Joining the Beta Programme

The Beta Programme lets your group try new features before they are released to everyone. It is a single switch in your group settings — turn it on and the features currently in beta start showing up across Scoutworks for your leaders and parents.

Where to find it

Open Settings from the sidebar and scroll to the Beta Programme section. You will see a short description and a toggle.

Only Group Admins can change this setting. Leaders and parents see the outcome of the toggle (beta features appear or disappear in their view), but they cannot turn it on or off themselves.

Turning it on

Flip the Beta Programme switch to on. The change is immediate — there is no confirmation step and no restart.

Once enabled:

Any feature currently in beta becomes visible to everyone in your group.
Beta features are clearly marked with a purple Beta badge so leaders and parents know they are trying something new.
You do not need to flip anything else on a per-feature basis. One switch covers the whole programme.
A Your active beta features list appears underneath the toggle, showing exactly which beta features are switched on for your group right now.

Your active beta features

Once the Beta Programme is on, the settings card expands to show every beta feature your group currently has access to. Each one is listed with a short, friendly description so you can tell at a glance what it does and who it is for.

The list updates on its own — you do not need to refresh the page. If a beta feature is rolled out to your group, it appears here. If we pull a feature back, it disappears.

If your group is enrolled but the list says No beta features active for your group yet, that means we have not switched any beta features on for your group at the moment. Sometimes we roll a beta out to a small handful of groups first to gather early feedback before opening it up to the rest of the programme — when your turn comes round, the feature will show up here without you needing to do anything.

What counts as a beta feature

Beta features are ones we have built and want real groups to use, but which we are still polishing based on feedback. They range from whole new areas of Scoutworks to faster ways of doing something you already do. The Your active beta features list above is always the accurate picture of what your group has right now — as features settle in they graduate out of beta and become available to every group, and new ones take their place.

Not every beta feature shows up at once — we sometimes roll them out to a handful of groups first before making them available to all beta groups. If you hear about a beta feature another group is testing and do not see it yourself yet, that is usually why.

What to expect when it is on

What might happen	Why
The feature looks a bit different next week	We are iterating based on feedback from beta groups
A feature gets removed	Not every beta makes it to general release — if something does not work, we pull it
You are asked for feedback	We often send a short note inviting beta groups to share what they think
Small things break occasionally	Beta features have had less real-world use — please tell us when something goes wrong

Turning it off

Flip the same switch back to off. Beta features disappear from your group immediately. Anything you created while beta was on — events, emails, settings — stays in place; only the beta-only UI goes away.

What leaders and parents see

Leaders with access to beta-gated features see them alongside the rest of Scoutworks once the admin has opted in, marked with the Beta badge.
Parents see any parent-facing beta features the same way, with the same badge.
If someone tries to open a beta feature before the admin has opted in, they see a preview screen explaining what the feature does and a note that their group admin needs to turn on the Beta Programme.

What's next

Group Settings — other group-wide settings an admin can configure.
Managing Users and Roles — who in your group can change settings like this one.