Ward wants to skip ETBenson Less. after schedule was set up.

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gsgiauque
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Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:23 pm

Ward wants to skip ETBenson Less. after schedule was set up.

#1

Post by gsgiauque »

I have created Lesson Schedules for 2015. I created Events, and entered in dates for Stake and Gen. Conference. Everything looked good. Then I entered lessons for HP, EQ and RS as much as possible, especially the ETBenson manual.

But I just got word today that due to Stk Conf., my ward will skip lesson 5. I personally thought it would be a good idea to *do* #5 *after* Stk Conf., but I have been told, “No, we’ll skip #5.” I had already inserted Stk Conf., with #5 after it. But now I need to put #6 where that old #5 was. I just did that. So where I used to have #5, I now have #6. And now I also have #6 appearing a second time, on the same Sunday in which I had originally scheduled it.

This means, I think, that I have to go to each 2nd and 3rd Sunday and advance, manually, the number of the lesson once (and twice, after the 2nd Stk Conf. of the year). And I have to do it for HP, EQ and RS. For something that is supposed to be automated, this seems like a lot of work.

I was hoping that “Insert mission lessons” might fix the problem. But since no lessons are missing, it really does not. . . fix the problem.

So, I am asking for a very simple answer: Do I have to manually advance the number of the lesson for the whole year, for 3 groups, HP, EQ and RS?

Yes or No?

Or is there a non-manual way to do it?

Thanks
eblood66
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Re: Ward wants to skip ETBenson Less. after schedule was set

#2

Post by eblood66 »

You might try removing the Stake Conference event and then use 'Insert missing lessons'. After it resets the lessons re-add Stake Conference which should replace lesson #5 (assuming that lesson #5 would otherwise be taught on that Sunday--if that isn't the case then this probably won't work).
gsgiauque
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Joined: Wed Sep 19, 2012 4:23 pm

Re: Ward wants to skip ETBenson Less. after schedule was set

#3

Post by gsgiauque »

Dear eblood66 and others

Thanks for this suggestion. Unfortunately, what you suggested doesn’t work. But I found the “answer” (which I really don’t like) at “Lesson Schedules FAQ:” https://www.lds.org/help/support/lesson ... lang=eng#d And not only is the answer “disappointing,” but the site was not easy to find!

• It says:
“ If I insert an event into a lesson schedule, does it push down the lessons I already entered?
No, adding an event does not push down the existing lesson schedule. The event simply overwrites the lesson scheduled for that date. If you don't want events to overwrite your lessons, you must add events before adding your classes. This means you must delete the class, Add Events, and then Add Classes.”

This actually is the answer I was looking for. But it means that I must:
Delete the old class.
Create a new one.
Insert ETBenson lessons *first*
Insert Stk and Gen. Conference *next.*
Insert 1st Sunday and 4th Sunday (Teaching for our Times. . . .TfoT) lessons last.

Since I had already inserted TfoT, I will have to re-do that. Not happy! And for 3 classes: HP, EQ and RS.

The same thing is said in a different way here (same page, i.e., “Lesson Schedules FAQ,” item #3).

• “If I first enter events into Lesson Schedules and then add classes, do the auto-populated lessons for the class adjust based on the pre-existing events?

Yes, the auto-populated lesson schedules will adjust based on events. See How Events Affect Lesson Schedules for more information.”

In the section entitled “Help>Setting Up Lesson Schedules,” I read that one should create the events first. But the way my stake and ward are working, this creates the problem I am experiencing (explained in my first post).


Part 2: I have successfully recreated the Elders’ Quorum Lesson Schedule for all 2nd & 3rd Sundays of the ETBenson lessons, with Stk and Gen. Conf. inserted, and the desired ETB lessons skipped. Also the 4th Sunday TfoT lessons through April.

Now, it would really be nice if I could “copy” this entire schedule into a site for the HP and the RS, rather than having to retype all the TfoT into each one of their schedules.

Can that be done?


Yes? No?


If so, how?

P.S. This is the second time I have written this message. I saved the earlier draft, but cannot find it now. It simply disappeared! That issue also needs to be addressed. Now I recognize that this is a forum of individuals who do not work for the Church. But hopefully someone who reads this can put these ideas into the right hands. I am just a newbie.
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aebrown
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Location: Draper, Utah

Re: Ward wants to skip ETBenson Less. after schedule was set

#4

Post by aebrown »

gsgiauque wrote:Now, it would really be nice if I could “copy” this entire schedule into a site for the HP and the RS, rather than having to retype all the TfoT into each one of their schedules.

