Leader and Clerk Release Notes

From LDS.org Help Site

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Leader and Clerk Resources on lds.org provides stake presidencies, bishoprics, executive secretaries, and clerks with helpful information for their callings.

Release Notes

Introduction

As MLS functionality is moved to LDS.org, additional membership tools have been added to the Clerk Resources page (LDS.org/Tools/Clerk Resources). These tools can be accessed from any computer connected to the internet. Priesthood leaders and clerks with an LDS Account and whose Church calling has been recorded in the Church Directory of Organizations and Leaders (CDOL) can now do the following:

New for this release

The following new features and enhancements will be available in Clerk Resources functionality on Wednesday, 29 August 2012.

New Features

• Local unit organizations have been modified or expanded to align with the Church Handbook of Instructions and priesthood council direction. Positions formerly found under “Other Callings” have been placed in new organizations that better reflect a position’s purpose. For example, a new organization called “Missionaries” has been created for missionary-related positions.
• Boundary and Leadership Change Request forms in PDF format can now be downloaded by stake and district leaders. These forms are used when stake and district leaders plan for unit boundary changes and reorganizations. These forms, the same as those found in MLS, are now available online. To download the forms from Clerk Resources click on menu Membership > Forms > Boundary and Leadership Change Request.
• The Church is required in some countries to post the Church Data Privacy Statement in the meetinghouses. These data privacy statements are now available in Clerk Resources in addition to the Official Communications Library. The statements will only appear on the homepage, left-hand side, for Clerk Resources users if the user’s unit is in a country which requires the document to be displayed.
• For units in the United States and Canada, a new “Order Office Supplies” link will be available on the Clerk Resources homepage. The Church has contracted with Staples™ to provide discounted office supplies. Users must sign in to the Staples™ site using a standard user ID. The user ID is provided on the Clerk Resources homepage under the “Order Office Supplies” link and clicking the “Order Office Supplies” link takes the user to the Staples™ website to order and purchase supplies. Due to a current limitation by Staples™ users are not automatically signed into its’ website.

Enhancements

• Clerk Resources now supports the new LDS.org header menu structure released by LDS.org in late July 2012.
• The “Members Moved In” report groups households together that moved in on the same date.

Resolved Reported Issues

• Some mission presidents with ecclesiastical responsibilities could not see Quarterly Report data for some units.
• Some units reported that custom organizations were not being sorted correctly (e.g., Valiant 8 B is showing before Valiant 8 A).
• Other usability or grammatical issues were resolved.

Previously released

• Granted mission presidency counselors and clerks in missions with ecclesiastical responsibilities access to the same Clerk Resources functionality given to stake presidency counselors and clerks.
• Granted clerks and assistant clerks access to the Name Removal functionality in Confidential Actions. This was approved to allow clerks to begin the documentation for the bishop or stake president. It does NOT change the process for submitting name removal requests as outlined in the Church Handbook.
• Made changes to the Member Profile to adhere to the Church Handbook section 13.6. Some membership record data elements were available to callings (e.g., counselors and executive secretary) which should not have been according to the Handbook. These users will no longer have access.
• Allow membership records to be requested for members who have moved into the unit
• Enter Quarterly Report information
• Get additional help for the Quarterly Report
• Add or update membership contact information
• Have better access to organization information

Also, mission presidents with ecclesiastical responsibilities (branches and districts report to the mission) can now view membership information for these branches using the Leader Resources page on LDS.org. Mission presidents without ecclesiastical responsibilities will not have access to this information.

Other functionality planned in the near future

• Move out membership records from the unit
• Record an ordinance (e.g., baptism, confirmation, priesthood ordinations)
• Print certificates
• Manage callings and classes
• Manage existing membership records
• Create new membership records
• Manage out-of-unit callings
• Use the Membership Record Audit tool
• Support temple recommend activation
• Utilize custom reports

Requesting Membership Records

Request Records functionality was added in Clerk Resources to the Membership>Records>Request Records menu.

Membership records can now be requested for members who have moved into the unit. The move is immediate.

NOTE: The ability to move membership records out of the unit is NOT part of this release but will be added in a future release.

Unit Settings

A Unit Settings link was added to the Other menu (Other>Unit Settings). This setting allows the default paper size to be changed. It is initially set based on the location standard for the country of the unit.

In the future additional settings items will be added such as meeting times and unit name abbreviations.

Enter Quarterly Report information

Clerks can now use the Clerk Resources to enter and send Quarterly Report information to Church headquarters. The most recently entered information, whether through Clerk Resources or MLS, will update Church headquarters information and then be displayed in both Clerk Resources and MLS. The Quarterly Report can be found by selecting the Reports tab located near the top of the screen.

Get additional help for the Quarterly Report

Quarterly Report help for all fields has been added. When the cursor crosses over a field on the Quarterly Report, a box will open with information about the field. Additional Quarterly Report help is available by clicking on the More link at top of the Quarterly Report screen.

Add or update membership contact information

Clerks can now use Clerk Resources to view, record or update member contact information. The most recently entered information, whether through Clerk Resources or MLS, will update membership information at Church headquarters and then be displayed in both Clerk Resources and MLS. Information that can be updated includes:

• Telephone numbers
• Addresses
• E-mail addresses

This contact information can be accessed and updated by using the Member Lookup tab on the top of most screens or by selecting an individual from displayed lists when the name is a highlighted link.

Have better access to organization information

The Organization tab has been expanded to provide better access to quorum, auxiliary and other organization and calling lists.

Release Date

Additional content, including the ability to request membership records into a unit, will be added on Tuesday, 22 May 2012.

Supported Browsers

Clerk Resources supports current Internet browsers (e.g., Internet Explorer (IE), Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari). There is no support for IE7 or earlier versions.

Supported Languages

On the release date the new content will be available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. The following languages will be added as soon as they are available: French, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.

Archives

• Release Notes, 13 Oct 2011
• Release Notes, 26 May 2011
• Release Notes, March 2011