LDS Account E-mail to MLS

Discussions around using and interfacing with the Church MLS program.
psnarula
Member
Posts: 92
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2008 7:11 pm
Location: Wiesbaden, Germany

#31

Post by psnarula »

lajackson wrote:Individual e-mail address information recorded in MLS will be overwritten by e-mail information recorded in LDS Account during January 2010. (MLS Message 22 Dec 2009 to Stake and Ward Clerks)
I am a Ward Clerk and I did not get this message. Was it sent only to units in the United States? I also did not receive the print-your-phone-numbers-before-installing-MLS-3.1.2 message either.
lajackson
Community Moderators
Posts: 11460
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:27 pm
Location: US

#32

Post by lajackson »

psnarula wrote:I am a Ward Clerk and I did not get this message. Was it sent only to units in the United States? I also did not receive the print-your-phone-numbers-before-installing-MLS-3.1.2 message either.
I do not know. The message about LDS Account e-mail addresses going to MLS simply said it was being sent to ward and stake clerks.

I did not receive the secondary phone number message, either. I am not convinced that it was not sent, but I never received it, and everyone on our stake box claims it never arrived. Doesn't matter now, of course.
User avatar
mkmurray
Senior Member
Posts: 3266
Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2007 9:56 pm
Location: Utah
Contact:

#33

Post by mkmurray »

lajackson wrote:I am not convinced that it was not sent, but I never received it, and everyone on our stake box claims it never arrived. Doesn't matter now, of course.
Of course, the fact that some may not be receiving the messages does matter for future communications.
rpyne
Member
Posts: 228
Joined: Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:13 pm
Location: Provo, Utah, USA

#34

Post by rpyne »

RussellHltn wrote:My LUWS account is my "face to face" ones. My LDS Account is my "Internet" one. I like to keep a bit of isolation between the two.
I find this puzzling since your LDS Account is (supposed to be) your LUWS account.

I would much prefer migrating the MLS email address to the LDS/LUWS account since my experience is that most people do not keep their LDS/LUWS account profile current, but they do at least periodically update their MLS email address.
lajackson
Community Moderators
Posts: 11460
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 10:27 pm
Location: US

#35

Post by lajackson »

RussellHltn wrote:My LUWS account is my "face to face" ones. My LDS Account is my "Internet" one. I like to keep a bit of isolation between the two.
rpyne wrote:I find this puzzling since your LDS Account is (supposed to be) your LUWS account.
I think Russell was talking about his e-mail address at each location.

LUWS is only one of the many Church sites that uses LDS Account to authenticate and login. The e-mail account I have tied to my LDS Account login is used to communicate critical information from other Church sites that I need to receive immediately when it is sent. That e-mail account needs to be active, private, and available for privileged communication from Church Headquarters, not the general Church membership in my ward or stake.

My position was that if this e-mail account were to become available to the general membership through LUWS, I would no longer be able to rely on it for my primary means of communication. Because I am a LUWS administrator, the e-mail account I use there is subject to unwanted messages, occasional spamming, and being shut down during broadcast message operations. Therefore, it is not reliable for important and timely communication.
rpyne wrote: I would much prefer migrating the MLS email address to the LDS/LUWS account since my experience is that most people do not keep their LDS/LUWS account profile current, byut they do at least periodically update their MLS email address.
It appears that the feeling was that the LDS Account e-mail had been validated and would be the most current. This was true at the time the LDS Account was created, but is no longer true, at least in my case, because I created my LDS Account so long ago.

I set the LUWS account profile to the address I can allow to be interrupted and not dependable.

Until last week, I had never updated my e-mail account in MLS.

My challenge is that I need a different address in each location, although the MLS and the LUWS addresses may certainly be the same if those who use the MLS address do not mind my non-availability (via e-mail) from time to time.

Like, when I send out their broadcast event messages. [grin]

And I still hold out hope that the LUWS messaging system will be fixed so that the return bounce messages will not be charged as having come from my personal e-mail account, causing my ISP to shut me down under their very limited spam definitions.
jdlessley
Community Moderators
Posts: 9861
Joined: Mon Mar 17, 2008 12:30 am
Location: USA, TX

#36

Post by jdlessley »

rpyne wrote:I find this puzzling since your LDS Account is (supposed to be) your LUWS account.
You are confusing two different issues and two e-mail addresses that can be different. LDS Account is the authentication source for logging onto Church websites such as the LUWS. The e-mail address a user provides in their LUWS profile is used for the LUWS e-mail system and can be different from that used for the credentials of the LDS Account. There are many of us who provide one e-mail address for trusted sources such as Church headquarters and other e-mail addresses when the dissemination of that address cannot be controlled, such as the LUWS or even MLS. With the LDS Account registered e-mail address being pushed to replace the current MLS address there is a concern for many of us about the loss of control of the dissemination of that address.
rpyne wrote:I would much prefer migrating the MLS email address to the LDS/LUWS account since my experience is that most people do not keep their LDS/LUWS account profile current, but they do at least periodically update their MLS email address.
I find that both the MLS e-mail address and the LUWS e-mail address have their share of problems with people keeping those addresses up to date. Depending on the source unit leaders and auxiliary leaders use for e-mail address lists determines, from what I have been reading in these forums, which source's list gets the most attention and therefore the most current e-mail address.

