Goals and Challenges - Should I Enable Manual Activity Entry for My Users?

Overview

Learn about manual activity entry and why you might consider enabling it for your organization. Information is given on how to add Manual Activities, about Manual Activities and best practices for enabling Manual Activities. This article is designed for clients admins who manage challenges.

Adding Manual Activities in Engage

As a challenge admin for your organization, you have the option to allow your participants to add activity entries to supplement their activity totals in Engage by enabling manual activity entry and/or the activity converter from your App Settings.

The manual activity entry feature allows users to add their own activity entries. Users will be able to name their activity and enter any steps, distance, and/or minutes they earned. Users have the ability to add manual activities in addition to syncing data from their connected device - such as a Fitbit, Apple Watch, etc.

Manual activity is added onto a user’s activity data for that day and appears in their list of all logged activities. Users can review and remove logged activities if needed from this list. Logged manual activities will never overwrite totals synced by a device. These logged activities will be counted in addition to any device data.

Enable Manual Activity Entries 

You should consider enabling manual activity entries for your organization if you'd like to:

• Allow participants to add their own activities for credit in their challenge. Any logged manual activities will be added in addition to any activity totals synced from a participant’s connected device.
• Allow full customization of logged activities. When a user logs a manual activity, they have full control over the activity name and which metrics (steps, distance, active minutes) they are adding to their Engage account. Users can enter a custom total for each metric, and they can include just 1 metric (e.g. 10 active minutes), 2 metrics (e.g. 10 active minutes and 1,000 steps), or all 3 metrics, depending on what data they want to log. If users have already received activity credit from their connected device, they will also have the option to add a manual activity with a custom name and no additional activity data.
• Allow participants to add activities that weren't tracked by their device or app. This is especially useful if a participant goes on a walk or engages in a workout without their device on them.
• Be inclusive of participants who do not have a device. Additionally, some participants may not want to use their phone as a fitness tracker. They may find it useful to log their time engaging in activities for credit towards their challenge using manual activity entry.
• Allow participants to add an activity that is not common, such as badminton or ballet dancing. Users can convert their activities using this activity to step conversion chart. No matter how participants choose to move, they’ll be able to get credit for their activity in step-based challenges.

Best Practices for Enabling Manual Activity Entry

When using manual activity entry, participants will have the option to add just 1, 2, or all 3 metrics to their daily activity. Participants should manually enter each metric that they would like to get credit for. Note that when a user enters step totals using manual entry, Engage does not automatically convert those step totals into distance or active minute totals (or vice versa). Participants must enter every total separately.

Enabling Manual Activity Entries

To enable manual activity entry for your entire organization, please adjust your App Settings from the admin center. This will allow all users in your account to access manual activity logging on their Engage dashboard.

You can choose to enable this setting on its own, or in combination with the activity converter. You will always have the option to turn off both of these settings for your organization if you choose.

Learn About Adding Manual Activities

If you'd like to learn more about adding manual activities from a participant's perspective, please see our article on How To Add Steps, Distance and Minutes Manually Into the Engage App, which includes detailed information and best practice tips on logging manual activities and adding them into Engage.