MLS and the online directory are tied together. Or rather MLS provides the data for the directory and some information such as e-mail addresses and phone numbers can be updated in the directory which then updates MLS. For e-mail addresses and telephone numbers changes can be made either in MLS or the online directory. Having this feature in the online directory permits members to maintain their information without having to contact a clerk. If members are aware of this feature they can then take the responsibility to keep their record up to date at any time.
pvanbeever wrote:I'd like to email members to keep information accurate via an address book broken down to organizations and be able to sort by active/inactive members.
The online directory organizes members into organizations. However, if members do not provide an e-mail address or if they have set the view option to "Private - leadership only" then the directory becomes less useful as the number of members increases who do not provide that for inclusion in MLS or the online directory or set the view option to private.
There is no capability for members or households to be tagged as active or inactive in the directory. Even in MLS this is a challenge. A definition and paramaters of inactive must be first established and then the custom fields could be used. Even then there is a great deal of manual entries that must be kept up to date on a regular basis.
pvanbeever wrote:For instance I imagine adding email addresses to elders quorum manually, or relief society, and removing them manually can't be the most efficient way.
Each of the organizations mentioned have e-mail groups in the online directory. If members keep their information up to date and do not have the view option set to private then this is effective for e-mailing unit organization members.
pvanbeever wrote:Is there a way to have a dynamic email lis of all active current members that updates itself based on the ward directory or mls and by organizations so that when I want to send individual emails to the elders quorum my address book is always accurate. Does this exist already for Bishops and Stake presidents or is everyone still manually making their own lists?
I don't know what your definition of a dynamic e-mail list is. But the online directory is about as dynamic as any list can be as long as the members keep their information up to date.
The organization lists are viewed by selecting "Ward Organizations" in the left column of the directory. Select the organization in the middle, or "Filter Results", column. To e-mail the organization members click the "Email all [organization name]" link just under the organization name in the right column of the directory page. The link opens the registered e-mail client or web service on your computer with the members with public e-mail addresses in the Bcc (blind carbon copy) field of a blank new message.
The organizations available for e-mailing members are High Priests, Elders, Relief Society, Priests, Teachers, Deacons, Laurels, Mia Maids, Behives, Adults. If you have a group you need to e-mail that is not among those listed you will have to do the manual thing and create your own.