MLS & Ward Website don't match

Discussions around using and interfacing with the Church MLS program.
labguy-p40
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MLS & Ward Website don't match

#1

Post by labguy-p40 »

We have a family where the parents are serving on a fulltime mission. Part of their household was a daughter-in-law with the same last name.

When the couple departed on their mission, we separated the households. One household is the couple who are on their mission. The other household is the daughter-in-law and her daughter.

In MLS, everything looks correct. Two households with 2 individuals. The names are in the correct order.

But, on the unit website, each of these households are listed alphabetically by the first name of the head of household and not their last name.

Any ideas?
russellhltn
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#2

Post by russellhltn »

I think my first reaction to this is to run some various reports in MLS just to make sure everyone appears correctly in the MLS directory. (You can use the Print Preview to avoid wasting paper.)

I'd also triple check the record of the head of household to make sure the right names are going in the right blanks.

I do know that MLS and LUWS treats last names somewhat differently. MLS handles situations where a household member may have a different legal last name. LUWS just lumps them under the head of household. But I can't think how that would cause the household to be listed under the FIRST name unless something in MLS isn't right. (Perhaps the new head of house never had a last name - and that's only now coming to light now that they are no longer a child of another household.)

You could also do a membership refresh just to make sure that MLS is in proper sync with what is stored in CHQ. Then maybe the problem will show up and you can fix it.

Failing all that, I'd say call clerk support and see if they can figure it out.
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jbh001
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#3

Post by jbh001 »

labguy wrote:But, on the unit website, each of these households are listed alphabetically by the first name of the head of household and not their last name.
I would try this:

From the MLS menu bar, navigate to Membership > Household Record > and select the first household you want to check.

If the Household Name is something other than what it is supposed to be, then click the Edit link and change it to what it is supposed to be.

Then click the link for the Head of Household. It will look something like this: Doe, John

Once you get to the individual record, verify that the Full Name and Preferred Name are also displayed correctly. If they are not, click the Edit link and make any necessary changes.

Repeat these steps for the second household.

Then from the MLS menu bar, navigate to File > Membership Record Transaction Report. If you made any changes to the above records and they show up here, do a Send/Receive Changes to transmit them to CHQ.

If you didn't make any changes, or the changes you made are not showing up here, a Send/Receive Changes won't accomplish anything, and I would try a unit refresh instead. To do that, from the MLS menu bar, navigate to File > Request Unit Refresh Data... > select Membership Records > click OK > then do a Send/Receive Changes. You will need to wait 2 to 24 hours before doing a followup Send/Receive Changes. After that, I would check the records again as described in the steps above.

If you have administrative privileges to the LUWS, you might want to check the records from that direction as well.

If none of that works, then I would try sending an MLS message to CHQ explaining the problem. Alternatively, from the LUWS you can click the Feedback link in the upper right-hand corner of the webpage and try reporting the problem that way.
nutterb
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#4

Post by nutterb »

I would also suggest you check the fields in the membership records. I recently found a member who was entered incorrectly. Her first name was recorded as her last name, and her first and middle names were recorded correctly, i.e. MLS recognized her as First Middle First.

However, in the preferred name, she was recorded correctly as First Middle Last. When I print directories and reports, she was appearing on the directory in the place where her "legal" last name would have put her, but her preferred name was printed, giving me an 'F' in a sea of 'L's, so to speak. For that reason, my first guess on your situation would be that her first name was recorded incorrectly has her last name, but her preferred name was recorded correctly (or some other variation on the theme).
On_Target_Advocate-p40
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Suggestion: Please connect MLS Positions to Ward/Stake Leadership listings.

#5

Post by On_Target_Advocate-p40 »

I have a suggestion for a future MLS update. Please connect the MLS Positions to Ward/Stake Leadership listings. The MLS data is already used to update the Directory listing on the Ward/Stake website why can't the same be done for the ward Callings/Positions data in MLS? It's frustrating to have to manually update 2 databases with the same information. The info should be connected so when the MLS is updated the Ward website Leadership listings are also updated just like the directory information.

Thank you,
On_Target_Advocate
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kd7mha
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#6

Post by kd7mha »

On_Target_Advocate wrote:I have a suggestion for a future MLS update. Please connect the MLS Positions to Ward/Stake Leadership listings. The MLS data is already used to update the Directory listing on the Ward/Stake website why can't the same be done for the ward Callings/Positions data in MLS? It's frustrating to have to manually update 2 databases with the same information. The info should be connected so when the MLS is updated the Ward website Leadership listings are also updated just like the directory information.

Thank you,
On_Target_Advocate

I was pondering this issue several days ago and the thought came to me that perhaps no information is exchanged between MLS and LUWS and that the membership directory on LUWS comes directly from the Membership database at Church HQ.
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russellhltn
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#7

Post by russellhltn »

kd7mha wrote:I was pondering this issue several days ago and the thought came to me that perhaps no information is exchanged between MLS and LUWS and that the membership directory on LUWS comes directly from the Membership database at Church HQ.
I think you're correct. The two systems don't talk to each other, but to the membership system. As a result, they can't pass any information except what's stored in the membership records back at CHQ. Adding the necessary infrastructure isn't trivial.
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mkmurray
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#8

Post by mkmurray »

RussellHltn wrote:I think you're correct. The two systems don't talk to each other, but to the membership system. As a result, they can't pass any information except what's stored in the membership records back at CHQ. Adding the necessary infrastructure isn't trivial.
I get the impression from Church employees that these kind of infrastructure changes are where they are heading (and have likely already made some strides in that direction). I think the new online authentication system called LDS Account is one of those steps, as there is a hope that callings will be tied to your personal user account, updated by making calling changes in MLS at the ward computer.
birdld-p40
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#9

Post by birdld-p40 »

labguy wrote:We have a family where the parents are serving on a fulltime mission. Part of their household was a daughter-in-law with the same last name.

When the couple departed on their mission, we separated the households. One household is the couple who are on their mission. The other household is the daughter-in-law and her daughter.

In MLS, everything looks correct. Two households with 2 individuals. The names are in the correct order.

But, on the unit website, each of these households are listed alphabetically by the first name of the head of household and not their last name.

Any ideas?
When a member signs up for the LUWS for the first time, the system does allow them access to how their name will appear on the website. It is a possibility that the member just typed their name in wrong. Have the member sign in to the LUWS and click on the "update profile" link at the top to check the status of their name.
russellhltn
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#10

Post by russellhltn »

birdld wrote:When a member signs up for the LUWS for the first time, the system does allow them access to how their name will appear on the website.
IIRC, the member can only change the first/middle name in LUWS. The last name comes from MLS. So for LUWS listing to be "listed alphabetically by the first name of the head of household and not their last name" sounds like a problem somewhere else.
Have you searched the Help Center? Try doing a Google search and adding "site:churchofjesuschrist.org/help" to the search criteria.

So we can better help you, please edit your Profile to include your general location.
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