Page 1 of 2

website administrator training

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 6:49 pm
by bkofoed
Someday some how maybe I will get a answer.
I have have been a website administrator in a ward since day one. I have NEVER got any training, help or info. If I wasn't a geek of the first water who has studied and worked with computer since 1966 I would be totally lost! Is there somewhere some thing in the way of training or help at all?

Re: website administrator training

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 8:09 pm
by jdlessley
The ward website administrator is a position not listed in the Handbook. The building scheduler is a similar position. The responsibilities are determined locally and defined by the bishop. As such the person responsible for giving any training must also be determined locally. Due to the nature of the rights of the role in the LDS.org sites and tools I would think the ward clerk could provide training. Absent any technical skills or aptitude by the clerk then the stake technology specialist is a good training resource.

However, most, if not all, of the necessary information related to the tasks a ward website administrator may have in regards to any church websites or tools are found in the help for those websites and tools. Any person with just a curious nature about these technologies and a willingness to read the help documentation can learn and perform their duties on their own with more than reasonable proficiency.

Re: website administrator training

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 11:32 pm
by tomjoht
I would like to see some responsibilities over the local unit tools formalized with specific callings. I think tools such as Lesson Schedules gets unused because it's not clear who is responsible for setting this up. Clerks and bishoprics surely can do it, but do they have time/interest/desire to spend several hours setting it up? If the website administrator calling had a more formal list of responsibilities, it might increase the adoption of some of these tools.

Re: website administrator training

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 2:53 am
by russellhltn
What kind of training are you looking for? If it's for the apps, click on "Help". That's where the user documentation can be found.

Re: website administrator training

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 8:27 pm
by bkofoed
If I don't What I am suppose to do or where I am suppose to do it it is hard to even start to ask questions. However most of the help docs are unclear at best. Most are aimed at users and not web admins. Trying to find that I am seeing because that I am a admin and not just a user is a guessing game. Reading every help only to find they have nothing to do with your calling is exhausting. It would be nice just to have some idea of that I am suppose to be doing.

Re: website administrator training

Posted: Sat Jan 12, 2013 10:07 pm
by aebrown
bkofoed wrote:Trying to find that I am seeing because that I am a admin and not just a user is a guessing game. Reading every help only to find they have nothing to do with your calling is exhausting. It would be nice just to have some idea of that I am suppose to be doing.
Here's a list of help topics related specifically to administration: One of the reasons you won't find a specific list of exactly what a website administrator does is that it varies from ward to ward and stake to stake. The above gives a summary of what a website administrator can do, but that doesn't mean that he or she has every one of those assignments. In some wards, the ward clerk handles all the Directory administration; in some wards the executive secretary handles Calendar administration; and so on. The only way to know for sure what your roles are in your ward is to ask your bishop (who may in turn have delegated website administration to a counselor or ward clerk).

Re: website administrator training

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 4:27 pm
by bkofoed
Thank you for your answer. It is the first real info I have ever had giving to me. Since no one has ever told me to do or not to do any thing at all maybe they don't know that website administrator can do either. May I assume that some training takes place at some level and that it never gets down to the people who are called to do it?

Re: website administrator training

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 6:24 pm
by jeromer7
johnsonth wrote:I would like to see some responsibilities over the local unit tools formalized with specific callings. I think tools such as Lesson Schedules gets unused because it's not clear who is responsible for setting this up.
I sure agree. As a stake clerk, I fielded two questions just this past week about why Teachings for our Times wasn't showing in their unit's Lesson Schedules. All I could do was reference them to the help page where the roles are spelled out and suggested they bring it up in ward council.

Re: website administrator training

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 8:28 pm
by aebrown
johnsonth wrote:I would like to see some responsibilities over the local unit tools formalized with specific callings. I think tools such as Lesson Schedules gets unused because it's not clear who is responsible for setting this up. Clerks and bishoprics surely can do it, but do they have time/interest/desire to spend several hours setting it up? If the website administrator calling had a more formal list of responsibilities, it might increase the adoption of some of these tools.
And yet I see wards in my stake make all sorts of different decisions in this area. They have website administrators called, but choose to have the ward clerk or executive secretary handle calendar issues, an assistant clerk handle photos, etc. I'm not sure what it would mean to "formalize responsibilities," but I would hope that it doesn't remove this flexibility.

Re: website administrator training

Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2013 9:01 pm
by russellhltn
Overall, I think Bishops have a responsibility to come up with something that works for his ward and fits the skill sets of the people he has.

As far as the Lesson Schedules, I'm not sure as anything was sent to the Bishops to let them know it existed. If so, then it would either require someone with default rights to take initiative, or someone to bring it to the Bishop's attention.