Blog

Youhere's goal is to sit quietly in the background capturing your check-ins, while you go about your work. To ensure this can happen, there's always plenty going on at our end.

April 1, 2025 - Chronic absenteeism

Saw this article that addresses chronic absenteeism in college. Can Youhere help? https://hilariusbookbinder.substack.com/p/the-average-college-student-today

February 6, 2025 - Beacon use

We were helping a customer get a beacon up and running for their check-ins. Here's what they wrote:

February 2, 2025

Upgraded the back-end database to the latest version over the weekend. Youhere is now safer and more secure!

January 22, 2025

We've been conducting tests of our beacon vs. GPS modes for verifying presence at check-in. Based on the results, we've made some updates to our site, emphasizing that our beacon is the most reliable mode for accurate check-ins with indoor locations. A phone’s location abilities---using GPS, cell towers, and local WiFi signals—--just aren’t precise enough for indoor check-ins. They will work to some extent (and we encourage you to give it a try at your location), but keep in mind that for 5-10% of your group, phones might show them as being "too far away" to check in.

November 26, 2024 - Attendance

Interesting article about class attendance: https://www.nextgenlearning.org/articles/attendance-as-performance-assessment.

October 27, 2024 - Marching bands🎺🥁

Quite a few marching bands signed up to use Youhere for attendance this fall. A few are also using our beacons for attendance. Makes sense for attendance at many different practice locations.

August 16, 2024 - Back to school season!

Youhere always gets busy in August as back-to-school season kicks off (at least here in the U.S.). We were helping a customer reset their password, here's a quote from part of their email:

June 25, 2024 - New beacons are here

The first batch of our new beacons have arrived and are ready for sale. The firmware is all new and the cases mesh better with the beacon hardware. Our attendance beacon offering is in great shape!

FYI: Beacons broadcast an Bluetooth signal that those checking-in need to be near, in order to check-in successfully. See this page.

June 4, 2024- Promoting Youhere

We've working on creating some new ads for Youhere. It's tough capturing the essence of a web-service in a single graphic. We love the way this one came out!

May 29, 2024 - A recommendation❤️

Found on reddit.com/r/professors (here):

I use YouHere for my 100+ student classes. It was designed by a physics prof for outdoor labs. You set the GPS checkin as well as the radius of the checkin area. You can also set specific/separate times for checking in and out. I, personally, love it, and it is well worth the $100/year cost (which my department covers as multiple profs are now using it). It doesn’t integrate with any lms as far as I am aware but it is really simple and user friendly.

Editor's note: Youhere will integrate with your LMS. Just export your gradebook into a CSV file with a column for 'attendance.' Youhere will insert your latest check-in numbers into this column. Then re-upload the CSV into the LMS. Works great with Canvas.

May 3, 2024 - Plan for use

We were chatting with a (college) teacher using Youhere for attendance in their class. Their attendance plan works like this:

I have my students check-in at any time during the first 10-minutes of every class. At the end of the term, I "curve" my attendance grade based on the maximum number of check-ins found. Everyone's "attendance grade" is scaled based on this maximum being 100%. Luckily for me, there's always a few students who attend every class!

March 29, 2024 - A compliment!🎉

If any of you post anything on the Internet, you know it can be a pretty brutal place. We are happy to report that we received a 5-star review for our app! They said:

Works really well for taking attendance. For classes, sports teams, can also do location based entries. Works really well, would definitely recommend. You can then download an excel sheet for tracking.

March 28, 2024 - New beacons

Some of you may have noticed on our beacon page that we're awaiting production of "version 2" of our Bluetooth attendance beacon. We just got a set of 5 boards for testing today, and so far so good. The internal console (for setting the beacon name and broadcast power) is much much better, and the board is based on an entirely different Bluetooth chipset. This is good news, meaning version 2 should be available by this summer.

March 12, 2024 - Download past vote responses

We've added a button that will allow you to download a CSV file containing responses to your past votes.

This can be loaded into a spreadsheet (Excel, Google Sheets, etc.) for viewing.

February 6, 2024 - We love your recommendations!

Received this email a couple of days ago:

And yes, Youhere works great for attendance in large classes.

