Den meeting planner
Build the agenda from the requirements your Scouts still need, with block times, materials and a coverage meter that tells a full meeting from a busy one.
A link and a QR code, no accounts at the door
Parent check-in and attendance
When you publish a meeting, DenBuddy creates an attendance session with a public check-in link and a QR code. A parent scans it at the door and marks their Scout present, with no account and no app. Check-ins more than fifteen minutes after the start time are marked late automatically.
Free for one den, forever. Reads always; writes only when you press Send.
Publish, then print the QR once
The check-in link exists only after a meeting is published, so a draft agenda is never reachable by a link. Print the QR for the door, project it, or paste the link into your den's group message. Parents who arrive late can still use it.
What the public page can and cannot show
The check-in page is built to be seen by anyone who walks past it. It is parent-mediated by design and carries no youth data that could identify a child to a stranger.
- No login, and no way to create an account from it.
- No full last names and no internal Scout identifiers.
- No messaging, no photos and no contact details.
- The token can be rotated at any time if a link gets out.
Late, absent and the make-ups that follow
A check-in after the fifteen minute grace window is recorded as late rather than present, so you are not adjusting it by hand later. Anyone who never checked in is listed as absent on the record sheet after the meeting, together with what they missed, which becomes the make-up list for the next plan.
You are still in charge of the roll
The leader's run view shows live check-in counts next to the agenda, and you can mark anyone present, late or absent yourself. Attendance across every meeting is reviewable in one place, so the mid-year question about who has been missing has an answer.
The rules this feature works inside
- DenBuddy reads Scoutbook Plus always, and writes back only when you press Send.
- Scouts have no accounts, and nobody can message a Scout.
- A den leader sees their own den. A parent sees their own Scout.
Questions leaders ask about this
Do parents need a DenBuddy account to check in?
No. The check-in page is public and needs no account, no app and no password.
Can a Scout check themselves in?
Check-in is meant to be done by a parent or the adult who brought them. Scouts cannot have DenBuddy accounts, so there is nothing for a child to sign in to.
What if the meeting place has no signal?
Take the roll in the run view when you get back to signal, or mark everyone yourself. Check-in is a convenience, not the only way in.
Is the check-in link reusable?
Each published meeting gets its own token, and you can rotate it. Print the QR for the meeting, not for the year.
Related features
Advancement gap analysis
A per-Scout, per-requirement view of the whole den, with Bobcat first and a clear answer to the only question that matters in April: who is ready for rank.
Scoutbook Plus import
The DenBuddy Sync extension reads your den from Scoutbook Plus in your own browser session and brings it into DenBuddy. Reads always; writes only when you press Send.
Akela, the AI meeting assistant
Describe the night you have and Akela proposes blocks built from your den's open requirements, with materials and a leader script. It is optional.
Community plan library
Browse plans other leaders have published, fork one into your own meeting, and share yours back with every Scout name, den and date scrubbed out.
Plan your next den meeting with DenBuddy
Publish your next meeting and let the QR take the roll.
Free for one den. No credit card. Works with Scoutbook Plus.