Frequently asked questions about CMS and DLOG (digital logbook)

1/ What is CMS?

The candidate management system (CMS), powered by tahdah, is a highly sophisticated database which allows Mountain Training's participants, candidates, tutors and providers to keep an accurate record of an idividual's training history. This includes everything from registering for a qualification or attending a skills course to passing an assessment.

The data held within CMS also allows Mountain Training to draw out accurate statistical data to help with developments and reporting to government about participation and diversity. All Mountain Training course providers use the system to record training and assessment courses and all participants and candidates use the system to register for schemes.

The mountaineering associations are all part of the candidate management system and use the system to record CPD records and events. These include:

• Mountain Training Association
• Association of Mountaineering Instructors
• British Association of International Mountain Leaders
• British Mountain Guides

If you'd like help creating a CMS profile, try watching the following video:

2/ How do I verify someone else's qualification(s)?

The best way to do this is to ask the individual to share their DLOG with you. You will then be able to view their experience history and any qualifications will appear as gold badges below their name. More detail can be viewed on the 'Schemes' tab within DLOG. Please note, you will only be able to see any training completed or assessments passed; other results are not visible.

3/ What is 'tahdah'?

The candidate management system is powered by tahdah, a software company, which hosts the database and develops it for our use. The software has been created specifically for awarding organisations, training providers, candidates and participants to manage their training, qualifications and membership, among other things.

As tahdah grows, the number of national governing bodies using their software will increase, so if you hold other qualifications you may be able to manage more of your training and assessment records through a single portal – your tahdah account. For example, if the British Knitting Federation started using tahdah’s software to manage their candidates and you are a Chief Knitter, your tahdah account would show all of your Mountain Training qualifications and your British Knitting Federation qualification within one account.*

You will always have a Mountain Training account which will be separate (but linked) to your tahdah account and Mountain Training and the associations will continue to develop the system for you. You will also benefit from developments that tahdah make to the system for the benefit of all its users.

*This example is fictitious and used to illustrate the possibilities without raising anyone’s hopes about specific NGBs.

4/ How can I view my defer / fail report on CMS?

You can view your defer/fail report by navigating to the course report:

• Log in to CMS;
• Click on your username (top right) then click ‘Go to your account’;
• Click on the ‘Awards & Training’ tab, then select ‘Training Records’ to filter the results;
• Scroll down to find the course, then click on the arrow at the end of the row, then select 'View Course Report' – this will open your course report;
• Click on the ‘Results’ tab;
• Click on the ‘Print’ icon to open the pdf – you can then print or save the pdf.

5/ How can I access Premium features on tahdah?

Premium features are available to members of the Mountain Training Association. Members of the association hold or are working towards one of our qualifications and, as well as Premium features, can access CPD workshops, peer led training evenings, regional events, gear deals and discounts and a quarterly magazine, among other benefits. Premium features allow you to do more with your account, beyond the minimum required by Mountain Training. Both the standard and premium accounts will develop over time as new features are added by either Mountain Training, tahdah or the associations.

6/ How can I change my Direct Debit details through CMS?

You can’t do this in CMS – you need to go to gocardless.com and sign in there to change your Direct Debit details.

7/ Who is responsible for the security of the data in CMS?

Mountain Training UK and Ireland is the data controller and Tahdah Verified Ltd are the data processor. They both have responsibilities as defined by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and are both committed to maintaining the safety and integrity of all data on the system. More more information please read our privacy policy.

8/ How can I update my email preferences?

You can manage your email preferences and opt in or out of various types of email. Some are essential and this is clearly explained on the Email Subscriptions page. Click on your username (top right), then Go to your account, 'All Settings', then Email Subscriptions.

9/ Is my data secure?

The database that holds all of our candidate and participant data (that sits behind the CMS) is hosted by Tahdah Verified Limited (tahdah) using Amazon Web Services. Both tahdah and Mountain Training UK and Ireland are compliant with current UK data protection legislation. Additionally tahdah regularly invest in penetration testing to check and challenge the security of the system.

We have a strong working relationship with tahdah and continue to support the development of the software and their expansion as a company.

We have a contract with tahdah which details our respective responsibilities and a service level agreement to support this on a day to day basis. We also have a disaster recovery plan which will enable us to continue administering our candidates and providers, to a limited extent, in the event of a disaster.

The database is backed up on a daily basis by tahdah and by Mountain Training on a monthly basis. We encourage candidates that use DLOG, to download a csv of their entries regularly, appropriate to the level of new information being entered, as an additional back up option.

1/ What activities can I record in DLOG?

There are currently 14 activities that you can log:

• Indoor Climbing
• Trad Climbing
• Sport Climbing
• Winter Climbing
• Outdoor Bouldering
• Alpine Climbing
• Scrambling
• Lowland Walking
• Walking
• Winter Walking
• International Trekking
• Skiing
• Via Ferrata
• Rock/Water Activities

These activities are directly relevant to the schemes we administer and in many cases are part of the prerequisite experience for registration, training or assessment. We have no plans to add other activities to DLOG.

2/ How do I create an entry on DLOG?

