ctm GUI (on
windoze)Some extremely preliminary screenshots of the desktop application:
This will ultimately be a collection of tools targeted mainly at managing an LDS Boy Scout troop. It should also be generic enough and quite usable for managing a non-LDS troop, cub scout pack, varsity team, venture crew, girl scout troop or any other similar sort of organization.
Collaborative Troop Manager (CTM) will consist of a desktop and/or web-based application that will allow you to easily see which requirements a boy has passed off, and which he still needs to accomplish. It will also track progress on requirements that are more than just a single item of skill or knowledge, such as the service hour requirements or time in a leadership position. For the LDS troops, it will also let you know when a boy has passed off a scouting requirement that also fulfills a Duty To God requirement, or vice versa.
What advancement requirements you track will not be hard-coded into CTM. This is necessary because the BSA requirements are updated often, but it will also allow the other groups that we mentioned previously to customize CTM to track whatever requirements they ask it too, or to download a set of pre-arranged requirements. Nobody should have to repeat the work of typing those in once it's been done.
The collaborative part of CTM comes into play when you connect your desktop application to a central server and upload or synchronize your data there. Other authorized scouts and scouters will be able to view and even add their own updates to the troop record from their own desktop or web client. This centralized server and web service is also part of the CTM project.
Advancement is only one of the methods of scouting, and we hope that CTM will eventually be able to aid in planning, tracking, budgeting, and ultimately simplifying the job of managing a successful scout troop (or other similar organization). It could be made to fill out tour permits, manage a troop library, be an electronic quartermaster and track the troop's equipment, take care of merit badge counselor lists, you name it. There is no other Free software solution for a scout troop that does any of this right now.
Clients will be cross-platform with emphasis on Windows and Linux. The web client will be likely be XHTML/CSS/PHP5, and the desktop client will likely be Python/wxPython.
The central-server software will be a typical Open Source LAMP project, with MySQL and PHP5 filling out the M and P. SSL will be used for encryption ensuring data privacy.
Project hosting by:
ctm GUI (on linux)