Maintain Ward GEO codes? Rename, Delete

Discussions around using and interfacing with the Church MLS program.
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kh_design
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Maintain Ward GEO codes? Rename, Delete

#1

Post by kh_design »

Where in the MLS 2.8 menu tree do I go to Maintain (Rename, Delete) the Ward GEO codes?
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Mikerowaved
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#2

Post by Mikerowaved »

Under Membership --> Household Geo Codes, there are two columns on the right that when you click on them will let you add/modify the Stake or Ward Geo Code for each household.
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kh_design
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#3

Post by kh_design »

My question is NOT were to go to maintain the Household GEO Codes.

My question is, where in the MLS 2.8 menu tree do I go to Maintain (Rename, Delete) the Ward GEO codes (The actual Ward GEO Codes themselves)?
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Mikerowaved
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#4

Post by Mikerowaved »

Ahhh. I thought your original question was rather basic. ;)

That's a very good question. Once a Geo Code has been created, how would one delete it to keep the list of available codes more manageable? Wow, I'm stumped on that one. Anyone else have an answer?
So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
cherishj
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#5

Post by cherishj »

If you remove a geo code from everyone it should remove itself from the list of available codes.
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aebrown
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#6

Post by aebrown »

kh_design wrote:My question is NOT were to go to maintain the Household GEO Codes.

My question is, where in the MLS 2.8 menu tree do I go to Maintain (Rename, Delete) the Ward GEO codes (The actual Ward GEO Codes themselves)?
Actually the answer is the same (but read on to understand this oblique answer).

As you go to add a GEO code to a household, you are presented with a list of GEO codes that you can choose from. You can choose an existing code, or you can add a new one.

The list of GEO codes is not a list you set up, from which you will later have the opportunity to choose a GEO code. Rather, the list that is presented to you is simply the list of all the currently used GEO codes. Once you understand that, it is clear why there is no separate place in MLS where you can go to change the list of GEO codes.

To verify this, pick a household, note their current GEO code, and add a code of XYZZY. That GEO code will be applied to that household. Then go right back in to update their GEO code. You will see that XYZZY is now a choice in the list. Set their GEO code back to what it was. Then go back in to update the GEO code -- magically, XYZZY is no longer a choice in the list. That's because once you reset the GEO code, there were no longer any XYZZY households, so that value would not appear in the list.

You may have been hoping that you could get the list all set up with the options for GEO codes in your ward and then start assigning those codes. But that's not the way MLS works. Just start assigning GEO codes, and once you have updated at least one household per GEO code, your list will be complete. Because of the way MLS works, there is no need to have a delete function -- when the last usage of a GEO code goes away, it is removed from the list. This also means, however, that there is no Rename function. You have to update each household with the current name to have the new name; once you have done this for all those households, the old name will disappear from the list.
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Mikerowaved
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#7

Post by Mikerowaved »

OK, I see how it works. When you press the REMOVE button, you are presented with the option of either removing the code(s) for that individual or everyone and when it's no longer used it's dropped from the selection list.

This is fine, but it doesn't help if you have a lot of codes in use and you wanted to rename one. It looks like your only option is to delete it from every household using it and reapply a new one. That's not a very friendly option.
So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
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aebrown
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#8

Post by aebrown »

Mikerowaved wrote:OK, I see how it works. When you press the REMOVE button, you are presented with the option of either removing the code(s) for that individual or everyone and when it's no longer used it's dropped from the selection list.

This is fine, but it doesn't help if you have a lot of codes in use and you wanted to rename one. It looks like your only option is to delete it from every household using it and reapply a new one. That's not a very friendly option.

You don't have to delete it from every household using it -- just pick the new code. If you sort the list by GEO code, then the households you need to fix are all together. For each household, it's just a click on the GEO code link, then a double click on the new code, which really isn't much work. I agree it's not all that user-friendly, but I wouldn't think a rename would happen very often, and it's not that hard to do.
russellhltn
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#9

Post by russellhltn »

MLS - it's not Access. ;)

(Or SQL, or Excel, or Base, or dBase, or PICK, or Revelation, or Oracle, or....)
LTORDUSA1-p40
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For what purpose are you using Geo Codes?

#10

Post by LTORDUSA1-p40 »

In my ward I have designated each house and apartment with a GEO Code outside of MLS. When a family moves into that residence I assign that ward GEO Code to that family. In Custom List I created a report for the street or area I wanted displayed. This process helps in creating routes for Fast Offering collection and Home Teaching/Visiting Teaching routes as well a Scout collections, etc. With the Stake Geo Code I just use a numeric 1.
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