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MLS 3.1 Release Preparation

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 2:27 pm
by ffrsqpilot
Yesterday while at the stake center after doing a send/recieve I noticed a new MLS message describing the process of handling Secondary Phone numbers.

In the description it says that in order to save these numbers (which will be deleted when 3.1 is installed) the clerk must save them to be reentered later. The following is how the message describes doing this:

1. Printing a Directory of members, that contains SECONDARY PHONE NUMBERS, from the REPORTS/FORMS dropdown menu.

2. You can also customize the Directory of Members to only list those with a SECONDARY PHONE NUMBER by clicking at the top right of the Directory of Members screen and following the outlined stepes.

I fully understand method 1, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how you can accomplish method 2. I have tried both on the stake computer and on one of the wards computers today while at Church (thinking the stake and ward Directory of Members "programs" may be different) but was unable in any way to see how to get method 2 to work.

I must be either missing something in the directions or there is another "link" that method 2 is referring to other than clicking on the "customize" link which doesn't allow you to print only names with SECONDARY PHONE NUMBERS.

I want to be able to help our unit clerks save the secondary numbers without having to print out entire Directory of Members lists (i.e saving paper), but unless someone else has some insight that I am missing it seems you cannot do that.

What am I missing? Help Aub!

Jim

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:08 pm
by aebrown
Pilotfly wrote:I fully understand method 1, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how you can accomplish method 2.
...
What am I missing?
You're not missing anything. Whoever wrote that message wasn't thinking very clearly -- there is no way to filter the Directory of Members to include only those who have a secondary phone number.

It seems much more efficient to use a custom report. Unfortunately you can't filter a custom report on the Secondary Phone Number field, but you can easily sort on the Secondary Phone Number field, which will bring all the records with Secondary Phone Numbers to the top or the bottom.

I've attached such a report, which you can Import into your MLS Custom Report list (just remove the .txt extension after downloading before you try to import it).

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 3:45 pm
by ffrsqpilot
Thanks Alan,

I thought for sure I was missing something or didn't understand the directions. I thought about a custom report but I was looking at first section "criteria" which doesn't allow you to have a field of "Secondary Phone Number". I forgot about going to the "Format" section and just adding the Secondary Phone Number as one of the variables and sorting on that.

Hopefully some other clerks will see this and save themselves some time and effort trying to accomplish - or follow the directions given in the message and getting puzzled when it doesn't work.

A custom report seems the easiest way to go and one which will save paper and time.

Thanks again for your insight.

Jim

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 4:01 pm
by RossEvans
Even before the official rollout of MLS 3.1, it would be good to have some more definitive information on what the rules will be.

Upcoming tithing settlement could provide a good window of opportunity to explain the upcoming changes to members and collect their individual phone numbers and email addresses.

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 4:38 pm
by mkmurray
boomerbubba wrote:Upcoming tithing settlement could provide a good window of opportunity to explain the upcoming changes to members and collect their individual phone numbers and email addresses.
Yes, I am thinking this as well.

I am definitely glad that the Church gave this warning ahead of time, as I wouldn't have foreseen this possible data loss because of the upgrade. However, I could prepare better if I had a few more details about how phone numbers and email addresses are going to be arranged in the new version of MLS. Will there still be the idea of a household number and email, in addition to individual ones? Is there the ability for more than one per individual? Are we able to denote what type of number or email it is (personal, work, home, cell, etc.)?

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:21 pm
by aebrown
boomerbubba wrote:Even before the official rollout of MLS 3.1, it would be good to have some more definitive information on what the rules will be.
If the MLS 3.1 beta ever gets released (it's now a minimum of 4 weeks late from the original scheduled date), I should be able to give some details a week or two before the actual release, which should help those who inhabit this forum.

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:42 pm
by jdlessley
Pilotfly wrote:I want to be able to help our unit clerks save the secondary numbers without having to print out entire Directory of Members lists (i.e saving paper)...
I know that you probably already know this but others may be reading this thread who also may want an alternative to using paper. You can save paper when you print a directory for a purpose such as this by printing to a PDF file instead of to a paper printing printer. Just remember when you do so the resultant file will need to be stored with appropriate security. I recommend storing it on a removable media such a memory stick (thumb drive, USB drive, etc.) instead of on the local hard drive and store it in the locking file cabinet until the whole transfer process is complete.

Posted: Sun Nov 08, 2009 5:52 pm
by RossEvans
jdlessley wrote:I know that you probably already know this but others may be reading this thread who also may want an alternative to using paper. You can save paper when you print a directory for a purpose such as this by printing to a PDF file instead of to a paper printing printer.

My preference would be CSV.

Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 2:38 pm
by greggo
boomerbubba wrote:My preference would be CSV.
Mine too, as it would make it easier to copy from a spreadsheet to the new MLS fields (maybe not faster than typing by hand, but no typos).

Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2009 8:05 pm
by mkmurray
Alan_Brown wrote:If the MLS 3.1 beta ever gets released (it's now a minimum of 4 weeks late from the original scheduled date), I should be able to give some details a week or two before the actual release, which should help those who inhabit this forum.
Apparently it is available now.

I still do have the question about whether household contact info will still remain in addition to the new individual contact info. However, it appears that DJC may have alluded to the fact that it will still remain in this post:

http://tech.lds.org/forum/showthread.ph ... #post36459

Of course, we know from the MLS message that at least Secondary phone numbers will be lost.