Which members database is being searched?

franklinr · #1

I recently discovered a problem with the display of ward members names using three tools provided by the Church. During the recent years I have been coming to this site to view and print out names or lists from the stake and ward membership lists. For several months lately I have been using an Android tablet with an app I downloaded from the Church's Media site. The app is called simply, LDS Tools. It's very useful for looking up members phone numbers and addresses.

Last month I was given a new family for home teaching and I went to my desktop computer to look up the name. This is the place where I can select the Ward and Stake Websites, click on the Members Directory, and I get a page with the alphabet across the top. When I clicked on the appropriate letter (D) and went to those names in my ward the family name was not there. I tried it several times but there was no change.

I started my Android tablet and opened the LDS Tools app. There I was able to go right to the family name and see the information. Why was it not showing on the main Church's website? This one:

https://secure.lds.org/units/a/director ... 05,00.html

I next went to the ward clerk's office on Sunday after church and he was able to easily bring up the same name on his software. I asked if there was a "Bishop Contact Only" box checked or maybe a "Do Not Visit" but there was none.

The conclusion is that I can find the family on the clerk's software and also on my Android LDS Tools app but not on any desktop using the Church's main website. Is there more than one database that is being searched?

Any help will be appreciated.

Frank Reid
Roy Utah Stake
Roy 23 Ward

russellhltn · #2

More then likely, the member (or a ward leader at the member's request) has asked that their profile be made private. Once that's done, only certain callings can see them in the new directory (and only admins can see them in the old directory).

aebrown · #3

franklinr wrote:This is the place where I can select the Ward and Stake Websites, click on the Members Directory, and I get a page with the alphabet across the top.
...
Why was it not showing on the main Church's website? This one:

https://secure.lds.org/units/a/director ... 05,00.html

The site you are calling the "main Church's website" is the "Classic Ward and Stake Websites" (that is clear from the web address you supplied). For that site, there is an administrator option (not available to members) that allows a household to be hidden. That setting is stored only on the Classic site, and does not apply to the new Directory (lds.org > Tools > Directory or http://lds.org/directory) or to the ward clerk's software you referred to (called MLS) or to the LDS Tools mobile application. The new Directory has a separate feature for hiding a household (which RussellHltn referred to), but that has nothing to do with what you are seeing on the Classic site.

The Classic site is being retired; many stakes don't use it at all (there's even an option the stake can configure that will make the directory on the Classic site inaccessible for all stake members). So your options are:

Cease using the Classic site, and use the new Directory. That should give you consistent results with your LDS Tools app. As noted, it's still possible for a household to be hidden on the new Directory, but you have no say in that matter.
Try to find out if that household really should be hidden on the Classic site; if not, request that it be shown again. Your ward clerk may be a site administrator for the Classic site, but if not, he should be able to find out who is. He also can help determine if it should be hidden or not. But that seems like a lot of hassle for a site that will be retired completely in the near future.