Tech Forum

Does anyone know if the Church provides areas on the LDS site for Stakes and units to share information within the stake or unit for leaders and even members?

The reason I ask is that a member in my ward has been given the assignment to share inspirational instruction on teaching and it would be nice to have it on a location for our ward members. We have also found that other auxiliaries in our stake would like to share materials and information to help with the unit's responsibilities. These are mostly instruction based on Conference talks and other scriptural references. And then have these stored and accessible in a constant location for future leaders and future reference? I've seen the newsletter section on a unit's site, but I'm not sure it will fill all of the desires.

Another purpose is to have something like a current bulletin for members and some for visitors or friends of the Church (feature events, news, info, links, downloadable content and more).

My Stake President is asking what others have or are doing. I'd also like to hear any other ideas and eventually either request it or find a solution.

Thanks! Chris

You already know about the newsletter. That's the one I would have pointed you to.

So other then Newsletter, calendar, directory, and anything else you find listed in the tools list at lds.org), there is nothing church provided - at least at this time.

While looking around, there's two things you need to keep in mind. First is Handbook 2: 21.1.22. This severely restricts what can be done as a Ward or Stake.

The second is that your area may have laws about privacy, what can be distributed, etc. Whatever you use has to comply with all local laws as well.

I think you're best bet is to stick with the newsletter. It has limitations, but it's safe.

chrissb wrote:Another purpose is to have something like a current bulletin for members and some for visitors or friends of the Church (feature events, news, info, links, downloadable content and more).

Everything you mentioned can be done with the Newsletter feature, except for your mention of "visitors or friends"; the Newsletter is visible only to members (Ward newsletter articles visible only to ward members, and Stake newsletter articles visible only to stake members). But given that wards and stakes are not allowed to have other websites, you're not going to be able to overcome that hurdle anyway.

So I'd recommend that you start using the Newsletter. Explore the features, including categorization and featured articles, and remember that you can attach files to each article. Those files can include PDF files that have links. Although it isn't perfect, it can meet the vast majority of the requirements you mentioned.