Watch the video:

Top tips for adding climbing entries:

• Select the appropriate discipline to start to process – for example Trad, Sport, Outdoor Bouldering or Winter Climbing (if you create an entry in the wrong discipline it's not possible to change the discipline later).
• Use the search box to search for the route name, crag name or area.
• If you search for a crag with a common name (e.g. Raven Crag), a variety of options appear in a list on the left-hand side, each with a sample climb name, the crag name and a + button on the right. The options will usually have a qualification (e.g. Raven Crag (Langdale)). Be careful to select the correct one and click on the + sign to the right of any climb on the correct crag, even if the noted climb is not the one you want, as this can be amended during the next stage.
• If searching for a popular crag is unsuccessful, it’s likely that it’s listed in a way you might not have expected. Thus searching for Rannoch Wall will be unsuccessful (unnecessary sub-divisions are avoided), but a search for Buachaille will work (even ‘buach’ will work).
• Spellings and hyphenated formats are particularly tricky in Scotland with all those Gaelic names. Those used in DLOG are as on OS maps and in the guidebooks, except that no accented letters are used (they just make things far too complicated). If it’s too daunting to search for a whole name, try using a part of it (e.g. searching for sneach will find Coire an t-Sneachda).
• The search function is not case sensitive.
• In case of doubt, avoid being too precise with the search term, just in case the name is not spelt exactly how you think. Thus ‘Raven’ will find ‘Raven Crag (Langdale)’ (amongst many others) but ‘Ravens’ or ‘Raven’s’ will not.
• If a climb name is relatively uncommon (e.g. Little Chamonix) just search for that and you’ll get straight there. Similarly for uncommon crag names. The trickiest things to find are actually climbs with common names, particularly if they are on crags with common names. That’s when you have be sure you’re selecting the correct Area.

See other questions for guidance on adding new climbs and crags to the database.

3/ What are 'personal reflective comments' and where do I record them?

Mountain Training currently requires assessment candidates to have reflective comments recorded in DLOG for the Foundation Coach, Development Coach, Rock Climbing Instructor, Climbing Wall Instructor and Climbing Wall Development Instructor qualifications. Reflecting on experience is an important part of an instructor’s development. Although feedback from others can be very useful it is important we can also independently consider our experiences in relation to the desired outcome.

The key aim of undertaking this reflection (and adding comments to DLOG) is to identify and reflect on areas of practice from the relevant Mountain Training syllabus in order to develop fluency. Being able to effectively analyse experience can be challenging but a few critically analysed sessions are of great value in identifying potential improvements for the future. When making these comments you should ask yourself the following questions and outline your responses:

• What are the desired aims and objectives of the session?
• What were the actual outcomes of the session?
• What was successful and less successful (reference the relevant Mountain Training syllabus) in your delivery of the session?
• What would you change to improve the outcome?

Your responses can then be added into DLOG in the comments section of the relevant DLOG entry.

4/ How do I edit or delete a DLOG entry?

Watch the video:

• Within DLOG, click on the 'Records' tab.
• Use the filtering options to find the record you want to edit/delete.
• To delete a record (or multiple records) click on the small tick box at the end of the row, then scroll down and click 'Delete'.
• To edit a record, click on the i button at the end of the row, then click on the relevant pencil symbol to make any amends.

5/ How do I add a GPX file to a DLOG record?

Watch the video:

If you are a member of the Mountain Training Association you will have access to Premium features on CMS:

• Select the activity you would like to add.
• In the 'Or create from GPX' box, click 'Browse' and find the GPX file on your device.
• Click 'Upload'.
• The database will use the information contained within the GPX file to fill in parts of the record.
• Add any additional information including comments.
• Click 'Save'.

If you are not a member of the Mountain Training Association you will need to create the record as per the instructions in question 2 and then:

• Use the 'GPS Data' box at the bottom of the page to upload your GPX file.
• Click 'Save'

6/ How do I import my UKC logbook to DLOG?

Full details of this process can be found here: Importing UKC Logbooks

7/ When should I use the 'flagged' function?

This is a good way to highlight your best walks or climbs; the ones that meet the registration or assessment requirements of the qualification.

For example, for Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor registration you should flag your best 30 or so multi-pitch trad climbs at VS 4c. This draws attention to the entries you consider most relevant.

8/ Who can use DLOG?

Any candidate or participant that registers for a qualification or skills scheme with Mountain Training gets access to DLOG for life with no additional charge.

If you are considering attending one of Mountain Training’s courses in the future it’s a good idea to register early and start recording your experience.

9/ Who can see my DLOG?

To start with, only you and the administrators at Mountain Training can see your DLOG. You can choose to make your DLOG public by editing the privacy settings within your account (click your username, then Go to your account, then All Settings, then Privacy).

Once you have booked onto a course, the course director will be able to view your DLOG. This is so that they can review your experience and give you feedback during the course.

You can also choose to share your DLOG with another person on the system for a set amount of time. To do this, visit the 'Share' tab within DLOG.

10/ Do I have to upload my experience to DLOG?

Ideally yes, because it's the most efficient way for the course director to review your experience. There are three options:

• Create individual entries for every walk/climb, following the instructions in Q2 above.
• Upload documents to the Files tab in DLOG. These could be Word documents, an Excel spreadsheet or a photo or scan of a paper logbook.
• Combine the two: upload your historic experience and then start adding new entries directly into DLOG.

However you choose to record your experience, please make sure it is easy to identify your best entries (consider using the Flag function to highlight certain walks/climbs/sessions) and make sure the course director knows where to find it.

11/ How do I record a multi-day expedition on DLOG?

There are two options:

• Create one entry to cover the whole expedition and select an appropriate duration from the drop down menu. If you select 'Quality Mountain Day' from the drop down, make sure you explain in your description how many of the days were QMDs, along with all the usual details about where you went, whether you camped or stayed in a bothy and what you learned.
  
  
• Create individual entries for each day and group them together using the 'Expeditions' feature. Here are two videos to help: