. This page is the actual import.

    Direct Debit mandates and logins from your old system are not brought across.

Setup

More in this topic

Districts, WordPress, importing from your old system, SSO, the API, privacy mode, and the assistant.

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