When beginning to use AWdb, it's important to enter old book information for clubbers to accurately reflect if a clubber is currently working in the middle of a book and to ensure the right awards trigger. If all the completed books are not entered in the database, AWdb may not be able to determine the correct book award for the next completed book. Once a clubber is created, assign historical books and mark sections without affecting the current year's points or stats by following the steps in this article.
Keep in mind that the Web App is currently easier to use during club time than for entering historical data, so this article describes using the Windows App in some situations. If you have not used the Windows App before, first download it, then run the executable on a Windows machine. (It will not run on a phone or tablet and will only run on a Mac with a Windows virtual machine installed.)
First, assign the historical books. in the Web App, if this is the first book assigned to a clubber, it will be forced to be the Primary. By marking each newly assigned book as Primary, it will clear the Primary and Current settings on the previous book. It can be helpful to start with the oldest book completed and work to the current book. If the book for the current year has already been assigned, then ensure that Primary and Current are unchecked for each historical book. Any books that a clubber is still working in should be marked as "Current", so the Windows App reports include it.
Tip: While working with historical books in the Web App, it can be useful to show the Handbook List within the member's Books tab, instead of showing the Handbook Sections. For more information about assigning books, including ones that don't initially show in the list to be assigned, or about switching between the two views, read the article on Member > Books.
To assign the same handbook to multiple clubbers at once, use the Windows App. Within either the Clubbers or Check-in module, select multiple clubbers then choose the "Assign Handbook" button in the toolbar or select from the right-click pop-up menu. For additional information about entering historical books using the Windows App, see this post on our forum.
To mark an entire book as complete using the Web App - With the book selected in the Members > Book tab, tap/click the Edit button. Check "Mark all required sections as completed", then choose an appropriate date, making sure it's not within the current year so that points are not awarded and so that the handbook does not show up in the Club > Year > Handbooks list. [Note: No awards will be generated for any sections marked by using this checkbox.]
To mark individual sections as completed in the past, use the Windows App. (Individual sections within the Web App are intended to be marked during a club's handbook time, so the app will automatically mark a member's attendance for the night when a section is completed. and use the current club date.) When marking historical sections as completed, use the Member Form > Handbooks tab instead of the Check-in Module. To open the dialog, double-click a clubber from the Clubber or Check-in grid. Then, on the Handbooks tab, set the Entry Mode to either "Speed" or "History" to prevent awards and points from being awarded, and set the "use date of" to a date in the past.
If sections are completed with no skips, or there are few skipped, use Speed mode. Click the last section to be marked and all the previous sections are also marked. Then uncheck any skipped ones.
If there are only a few sections completed, use History mode and set the dates to the actual dates the sections were completed. This may take too much time and not be worth the effort, but it's possible to do!
Entering historical data can be time consuming but stick with it – it pays off!