University of Georgia Cooperative Extension: Walk Georgia

Walk Georgia Help: Using Online Tools

Recording physical activity

About logging physical activity

How it works:

The activity logged in your physical activity record is automatically converted to mileage based on steps per activity and steps in a "walked" mile. See Converting minutes to mileage for a list of available activities and their mile conversion.
Converted mileage is used to earn map movements on the interactive map. For every 15 miles, you are able to move to three new counties.
As you enter an activity, you will see a mileage total at the bottom of your activity log.

When you should log activity:

Preferably daily, at minimum weekly.
During non-peak hours. Try to avoid times of day like 5-7 pm.
By every Monday at midnight: Weekly activity entered by the following Monday is used to publish weekly rankings by email on Tuesday.
The system will not allow you to input information for a future date.

Who can log activity:

All participants who have created an account may log their own activity.
Team captains may enter physical activity for their team members.
Team members without accounts will need their team captain to log their physical activity.

What activity you should record:

Intentional activity that raises your heart rate.
Activity that falls outside your normal daily activity.
Do not record simultaneous activity (for instance, if you're playing soccer, do not count both soccer and running).
If you are an instructor for any of the activities included, please only count time above and beyond your job.

Note: The system restricts activity to 480 minutes per day.

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Entering current activity

The physical activity for the current week may be entered on your home page. This displays the current program week and a list of days from Sunday to Saturday. To enter new activities:

Go to your logged-in home page.
Locate the day that you wish to edit.
Select your chosen physical activity from the drop-down list.
Enter the time you were active in the text box beside your activity.
Select "Submit" to save your activity record.

Note: At the end of each week, you can enter information for all days of the week at one time. You cannot enter activities for days that have not yet occurred.

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Entering previous activity

To enter activity for a previous week:

While logged in, click on the "My Info" sidebar link.
Choose the week that you wish to edit (click on the text "Week" beside the date).
Locate the day that you wish to add activity to.
Select your chosen physical activity from the drop-down list.
Enter the time you were active in the text box beside your activity.
Select "Submit" to save your activity record.

Note: You can enter information for all days of a previous week at one time.

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Entering more than one activity per day

You can enter more than just one kind of activity on any day. In order to add additional entries per day:

Go to your home page or the "My Info" sidebar link while logged in.
Locate the day that you wish to add additional activities.
Select your chosen physical activity from the drop-down list.
Enter the time you were active in the text box beside your activity.
Select "Submit" to save your activity record.
Repeat.

Note: You can enter information for all days of a previous week at one time.

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Editing activity

You cannot edit existing activity records. In order to correct a time or exercise type, delete the entire entry and re-enter the correct information (see Deleting activity).

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Deleting activity

To delete a single item from your activity list:

While logged in, click on the "My Info" sidebar link.
Locate the activity that you wish to delete.
Choose "delete" to the right of the activity for immediate deletion.

To delete the entire week's activity:

While logged in, click on the "My Info" sidebar link.
Choose the week that you wish to delete.
Choose "Clear Entire Week" from beneath the activity log.

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While away from the computer

If you are unable to log your activity online for a particular time period, use our paper activity tracker to keep a record of your activity.

Download Activity Tracker

Be sure to enter this information later into the Walk Georgia online program later, in order to compete in county and state rankings, as well as to interact with the online map.

If you are unable to get to a computer for a prolonged time period or are participating as a team member without an email address, you may choose to use this tracker to tell your team captain about your activities so he or she can enter them online for you.

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Using the interactive map

Earning "miles" (indiv/team)

You earn miles towards traveling the state map by logging physical activity. All physical activity that you log is translated from steps-per-minute to equivalent "walked" miles.

For every 15 miles that you or your team earn, you are able to travel to 3 neighboring counties.

Based on expected milestones in the program, individuals are estimated to earn 120 miles and visit 40 counties on the map during the 8 weeks.

Team members pool their group progress and may move farther on the map. 4 team members are estimated to earn 480 miles and travel 120 counties – that's almost all of the counties in Georgia!

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Choosing counties

You may choose any path you like to explore counties throughout the state. The only guideline is that you can only choose neighboring counties to the current county you are "visiting." Your map route will start in the home county that you've registered.

To select a county:

If you have earned enough miles to make a choice, the counties neighboring your current location will be highlighted yellow.
Click on the county that you'd like to move to.

You will not be able to undo a move once you make it, so be sure of your choice before you click!

Each county that you choose will display a fun fact on the map and also unlock a fact sheet for that county on your My Info page (see View factoids).

Note: If it looks like you will hit a dead end by choosing a certain county, don't worry, the program will provide you with more choices.

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Changing map view

To zoom in or out:

Select the "-" or "+" buttons below the map to magnify or reduce the map display.
Use the "-" button to zoom out and see your entire route throughout the state.

To move to another point on the map while "zoomed out":

Go to the small map inset at the top right of the main map.
Click your mouse on any point on the map. The main map focus will move with the red-outlined box.

A map will not be created for team members who have not created their own participant accounts online.

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Viewing factoids

Top fact on map

As you move throughout the virtual map, a fun factoid about the county will display after you select a county to visit.

You can see more information about the county by choosing "more details."

You can close this factoid and return to making choices on the map by selecting "close."

