User guide

Everything you need to know to get started with Pounce HQ.

Getting started

Creating an account

Click Register in the top navigation bar. Fill in your first and last name, a username (at least three characters), your email address, and a password, which you enter twice. The password must be at least ten characters long and not an easily guessed one such as password123; a long passphrase works well. After submitting, you will receive an email with a confirmation link. The link works for seven days. Click it to activate your account, then log in. Your next step is to join a group.

If the email does not arrive, look in your spam or junk folder, then click Send it again on the Check your inbox page; only the newest link works. If a link says it is invalid, it was altered, was used already or has expired: if you already confirmed, log in; if not, ask for a new link on the page it takes you to.

If you were invited to a group, open the link in your invitation email. If you don't have an account yet, register with the same email address the invitation was sent to and confirm it as above. The register page names the group and starts with the invited address. You are added to the group the moment you confirm that address, in any browser, without waiting for a manager's approval. An invitation sent to one address cannot be used from an account with a different address: you are told so when you log in. It expires after 14 days.

Finding help

The Help link in the top bar opens this guide. You can read it before you log in. Group managers also see the Manager guide in the Help menu, and site administrators the Site administrator guide.

Logging in

Enter your username and password on the Log in page. Tick Keep me logged in to stay signed in on that browser. If you forget your password, click Forgot password? and enter the email address you registered with. A Check your inbox page follows, and a reset link, good for one hour and one use, is sent if an account uses that address. If nothing arrives, check your spam folder and the spelling, try another address, or ask a manager of your group, who can see the address on your account. A link that was already used or has expired says so. Resetting your password also clears any login lock on your account.

After several failed login attempts your account will be temporarily locked. For security, every failed attempt gets the same answer, Invalid username or password, whether the username exists or the account is locked, so a locked account does not say so until you enter the correct password. If your correct password is refused with a lock message, the message says whether your address or the whole account is locked and for how many minutes. If only your address is locked you can still log in from another one. You can also choose Forgot password? to set a new password, which clears the lock. Otherwise wait for the time shown, then try again. If you believe your account has been locked in error, contact a system administrator.

Your profile

Open your account page from the username dropdown in the top-right corner and choose Account settings. It has three sections: Name and email, Password and Appearance.

Name and display preferences

Update your first and last name at any time. Your username is displayed throughout the app and cannot be changed after registration.

Changing your email address

Enter a new email address and your current password in the Email address section and click Send verification. A confirmation link is sent to the new address, and a notice goes to the old one, so you know if someone else asks for the change. Your email does not change until you click the link. If you don't receive the email, check your spam folder or request another confirmation.

Changing your password

In the Password section, enter your current password and then your new password twice. Passwords must be at least ten characters long and not easily guessed. An email goes to your address to say the password changed, with a link to reset it if that was not you. The same notice is sent when you set a new password from a reset link.

Theme

Choose Light, Dark or High Contrast under Appearance on the profile page. The change applies immediately and is remembered for your account.

Your Home page

Click Home in the top bar at any time. It brings together everything you have going on in all of your groups:

Events across your groups — a calendar of events in every group you belong to, with a Month view and a List view of the next 90 days. Click an event to open it. The colors, which are also written out in a key under the calendar, are explained under Events & sign-ups. Past events are shown in gray, as on the group's own calendar.
My upcoming events — the events you are signed up for, with the job you chose, and the places you hold on a waitlist, marked Waitlist #N. Until you sign up for something it offers the next events in your groups that have room.
Events you manage — only if a group manager or another event manager made you an event manager: your upcoming events with that role.
My volunteer hours — your progress toward your quota in each group (or one All groups bar, see Quotas), and a View all hours button.
+ Log hours — the button at the top right, for hours you worked outside an event.

A banner at the top tells you when a membership request of yours is still waiting for approval. If you manage a group, banners also show hours waiting for your review and events that need more volunteers. A yellow banner is something waiting for you to act on or to know about; a blue banner is information, such as a membership request that is still waiting for approval. Until you belong to a group, Home shows a Join a group → button.

A red * beside a field label means the field is required; the form will not save until you fill it in.

Groups

Pounce HQ is organized around groups — teams that run volunteer events. You can belong to more than one group at a time.

Joining a group

Click Join a group at the bottom of the My groups menu, or click the Join a group → button on the Home screen (shown when you have no group yet). The Join a group page lists every group you are not already a member of. Click See events on a group's card to read its events before you join. You see what, when and where, and the job titles, but not who has signed up, and you cannot sign up until you are a member. Click Request to join on a group's card. Your request goes to the group's managers for review. You are emailed when they approve or deny it. Once approved, the group appears under My groups in the top bar. While your request is waiting, the group stays on the Join a group page marked Request pending, and Home shows a banner. Click Withdraw request on its card if you change your mind.

If your request was denied, the group stays on the Join a group page, marked with a note, and you can request again. Ask a manager of the group if you believe the denial was in error. The app has no message button and the group page does not list managers' addresses: use the contact details the group gave you, or the website on its page.