Can that be done?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. This is a frequently-requested feature, but there is no way to do it at this point.
gsgiauque wrote:P.S. This is the second time I have written this message. I saved the earlier draft, but cannot find it now. It simply disappeared! That issue also needs to be addressed. Now I recognize that this is a forum of individuals who do not work for the Church. But hopefully someone who reads this can put these ideas into the right hands. I am just a newbie.
This is answered in the separate topic Saving drafts. Please discuss that issue over there.
mevans
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Re: Ward wants to skip ETBenson Less. after schedule was set

#5

Post by mevans »

You don't need to re-create the class.
  • Choose insert missing lessons.
  • Click on "Insert Specific Lessons"
  • Choose start date to be the week after Stake Conference
  • Choose start lesson to be Lesson 6
  • Click Insert
  • You're done
This will fill in everything for the rest of the year on 2nd and 3rd Sundays starting with the lesson you select. If you want to do the same thing after your second stake conference, then you'll need to do the same process over, but this time select the date after your second stake conference.

It works great. I did this for several lesson schedules this year and just created a test class to verify it works property on priesthood/Relief Society.
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aebrown
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Re: Ward wants to skip ETBenson Less. after schedule was set

#6

Post by aebrown »

gsgiauque wrote:
aebrown wrote:
gsgiauque wrote:Now, it would really be nice if I could “copy” this entire schedule into a site for the HP and the RS, rather than having to retype all the TfoT into each one of their schedules.

Can that be done?
Unfortunately, the answer is no. This is a frequently-requested feature, but there is no way to do it at this point.
With all due respect, I just have to say: "If it is frequently requested, shouldn’t some effort be invested in creating such a feature?"

A “template” could be created. The ward webmaster (WWM) could insert the 2nd & 3rd week lessons, certain events, and several Teaching for our Times (TfoT) topics into that template. Then after saving the template for HP, EQ and RS, further tweaking could be done for each class. I believe this would gain lots of friends for "Lesson Schedules." (I say that because I am getting the distinct feeling from others that Lesson Schedules has not been implemented in several units. . . because it may not be as intuitive as one would initially have thought it would be.)

Yesterday, not wanting to delete EQ before checking a few things, I created EQII, and after making some changes for certain Sundays, I deleted the old EQ and changed the name of EQII to EQ. It worked. So I am surprised that such a template could not be created.

I recognize that creating the EQII and changing it to EQ "destroys" the EQII. But such a little thing. . . saving it instead of destroying it. . . should be possible. . . shouldn't it?
I'm responding here to an email you sent me. Nothing in your email is confidential, so I'm posting it here. Except for confidential issues, it's always best to post your questions publicly, rather than sending an email or private message to a single user on the Forum. Posting publicly lets far more people see the response, and also more people can join the discussion and help.

Please note that almost everyone who posts here (myself included) is just volunteering to help answer questions. I have no influence on what gets implemented on Church websites and applications such as the Lesson Schedules tool. If you'd like to make a formal request for a change, your best option is to use the Feedback link on the LDS.org home page.

Personally, I would love to have a feature such as what you describe. EQ, HPG, and RS lesson schedules are almost always very similar to each other, but they may vary slightly. So it would be very helpful if we could copy one such schedule to another or use a template approach. But I have no idea where such a feature fits in the priority list, or if it is even being considered.
mevans
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Re: Ward wants to skip ETBenson Less. after schedule was set

#7

Post by mevans »

gsgiauque, I received your private communication. I understand that you had tried posting screen shots here are were unable to do so (it's a little tricky). Like aebrown, I prefer to answer here for the benefit of everyone.

I have tried to recreate your problem in my Lesson Schedules tool so I can show how to fix it. One of the situations you encountered is the following:
TheProblem.png
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Lesson 6 is duplicated twice. Presumably, you manually changed March 15 to Lesson 6 and want the others to follow. To solve this problem, do the following:
InsertLessons.png
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1. Click on Insert Missing Lessons
2. Click on Insert specific lessons and set the date and lesson number as shown
3. Click on Insert

After clicking Insert, you'll see that the lessons starting on April 12 have been updated starting at Lesson 7:
Solution.png
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This should solve the problem for you. If it does not, I'll need to know more about your exact steps, Events you have configured, and how the class is configured on the Administration screen.

(Don't feel bad: I'm having problems with the images, too: I know I've previously done an inline image that showed in the form, but I'm not having luck with that tonight.)
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