Custom Fields revamp

[kennova]

I've seen this discussed a bit here on the forums.. and it comes down to how cumbersome the current implementation is..
http://tech.lds.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5219

The Custom Fields portion of MLS is fundamentally flawed. The fact that you have to go into a separate screen to enter information on a member's custom fields is cumbersome and counter-intuitive, there should be a method to enter custom field data right from the Membership record.

Also, it's EXTREMELY difficult to enter data into MLS for the entire ward in these custom fields. So if the RS conducts a survey to see who can play the piano and we get 30 names it will take about an hour to enter that information into MLS. An example of this is that we've been asked to track Youth Safety Training in MLS and it is very time-consuming to enter in that information. I am not sure what the best way to implement this would be, but the current input model is insufficient. You should at the very least be able to enter this from the Membership Record, but an additional method of being able to "quick-add" custom field data for the entire ward would be great.

[jbh001]

Agreed. It is cumbersome and needs to be reworked. But I'm afraid that there are likely higher priorities at the moment.

If by "Youth Safety Training" you are referring to BSA Youth Protection Training, then this can be tracked online at the same place the online training is offered: https://myscouting.scouting.org/. After logging into that website under your own username, you click the Training Validation link, and enter a username or BSA Member ID # to check the status of completed training for yourself or others.

As of 01 July 2010, adults are required to complete Youth Protection training every 2 years. Thus, you either need to also track in MLS the date your adults completed the training so that you can see whose training has expired or is expiring, or use something other than MLS to track it.

[kennova]

Certainly items get priority, and I'm trying to influence that. There are so many things that could be tracked in MLS using custom fields. They aren't simply because it's so cumbersome. Having custom fields is a great idea, but the implementation is simply flawed.

[ryusei]

As a Bishop of a ward with 900 members and 25 move-ins a month, I would also like to prioritize the ability to add data to the custom field without opening each individual record. To keep track of our members, I assign each to a group: active, known, or unknown. I can do this outside of MLS (google drive, etc.) but it would make it so much easier to create a custom report on MLS. Unfortunately, opening 900 records one by one and 25 more each month with 3 or 4 clicks each is daunting.

[russellhltn]

Note that this thread is over two years old. Since then it's become clear that development on MLS is being depreciated in preference to moving toward on-line tools. Maybe once the on-line tools reaches all the functionality of MLS, then those features may be developed.