Tech Forum

I think our ward has been setting up our users wrong over the past years by adding users with personal user names instead of generic logins ie.. ward clerk, YW secretary..etc..
Well because of this we have a huge list of user names of members who have long since moved out of our ward. Is there any way I can delete those users from our systems instead of just inactivating them?

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

therin wrote:I think our ward has been setting up our users wrong over the past years by adding users with personal user names instead of generic logins ie.. ward clerk, YW secretary..etc..
Well because of this we have a huge list of user names of members who have long since moved out of our ward. Is there any way I can delete those users from our systems instead of just inactivating them?

Any help would be greatly appreciated..

I just found the thread that discussed the appropriate user names... oops. Well regardless which is the correct way to do it I still need to get these old names deleted from the system but it keeps telling me that the each one of the users is tied to some transaction or record and cannot be deleted..
Any suggestions?

therin wrote:I just found the thread that discussed the appropriate user names... oops. Well regardless which is the correct way to do it I still need to get these old names deleted from the system but it keeps telling me that the each one of the users is tied to some transaction or record and cannot be deleted.
Any suggestions?

There is no way to delete users who are tied to transactions, until the retention period for such transactions (3 years US, 5 years Canada) has passed. So you may think you "need to get those old names deleted" but you can't do it.

But why are you so worried about it? Once those user names have been inactivated, they don't show up on any lists in MLS, except for the list of users. No one sees that list except administrators who go into the User panel of System Options.

So my advice is just to inactivate those usernames that are no longer in use, and quit thinking about it. They will automatically go away in a few years, and they are really not a burden until then.

therin wrote:I think our ward has been setting up our users wrong over the past years by adding users with personal user names instead of generic logins ie.. ward clerk, YW secretary..etc..

Although some people advocate using callings for usernames, and it has been discussed at length in this thread, I am of the opinion that it is best to use personal names. So you have not been doing it "wrong"; read the thread and draw your own conclusions.

If you're list of old users is that long, then you must have high turnover. The higher your turnover, the more I'd think you'd want to use names rather then callings.

The reason is when you go back to see who processed a particular financial batch, you can see if it was brother Brown or Brother Smith rather then "Ward Clerk" and then wondering which one it was at the time.

RussellHltn wrote:If you're list of old users is that long, then you must have high turnover. The higher your turnover, the more I'd think you'd want to use names rather then callings.

The reason is when you go back to see who processed a particular financial batch, you can see if it was brother Brown or Brother Smith rather then "Ward Clerk" and then wondering which one it was at the time.

That does make a lot of sense. Thank you for your replies..

MIS was set up so that there were three levels of access and three generic logins and passwords. The top level was the equivalent to an MLS administrator, and the lowest level was very similar to an organization leader.

The original instructions for MLS said that "each user requires a user ID, password, and access rights. The administrator enters these members as MLS users."

The help desk always stated that it was intended in MLS that users login with their own user ID and password, so that if there were any questions at a later time, it would be simple to tell who had done what.

When MLS first came out, a "deleted" user was actually hidden if there had been any involvement with financial transactions. That user could not establish a new login using the same name (their own).

MLS later was updated so that a former user could be activated again. This came about because folks would move from one calling to another that required access, and could not use the same login. Now they can.

lajackson wrote:MIS was set up so that there were three levels of access and three generic logins and passwords. The top level was the equivalent to an MLS administrator, and the lowest level was very similar to an organization leader.

The original instructions for MLS said that "each user requires a user ID, password, and access rights. The administrator enters these members as MLS users."

The help desk always stated that it was intended in MLS that users login with their own user ID and password, so that if there were any questions at a later time, it would be simple to tell who had done what.

When MLS first came out, a "deleted" user was actually hidden if there had been any involvement with financial transactions. That user could not establish a new login using the same name (their own).

MLS later was updated so that a former user could be activated again. This came about because folks would move from one calling to another that required access, and could not use the same login. Now they can.

All of this has been very enlightening!! I am extremely greatful to have finally come across this forum.. My stake doesn't have the experience to help out a lot with the MLS system so this is going to be a great asset!
I now agree that for tracking purposes it is best to allow the users to have their own unique login. I was just under the impression that it was supposed to be done by "callings."
I think I just like to have things nice and tidy so when I go to the list of users and have to scroll though dozens of old users it is annoying to me. But now I can live with it much easier knowing the purpose.

Thank you all for your input.