Suggestion: Preferred name should default to first given name
Posted: Wed Oct 17, 2012 9:14 pm
It's nice to have a preferred name; most members in the United States have two given names and one family name. Most members go by their first given name; in most cases, this is their "preferred name." You feel good when people call you by your preferred name.
As a diligent clerk who tries to cross every i and dot every t, I try to format all the phone numbers in the same way (hyphens, no parentheses); I try to unify the formatting of addresses: street number-street name-apartment number (all one line, don't put APT or UNIT on second line); I also try to get everyone's preferred name correct. Most members don't know that the field exists, but most members do appreciate it when we get it right. I don't know which reports or applications use the preferred name over the given name, but that's a separate discussion.
Every time I request membership records into the ward, it seems that the preferred name defaults to both (all) given names for the member. Since most members go by their first given name, why don't we reflect this in the software? Why not make the most common case the default case? I recommend an update to the membership software (lds.org/mls/mbr as well as MLS) which will, by default, assign a preferred name equal to the first given name. This would occur when membership records are created. Thereafter, the preferred name should remain with the record; when a user moves to a new unit of the Church, the preferred name goes with the member. (Question: Is this currently implemented--is the preferred name kept when a member moves, or is this lost?)
Some members go by their second given name, or their "middle name"; I acknowledge that this is not uncommon, but it is certainly not the majority of cases. Let's make the default settings in the software match the most common cases that we find in our work. This will simplify the work and help us better serve the individuals, families, and church leaders of our wards and branches.
As a diligent clerk who tries to cross every i and dot every t, I try to format all the phone numbers in the same way (hyphens, no parentheses); I try to unify the formatting of addresses: street number-street name-apartment number (all one line, don't put APT or UNIT on second line); I also try to get everyone's preferred name correct. Most members don't know that the field exists, but most members do appreciate it when we get it right. I don't know which reports or applications use the preferred name over the given name, but that's a separate discussion.
Every time I request membership records into the ward, it seems that the preferred name defaults to both (all) given names for the member. Since most members go by their first given name, why don't we reflect this in the software? Why not make the most common case the default case? I recommend an update to the membership software (lds.org/mls/mbr as well as MLS) which will, by default, assign a preferred name equal to the first given name. This would occur when membership records are created. Thereafter, the preferred name should remain with the record; when a user moves to a new unit of the Church, the preferred name goes with the member. (Question: Is this currently implemented--is the preferred name kept when a member moves, or is this lost?)
Some members go by their second given name, or their "middle name"; I acknowledge that this is not uncommon, but it is certainly not the majority of cases. Let's make the default settings in the software match the most common cases that we find in our work. This will simplify the work and help us better serve the individuals, families, and church leaders of our wards and branches.