Ward Mission App (more than a digital area book)

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ritterrf
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Re: Ward Mission App (more than a digital area book)

#11

Post by ritterrf »

I'm still in the stone age ... no smart phone. However see the value in this missionary information. If the data is syned with lds.org, where on desktop, lds.org can the information be found?
lajackson
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Re: Ward Mission App (more than a digital area book)

#12

Post by lajackson »

ritterrf wrote:I'm still in the stone age ... no smart phone. However see the value in this missionary information. If the data is syned with lds.org, where on desktop, lds.org can the information be found?
If you are a member of a ward council, go to Leader and Clerk Resources at LDS.org and click on Other. In the drop down box, look in the right column under Missionary and select the Progress Record link.
terreview
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Re: Ward Mission App (more than a digital area book)

#13

Post by terreview »

Sorry for the late reply here. I wanted to give an update on this. I’ve done the following:

I’ve spoken with my bishop, my high councilman over missionary work, and the stake president. All have responded positively about this app.

I’ve tried getting in contact with church HQ twice – the best I’ve gotten is being routed through tech support. I can’t seem to get past level 1 tech support where I haven’t received any official response. I’ve left my contact info but nobody has called me back.

Based on Topher’s positive response and the positive responses I’ve received so far on my project, my plan is to move forward and launch Saturday Sep 12. I’ll keep the site up for at least a year and gage usage to see if this app is useful to ward missions. I’ll provide contact info on the site and also periodically check on this forum; in the event that any church leadership wishes for me to take it down then I’ll honor it. I’ll document on this thread that way any other devs with potential projects like this can see success/hurdles. Will post the link here soon.
drepouille
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Re: Ward Mission App (more than a digital area book)

#14

Post by drepouille »

lajackson wrote:If you are a member of a ward council, go to Leader and Clerk Resources at LDS.org and click on Other. In the drop down box, look in the right column under Missionary and select the Progress Record link.
I tried to print the blank Progress Record PDF three days ago. However, I could never get the orientation to come out correctly on the printer. It looks like the printer driver for my ancient hp LaserJet 1300 can't handle it, since it prints fine at my office. I tried rotating the image in Adobe Reader, but it still didn't print correctly.
Dana Repouille, Plattsmouth, Nebraska
terreview
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Re: Ward Mission App (more than a digital area book)

#15

Post by terreview »

A bit later than originally scheduled as I was dotting the i's and crossing the t's on migration.

Site is up! Link here:

https://www.leadamission.org

Design is a bit spartan but I'm focusing on functionality and mobile friendliness before investing a ton into graphic design.

I'm really excited to launch and see if this is useful.
russellhltn
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Re: Ward Mission App (more than a digital area book)

#16

Post by russellhltn »

I'm curious about some of the functions like "Lead a Mission remembers the last time households were contacted, taught, or given service. " How is that done without entering or uploading membership 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.
terreview
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Re: Ward Mission App (more than a digital area book)

#17

Post by terreview »

russellhltn wrote:I'm curious about some of the functions like "Lead a Mission remembers the last time households were contacted, taught, or given service. " How is that done without entering or uploading membership information?
Thanks for responding. That is an excellent question and for this reason I've been trying to contact the right people to discuss.

Info in the app is for all people taught (mostly non-member in my mission). Nothing is synced with lds.org. Manual entry/copy-paste can occur. Fields in the app that directly correlate to membership info is minimalized to basic contact info (name/phone/address). This was definitely a flag I noticed but further research showed a precedent where there didn't seem to be a problem in this thread:

https://tech.lds.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=17149

Again I recognize this could be disruptive and I'm very receptive to feedback from both community and proper authority. I think the community will benefit from having the conversation regardless of outcome (Is there demand for this? Should functionality be rolled into LDS.org? Is this a bad idea and needs to be scrapped? Is it fine as a standalone app for now? Are there additional features that should be added? Would there be support/permission to use the a progress record form? etc.)
russellhltn
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Re: Ward Mission App (more than a digital area book)

#18

Post by russellhltn »

terreview wrote:further research showed a precedent where there didn't seem to be a problem in this thread:
There's been some updates since that thread. The Meetinghouse Technology Policy says,
4.9.3 The use of MLS data and membership information in third party software is prohibited, whether obtained from within or outside of a meetinghouse.

4.9.4 The use of cloud-based services for storing and/or backing up MLS or any membership related data is prohibited.
terreview wrote:I think the community will benefit from having the conversation regardless of outcome (Is there demand for this? Should functionality be rolled into LDS.org? Is this a bad idea and needs to be scrapped? Is it fine as a standalone app for now? Are there additional features that should be added? Would there be support/permission to use the a progress record form? etc.)
Gathering information is fine, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. The church is run by the Priesthood, not by user demand. The developer pool is rather small and they already have a list of projects and are going though it in the priority determined by the Priesthood department. There really is no promise that the ideas you come up with will align with the church's requirements.

Off the top of my head, I can't think any independent effort that has worked out long-term. There doesn't seem to be any interest in community development outside of the official community projects.
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.
terreview
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Re: Ward Mission App (more than a digital area book)

#19

Post by terreview »

russellhltn wrote:The church is run by the Priesthood, not by user demand. The developer pool is rather small and they already have a list of projects and are going though it in the priority determined by the Priesthood department. There really is no promise that the ideas you come up with will align with the church's requirements.
I'm really glad you stated that. It's good to hear that Priesthood authority is directly connected with direction and prioritization of dev. I've been looking for a clear thumbs up/thumbs down and that's an excellent source to receive guidance after personal revelation has taken its course. You are an admin on this board - if you are in contact with any higher authorities then please do let them know. My local authorities have been aware of the project but I don't think it's been escalated past that. I'm not getting any hopes up but I do know this has been immensely valuable for my own work and after much prayer I felt the right thing to do was present it. I look forward to hearing from Priesthood authority and gaining clarity.
devinbost
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Re: Ward Mission App (more than a digital area book)

#20

Post by devinbost »

Is there a process for proposing an application to the Church for consideration to try to get approval for syncing with membership data?
I'm also interested in assisting with development of projects, and since the Church decided to move from MLS to lds.org (and also sync familysearch.org with Ancestry.com), I'm sure that they must have a process for integrating with (or acquiring) third-party applications.
Does anyone know anything about this? Or perhaps know what direction they might point me in?
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