Updating Patrols in Trail Life Connect

This guide covers the usage and management of Patrols within Trail Life Connect. Views shown are from the perspective of the Troop Ministry Liaison.

12 steps

Traillifeconnect

Patrol Usage

Patrols are used to organize several individuals into one group. Patrols are primarily utilized for grouping youth Trailmen together within their respective program Levels. Patrol names can be as simple as matching the Level name (Fox, Hawk, Mountain Lion, Navigator, Adventurer) or can be creative names decided on by the Trailmen and Troop leaders (Mighty Warrior, Screeching Eagle, Banana, etc.) Distinct Patrol names are particularly helpful to differentiate between multiple groups within the same program Level. (Red Fox, Gray Fox, etc.) In some instances, it may also be helpful to include the program year within the Patrol name. For example: - Fox - Year 1 - Fox - Year 2 - Hawk - Year 1 - Hawk - Year 2 - Mountain Lion - Year 1 - Mountain Lion - Year 2 - Navigator - Year 1 - Navigator - Year 2 - Navigator - Year 3 - Adventurer - Year 1 - Adventurer - Year 2 - Adventurer - Year 3 - Adventurer - Year 4

An individual account can only be placed within one Patrol and cannot exist within multiple Patrols.

Once names are established, Patrols can be used to filter/sort/organize the Troop members list (using the filter in the 'Patrol' column.)

Other possible ways Patrols can be used include: - Email communications (leaders can target email messages to specific Patrols) - Troop document management (view access can be limited to certain Patrols) - Announcements (messages can be designed to appear to specified Patrols) - Calendar events (participation in certain events can be limited to certain Patrols)

Adding/Editing Patrol Names

Expand "Troop Settings" on the left menu, and click "Update Patrols" (\*available to leader roles with the permission to manage Patrols)

The 'Update Patrols' page lists any existing, active Patrol names. To re-order the names in the list, click the 3-bar icon to the left of a Patrol name and drag it up or down the list.

To change the name of an existing Patrol, click the Patrol name. In the resulting dialog box make any edits, then click the check mark to save.

If a Patrol name is not currently needed, but you wish to keep it for future use, click the green check mark in the 'Active' column to set the name as inactive. If the Patrol name is no longer needed it can also be deleted by clicking the trash can icon to the far right.

To add a new Patrol name to the list of available Patrols, scroll to the bottom of the page. Type the desired Patrol name into the "Title" field and click the **Create Patrol** button.

Updating Patrol Assignments

Leader roles with the ability to update member Profiles can open a member Profile and click the **Update Profile** button.

Within the member's Profile settings is a field for selecting a currently active Patrol name from the drop-down menu. After selecting a Patrol name, scrolling to the bottom of the screen, and clicking "Update" to save changes, the member will now be part of the selected Patrol. If/when needed, this Patrol designation can be changed. (\*To completely remove assignment to any Patrol, click the 'x' next to the drop-down arrow to clear out the Patrol field; then click "Update" at the bottom to save changes.)

An alternative to updating Patrols, particularly for making the same change to a group of Trailmen, is using the "Bulk Member Actions" tool at the top-right corner of the Troop Members list.

More detailed information for using "Bulk Member Actions" can be found in a separate guide on the "TLC Help Documentation" page. However, this method allows you to select a group of Trailmen by checking a check box to the far right of each desired name in the list; then setting a new Patrol name at the bottom of the page which will apply to all checked accounts after pressing the button to **Process bulk**.