Background
EvBoo allows Event Registrations to be linked with your Online Scout Manager (OSM) or Online Guide Manager account. OSM / OGM providers leaders with the ability to do all the administration of their Scout or Guide unit in one simple, secure, system.
OSM / OGM have different subscription levels, included as part of these is the ability to allow parents to sign their young people (your members) up for an Event. These events are stored in the Your Event section within Programme.
Using Developer Tools features (API) provided by OSM / OGM, EvBoo can create a connection with your Event and then automatically add (or remove) members into your EvBoo Registration. Once set-up EvBoo will query OSM / OGM every evening and reflect any changes to the attendance within your event.
Linking with OSM or OGM
Firstly, ensure you have created an event within OSM / OGM. Events can be found in the Programme section of OSM/OGM. The event should have the correct date and be located in the correct section for your EvBoo registration.
In order to gain the information we need from OSM, the EvBoo will request access to OSM/OGM. This will be limited to read-only and access to both members (so we can gain the details we need, name, date of birth, email etc) and events (so we can gain the attendance). When setting up the link, EvBoo will redirect you to OSM/OGM and (unless you are already logged in) prompt you to login. Please note the access you are granting. Access will typically continue and EvBoo will perform a synchronisation overnight, provided access remains granted. It is worth checking that the update is occurring, on occasions you may need to re-authorise the link.
What am I granting EvBoo access?
The access that EvBoo will request will be linked to the access that your OSM/OGM user account can access. As stated above we are requesting access to the following information:
- Members – Read only access and
- Events – Read only access
The scope of these entries will be linked to your account, so for example if you have access to multiple sections, then your link will give EvBoo access to those, however when you set-up the link, you will specify which section and event we will access. However please note, it is technically possible for EvBoo to gain access to other sections, but we will not do so.
If you wish, you could create a separate OSM account with reduced access and use that to connect to EvBoo.
How long does the EvBoo Event keep synchronising for?
The period when EvBoo will try and synchronise data from OSM/OGM is controlled by the event organisers themselves. EvBoo shall synchronise nightly for events that are active and have the ability for participants to be added, deleted or edited.
EvBoo is however unable to remove the external application access so you should do that yourself once you no longer want access to be in place.
Does EvBoo use the same External Application for more than one event?
On occasions EvBoo will use the same External Application for more than one event, however this will always be for the same organiser (i.e. a Scout or Guide County). In addition, if you have multiple registrations the same External Application will be used. Therefore, if you have more than one active link to EvBoo, please check before removing access.
Do I have to enable EvBoo to continually synchronise rather than doing a single one-off load?
EvBoo’s OSM/OGM link was intended to be used to continually synchronise event attendance and allow users to have one less thing to manage.
It is however perfectly possible to create the link, perform the first synchronisation and then remove (unlink) the synchronisation. Please of what happens when you remove the OSM link is detailed below. Please note, we recommend you unlink OSM in EvBoo and then delete the access as detailed below.
What happens when I unlink EvBoo from OSM (in EvBoo)?
When you click the unlink button in EvBoo, the linkage and access keys will be permanently deleted and EvBoo will no longer have access to OSM/OGM (however we do recommend that you also remove the External Application in OSM).
Any participants, leaders, young leaders etc that have been added to EvBoo (from the last synchronisation) will be retained and can be manually edited as if they were manually entered.
This does mean you can establish the link, import your participants and then remove (unlink) OSM/OGM and perform a single one-time import.
I have two (or more) sections in OSM/OGM that I want to link with EvBoo, how do I achieve that?
EvBoo was designed to provide a single registration to Scout / Guide section relationship allowing section leaders to manage attendance. We do understand some groups have multiple sections and some events allow more than one section type to attend (i.e. Beavers and Cubs). The simplest way of acheving this will be to register each section separately in EvBoo. We recognise that adds a small overhead, but we believe the benefits outweigh the negatives.
We are continuously developing new features and the ability to manage an entire Scout Group or multiple sections is on our list of enhancements to develop. As our development roadmap is always shaped by our customers, if you are interested in this, do raise it with your event organisers!
Monitoring Access to OSM/OGM
If you want to view and verify what access OSM/OGM has been granted, you can view when the link was last successfully used and also the access granted by following these steps.
- Login to OSM/OGM using the user account you used to grant access.
- In OSM/OGM click on the settings menu followed by My Account Details.
- In the My Account Details screen, select External Applications.
- In the list of applications, those with an Author of info@evboo.co.uk will be related to EvBoo.
- The last used column shows when EvBoo last successfully accessed your data using that connection.
- To view access “scope” you can click on the eye icon that relates to the Application.
If you established connection prior to 8th May 2022 and wish to review the access scope that has been used / requested you can click on the eye icon next to the application you created and shared the api keys for.
Removing / Revoking access to OSM/OGM
You can remove access to OSM/OGM by performing the following:
- Login to OSM/OGM using the user account you used to grant access.
- In OSM/OGM click on the settings menu followed by My Account Details.
- In the My Account Details screen, select External Applications.
- Remove the EvBoo Application(s) that you wish to remove.
- If you set-up access prior to 8th May 2022, you should also remove any EvBoo applications that you created here as these are no longer required.
All of the official EvBoo integrations will use the Author with an email address of info@evboo.co.uk.
In addition, we recommend you unlink EvBoo from OSM/OGM as well to stop EvBoo from trying to update. This can be performed by clicking the OSM/OGM logo on the Amend Participant Details section and then clicking the button Unlink OSM/OGM.
Access prior to 8th May 2022
Prior to the 8th May, OSM/OGM users wanting to synchronise OSM/OGM with EvBoo were asked to create an application and share the keys. We have identified that this is not required and updated EvBoo accordingly. If you previously created an EvBoo Application with yourself as the owner (as shown in the External Applications List in OSM) then you should now remove them.