Your group page

Once approved, choose the group under My groups in the top bar. The group page shows:

My Quota — your volunteer hours target for the current period, and your progress toward it. If your site pools quotas, this counts your hours across all groups (see Quotas).
Approved Hours — hours that have been logged and approved in this group for this period.
Pending hours — hours you have submitted but not yet reviewed.
My upcoming events — events you are signed up for.
Upcoming events — the next eight events for the group. Events with open jobs show a Sign up button that takes you to the event page to choose a job. View all opens the full event list.

Membership status

While your request is pending you will see a waiting message on the group page. If your request is denied you will see a notice and a Request to join button to ask again. Ask a manager of the group directly if you need to discuss your membership.

Leaving a group

Click Leave group at the top right of the group page and confirm. Your sign-ups and waitlist places in that group's events are cancelled, and anyone waiting behind you is promoted. Hours you have already earned stay on your record. To come back, you must request to join again. A group's only manager cannot leave until another manager is named.

Contacting a manager

To write to a manager of a group, click Contact group manager on the group page, or on the group's card under Join a group. Choose the manager, write a subject and a message, and pick an urgency (No Rush, General Query, Important or Urgent). Tick Send me a copy if you want one in your own inbox. The Send message button stays off until the manager, subject and message are filled in and within their limits (150 characters for the subject, 5,000 for the message).

The manager sees your name and email address, so they can reply. Replies come by email, straight to your address. The app does not keep the message or track replies. You can send up to 5 messages an hour. If the group has no manager to write to, the button is not shown.

Events & sign-ups

Browsing events

From your group page, click View all next to Upcoming events, or open the group from My groups and click View all. Each event on the list shows its date, time, location and how many of its places are filled (for example 2 of 6 places filled), with a Full or Understaffed marker when that applies. Understaffed means a job has fewer volunteers than its minimum. Click anywhere on an event's card to open it. The Upcoming and Past buttons switch between future and past events, and the type menu narrows the list to one kind of event.

Signing up for a job

Click an event title to open its detail page. Events may have one or more jobs — specific roles or shifts. Each job shows its title, a brief description, how many places are open, how many people have signed up and, when it is short of its minimum, how many more it needs. Minimum is the fewest volunteers the job needs to go ahead; places are the most it can take.

Click Sign up on the job you want. You are confirmed immediately if space is available, and the job then reads You're signed up. You can hold only one confirmed sign-up per day. On a single-day event that means one job — if you are already signed up for a job, the other jobs read Signed up for another job and you cannot sign up for them until you cancel your current spot. A multi-day event can have jobs on different days (each job shows its day, or All days), and you can sign up for one job on each day; a job that covers all days uses up every day. Taking a seat on a job also removes your waitlist places on any job that clashes with it (on a single-day event, every other waitlist place), and you are told when this happens.

Each time you sign up, or join a waitlist because a job is full, you get a confirmation email with the event, job, date, place and the name of a manager to ask. Keep it, or print it, as your record. The waitlist email gives your position.

Hours for an event are credited after the event, once you are marked as attended and the organizers complete the event. If you sign up and then cannot make it, please cancel so your spot can go to someone else.

Canceling a sign-up

Open the event detail page and click Cancel beside your job. If there are volunteers on the waitlist for that job, the next person in line is automatically promoted and sent a notification. You get an email confirming that you cancelled, or left the waitlist.

Calendar view

The event list page includes a List and Calendar buttons at the top right. Switch between the list and a monthly calendar of the group's events (the calendar has a Month and an Agenda view, and shows past events too). Events are color-coded, and a key under the calendar spells it out: blue and a tick for events you are signed up for, amber and an hourglass for events where you are on the waitlist, green for events with open jobs (or no jobs yet), red and a cross for fully booked events, and gray for past events. Hover over an event to see its full name, group, time and state. The list view shows the group and the times of each event. The view you chose is remembered on that browser between visits.

Waitlists

When a job is full, you can join the waitlist. Click Join waitlist on the event detail page. Your position in the queue is shown as Waitlist #N so you know how many people are ahead of you.

If a signed-up volunteer cancels, the system automatically promotes the next person on the waitlist. You will receive an email notification when you are promoted — check your inbox and act promptly, as the spot is yours once you receive the message. When you are promoted to a confirmed spot, any other waitlist positions you hold in the same event are automatically removed if they fall on a day you now have a confirmed job for, since you can only hold one confirmed sign-up per day. If a spot opens for you but you already hold a confirmed job on that day, you are skipped, your waitlist entry is cancelled and you are emailed to say so. The same applies when you take an open seat directly: your waitlist places on any clashing job are removed (on a single-day event, every other waitlist place), and the confirmation message tells you which.

To leave the waitlist, click Leave waitlist on the event detail page. This moves everyone behind you up one position.

