MLS Feature Request: Flag Record Before Move Out

mferiante · #1

I have no idea if this is the right place to make this MLS feature suggestion, but please let me know if it is not. Thank you.

Any ward clerk, such as me, has probably run into this challenge: it's not possible to flag a member's record to notify a new bishop that he should contact the previous bishop for whatever reason, unless you move the record out before it gets pulled by the new ward. In other words, the option to flag a record is only possible when you move the record out (unless you contact Church Headquarters and request them to annotate the record, but this seems onerous and unnecessary). The problem is that often times the record gets pulled by the new ward prior to being sent out because the new address is not yet known or you weren't even aware that the member was going to move/had moved. When this happens, the record is gone and the old ward has no way of notifying the new bishop that he should contact the old bishop. (*of course there is a workaround by pulling the record back from the new ward and then sending it out again with the flag...) A feature that allows a record to be "flagged" with a notification to contact the previous bishop (viewable to appropriate leaders only of course since this is confidential information), so that in the event it gets pulled by the new ward before being sent would resolve this problem. Not sure if it was designed this way for some policy reason, but creating this feature would facilitate ease of communication regarding members whose records the bishop would like to flag because the bishop knows the member may move (but doesn't know new address) or in the event the member does move. Let me know if you agree or have any other suggestions.

aebrown · #2

This topic has been discussed many times, which certainly lets you know that many people agree with you. See the threads:

Some of these threads discuss the additional option of placing a Move Restriction on the record, which might be appropriate in some cases. But as you'll see in the above threads, there's a lot of agreement that it would be very helpful to put a request for contact on a record in such a way that it will be effective even if the record gets pulled by another ward.