Unauthorized Web Sites?

[zaneclark]

I decided to add three sites to the Additional Web Resources on the ward home page and they were all rejected as "unauthorized." They were the sites on Pres.Hinckley and Pres. Monson, which clearly state that they are "official church information" and the link to the Church News. Why are these sites "unauthorized?"

[WelchTC]

I'm sure it is a mistake. I'll notify the team of the issue.

Tom

[jdlessley]

Adding web sites to the "ADDITIONAL WEB RESOURCES" portion of a ward web site is frustrating. Just as zaneclark stated, known authorized church sites cannot be added to this section. After looking at the list of sites at the thread 'Sites that I recently found' I could not post a single one of these sites not already included in the "OFFICIAL CHURCH WEB SITES" section without receiving the red background of the URL text box and the "You have put in an unauthorized URL' pop-up message. The only site that I could add that was not already included in the "OFFICIAL CHURCH WEB SITES" section was the New Family Search site.

Our ward web site administrators do not use this section of the LUWS since they have been unable to add any sites of interest to their ward there. Since it is impossible to know which web sites can be added to the additional web resources section I think a better implementation of that section would be to include a list of sites that can be added. I suspect the list is small enough that the list would have a check box next to the URL to allow the administrators to select those the local leaders want to have included on their home page. In the future, when there is a large list from which to choose, a limitation could be implemented.

[jdlessley]

I thought it might be interesting to post what our stake's wards have added to the "ADDITIONAL WEB RESOURCES" section of their home pages. The most common practice is to give another title to the same web sites listed in the "OFFICIAL CHURCH WEB SITES" section.
Family Search is relisted as FamilySearch
LDS.org is relisted as Offcial Church Internet (or Web) Site
Provident Living is relisted as Provident Living Website

One ward did include links to the Meetinghouse Locator and the stake web site.

The renaming of links on these ward home pages lead me to think that the titles for links in the "OFFICIAL CHURCH WEB SITES" section could include alternate titles next to the ones already given. Since LDS.org was retitled in every ward's home page I think that listing it as "LDS.org - Official Church Web Site" is more informative. The same may be true for some of the others.

It seems to be a waist to me to have a section of the LUWS with a utility that goes little farther than permitting units to retitle URL links already posted on the same page.

[zaneclark]

I was just now able to upload the new beta Meetinghouse Locator site to the "Additional Web resources," but still no luck with the "official' web site for Pres. Monson... This surprised me as the locator site is a "beta" and perhaps not quite ready for prime time... But it is on my ward web page..

[russellhltn]

Here's what we use for our resource links:

- A link to the local temple (Deep link under http://www.lds.org/temples)
- A link to the local Institute (Deep link under http://www.lds.org/institutes)
- Gospel Library
- Serving in the Church
- LDS Catalog
- Church Educational System

I used to have more, but then they appeared in the "Official" list, so I removed the duplicate.

Our "Language" ward has a deep link to http://www.lds.org/languages.

All of the links work just fine with the restrictions. As for the other church sites that are blocked, I'd send feedback to let them know.

[pbarrus]

For our additional web resources, I have the following links posted on our Stake homepage:

Faith in Christ - learn more about Jesus and his teachings
Encyclopedia of Mormonism
LDS Tech - This web site is designed to give you a glimpse into the technical computer work that the Church does and how you can get involved.
Part-time Missionary Service Opportunities in the Sacramento Area
American River Institute of Religion
LDS Online Distribution Center
For the Strength of Youth
Disability Resources

I must admit that I had to request the Encyclopedia be added to the approved list, and my request was granted.

[sjpynes]

We have used the Web Resource section for links to the "Teachings for Our Time" conference talks selected for our Ward/Stake. We enter them with the conference talk selected for the most recent month at the top of the admin list and then build downward.

That way as each month passes we delete the entry at the top of the admin list so that the next entry is then displayed on the home page at the top of the list. The description of our links look like this:

Teachings for Our Time, August 24, 2008, Salvation and Exaltation, Elder Russell M. Nelson

This seems to be a convenience for Relief Society and Melchizedek priesthood members. We have never had a problem with a conference talk not being on the "authorized" list.

[daddy-o-p40]

My experience has been that the stake and ward websites are not updated enough. Just submit the feedback and these types of things eventually get fixed.

[zaneclark]

My experience has been that the stake and ward websites are not updated enough. Just submit the feedback and these types of things eventually get fixed.

OK, I just tried to post the Family Search Wiki in the "Additional Web Resources, with no sucess so I decided to try your advice and submit some feedback. On the administrators help screen, it says to click on feedback to send a question or comment to Salt Lake. Not so. The feedback link on both ward and stake web sites sends a note back to me as the stake administrator.( I tried to answer my own question but it didn't work) So I called the 800 number. None of the menu items listed had any connection to the LUWS. So exactly how do I get feedback to LUWS tech people?