Since I cannot control where the e-mail address I provide through MLS or the LUWS ends up getting distributed I prefer that address to be one of my disposable addresses. Since the LDS Account credentials are used for many Church websites I want that address to be one that no one else has is likely to get.
JD Lessley
Have you tried finding your answer on the ChurchofJesusChrist.org Help Center or Tech Wiki?
russellhltn
Community Administrator
Posts: 34422
Joined: Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:53 pm
Location: U.S.

#37

Post by russellhltn »

rpyne wrote:I find this puzzling since your LDS Account is (supposed to be) your LUWS account.
As others have pointed out, the profile in LUWS has a place for email - and it's separate from what's in your LDS Account information.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
coloradotechie-p40
Member
Posts: 91
Joined: Wed Sep 16, 2009 8:50 am
Location: Colorado, USA

oh well...

#38

Post by coloradotechie-p40 »

(apologies for the long post).

Our MLS data has become out of date and I'm currently in the middle of a project to get all the up-to-date information from each auxiliary and put it into MLS.

The problem I'm seeing with this one-way data push is that we've made it super easy for members to tell each auxiliary about email address changes: a list is passed around with the roll and members update their contact info.

Auxiliary leaders then tell the clerks about any changes and we update MLS. Members never have to go to their LDS Account to update their profile...

Therefore: it seems that this new data push is going to break our current system: anyone with an outdated LDS Account primary email address is going to overwrite what the clerks type in to MLS (which came from the auxiliary secretary, which originated from the member).

Potential confusing solution: reverse the entire workflow and tell members that for their home address and phone numbers, keep doing what their doing, but for email addresses, they need to update their LDS Account, then the clerks will watch for changes in MLS, then notify the appropriate auxiliary :eek:

This just seems like a crazy "solution" to me.

Some may ask, "Why is your data flow set up the way it is right now?" (e.g. Member updates info on roll, auxiliary records it and sends info to clerks). The reasons are because each auxiliary has their own email list and they use their own personal email clients to send announcements. Furthermore, the RS has put together a nicely formatted RS Directory with Sisters' information on it (Wife's name, husband's name, sister's personal phone/email, address, and birth day (not year, just mm/dd)).

The RS Directory has become a standard in our ward AND it is easy for the RS to update the directory immediately after someone moves in/out and have a new directory on Monday... instead of waiting for the records to come in, then waiting for the clerks to print out a new RS Directory report with sisters' individual contact info (not just head of household).


So, because of this one way data push, my head is spinning and I'm at a complete loss at what to do.

I've thought about asking every member to sign up on the ward website and keep their information up-to-date... but this is confusing. I say it is confusing because it turns out the LUWS profile is different then the LDS Account profile and how is a regular member supposed to keep them separate in their head?

Furthermore, there is no easy way to update your LDS Account profile... most members will login to their LUWS, click "Update profile", see their email address and update it, save, and be done. Well, unfortunately that didn't update their LDS Account profile and thus that change never made it back to MLS.

So, what do I do? :confused:

Assumptions:
  • LDS Account email to MLS Sync is one way from LDS Account to MLS
  • LUWS email address is completely separate and no syncing will occur
  • There is no way for a clerk to update someone's LDS Account profile
  • It is kind of confusing for regular members to update their LDS Account profile (because of the "Update Profile" link on the LUWS doesn't take you to LDS Account and b/c there are two profiles)
  • I'm trying to let each auxiliary choose how they want to manage their data: currently they've all chosen to keep their own lists and email people from their personal email accounts.
  • It is unknown when the new LUWS features will be rolled out (specifically directory of members) which use the LDS Account as the primary profile and get rid of the extra LUWS email address.
I guess in the end I want one master source of information and I just can't seem to get it :D. (I thought the LDS Account would be the "master", but it is hard to get to and it isn't obvious to each auxiliary if a member changes it... furthermore it only has email address and the data sync is only one way).

I then thought MLS would be the master source... but it turns out we are about to embark on the journey of a one-way push from LDS Account to MLS for email address, thus making MLS the master data source for everything except individual email address (for those with an LDS Account).

Maybe that is my solution: MLS is still the master source and let each auxiliary keep their own list and tell the clerks when a change occurs.

If the one-way data push overwrites an email address b/c a member told the RS of a new email but didn't update their LDS Account... oh well.

If a member gets confused about clicking "Update Profile" on the LUWS and updates their email address there and never updates their LDS Account... oh well.

