FAQ

Contact

  • Email Tom (one of the founders), at tbensky@gmail.com.
  • You can also find us on our Discord.
  • We can also Zoom with you as needed.
  • You can follow us on Twitter too.

What is Youhere?

Youhere.org is attendance supercharged using mobile-phones. It's an app-based attendance service. How does it work?
  • Group leaders (teacher, coaches, etc.) set a check-in location on a map, and also specify a check-in time.
  • Each participant uses an app on their phone to self "check-in" to your location and time.
  • Attendance logs are automatically compiled from the app check-ins.
  • Eliminate the usual "roll calling" entirely.
  • Just announce ... "Check-in with your phone" ... and your attendance will be done.
If you have a large class, participants that are difficult to follow up with, or work with an unusual location, give Youhere a try. You'll love it. With Youhere, you can do paperless and accurate attendance of any sized group in seconds.

Here is a one-page factsheet about Youhere, a video on how it works, and the story behind it all.

Quick setup (4 steps to attendance)

To take attendance with Youhere:
  1. You: Make an account here, create a class, and configure your geofence.
  2. Your participants: Download our 100% free app (https://youhere.org/app) and use it to enroll in your class.
  3. Your participants: Use the app to check into your class at the right time and place.
  4. You: Use the attendance records compiled under your account.

Will Youhere attendance really work for me?

Yes. It has worked for 1000s of others and will work for you. In fact, Youhere can easily become a 95% proxy for your group's attendance. Why 95%?

Well, some of your participants will show up with dead phone batteries, or will check in within the edge of your location (and then leave). Some will be there but will forget to check-in. Some will insist the app isn't working. Even with Youhere, you may need to keep attendance manually for about 5% of your group.

So for example, suppose you have a group of 70 participants. With the 5%, your attendance has been reduced to manually looking after just 4 people (down from 70). That is pretty awesome and is about as good as any attendance taking method is going to get.

The only issue we ever hear of is if you're check-in location is in a basement, or center of a tall building. In these cases, GPS connectivity might be weak. Load up Google or Apple maps on your phone, and see how well it locates you. We can still help as our Bluetooth beacon is a GPS-free way of still taking attendance.

What if a participant doesn't have a phone?

This is unusual these days, but Youhere also allow for "manual attendance" options. Just jot their name down and manually check them in when you get back to your desk.

Website vs. App

  • The Website (Youhere.org) is for group leaders to administer attendance (and view attendance records). There are no participant services on the website.
  • The App is what your participants use on their phones to check in. There are no administration services on the app.
  • The people checking-in only use the app. They do not make an account at Youhere.org.

Privacy

  • We don't ask your participants for any contact information.
  • We only log a "here" when a participant successfully checks-in.
  • We do not log any data when a participant tries to check-in, but is not at your location.
  • The app explains privacy issues to your participants directly on its screens.
  • Participant privacy is built into the architecture of Youhere. Read our privacy policy.
  • Take a look at the app: privacy notices are built right in.
  • The app is not a live person-tracker.
  • See the "Privacy" tab above.
  • Also, see the "Uses" dropdown above. We have VPAT, FERPA, GDPR, CIPA and terms-of-service statements available.

Who is using Youhere?

Mostly teachers, in their classrooms, but also...
  • Music teachers, to be sure students are going to practice rooms.
  • Coaches, to be sure athletes are going to the track/field.
  • Fraternities and sororities, to be sure pledges make it to study time in the library.
  • Leaders of after-school programs.
  • Outdoor docents, rangers, and trail guides.
  • Union activists for rallies and meetings.
  • Club presidents at functions (think bike and hiking clubs).
  • Marching bands for attendance at practice or performance venues.
  • Gatekeepers at entrances to gyms.
  • Managers in charge of employees at many types of busineses.
Thousands of people check in using Youhere everyday, from all over the world.

Checking-in, but what about checking-out?

Youhere is great for people checking in. But what about checking out again? There are a few ways to do this.

  • Add a second "check-in" time to your class, and use this as the "check-out" time. As an example, suppose you have an event that meets Mondays from 10am-11am. Set two "check-in" times. Monday, 10:00-10:05 and another 10:55-11. Participants check-in as they arrive (in the first 5 min of class), and again as they leave (in the last 5 min of class). As attendance tallies grow, you'll expect two check-ins from each participant.

  • Set your attendance mode to "Restricted" (which allows you to restrict the number of times someone can check-in). For checking in and out, you can set this limit to 2: one for checking in and one for checking out. You also set the amount of time that must go by between the two check-ins. For a hour class, you might set this time to 45 min or so. This means a given student must be within your geofence for checking in twice over the course of 45 minutes.

  • Add two classes to your account, one called "something-in" and the other called "something-out." Have your participants enroll in each, and set check-in times as needed for both. They select which to "check-in" to based on if they're coming or going.

  • Set your attendance mode to "Unrestricted" (which allows for unlimited checking-in, while logging all check-in times). Allow your participants to check-in as needed, then inspect and proceess your attendance report as needed, based on their check-in times. You can see some time-focused sample reports that managers use.

What about attendance reports?

Attendance Reports
Student check-ins are collected into your Youhere account. There are many reporting options available to you. All reports are compiled instantly and in real-time, and are always free and available to you.

Export to Excel (a .csv fle)

Every check-in collected for a given class of yours can be sent to you in a single .csv file. This will load into Excel, for example, allowing you to store, manipulate, and view your attendance data on your own computer. This may also be imported into your class management system.
Here is a sample:

Quick copy and paste

Small, copy-and-paste text-boxes are placed throughout the various reporting pages on our account. These allow for quick copying and pasting of your attendance records, into your own software (Word, Excel, course management software, etc.). Here is the most popular one, showing the number of times a student has checked-in.

Convenient online views

A class-wide calendar view is available, showing the total number of check-ins on a given day.

Student-by-student look

A student-by-student look is available, showing how many total check-ins each student in your class has.

Calendar view for a given student

A calendar view for each student is available, showing the days a given student checked-in.

List view for a given student

A list view for each student is available, that shows the days a given student checked-in.

Attendance Explorer

Finally, an 'attendance explorer' is available, allowing you to construct custom views of your attendance logs. Here a teacher is asking 'Who checked-in on Tue Jan 22 2019 from (16:05-16:30).'