PTRS documentation

PTRS is a childcare management platform for Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware, operating under Delaware's own licensing rules (DELACARE, enforced by OCCL) and the federal CACFP meal program.

This site serves two readers who want opposite things. Someone deciding whether PTRS solves their problem needs the case for a module, in plain terms. Someone standing at a door with children queued behind them needs the next step and nothing else. So every page names its own reader and sticks to what that reader actually needs.

How to read a page

Every page opens by naming what kind of page it is, in a short banner: a tutorial to follow once, a step-by-step task, a reference to look something up in, an explanation of why PTRS behaves a certain way, or a troubleshooting page to start from a symptom. A how-to that starts explaining, or a reference that starts walking you through steps, is a mistake, so each page sticks to its own job.

Every figure on this site is checked against PTRS itself and marked accordingly: a real measurement seen directly in PTRS, a figure worked out from other numbers already stated on the page, an estimate with what it rests on stated alongside it, or a figure traceable to a named DELACARE, OCCL, CACFP or USDA rule. A question this site cannot answer is left out rather than softened into something vague.

Where a screen genuinely does not do something PTRS's own marketing or a reasonable expectation would suggest, that gap is stated plainly on the module's own overview page, not quietly left out.

At the foot of every page is one line: "Checked against PTRS on," followed by a date. That is when the page was last confirmed against PTRS itself. If PTRS has changed since, the page says so at the top, so you know to trust what you see on screen over what the page claims.

The role picker, in the header, narrows the menu to pages relevant to one role. It is a convenience only; this site has no access to your own account and cannot read your real permissions. Each task page separately names the rule that actually governs it, and that is always the authority, never the picker.

What this site covers

All sixteen parts of PTRS are documented, each with an overview, at least one reference page and its own troubleshooting page. Almost every screen in the product is covered by at least one how-to or reference page; a handful of screens, such as the sign-in page itself, are not, since there is nothing to document about them beyond what is already obvious on screen.

Seven flows trace a piece of work that crosses more than one part of PTRS, end to end, linking to the page that documents each step along the way.

Every page is written in English. The four guardian-facing Parent Portal pages are also published in Spanish and in Haitian Creole.

The per-role task lists mentioned on Roles are the one significant piece not written yet. Until they exist, use the role picker to narrow the menu, and Flows to find work that crosses more than one part of PTRS.

Two roles with no documented workflow

A read-only account satisfies no rule anywhere in PTRS today, and an OCCL auditor is a role PTRS cannot actually assign to anyone at all. Neither can meaningfully use PTRS as it stands, so neither gets a documented workflow here. Choosing either in the role picker says so, rather than showing pages for screens that would not actually work.

This is a gap in PTRS itself, recorded for the team responsible for it. This site documents PTRS as it behaves today, and does not change it.

Where to start

Evaluating PTRS: start with Incidents, as a worked example of how each part of PTRS is documented.

Using PTRS day to day: pick your own role in the picker, then file your first incident report.

Stuck on a message: Troubleshooting.

An unfamiliar term: Glossary.