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Collected facts on "My Info"

For every county that you visit, a set of facts is unlocked. In order to learn more about these counties at any time:

While logged in, click on the "My Info" sidebar link.
Scroll down to "Counties visited."
Choose a county to review.
A page with the county's facts will open. You can scroll up and down on this page to learn about other counties you've visited.

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Reviewing progress and rankings

Weekly email

Each Tuesday you will receive a weekly email from Walk Georgia that announces the top 5 individuals and teams for your county and the state. These rankings are based on activity logged for the previous week by each Monday at midnight (see Recording physical activity).

You may see your rankings shift as people log their activity at different times. Check back often to see how you measure up!

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Viewing progress of teammates (teams only)

You can view the physical activity record of your teammates by clicking on their names from any page they are listed. This opens a page including their physical activity record and individual progress.

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Finding someone else's activity

Team members may access each other's information by clicking the "My Team" link from the logged-in sidebar menu.
If you wish to view a friend or family member's progress page, ask them to send you a link to their My Info page. You will need to log-in to view this.
Information regarding individual progress is only available to other logged-in, identified participants of the program.

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Managing a team

Creating a team

Team creation is only open during the program registration period, from August 22, 2010 to September 14, 2010. If you will not be able to form your team within this time frame, please advise your team members to create their own accounts and participate independently of each other.

see How to form a team.

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Registering your team

The team captain is responsible for organizing the team and entering basic information for team members. To create a team:

Create a new account as a Team Captain (see Participant account).
Log into the Walk Georgia program.
Select "Create my team."
Enter your team name.
Enter the first and last name and email for each of your team members. This information will only be available to your team and the county administrator for the program.
- An email address is optional for team members. However, if no email address is entered, the team captain will need to maintain the team member's activity record (see Team members without email addresses and Shared email addresses).
- The email address may be edited UNTIL a team member's account is created. This is particularly important if the wrong info is entered (see Editing team member information).
Choose "Submit."

An account invitation email will be sent to all members that have email addresses entered. This message will prompt team members to create their own Walk Georgia account.

If a team member reports that they have not gotten the account invitation email, you may resend it (see Resending an account invitation email).

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Editing team member information

After a team is created, the team captain may edit team members' information if needed. To edit team member information:

Go to the "My Team" link from the logged-in sidebar menu.
Go to the team roster and choose "Edit."
Edit information as needed.
Choose "Submit."

This is useful if a team member:

Enters the wrong information for any of these fields during registration.
Has not received an account invitation email because the email address is incorrect (see Resending an account invitation email).
Has entered inappropriate information for any of these fields.

If any information on the team roster needs to be edited, communicate with your team member before doing so.

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Viewing a team member's account status

To view a team member's account status:

Go to the "My Team" link from the logged-in sidebar menu.
Go to the team roster.
For each team member who has an account, "Has Acct?" is marked "Yes."

This is important to note if a team member indicates problems logging in or asks you to help log their activity.

If a team member tells you they cannot log in, verify that they have an account. If they do not have an account, resend the account invitation email (see Resending an account invitation email).

Team members without accounts will need the team captain to log their physical activity. A map will not be created for those without accounts.

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Retrieving a team member's username

Participants may now look up their own usernames. You may do either of the following items.

1. Direct the participant to our Forgotten username form.

2. To find a team member's username:

Go to the "My Team" link from the logged-in sidebar menu.
Go to the team roster.
Find the username for your team member.

If a team member has no username, they have not created an account (see Team member account and Resending an account invitation email).

This is useful if a participant forgets their username and cannot log in.

If a team member needs to reset their password, they will need to identify themselves with this username. You can look up a username for your teammate, but cannot reset a password.

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Resending an account invitation email

To resend an account invitation email:

Ask the team member for their full name and correct email address.
Go to "My Team."
Choose "Edit" above the roster table.
Locate the correct participant.
Confirm that the participant's email address is correct. If incorrect, edit the address (see Editing team member information).
Check the box in the "Acct Email" column for the team member.
Click "Submit."
A new email message will be sent to that team member.

*Note: If there is no checkbox in the team member's "Acct Email" column, that team member has successfully created an account and does not need a new account invitation (see Viewing a team member's account status).

This is useful if a team member:

Has not created a participant account.
Lost or had problems with a previous account invitation email.
Has not received this message and needs their email address edited (see Editing team member information).
Has received a system message to request this email from their team captain.

If a team member appears to have problems creating an account after you've registered the team, you may need to resend this invitation email.

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Team members without email addresses

If a team member does not have an email address or chooses not to create a participant account, the team captain will need to record their physical activity throughout the program.

These team members will not be able to create their own map.

See Shared email addresses for special cases.

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Entering team member email addresses after registration

If a team member who previously did not make an account online during registration chooses to provide an email address and create a participant account after the registration period, the team captain may add their email address to the roster and resend an account invitation email.

This will allow the team member to interact with the system. Depending on when the account is created they may or may not go through the complete registration process.

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Entering physical activity for members

Team captains have the ability to edit any team member's physical activity. To access their activity, choose their name from the team roster. To edit this activity, see Recording physical activity.

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Emailing your team

To email everyone on your team:

Go to "My Team."
Scroll to the bottom of the page.
Choose “Email Roster”.

This will open a new area where you can write an email message to all of your team members with email addresses.

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