Department settings¶
The Department Settings page (Admin → Department Settings) is where you configure your department's timezone, the invite link used by new members, and from where you send invitations.
Timezone¶
All session times across the app — what you type in when creating a session, and what members see when they scan a QR code — use the department timezone.
Pick the IANA timezone closest to where your brigade operates (e.g.
Australia/Sydney). Times in the database are always stored in UTC and converted on
display, so changing this is safe.
Click Save Timezone to apply.
Member self-registration¶
Firecrest does not require you to enter every member by hand. Instead, you share a per-department invite link and members register themselves.
Your invite link is displayed at the top of the Member Self-Registration card on this page. It's unique to your brigade and contains a randomly generated code that you can rotate at any time.
Sharing the link¶
Three options:
- Copy the link from the Member Self-Registration card and paste it into an email, Slack channel, or notice board.
- Click View QR Code to open a printable QR code page — print it and pin it up at the station. Members scan it with their phone camera and follow the prompt.
- Use the Send Invitations form below (recommended for new joins).
Rotating the code¶
Click Regenerate Invite Link to issue a new code. The old link stops working immediately. Use this if a link has leaked or you simply want to close the window on a recruitment drive.
Closing registration¶
Click Close Registration to disable self-registration entirely. The invite link will show "This brigade is not currently accepting new members." You can reopen later by clicking Regenerate Invite Link.
Sending invitations¶
The Send Invitations card lets you send Firecrest-branded invitation emails to prospective members. Paste one email address per line (up to ten by default). Click Send Invitations.
Each address is processed independently. The flash message after submission lists exactly what happened to each one. Possible outcomes per address:
| Result | Cause |
|---|---|
| Invited | Email sent successfully. |
| Invalid address | Not a syntactically valid email. |
| Disposable address not allowed | The domain is on Firecrest's disposable-mail blocklist. |
| Already a member | This email already belongs to a Firecrest account somewhere. |
| Skipped (invited recently) | This address was already invited from your department in the last 24 hours. |
The 24-hour cooldown prevents accidentally spamming the same person if you click the button twice or rebuild a list. It is case-insensitive and per-address.
What the email contains
The invitation email is sent from your Firecrest instance, identifies you as the sender by name, names the department, and contains the direct registration link. The recipient does not need to enter a code by hand.
What if I never want anyone to self-register?¶
Click Close Registration. Then add members manually:
- For each new member, go to Admin → Members → + New Member.
- Fill in their name, email, rank, and a temporary PIN.
- Leave the password blank if you do not want them to log into the web UI — they can still scan QR codes once their PIN is set.
You can also keep self-registration on and approve case-by-case from the Pending Approval list.
Scoreboard¶
The Scoreboard page is visible to every member. The Department Settings page has one control over how it looks:
- Top Attendees to display — the number of members shown in the Leaderboard card. Accepts any whole number from 1 to 20; the default is 5. Change it and click Save.
Lower numbers feel more elite (top 3, top 5); higher numbers give more members a chance to see themselves on the board. Pick whatever suits the size of your brigade.
The Honour Roll cards (Perfect Attendance, All SMPs Met) are not configurable — they show whoever qualifies, however many that turns out to be.