Tech Forum

I was in our stake center with our PFR reviewing the plan for webcasting Stake Conference when he presented me with the question of when we will be able to walk in to a chapel, scan a QR code on our smart phone and download the ward bulletin/program.

I regularly use QR codes to link to URLs, so that is a ready option, but the more I think about it, the more I think that it needs to download a document into a reader such as Gospel Library or maybe add it as a feature to LDS Tools.

Having never done any mobile device development, I have no clue as how to proceed with doing anything for a mobile platform so I present this to the group for discussion.

As you say, the QR codes is quick and easy. If you upload a PDF document to the classic site, the URL used for the PDF works even if you're not logged in. If you then encode that as a QR code, then you're set.

I haven't checked to see if there's a way to make the URL "stable" week after week, so you might need a new code each week. I know with my Android, that would put the PDF into my downloads area where it will remain. (Getting to it isn't fun, but it's there.)

As for the LDS Tools angle, I'd wait and see what the revised "News and Information" section is like. It seems that it would be a natural to try and incorporate that into LDS Tools.

I was just wondering about the same QR code question. What do you mean by "... upload a PDF document to the classic site, the URL ...". I tried to find and area for such uploads but didn't succeed. Then again, I could use my one private URL, right?

You can upload a PDF to "News and Information". Once uploaded, then you can find the URL of the PDF.

RussellHltn wrote:You can upload a PDF to "News and Information". Once uploaded, then you can find the URL of the PDF.

On the Classic Ward and Stake Websites, only a ward or stake site administrator can create News and Information items, which includes attaching files such as the PDF suggested by RussellHltn. But once the attachment is uploaded, it will indeed have a URL that allows the attachment to be seen by anyone who knows the URL -- without signing in.

That's true now, but my guess is that it was never intended that those attachments would be visible without signing in -- the News and Information items themselves certainly aren't visible to just anyone. That was an implementation bug that happens to allow a convenient workaround. I'm pretty sure that the new News and Information module won't have that security hole, so this isn't a long-term solution to the problem. So as long as you realize that, you can use that as a short-term workaround; we'll have to wait and see just what options the new News and Information module allows -- perhaps it will allow for public viewing, or there will be associated mobile apps that allow viewing with a stored login.

Would it need to be locked down, or could you just link it to any pdf url, such as a google doc?

This seems like a really cool idea, but I wonder how long before a bishop or stake president would put the kibosh on it. Especially when you end up with a queue of people waiting to scan the code.

Bringing this one up out of the past. We are just getting ready to implement this in our ward. I have a stable URL code that will be the same from week to week, with the pdf that it points at simply being updated by the bulletin specialist each week. The QR code even has analytics to be able to see how often it's used. All for free and took about 10 minutes to set up.

Has anyone else tried anything similar to this? Thanks.

I've made a prototype but never used it. See this post:
https://tech.lds.org/forum/viewtopic.ph ... 6&p=111795