MLS 2.8 - Downgrade?

Discussions around using and interfacing with the Church MLS program.
maethows
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MLS 2.8 - Downgrade?

#1

Post by maethows »

Version 2.8 was just downloaded and installed a few minutes ago. The first thing I noticed was that the link for Confidential Forms is gone. It isn't even referenced in the help documentation.

Seeing this I figured I should check the Release Notes to see why this change took place and what else might have changed. Lo and behold, our Release Notes file on the desktop doen't have any bullet items at all.

Did our update go bad or is anyone else seeing this?

Thanks.
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aebrown
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MLS 2.8 still beta?

#2

Post by aebrown »

mfellows wrote:Version 2.8 was just downloaded and installed a few minutes ago. The first thing I noticed was that the link for Confidential Forms is gone. It isn't even referenced in the help documentation.

Seeing this I figured I should check the Release Notes to see why this change took place and what else might have changed. Lo and behold, our Release Notes file on the desktop doen't have any bullet items at all.

Did our update go bad or is anyone else seeing this?

As I understand it, MLS 2.8 is still in beta, but entering a wider beta test involving many stakes. If that is correct, your stake must be one of the selected beta test stakes. My experience with beta tests is that the Release Notes aren't done until the final release.

Stakes that participate in the beta are instructed via their Stake Technology Specialist to give feedback to the Church on the new version. If indeed the Confidential Forms capability is gone (something many of us heralded as a great new feature with MLS 2.7), I would make sure my voice is heard.
russellhltn
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#3

Post by russellhltn »

I wonder if someone decided that putting the confidential forms in MLS was distributing them a little too widely. Perhaps it is there but visible only for certain leaders?
maethows
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#4

Post by maethows »

RussellHltn wrote:I wonder if someone decided that putting the confidential forms in MLS was distributing them a little too widely. Perhaps it is there but visible only for certain leaders?
That was my first thought, so when the bishop came in I had him log in to see if it would show up - no such luck.

You have a good point about it possibly being a confidentiality / security issue, but I would think this would be associated with the ability to securely save forms that are a work-in-progress - there isn't anything inherently "secret" about the forms without the information filled in.

If this is a beta (with missing features) that our stake clerk / technology specialist is aware of, then I'm going to have to thump him for not letting me know ahead of time. ;-)
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childsdj
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#5

Post by childsdj »

You are probably one of only a few stakes that are using the beta of 2.8. It still has the confidential forms feature, but there was a problem with the module of which confidential forms is a part of. The confidential module will come down early next week. The release notes are not all the way completed, but will come down some time next week to beta units.
russellhltn
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#6

Post by russellhltn »

mfellows wrote:there isn't anything inherently "secret" about the forms without the information filled in.
Maybe not secret, but it could be a source of mischief as I kind of doubt if the church did any matching of signatures when they got one. If I remember correctly, those forms used to be a "order as needed" type of item. Of course that meant there was never a form when you needed one and it took too long to get one in so clerks tended to hoard them - and then found out that it had changed.
maethows
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#7

Post by maethows »

RussellHltn wrote:Maybe not secret, but it could be a source of mischief as I kind of doubt if the church did any matching of signatures when they got one. If I remember correctly, those forms used to be a "order as needed" type of item. Of course that meant there was never a form when you needed one and it took too long to get one in so clerks tended to hoard them - and then found out that it had changed.
Exactly why I thought this feature was so great when it was first developed. Then they added the ability to save the forms as a work-in-progress - icing on the cake. This is especially valuable now that we don't get typewriters as part of the initial bishop's kit.

I had always assumed that since we had to go through extra steps to request these forms that there were also extra precautions taken when submissions were received. If those extra precautions aren't in place then I could understand why copies of the forms might need to be protected. (From a security standpoint, I wouldn't think the security of the whole process should boil down to hiding the forms - but I digress)
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opee
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#8

Post by opee »

mfellows wrote:now that we don't get typewriters

What is a typewriter? :D
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jeromer7
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Surprise

#9

Post by jeromer7 »

Alan_Brown wrote:As I understand it, MLS 2.8 is still in beta, but entering a wider beta test involving many stakes. If that is correct, your stake must be one of the selected beta test stakes.
Not mentioned yet in the thread is the possibility that this unit was mistakenly marked for download of the Beta MLS 2.8. I would think a Beta tester would be more useful if he knew he was one.
JLR
mdantasf
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#10

Post by mdantasf »

Where can I download the version 2.8 of MLS?

Regards,
Márcio Dantas
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