January 14, 2024 - Everyone has a phone. Use them for checking-in!

December 21, 2023 - Fun promotional video

December 3, 2023 - Right to delete clarification

We've clarified our "right to data deletion" policy, which you can find here.

November 17, 2023 - Real-time voting comes to the Youhere app

You can now use the Youhere app to do real-time voting or polling of your group. Each of your participants can tap-in a vote, and they'll all get collected into a real-time histogram you can use to guide your gathering.

Click here to learn more; here's a fun promo video for it:

November 8, 2023 - Another Promotional Video

We made this video to help explain how Youhere can help you.

November 1, 2023 - Promotional Video

Here's another video about what Youhere does.

October 16, 2023 - Multiple choice exams

Teachers: don't forget that the same app used by your students for checking-in, can also be used to take multiple choice exams. Think: a bubble form right on the phone. Click here for more.

September 16, 2023 - Easy check-in dates overview

New! If you have check-in dates and times connected to an event, click the litle calendar icon next to the event's name. The check-in times you set will slide open for viewing. This is a quick way to check that all of your check-in days and times are correct. Thanks to our user John who suggested this feature.

September 7, 2023 - An email

An opening to an email from a customer asking about a Youhere feature:

Greetings! I have been using YouHere for a couple of years with great success. Thanks for the service.

August 28, 2023 - An email

A customer wrote us that a few of her participants transposed their first and last names when they registered with the app (so her roster was showing some 'backward' names). We advised her that the 'Flip' command found in the pencil (i.e. edit) icon next to a given participant's name will fix this with 1-click. She wrote back:

Love this! Thanks!

August 15, 2023 - Core Privacy

We're excited to announce Core Privacy, which is an enhanced privacy option you may use. It'll scramble your participants' names as they exist on our server. Click here for more.

August 11, 2023 - FERPA and Privacy

An email from one of our users:

I carefully audited your app and reviewed your privacy policies (nice job) before deploying [ed: the Youhere app]. Having some expertise on FERPA (as an attorney who has advised schools on the topic), I am super confident that the app poses no FERPA issues.

August 3, 2023 - Map search

Tip: Remember, as you set the check-in location for an event, click on the search icon (the ) under the map. This will allow you to search our database of thousands of cities. A single click will then automatically zoom and pan the map to that city, to get you close to where your check-in location needs to be.

July 17, 2023 - Beacon cases

We had a chance to stop by the facility that makes the cases for our beacons. Looks like our next batch will be light red. (We don't have much choice on the color, as we signed up to use the facility's surplus plastic stock that would otherwise go to waste 👍).

July 3, 2023 - Copy and paste your check-in data

A design goal of Youhere is to always make it easy for admins to get their data off the website and into for example, Excel. One way we do this is by putting a "Copy/Paste" button at the bottom of every data screen. Look out for it, for a quick way of copying your group's data and having it ready to paste wherever you may need it.

June 23, 2023 - New app just pushed out

We just pushed out a new version of our app that implements a much requested capability: to allow a group leader to collect a bit more information from participants when they enroll in an event (using the app). This could be something like an ID number, group name, or instrument played (in a band). The information will go into a person's 'tag' field in the roster (and in any data exports). We even implemented a way of validating input. For example, if you want a 7-digit number from everyone, you can set a rule to enforce this (to cut down on input errors).

June 12, 2023 - Summer updates

We've completed a bunch of (badly needed) back-end updates to the website. We're now working on updating the app with a few new features. Stay tuned.

April 13, 2023 - Transposed names

We are pleased that a lot of fraternities and soroities use Youhere to have their members check-in to the myriad of events they host. One sorority had the problem of a few enrollees with transposed last and first names when setting up the app (so their last and first names were also transposed on the roster).

You can always flip a first and last name in your roster, by clicking the pencil next to a given name and using the "flip (last,first)" option. We loved their thank you email, with the "sisterly" sign-off.

April 6, 2023 - Gatekeeper View

Some of our users like to monitor their check-ins in real time (like those at a check-in desk or entryway). For this, you can use the "Gatekeeper view" (which is under an event's orange "More" dropdown). Clicking the "refresh" button will immediately show the last 10, 50, 100, etc. check-ins.

