Official name vs Preferred name

Discussions about the Ward Directory and Map tool on churchofjesuschrist.org.
kirtkennedy
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Official name vs Preferred name

#1

Post by kirtkennedy »

Why doesn't the name in the Ward Directory listing match the name in the expanded view of the same person? For example, if the "official" name were "John Doe" and the preferred name was "John Smith" it appears as "John Doe" in the directory listing but "John Smith" in the expanded view........shouldn't it be the same in either view (namely the "Preferred" name?
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samliddicott
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#2

Post by samliddicott »

Concern has been expressed to me that members full names are shown in the online directory, and not the preferred name.

This has two aspects:
1. the full name is the complete name with middle names too. This is often considered too personal to show the middle names
2. the preferred name is not shown, but is preferred!

because of this, members may prefer to not allow their entry to be shown in the ward directory
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aebrown
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#3

Post by aebrown »

kirt1 wrote:Why doesn't the name in the Ward Directory listing match the name in the expanded view of the same person? For example, if the "official" name were "John Doe" and the preferred name was "John Smith" it appears as "John Doe" in the directory listing but "John Smith" in the expanded view........shouldn't it be the same in either view (namely the "Preferred" name?
I can't duplicate this. Are we talking about the new directory on the new LDS.org at http://lds.org/directory ? Because when I look at that directory, I see preferred names in the listing of households on the left, and when I click on a particular household, I see all the details for that household on the right. In that detail area, every single name is the preferred name (we have several households where the person goes by his or her middle name, so it's easy to tell).

However, your example was an unusual one, where the preferred name doesn't change the first name, but rather changes the last name. That's quite rare, and there is no one in our stake that does that, so I can't confirm whether or not the problem you are seeing is unique to a change in last name for the preferred name.

But in general, the directory does show the preferred name. And I checked the ward directory in the Classic Stake and Ward Websites, and it does the same.
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jwtaber
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#4

Post by jwtaber »

aebrown wrote:However, your example was an unusual one, where the preferred name doesn't change the first name, but rather changes the last name. That's quite rare, and there is no one in our stake that does that, so I can't confirm whether or not the problem you are seeing is unique to a change in last name for the preferred name.
It's not so unusual if a woman marries or divorces, and either 1) the clerk (or the temple) posts the marriage or divorce, and changes the name on the record, but not the preferred name, or 2) the clerk doesn't post the marriage or divorce, but does change the preferred name.
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samliddicott
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#5

Post by samliddicott »

jwtaber wrote:It's not so unusual if a woman marries or divorces, and either 1) the clerk (or the temple) posts the marriage or divorce, and changes the name on the record, but not the preferred name, or 2) the clerk doesn't post the marriage or divorce, but does change the preferred name.

Yeah. The fix (when a preferred name is set) is when such a name-change occurs in MLS to ask the clerk to review the preferred name as well.
When the change comes through to local MLS from an out-side update, the status-printout should suggest that the clerk review the preferred name (if one is set).

I'll be at church tonight and set preferred named for my family on MLS and see how it works out when the updates filter through.
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aebrown
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#6

Post by aebrown »

jwtaber wrote:It's not so unusual if a woman marries or divorces, and either 1) the clerk (or the temple) posts the marriage or divorce, and changes the name on the record, but not the preferred name, or 2) the clerk doesn't post the marriage or divorce, but does change the preferred name.
I wasn't trying to argue that it couldn't happen -- obviously it can. I was just saying that it was rare and I had no way to test it in my stake. My testing of the originally reported problem failed to duplicate the reported issue, so I was wondering if it only happened if the last name was changed on the preferred name.
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jwtaber
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#7

Post by jwtaber »

aebrown wrote:I wasn't trying to argue that it couldn't happen -- obviously it can. I was just saying that it was rare and I had no way to test it in my stake. My testing of the originally reported problem failed to duplicate the reported issue, so I was wondering if it only happened if the last name was changed on the preferred name.
I'm just saying that in my stake it's not nearly rare enough.
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benjamincarleski
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#8

Post by benjamincarleski »

aebrown wrote:I wasn't trying to argue that it couldn't happen -- obviously it can. I was just saying that it was rare and I had no way to test it in my stake. My testing of the originally reported problem failed to duplicate the reported issue, so I was wondering if it only happened if the last name was changed on the preferred name.

I have a couple of these in our ward (separated sister whose legal name is still her married one, but prefers her maiden name). In the list on the left, she shows with her legal name. When I click on the listing, the name at the top of the detail is her legal last name, but under the "Head of Household" section it shows her preferred name.

Also, the listing on the left does not show her middle name (even though it is shown for other members when it is in their preferred name) though looking in the leader services I see her legal name includes both of her middle names.

It almost seems like it is taking preferred first name, and legal last name.
kirtkennedy
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#9

Post by kirtkennedy »

This is a divorce-remarriage situation. Because we don't have proof of remarriage, the official last name is say "Jones". However she wants to be called by her new married last name say "Smith". Because she is now married to a non-member, she appears, on the right side, as "head of household" with preferred last name of "Smith" while the listing on the left side still shows her "official" last name of "Jones". On the membership record it show the "official" name of "Mary Jones" and the preferred name of "Mary Smith"? Why doesn't the listing on the left side show her preferred last name of "Smith" to be consistant with the "Head of Household" listing on the right? Both listing last names should reflect the preferred name of "Smith"
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samliddicott
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#10

Post by samliddicott »

I've altered the preferred name on our ward records in MLS last Friday and many send-receive have been done since then, but the full name still shows up in the online directory.

Many people in the ward will not enable their entry to be shown in the directory as long as this is the case.
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