MLS Suggestions

Discussions around using and interfacing with the Church MLS program.
znauga
New Member
Posts: 33
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 3:46 pm

#41

Post by znauga »

rwinterton wrote:I have several suggestions that you might consider for future versions of MLS.

2) I have seen in other posts that the suggestion of letting the stake clerk record the Melchizedek Priesthood Advancements. I have to second or third that suggestion.


With respect to #2: Prior to a revision in MLS and in MIS it was the responsibility of the stake to issue the Certificate of Ordination for Melchizedek Priesthood. More often then not getting the information to the ward was either delayed for weeks or neglected entirely. This was my experience in three different Stakes. The present procedure assures the that the ordination information is added to the membership record promptly and that the certificate is prepared.

znauga
pbhanney
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Posts: 51
Joined: Sun May 22, 2011 7:07 pm
Location: Lehi, Utah, USA

#42

Post by pbhanney »

Three more suggestions for this pool:
  1. Put on an option to print rolls for only one month. Yes, I know that you CAN print the rolls every month, but it seems a waste of space and ink/toner to be printing a three-month roll every month. I know that we work on our report monthly and not just quarterly. I don't mind having the three- and four-month options still, but in wards that have a high turn-around a one-month option would be great.
  2. When we have listed callings like "Secretary" in MLS we have usually put in "YW Secretary" or "Elder's Secretary" instead of just "Secretary." Now, I know I could just go in and change them all to "Secretary," however it would be useful to be able to do a report with "Contains" or "Does not contain" in the search pattern.
  3. Maybe this item is something I just don't know how to do, but I remember it on the old MIS system. I want to create a report that will show mostly kids (like cub scouts or something) that will be eight or nine (or whatever age) by the end of the year. Right now all I can see is the option that they are currently eight. If I want to print off a report for Nursery leaders of children that will be coming in this year, I have to put an age limit on it. If we can actually do this already, please tell me how.
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aebrown
Community Administrator
Posts: 15153
Joined: Tue Nov 27, 2007 8:48 pm
Location: Draper, Utah

#43

Post by aebrown »

pbhanney wrote:When we have listed callings like "Secretary" in MLS we have usually put in "YW Secretary" or "Elder's Secretary" instead of just "Secretary." Now, I know I could just go in and change them all to "Secretary," however it would be useful to be able to do a report with "Contains" or "Does not contain" in the search pattern.




At least the way MLS works now, it is definitely NOT a good idea to change the built-in Secretary (or any other) callings. It has two negative effects:
  1. If you stick with the default callings, the Officers Sustained form used at ward conference will automatically be filled in with everyone serving in leadership positions (including secretaries). If you change the callings, you will break that linkage and all the positions will have to be entered by hand on the Officers Sustained form.
  2. The ward leadership is transmitted to the stake, so that stake leaders can see in their version of MLS the leaders of all the auxiliaries and quorums in each ward. Again, if you change the callings, you break that linkage, and your ward's leadership list will be blank for the stake for all the callings you changed.
pbhanney wrote:Maybe this item is something I just don't know how to do, but I remember it on the old MIS system. I want to create a report that will show mostly kids (like cub scouts or something) that will be eight or nine (or whatever age) by the end of the year. Right now all I can see is the option that they are currently eight. If I want to print off a report for Nursery leaders of children that will be coming in this year, I have to put an age limit on it. If we can actually do this already, please tell me how.

This can be done right now. As you are creating the custom report, you add a criterion for age, saying that it is 8, or is greater than 11, or whatever. Then on that line for the age criterion, there is a link labeled more. Click that, and it will add a row labeled "and Age" which will then have new Compare Operations that include "on Date" "before Date" and "after Date". So you can say essentially "the age is 8 on 1 January 2009".
jwtaber
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Posts: 109
Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 8:01 am
Location: Elsmere, Delaware, USA

#44

Post by jwtaber »

The "Members Moved In" and "Members Moved Out" lists in stake MLS are invaluable. I wonder, though, if it would be possible to have a list of "Members moved out, whose records are still in Address Unknown after a year or more"? There is precedent for this - when my father was bishop twenty-odd years ago he would get such a list about once a year from Salt Lake.

Once in a while, I come across an address for such a member, but don't have the birth date and the ward can't request the record. Or I get some information (such as "living in this town"), but not a full address. I pass it on to Salt Lake and they basically put it on the pile and nothing gets done. I know if I had a list of who was here and is currently lost, between the ward membership clerks and myself, we could find at least some of them. So why don't we have the opportunity.to at least try?
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