March 13, 2023 - New look

The Youhere website got a site-wide facelift. We hope you like it! Also, we posted a case study from one of our users, in case you want to see how Youhere works for them.

February 11, 2023 - Coaches and Horticulture

We helped a coach get up and running with Youhere recently. They had a check-in location on a map, drawn around a tennis court! Another client has a check-in location around a student-experimental farm on a college campus.

January 19, 2023 - Nice note from a new customer

"Your system appears elegant, uncluttered, and is easy to set up and use. Thanks for your development work."

January 2, 2023 - Happy new year everyone!

A few of updates to report:

• We've moved our mapping service to Google Maps.
• Event and roster tables have fast sorting options on all columns.
• The event table has a new 'creation date' column (which can be used for sorting).
• If needed, you can block an enrolled participant(s) from checking in to a given event.
• Our VPAT, GDPR, and CIPA statements are posted under the "Uses" dropdown in the header.

December 22, 2022 - New app version pushed out

As we type this, a new version of our check-in app is being pushed to both the Apple and Google Play app stores. It has a new modern "dark mode" look:



Also, all of the in-app privacy notices have been updated and the menus have been simplified. The app is in great shape and ready to continue capturing all of your check-ins!

December 8, 2022 - From one of our customers

Quote from an email: "We have been using your program for a few months. I generally like it - its simple and effective."

November 13, 2022 - Payment options

We added more payment options. So, instead of just paying for 1-year of unlimited check-ins, you can pay by the week, month, year, or even by the number of check-ins you expect.

October 13, 2022 - VPAT

Youhere is in a lot of schools, so we're always taking accessibility of our app and website seriously. We've finally finished the first version of our VPAT document, which stands for Voluntary Product Accessibility Template. It is a document that explains how information and communication technology (ICT) products such as software, hardware, electronic content, and support documentation meet (conform to) the Revised 508 Standards for IT accessibility.

August 22, 2022 - Privacy

From a customer: "I love seeing the data privacy notes right in the app."

August 11, 2022 - Video tutorial

We made a short video (about 5 min) explaining how attendance is taken using Youhere. You can view it here:

July 13, 2022 - Helping out new users

The main Youhere landing page has been redone to (hopefully) make understanding how to start using Youhere a bit easier. It now focuses on what most of our users do: use a location-based check-in. Explorations on Youhere's other check-in modes have been moved to the "Uses" dropdown in the main menu bar.

June 11, 2022 - Nice emails

Glad we could help!

May 11, 2022 - Facelift

We spent the past month or so giving the Youhere website a badly needed facelift. Our regular users won't notice much, as most things look about the same, other than some color changes of buttons and a few more icons here and there to guide navigating attendance reccords. Internally it was an upgrade from Bootstrap 3 to Bootstrap 5, which will be a huge help for future maintenance of the site.

April 21, 2022 - Login with Google, Apple, or Facebook

We're thrilled that new users can now login using their Google, Apple, or Facebook accounts. This means easier logins to Youhere, and you don't need to create another password for another website! This greatly improves our privacy and security too, as we don't have to manage and verify accounts anymore.

April 10, 2022 - Happy customers!

Sometimes we hear compliments from our customers on how Youhere is helping them.♥️ Here are three that came in over the last couple of weeks. (We screenscraped them right out of our gmail account.)

March 22, 2022 - New App version

Version 3.0 of our App has been pushed to the App Store and Google Play. We fixed a few minor bugs, and made very clear data "Privacy notice" statements right in the app. Here is an example from the enrollment screen (see gray text):



We also added an animated circular progress bar during check-in, as shown here. (Notice the "easing" effect of the bar's progress.)

March 12, 2022 - Up time

If you're interested in our "up time," we've signed up with UptimeRobot to independently track Youhere's availability. If you want, you can see our uptime report.

March 2, 2022 - Google Cloud

We are thrilled to announce that Youhere has been migrated into the Google Cloud web-infrastructure. This gives Youhere industry-leading security and uptime. We're here and ready to capture all of your check-ins! (Thanks to AP for making this happen.)

