remove nonmember spouse's name from online ward directory

[lajackson]

Non-member spouses are pulled from the Marriage Record. That is why they can be displayed without a non-member record in MLS. To remove them from the directory (e.g. in the case of a divorce), you have to edit the Marriage Record in MLS.

We don't want to remove them from the Marriage Record. We just don't want them to display at lds.org (without permission) for all the world (or at least the stake) to see. That is the problem that needs to be fixed pronto.

[williamjackson]

The bug of not being able to edit households with non-member Heads of Household will be fixed shortly.

I can at least verify that this bug appears to be fixed. But I agree with RossEvans, RussellHltn, and others that showing non-members in the directory is a more serious bug.

[TimRiker]

Some non-member spouses are not being shown even though they are in a marriage record. After the current bug fix, my understanding is that all spouses listed in marriage records will be shown in the online directory.

I've looked for policy on including non-member spouses in printed directories and I have not found any official policy. Handbook 2 addresses including phone numbers and email addresses in the printed directory, but does not mention non-member entries.

http://lds.org/handbook/handbook-2-admi ... ng#21.1.15

Currently non-member spouses are intentionally included in the on-line directory if they are listed in a marriage record.

There may, or may not, be future features to adjust this visibility, but currently they are expected to be displayed online.

Note: the only visibility to the online directory is for members logged in from that stake. A non-member ldsaccount would not have access as they would not be associated with a unit.

[allenjpl]

Currently non-member spouses are intentionally included in the on-line directory if they are listed in a marriage record.

There may, or may not, be future features to adjust this visibility, but currently they are expected to be displayed online.

The problem I, and others here, see with that is that the marriage record may not reflect the current living arrangements and may very well violate policy. With a non-member record, the clerk must obtain the permission of the nonmember before creating one. Without that permission, the clerk has no business putting the non-member's name down on anything. By pulling the nonmember's name from the Marriage records, and not from MLS, the website publishes the nonmember's name with a very real possibility that the nonmember has not even been approached, much less consented to have their name published.

[russellhltn]

Tim, the policy we're referring to is in the MLS manual, page A-4:

Nonmember Records
Create a nonmember record only when the nonmember
is related to a member of your ward and you
have the permission of the nonmember. These will
be kept in your ward’s computer only and will not be
transmitted to the administration office.
Information on nonmember records will not appear
on organization lists and rolls because the organization
profiles do not include nonmembers. Nonmembers
will appear on family-type reports such as the directory
of members, the telephone directory, and so forth.

[TimRiker]

I know we're talking technicalities here, but this information is still correct as far as I understand it.
* Nonmember records remain only on your local MLS install
* Local "organization lists and rolls" do not include the nonmember records but "family type reports" do
* Online directory shows marriage records, when most local "family type reports" do not

Thx for the post Russ. I have no new information to add from my internal contacts at this time.
https://tech.lds.org/forum/member.php?127-RussellHltn

[russellhltn]

* Nonmember records remain only on your local MLS install

I don't know as that was totally correct. I believe classic LUWS would show non-member records.

* Local "organization lists and rolls" do not include the nonmember records but "family type reports" do

But ONLY if a non-member record was created. If policy was followed, this would only happen if the non-member gave permission.

* Online directory shows marriage records, when most local "family type reports" do not

The new online directory does that. Classic LUWS did not.

As pointed out, an accurate marriage record may not accurately reflect current living arrangements.

[russellhltn]

In thinking about this, I think I know where the problem is and how it's creating a communication issue.

From what I've seen of MLS, it doesn't store "spouse" as part of the household. In the household information, there is just HoH and "member". The code has to look at the marriage record to determine if a member is a spouse or "other" (usually child).

So the new directory is using the marriage record, as it should. The problem is it's not checking to see if the spouse is a member of the household before displaying the name.

[RichPrice1]

I recently came upon this same problem. My wife was looking up a member of a ward and wasn't able to find her until we realized that she was listed with her husband, who is also listed as the head of household. He is in prison and his membership record is even in another state. So he is listed in two different units. Another member is listed with his divorced wife even though she isn't even listed on his current membership record or ios. Perhaps this can be fixed by adding and deleting a phony wife.

I notice that this problem only exists in the Membership List. The information is correct when the member look up is used. This last feature is available to clerks, but not to members in general.

[RichPrice1]

I think that the membership directory should only reflect those persons who actually reside in the ward. The Member lookup used by clerks should have the complete information.