Dowloadable Standard Forms

[portseven-p40]

I often wondered why the church has not made some of the standard forms and stationary available to download, instead of getting the ward to order them and wait for them to arrive.

So things like, attendance sheets, weekly report forms etc. Just put them somewhere on the church website as PDF's / OpenDocument ,etc.

I am sure it would save the church loads of cash by saving on printing and postal costs.

I have done a class attendance form for my wife in ODS format if anyone is interested.

[blackrg]

There are several forms you can print from MLS. I believe attendance roles are among them.

[russellhltn]

In addition there are some documents that can be downloaded from LUWS - if you're listed in the right calling(s). I'd like to see that expanded.

[bhofmann]

I would like to see MLS forms expanded as well. There is so much data already in there that is sometimes hard to get.

[jeffszone]

If you login to the LDScatalog.com website as your unit, and then go to "unit administration" there is actually a subcategory for form downloads. It has a few, some of which you wouldn't need as they are duplicated in MLS. A lot of what is needed is not there.

They are in a completely non-intuitive location. I would have never noticed them if I hadn't simply stumbled across them while looking for something else. I don't think of a form download as being an "item" I would "order", and therefore I would have no expectation of having to go to the distribution catalog's website to find downloadable administrative forms.

I think all of the forms should be compiled together in one place and put under the "serving in the church" section of LDS.org. This would make a lot more sense. Certain forms are of a more sensitive matter. I think bishopric members and clerks should be able to login and download those.

Some forms such as the ones to sign up to pay your tithing electronically should be in a location that is more apparent to all members. I'm not sure of a good place for those sorts of things though as I wouldn't want it on the home page.

-Jeff

[russellhltn]

Just to expand on my Post #3, when I log into LUWS, there's a blue button one the bottom left that says "Record Keeping Information". It's there because I'm listed as Stake Technology Specialist on the stake website. When I click on that I get a list of PDFs regarding MLS and the administrative computers. (Some of them I think maybe getting outdated - all are from 2004).

But I'd like to see this idea expanded - content available based on callings.

[rclarkin]

I use electronic forms extensively, as it is much neater to fill them out and print. I'd like to not only see electronic versions of the forms online, but let's go a step further and make them "editable".

I've done this with several forms that I use regularly, converting them into MS Word Forms as well as Adobe Acrobat forms. This allows myself and other leaders to electronically complete the forms and print them. I've done this for all of our "local" forms (both ward and stake). The only official forms that I've worked on are the Needs and Resources Analysis Form (both the main form and the Supplement).

The nice thing about the Adobe forms is that they cannot be saved (thereby protecting sensitive information) while allowing me to fill them out electronically so that I can actually read them the next time that I need to!

Anyway, that is my 2-cents for now.
Bishop Larkin
Logan River 2nd Ward

[mprusse]

I wondered about more PDF forms being made available a couple of years ago and so I placed a call to Salt Lake. I have since been in contact with the Church employee that creates these forms and was surprised to find out he has nearly every Church form available in PDF format, some of them designed as Acrobat forms. He was very nice in providing the forms I needed and mentioned I could contact him anytime for other forms I may need in the future. I do not know why they are not more readily available.

I'm not sure if I should publish his contact information here yet so I'll get in touch with him first and ask. In the meantime, if you need a form ASAP, please let me know and I'll see what I can do.

[cottrells]

I would love to have access to these PDF forms etc. However as I live in the UK, I don't have the option of getting a them from a LUWS as we don't have any. Plus we've not registered a unit account at LDScatalog.com as the shipping costs are considerable (we order materials direct from our local Area Office). This thread has prompted me to find out about registering as a unit with LDScatalog.com just to get the PDFs.

[mattprasmussen]

I created my own blessing, baptism and priesthood ordination forms years ago before MLS using WordPerfect to print the data on the pre-printed forms. Now that many forms can be printed from MLS, it takes out a lot of the work. However, there are still some important forms that aren't available from MLS. I spent a lot of time making the Report of Administrative Action and Report of Disciplinary Action fillable forms recently.

I can't see why all of the forms haven't been made available except the needs and analysis since they're corbonless copies. As others have mentioned, it would save so much in printing, shipping, etc. It would be great if they could be done from MLS since it has full name, MRN, birth date, ordination and other info that is typed on forms. That's my ideal request.

I have since been in contact with the Church employee that creates these forms and was surprised to find out he has nearly every Church form available in PDF format, some of them designed as Acrobat forms. He was very nice in providing the forms I needed and mentioned I could contact him anytime for other forms I may need in the future.

If there are no plans for further forms to be available from MLS, I would hope he posts them here on the LDS Tech site or make them available en masse somehow. I would hate for anyone to get 4,000 emails requesting all the forms!