February 12, 2022 - Interesting use-cases

We worked with two customers recently on some interesting use-cases of Youhere. The first was a parent concerned about their children's attendance in college. They have two children away at different colleges. The parent set up geofences check-ins at each respective school, and has asked their children to each check-in as they go to class. The second is a retail manager of a large grocery chain, in charge of a crew of people doing in-store demonstrations of new products. The manager is using Youhere to be sure the crew performs their demonstration shifts as needed.

We are always happy to see customers find uses for Youhere that we didn't think of!

January 8, 2022 - User search

We have a user with many attendance events. When needing to do a manual check-in for a student, they were having trouble quickly finding the student amongst their many rosters. At their request, we added a roster search feature, that will take the administrator directly to a student's attendance line-item in a given roster, as a result of a simple first/last-name search. (It's available to everyone now; see the "Participant search" option under the blue "Actions" drop down.)

December 9, 2021 - Up and running help

The content trigged by our "Try it" button (on homepage) has been completely revamped, to help new users get started using Youhere for attendance. We also revamped a short, downloadable PDF in case someone wants a printable set of instructions.

November 13, 2021 - Exams

After attendance, administering exams is probably the next biggest task for a teacher. We added exam-taking functionality to our App (i.e. the same App used for attendance). Here, the App is able to behave like an on-paper bubble form as shown below.



Instead of the paper form, participants use their phones to tap in answers. When submitted, the exams are immediately graded on the administrator's Youhere account. Detailed reports are also compiled and available. Everyone gets 100 free exam grading credits. After that, exams are graded at $0.10 per submission (so a class of 50 can be graded and processed for $5). You can find more info on this page.

August 1, 2021 - Contacting us

Of course, it's very important that you are able to contact us, but how? People seem to dislike "contact forms," and prefer to use their own email. But what address do we use? We tried an @youhere.org domain to look all "coporate like," but it means we have to do all kinds of tricks behind the scene to make that work. Why? Well, we have to set up an email account somewhere, then route all email to @youhere.org to it, then be sure replies from it get outbounded to look like an @youhere.org email. Messy!

We'd prefer to just use a gmail to communicate with you. Gmail is easy to use, we're used to it, and it's very reliable. So recently we just "gave up" on fancy email names, and put our founder's gmail as the primary point of contact for Youhere (see the FAQ under "Contact"). As always, you can also always chat with us at our Discord too.

July 18, 2021 - Beacons

Some of our customers haven't been able to use Youhere for attendance, because GPS coverage in their location is weak or erratic. This can happen the middle floor of a multi-storey building, or in a basement, etc. Others want a tighter bounds on their valid check-in area.

For these customers, we're happy to introduce a Bluetooth beacon to our attendance lineup. It broadcasts a Bluetooth identifier with a range of about 150 feet. (The identifier is just like what you might see when pairing your phone to a Bluetooth speaker for example.) The App has been upgraded to look for this identifier and only allow check-ins when a phone "sees" the identifier (meaning the phone is within range of the beacon). Here's our first batch of prototypes beacons we used for testing:



More information on using our beacons for attendance can be found here.

June 7, 2021 - Conversion rate

Youhere has quite a number of people come to the site, make an account, download the App, maybe enroll one person, then leave an never come back. Any ideas why? Were they just looking? Is our annual price to high? Anything else? Can you let us know what you think at our Discord?

May 9, 2021 - Video check-ins

During pandemic teaching, a lot of teachers used videos to deliver course contents. We wondered: is there a way of "checking in to a video?" Turns out, there is! The playback-time indicator in a video is a great check-in tag. How so? Well, suppose you are having your group watch a video about rockets. You could tell them about a clue to look for in the video. In this video, suppose our clue is "when does the rocket clear the tower?"



The playback-time says 4:22:54. This can be the "answer" to your clue. Our app has been upgraded to allow for such "video check-ins" as shown here.

April 2, 2021 - Video of Youhere

We were promoting Youhere using a video recently. Here it is if you want to watch it:



We also have a 1-page PDF factsheet summarizing what Youhere does.

March 7, 2021 - First blog entry!

We've decided to start a blog here at Youhere. There's always a lot going on behind the scene at Youhere. We'll keep you all posted of these things here. I guess we'll start by saying things are starting to pick up as we all begin to emerge from the pandemic. It's good to "see" you all again!