When an event has ended or been completed, its page offers nothing to do: no Sign up, Join waitlist, Leave waitlist or Cancel. Each job shows whether you were signed up or on the waitlist. If a job cannot be taken because you hold another job on the same day, it names that job.

Event managers

A group manager, or another event manager of the same event, can make you an event manager of one event. You get an email when it happens, and the event appears under Events you manage on your Home page and your group's page. On the event itself you see You manage this event.

For this event only you can edit the event, add, change and remove its jobs, remove a volunteer from a job, record attendance, complete the event, send a reminder, and choose other event managers with the Managers button. You see volunteers' names, not their email addresses. You have no say over the group's other events, its members or its settings, and you cannot create, copy or delete events: ask a group manager.

Ending the role is the same button: a group manager or another event manager of that event removes you, and the rights stop at once. You stay in the group and can still sign up for jobs.

Volunteer hours

Viewing your hours

Click My hours in the top navbar. You will see all hours you have earned or submitted, with their dates, descriptions, approval status (Approved, Pending or Rejected) and group. Hours from events are credited automatically and are shown with the event and job. Hours are shown across all your groups in one place. A rejected entry stays on the list with the reason, the manager who rejected it and the date. You are also emailed when a manager approves or rejects hours you logged, and a rejection email includes the reason. Entries rejected before reasons were recorded say so; ask a manager of the group. If a rejection was a mistake or the entry can be fixed, log the hours again.

Logging hours outside an event

As a member of a group you can log hours for volunteer work that happened outside of a scheduled event — preparation, follow-up, independent projects, etc. Click + Log hours on the My hours or Home page and fill in:

Group — which group to log against. The box opens on the group you logged for last; if you belong to several groups and have not logged before, you choose. The group of an entry cannot be changed afterwards: if it is wrong, delete the entry and log the hours again.
Date — the date the work was performed.
Hours — how many hours, from 0.25 to 24 for one entry (decimals are accepted, e.g. 1.5).
Description — optional, but a brief note on what you did helps the reviewer.

To enter several days in a row, click Save and log another: it saves the entry and opens a new form on the same group.

Depending on the group's settings, your submission may be approved automatically or may require a manager to review it. Pending submissions are shown with a Pending badge until approved or rejected. While an entry is pending you can fix it with Edit or remove it with Delete; once it has been approved or rejected it can no longer be changed. If you manage the group, you cannot review your own entries; another manager must.

Service statement

Need proof of your volunteer service? Click Service statement on the My hours page. It lists your own approved hours, grouped by group, with a subtotal for each group and a total, and you can print it or download it as a CSV file.

Period. Each group's section covers that group's own quota period (a month, quarter, fiscal year or calendar year), so Current period and Previous period match how the group counts your quota. When the site counts hours across all groups, one site-wide period is used for every group. Choose Custom range to pick your own dates for all groups at once; your quota is not shown then, because a quota applies to one period.
Group. Leave it on All groups, or pick one. Groups you have left or that were deactivated are listed too, because the hours are still yours.
Source. Each entry says where the hours came from: Event shift (credited when an event was completed), Self-logged, approved by manager (a manager reviewed it) or Self-logged (accepted without review because the group does not require it).
Pending and rejected. Hours that are still pending approval are not counted; a note says how many are waiting. Rejected hours are not shown.

The statement shows only your own hours and ends with the date it was generated. It carries no signature or verification code.

Quotas

Many groups set a volunteer hours quota — a target number of hours per period (monthly, quarterly, or annually). Home and your group page show your progress toward the current period's quota. Only approved hours move the bar. Hours that are still waiting for a manager to approve them are shown beside it as N h waiting for approval and count toward your quota once approved. Ask a manager of your group if you have questions about your quota or how hours are counted.

Where you see a status for each person, such as in a report a manager shows you: Expected is the hours a person should have by today if they spread their quota evenly over the period; On pace means approved hours are at or above that; Behind means they are below it; Complete means the quota is reached.

If you fall behind the pace needed to reach your quota, a group manager can send you a reminder email. It shows your hours so far and how many are left, and links to upcoming events and to My hours so you can sign up or log hours you have already volunteered.

Some sites count hours across all groups toward a single quota. When that is on:

Home and My hours show one All groups card in place of a bar per group, with your total, your quota, and the period dates.
On a group page, My Quota is labelled across all groups and shows the same total. A line under the bar says how many of those hours are in that group, and Approved Hours in this group shows the same share for the period. To see another group's share, open that group from the My groups menu; its caption says so.
Every approved hour counts, including hours in a group that has since been deactivated. Pending and rejected hours do not.
Your quota is set by the app administrator (some people are on a different profile from others). A group manager cannot change it, so contact the app administrator with questions.

Words used in this guide

Words used in this guide also appear in the app. Each has a plain meaning:

Pending: Waiting for a manager to approve it.
Time zone: The place whose clock decides where each day starts. Your site's administrator sets it.
CSV: A download that is a table you can open in a spreadsheet.
Understaffed: A job has fewer volunteers than its minimum.