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Multi-Unit Availability

Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 2:50 am
by greenwoodkl
I'd like to see the idea addressed of accessing several units in different stakes - for example as a YSA in a student ward at school being able to access both the student ward site and the home ward site. Another example, a family moves to a new ward - they can't see bishopric info or Elders info to help with moving because the records have not moved yet to the new ward. Related sorta - People Search - I'd like to be able to connect with members I knew in my ward three wards ago. Is there some way to allow people to search for other members wherever but still address privacy? option to allow or disallow search from outside ward, stake, etc...?

Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 9:57 am
by cottrells
kgthunder wrote:People Search - I'd like to be able to connect with members I knew in my ward three wards ago. Is there some way to allow people to search for other members wherever but still address privacy? option to allow or disallow search from outside ward, stake, etc...?
This reads like a call for Church Social Network. How about it?

I've encountered a feature that may work. . .

Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007 3:48 pm
by kristacook-p40
kgthunder wrote:Another example, a family moves to a new ward - they can't see bishopric info or Elders info to help with moving because the records have not moved yet to the new ward. Related sorta - People Search - I'd like to be able to connect with members I knew in my ward three wards ago. Is there some way to allow people to search for other members wherever but still address privacy? option to allow or disallow search from outside ward, stake, etc...?
1. A lot of web sites allow you to log in to a site as a "guest" where there are some limited features available to you. If you could do a guest/login and discover some things like:
- limited/brief contact information for certain ward leaders -- Bishop etc.
- map of ward/branch physical boundaries etc.
My husband and I have moved several times in the last few years, it is a guessing game which ward/stake/branch you are in. We try and guess based on proximity to info we find on the "Meeting House Locator" and then go looking for more information -- like online phone directories. Usually we've been successful, but some of our failures have been rather humorous.

2. Universities and colleges utilize a particular feature that would appear to protect privacy. For example, when I wanted to check if some children of my friends are students at BYU I check the student directory. I can find names alphabetically. There is no direct contact information for the student, however, I fill in a form online which is then sent to the student in the guise of an email. The student can respond or not. A generic online form with a query to "Bishop" of such and such ward would achieve the goals of the prior poster, but preserve privacy.

What I'm suggesting is very similar to being on a newspaper site and wanting to send one of their articles to a particular individual. A new feature I'm now seeing regularly on these sites requires me to enter code numbers/letters that, the web sites inform me, are to ensure that my request is an actual transaction and to defeat spammers. It takes me a few more moments to enter these sometimes jumbled/garbled letters and numbers, but it does seem to accomplish the intended purpose.

I'm sorry that I can't use "techspeak" to convey my ideas. I don't know the technical ideas for what I am describing. I hope my explanation is understandable.

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 12:37 am
by thedqs
kristacook wrote: 2. Universities and colleges utilize a particular feature that would appear to protect privacy. For example, when I wanted to check if some children of my friends are students at BYU I check the student directory. I can find names alphabetically. There is no direct contact information for the student, however, I fill in a form on-line which is then sent to the student in the guise of an email. The student can respond or not. A generic on-line form with a query to "Bishop" of such and such ward would achieve the goals of the prior poster, but preserve privacy.
This would be perfect, and would fulfill the ideas I think we have been trying to get across.
kristacook wrote: I'm sorry that I can't use "techspeak" to convey my ideas. I don't know the technical ideas for what I am describing. I hope my explanation is understandable.
Actually sometimes the techys can't even understand tech-speak, it is nice to get someone who explains their ideas in long sentences.

MultiUnit Coordination

Posted: Tue Jan 30, 2007 4:39 am
by rwynne
The idea of being able to access both people and calendar information for units other than my own is very appealing. Here are several instances where I personally needed this type of data.

1. We and our neighboring ward combine for many activities and frequently divide up responsibilities for youth activities. ie Wednesday nights are Y/W & Y/M. This week the teachers from ward 1 are in charge. Where does the activity get posted? On Ward 1's calendar, but it is for both. Right now we're posting twice.... when leaders remember to submit twice.
2. When a member moves and the records are transfered, there are many times legitimate reasons to need to contact them. In cases where they haven't left contact info (for whatever reason) they can be a bit tough to track down. The ability to find people and send them a message would be very helpful.
(technical note: This could be handled without revealing contact information to the user. Simply allow the user to enter a message. If an email address is associated with the recipients name, this is used to send the message without being disclosed to the user. The recipient then has the option of responding or not.)
3. Relocations.. (ok, haven't tried this, so it may be available) When someone is moving, the ability to find leader information such as bishopric, elders quorum, or high priests quorum leaders would be very helpful for both information for the area, meeting times, or whatever assistance might be needed.

There are probably another hundred reasons it would be helplful to be able to see a limited view of other unit's information and membership. These are just the few on the top of my mind.

There are some key pieces I believe should be generally available:

1. Meetinghouse information
2. Ward Boundry information
3. Meeting times (Sunday and weeknight)
4. Leadership information: Bishopric, EQ, HPQ, YM, YW, RS, and Primary. No phone numbers for all but Bishoprics, just ability to send a message without disclosing the email address.)
5. Look for specific member names. (not show a full ward list, but be able to locate and contact a specific individual where then name is known. again, without disclosing the contact info.)

Regards,

Russell

Posted: Wed Jan 31, 2007 2:58 pm
by sochsner
I think it is the way it is for security reasons. Other than the stated reason above, you (and I) shouldn't have access to info that we don't any business with.

Contact / Non-Resident

Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:27 pm
by ShirtsDre
Contact:
Each Stake or Ward administrator has the option of providing a phone number under the physical address on the unit's home page. Usually, this is the unit's office phone number. Since mail can usually not be accepted at the church house (No official mail stop), this leaves only the content the administrator choses to leave on the unit's home page as a contact resource.

Non-Resident:
Member's can currently be setup to be able to sign in to up to two units: their home ward and any LUWS-participating ward or branch. The "Non-Resident" member option has to be entered by the non-resident stake administrator.

This is most commonly done for married leaders of YSA (Young Single Adult) wards or branches whose home ward is not usually within the boundaries of the YSA unit. Students and service missionaries also find this useful.

Functionality is limited to only the home ward and one non-resident ward. This will not be changed until the Stake and Ward Web Site is redesigned.

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 9:33 pm
by bartbarker
BillyBoJimBob wrote:Member's can currently be setup to be able to sign in to up to two units: their home ward and any LUWS-participating ward or branch.

What does "LUWS" mean?

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 9:47 pm
by atticusewig
bbarker wrote:What does "LUWS" mean?
LUWS stands for Local Unit Web Sites or basically the Ward and Stake Websites.

On a side note to the admins, a glossary of common abbreviations used by
Church Developers might be helpful to those of us who want to learn the lingo.

- Atticus Ewig

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 10:41 pm
by greenwoodkl
I like Atticus' idea. I know on the Church Intranet there is an Acronym Finder, is there a way to implement a similar glossary in general for the public that feeds off a unified database so as to avoid duplication and with different visibility based on whether it is an internal or external term?