Church Guidelines/Policies for Ward/Stake CUSTOM Websites

[russellhltn]

A guide some of us used was "what name is at the top?" If it says "Springfield Ward", that sure sounds like a church sponsored presence. If Molly Jones, the singles rep has a "Molly's Folly" page, then it's personal.

[allenjpl]

So here is my conundrum. As a member of a Stake presidency, we are precluded from organizing or developing a stake sponsored website to provide information and resources to stake members, specifically, and to the community as a whole.

This is true. The general rule is that stakes can't have a church-sponsored web presence other than the tools provided at lds.org.

At the same time, a stake Family History Center Director, or a stake YM leader, or the director of a stake Christmas activity may develop and maintain separate websites to assist them with their callings (with appropriate disclaimers about being Not An Official Church Website), yet there is no place to develop a stake site that can link to all of those sites (such links are not allowed from the "official" lds.org site). We intend to hew to the strict letter of the handbook, but we are hopeful that it will evolve over time to provide this additional oversight and functionallity to us. I would be interested how others have dealt with this situation and what might be under development to help with this.

This is also true. Members can say "hey, look what I'm involved in!" on the web whenever they want. They can even include resources, links, etc. allowing others to enjoy and learn from their experiences. So, as I mentioned before, if a stake president were to set up a personal site, and tell 6-12 of his close friends, who just happen to be the bishops in his stake, about the site, and if he asks these close friends to let 200-400 of their friends know about the site, well, that would all be on the up-and-up and within church policy, right?

Riiiiight.

[sharonlower]

I'm very disappointed in the fact that leaders are supporting Stake and Ward websites on Facebook
to make ward and stake event announcements. I have worked very hard on learning the new Calendar
and making myself available to stake auxillary leaders that have decided its easier to post on facebook
then to send events for the Stake Calendar....

I finally decided to quit and let someone else decide to work with church verses facebook
too confusing and many will post differences with events where this is not necessary
and where I get off the boat so to speak

If there is a solution please let me know

I'm really discourage and feel disrespected

[joeneuman]

I'm curious how something like Facebook would fall. I am in a singles ward and it is easy to reach everyone with announcements on Facebook. We have had very limited success with the calendar on lds.org to communicate events.
Would Facebook be considered a church sponsored internet presence?

On Facebook there are four basic presents. Pages, Groups, Profiles, and Events. Of these the Pages and Profiles are copy right protected by facebook. Anyone is allowed by facebook to create a group as groups are viewed more as collaboration pages for fans. Our singles ward was just approved to create a page on facebook. With this you will be able to post html and your calendar.

[aebrown]

Our singles ward was just approved to create a page on facebook.

I'm curious what process you went through to obtain this approval. Was this approval given by your bishop, your stake president, area authority, or some higher authority?

[lajackson]

On Facebook . . .

I am wondering how you control the advertisements. I heard once that Facebook had a provision where you could pay to keep them off of the page, but we never looked into it for details. Does it still work that way?

If not, what will you do about inappropriate ads that you cannot control? This has been the main reason (other than Church policy) we have not created Facebook pages for our Young Single Adults and Single Adults.

It would be wonderful if things have changed so that we might consider seeking approval once again.

[joeneuman]

I would like to get a third party opinion on our brand new ward website. What issues may we have here?

ldsbh7midsingles.com

[joeneuman]

I thought these links might help. These are just a few of the Churches Facebook pages. I noticed they all have adds except the first one facebook.com/lds

http://ldsmediatalk.com/Official-LDS-Ch ... -Facebook/

[joeneuman]

I'm curious what process you went through to obtain this approval. Was this approval given by your bishop, your stake president, area authority, or some higher authority?

I have been told... that is comes from the first presidency. However that is what I am always told.

[russellhltn]

I would like to get a third party opinion on our brand new ward website. What issues may we have here?

ldsbh7midsingles.com

It uses copyrighted artwork, but doesn't state that it's an official page of the church. (You can't use church artwork if it's a personal page.) I'd also suggest stating the authority the page was created under, as it requires special permission from the Seventy or Area Authority (per Handbook 2: 21.1.22.)

The Privacy Policy is not in English.

I'm confused about the designation as a "mid-singles" ward. The CDOL lists it as a "Single Adult" ward. "Mid-singles" is a popular title, but not one found in the Handbook.