I guess in the end the worse things that could happen would be :

  • a member's email address will be wrong in MLS b/c they never updated their LDS Account when they switched email addresses. Any report printed from MLS will show a different email address then an auxiliary directory and oh well...
  • a member wants to use the ward website and update their profile and they manage to update their LDS Account instead... other members trying to email them using the LUWS aren't able to do so b/c the email address is wrong (or non-existent) for the member...
    • Wow... this is the VERY thing I'm trying to avoid. Question: Do LUWS Administrators have the ability to update members LUWS email address?
      • if so, I think I'll have to add the ward website admin into our "data workflow" so that the LUWS can get updated when a member changes their email address on the roll.

Sorry about the long post... in the end it just seems that there is going to be some confusion in our ward as we start promoting the ward website and trying to get everyone to use it... if someone wants to update their email address we'll probably have to hold some people's hands through the process...

oh well. ;)
User avatar
aebrown
Community Administrator
Posts: 15153
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2007 8:48 pm
Location: Draper, Utah

#39

Post by aebrown »

coloradotechie wrote:I've thought about asking every member to sign up on the ward website and keep their information up-to-date... but this is confusing. I say it is confusing because it turns out the LUWS profile is different then the LDS Account profile and how is a regular member supposed to keep them separate in their head?
I agree that it is confusing to have at least three different sources of e-mail addresses. With the change to sync from LDS Account to MLS that number should be reduced to two, maybe two and a half (I'm waffling, because there still is an MLS household e-mail address that is not synchronized with any other source).
coloradotechie wrote:Furthermore, there is no easy way to update your LDS Account profile...
I would disagree with that claim -- it's quite easy to do. Yes, it is one additional place to go, but it's easy to update once you go there.
coloradotechie wrote:Assumptions:
  • LDS Account email to MLS Sync is one way from LDS Account to MLS
  • LUWS email address is completely separate and no syncing will occur
  • There is no way for a clerk to update someone's LDS Account profile
  • It is kind of confusing for regular members to update their LDS Account profile (because of the "Update Profile" link on the LUWS doesn't take you to LDS Account and b/c there are two profiles)
Those assumptions are correct (at least for now) -- well at least the first three are simple facts, and I would not disagree with your opinion on the fourth.
coloradotechie wrote:It is unknown when the new LUWS features will be rolled out (specifically directory of members) which use the LDS Account as the primary profile and get rid of the extra LUWS email address.
You speak of this as if it is a certainty. What is your source for the claim that the LDS Account will be the source of the LUWS email address at some point? Don't get me wrong -- I'd love to see this -- but the current version of the directory on labs.lds.org doesn't do this at this point, so I'm curious who is saying this is how it will work.
coloradotechie wrote:I guess in the end I want one master source of information and I just can't seem to get it.
It appears the Church is heading for one master source for a person's e-mail address (LDS Account), and one master source for everything else (MLS).

We're not there yet, primarily because LUWS has not had any significant update in a while. But with a change to LUWS to simply use the LDS Account e-mail address and eliminate a separate e-mail address from the LUWS profile, we would be pretty close.
coloradotechie wrote:If a member gets confused about clicking "Update Profile" on the LUWS and updates their email address there and never updates their LDS Account... oh well.
When you enter your e-mail address in multiple places, and then you change your address, it's a sad fact of life that you have to update multiple places. If I were to change my e-mail address, I would have to update dozens of places; some are from the same entity. For example, the federal government has multiple copies of my e-mail address, and if I changed it, I would have to update more than one agency. It would be nice if the Church had only one place to update, and they're heading that way, but it's not that surprising that you supplied an e-mail address to LUWS and LDS Account separately, so they have to be updated separately right now.
coloradotechie wrote:Question: Do LUWS Administrators have the ability to update members LUWS email address?
No. Only the individual LUWS user can update the e-mail address through Update Profile.
coloradotechie wrote:if someone wants to update their email address we'll probably have to hold some people's hands through the process.
I agree that it will require some extra support for members during this transitional period. I hope that LDS Account will become the one place for e-mail addresses. After all, there are multiple applications already (and I imagine there will be many more) that don't let you specify an e-mail address, but still use one for communication. The missionary application system is one obvious example. Since you already have to login to those applications with an LDS Account, and LDS Account has an e-mail address (actually two now) associated with it, it makes sense for that to be the one master source. You have to fix your LDS Account profile anyway when your e-mail address changes, so it would be nice if that were the only place you have to change.
jonesrk
Church Employee
Church Employee
Posts: 2361
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:12 am
Location: South Jordan, UT, USA

#40

Post by jonesrk »

coloradotechie wrote:I then thought MLS would be the master source... but it turns out we are about to embark on the journey of a one-way push from LDS Account to MLS for email address, thus making MLS the master data source for everything except individual email address (for those with an LDS Account).
My understanding for having LDS Account as the master data source is that it is the only email source that validates the email address. That said, it isn't the one that people will think of first to update, which leads to your dilemma.
Locked

Return to “MLS Support, Help, and Feedback”