Tech Forum

samliddicott wrote:I've altered the preferred name on our ward records in MLS last Friday and many send-receive have been done since then, but the full name still shows up in the online directory.

Many people in the ward will not enable their entry to be shown in the directory as long as this is the case.

Are you talking about the last name issue mentioned earlier in this thread, or just a typical case of "William Eustace Johnson" having a preferred name of "Bill Johnson"? Although there seem to be some problems with changing the last name on the preferred name, the only issue I know of with the first/middle name changing is that there can be some delay in the MLS change propagating to the Directory website on lds.org. We have hundreds of members in our stake who have different preferred names from their full names, and the preferred names do show up correctly on the Directory.

I don't know exactly what delays are involved, but I would wait at least a couple more days before I would conclude that there is any problem with the change that you made propagating to the Directory site. And I can assure you that it is not a general problem -- preferred names do indeed appear on the new Directory.

samliddicott wrote:I've altered the preferred name on our ward records in MLS last Friday and many send-receive have been done since then, but the full name still shows up in the online directory.

I can't help but wonder if this is similar to the issue of incorrect/duplicate calling information showing up in CDOL. Even though it seems they should be unrelated I would be tempted to try the following to correct it.

1. Login to MLS 3.3 on your ward clerk's computer. If the version of MLS on your ward clerk's computer is anything less than MLS 3.3, then the rest of these steps won't change anything.
2. Make a backup the database so you have something to revert to if needed.
3. Print out a complete ward directory and include membership numbers on the printout to use as a hardcopy backup for step 7.
4. Print out a Callings by Organization report to use as a hardcopy backup for step 8.
5. Do a Request Unit Refresh Data... from within MLS, and then do a Send/Receive.
6. After the Send/Receive has completed, wait at least 15 minutes and then do another Send/Receive to retrieve the requested refresh. Refreshes overwrite ALL the calling and membership data in your local version of MLS with what is on file at Church headquarters.
7. Use the membership directory printed out in step 3 make any need corrections to names, addresses, or to request records that disappeared. (Including membership numbers when requesting records used to speed up the records request.)
8. Use the Callings by Organization report you printed out in step 4 to make any needed corrections.
9. Transmit any changes made in steps 7 & 8 by doing another Send/Receive.

Thank-you; I will try that - in fact Church HQ have proposed such a thing across the country UK I believe for this Sunday. Certainly other changes made last week such as records transferred out and addition of email addresses have shown through, but not name changes in the same household.

I'll let you know how it goes in a week.

samliddicott wrote:Thank-you; I will try that - in fact Church HQ have proposed such a thing across the country UK I believe for this Sunday. Certainly other changes made last week such as records transferred out and addition of email addresses have shown through, but not name changes in the same household.

As I understand it, the events in the UK next week are purely related to financial errors, introduced by MLS/server problems. Not any other problems.

jbh001 wrote:I can't help but wonder if this is similar to the issue of incorrect/duplicate calling information showing up in CDOL. Even though it seems they should be unrelated I would be tempted to try the following to correct it.

1. Login to MLS 3.3 on your ward clerk's computer. If the version of MLS on your ward clerk's computer is anything less than MLS 3.3, then the rest of these steps won't change anything.
2. Make a backup the database so you have something to revert to if needed.
3. Print out a complete ward directory and include membership numbers on the printout to use as a hardcopy backup for step 7.
4. Print out a Callings by Organization report to use as a hardcopy backup for step 8.
5. Do a Request Unit Refresh Data... from within MLS, and then do a Send/Receive.
6. After the Send/Receive has completed, wait at least 15 minutes and then do another Send/Receive to retrieve the requested refresh. Refreshes overwrite ALL the calling and membership data in your local version of MLS with what is on file at Church headquarters.
7. Use the membership directory printed out in step 3 make any need corrections to names, addresses, or to request records that disappeared. (Including membership numbers when requesting records used to speed up the records request.)
8. Use the Callings by Organization report you printed out in step 4 to make any needed corrections.
9. Transmit any changes made in steps 7 & 8 by doing another Send/Receive.

A week after the change was made, the lds.org directory still shows the full names, even for members who removed their middle name from preferred names.
After the refresh of unit data, the local MLS reported the correct preferred names with middle name removed.

I conclude that the directory does not show the preferred name.

samliddicott wrote:A week after the change was made, the lds.org directory still shows the full names, even for members who removed their middle name from preferred names.
After the refresh of unit data, the local MLS reported the correct preferred names with middle name removed.

I conclude that the directory does not show the preferred name.

Your conclusion may be valid for your unit, or perhaps for the UK, but is definitely not correct as a general statement. For my stake in the US, the directory shows the preferred name.

So the issue clearly has nothing to do with a fundamental capability of the directory. What then is the explanation for the difference? My initial thought is that it is a regional determination. The privacy settings are different in the EU: members are not shown in the directory until they opt in, whereas in the US and many other places, members are show in the directory unless they opt out. It's certainly conceivable that the directory is configured so that in the UK or EU, full names are shown, but in other countries the preferred name is shown. But that's just a theory.

If others from the US and from the UK would share how this aspect of the directory works for them, we could narrow down whether it is a setting unique to our units or our countries, or is controlled by some other factor.

The directory only shows full names in Sweden as well.
As you say this might be a EU thing due to the privacy policy.
Hopefully this can be found out and fixed. It's quite annoying.

aebrown wrote: If others from the US and from the UK would share how this aspect of the directory works for them, we could narrow down whether it is a setting unique to our units or our countries, or is controlled by some other factor.

It is showing preferred names for me in the US.

I think your correct. The directory takes the PREFERRED first name and the LEGAL last name...this needs to be changed to be consistant. In my opinion the directory should show the preferred first and last name.

aebrown wrote:So the issue clearly has nothing to do with a fundamental capability of the directory. What then is the explanation for the difference? My initial thought is that it is a regional determination.

My thoughts as well. I wonder if this could be a setting that is made by the area office for those outside the US and Canada.