Mission maps available in Directory

The directory tool has a feature that displays mission boundaries for ward missionaries using the maps beta. You can check it out by signing into lds.org/directory and selecting the "Missionary" link.

erinbourgeous wrote:The directory tool has a feature that displays mission boundaries for ward missionaries using the maps beta. You can check it out by signing into lds.org/directory and selecting the "Missionary" link.

Yes, that was announced already as one of the significant improvements in Directory 1.7. You might want to review the thread Directory version 1.7 released! to see some early feedback on that feature.

aebrown wrote:Yes, that was announced already as one of the significant improvements in Directory 1.7. You might want to review the thread Directory version 1.7 released! to see some early feedback on that feature.

Thanks. I'm interested in any issues users might be experiencing with the maps (long response times, maps tiles or boundaries not displaying, etc.). I figured this would be an appropriate place to post the maps-related problems as directory is using the beta version of maps.

erinbourgeous wrote:Thanks. I'm interested in any issues users might be experiencing with the maps (long response times, maps tiles or boundaries not displaying, etc.). I figured this would be an appropriate place to post the maps-related problems as directory is using the beta version of maps.

I assume by "ward missionaries" you're referring to missionaries serving from my ward. I checked for missionaries serving from a neighboring ward in our stake (there are no FT missionaries currently serving from my little branch), and there is a long response time before a map appears. The map that eventually appears in every case has no boundaries indicated and it is not the correct location (it's actually an area within my ward).

erinbourgeous wrote:Thanks. I'm interested in any issues users might be experiencing with the maps (long response times, maps tiles or boundaries not displaying, etc.). I figured this would be an appropriate place to post the maps-related problems as directory is using the beta version of maps.

Are we talking about the Missionary Maps window in the Directory or the Mission boundary on the Maps function? From my experience, the Mission boundary never loads on the Maps function (the Area boundary sometimes loads and sometimes never does). The postage stamp-sized window for the Mission Boundary on the Directory is interesting, but of little productive use for me because there is no other detail to reference it against.

greggo wrote:I assume by "ward missionaries" you're referring to missionaries serving from my ward.

If everything is properly configured, you'll see listed in the Missionary section of the directory:

• The Ward Mission Leader (if he has the correct standard calling specified in MLS).
• Full-time missionaries assigned to your ward (if the mission has assigned missionaries, and properly configured them in their system to be connected with your stake/ward)
• Full-time missionaries serving from your ward (if the Missionary Department has them connected to your ward -- note that this is not necessarily the same as the ward with financial responsibility for the missionary)

greggo wrote:I checked for missionaries serving from a neighboring ward in our stake (there are no FT missionaries currently serving from my little branch), and there is a long response time before a map appears. The map that eventually appears in every case has no boundaries indicated and it is not the correct location (it's actually an area within my ward).

When I click on a missionary's name, I usually see my ward's area shown first. Then sometimes a few seconds later I see the mission boundaries for the assigned mission. Sometimes I don't see the mission boundaries until I click on the missionary's name again. Sometimes that doesn't work, either, for some missionaries. But for some missionaries it works right away and I see the mission boundaries. It's quite inconsistent. Clearing the browser cache doesn't seem to have any effect.

davesudweeks wrote:Are we talking about the Missionary Maps window in the Directory or the Mission boundary on the Maps function?

This thread deals with the Missionary option within the Directory (lds.org/directory).

davesudweeks wrote:From my experience, the Mission boundary never loads on the Maps function (the Area boundary sometimes loads and sometimes never does).

I assume you're talking about the map that appears when you follow the link from the Missionary section of the Directory for a particular missionary that is labeled "View in LDS Maps." If so, then my experience is quite different. Although I have some problems with the embedded map on the Directory app itself, when I follow the link to the LDS Maps app, I always see the correct mission with the correct boundary.

davesudweeks wrote:AThe postage stamp-sized window for the Mission Boundary on the Directory is interesting, but of little productive use for me because there is no other detail to reference it against.

I'm not sure what you are looking at that you describe as a "postage stamp-sized window." The map I see is 410x300, which is a fairly decent size.

My experience on Windows XP and FirFox 9 is that when I click a missionary name I get his/her picture, telephone number/mission name and the mission area map with boundaries. The map takes five seconds to be displayed. The size is as aebrown describes. When I click the "View on LDS Maps" I sometimes get the same map in LDS Maps, only larger in another tab. At other times I get a map of my metropolitan area with no boundaries of any kind. This is a zoomed in map centered over my city.

The window is larger than "postage stamp" size. Still, I found the map on the Directory interesting, but not particularly useful.

I had never clicked on the link to view it in LDS Maps and just did so for a missionary from our ward serving in Spain. Her mission Boundary did accurately load up in Spain.

I stand corrected.

I now get the following proxy error for both the embedded map on the Directory and when I follow the link to the LDS Maps app.

Proxy Error

The proxy server received an invalid response from an upstream server.
The proxy server could not handle the request GET /rcmaps/embed.
Reason: Error reading from remote server
Apache/2.2.21 (Linux/SUSE) Server at lds.org Port 80

It looks like they are working on the map. I am having problems now with the boundary being displayed. Each time I click a missionary name I get something different. Occasionally I get a map of our ward area, sometimes I get a map of the mission area, and sometimes I get the proxy error message. When I get a map there are no boundaries.

Now I am wondering what the map is suppose to display. The title says Mission Boundary. That is oblique since it could mean the missionary's current local mission, which would be the ward boundaries, or it could mean the mission area in which the missionary remains for their entire mission. For the longest time I thought it was the mission area and not the local mission because the map displayed that until today.

I works for me now. Both the embedded and LDS Maps show the entire mission boundary where the missionary is serving.
Great job!

jdlessley wrote:Now I am wondering what the map is suppose to display. The title says Mission Boundary. That is oblique since it could mean the missionary's current local mission, which would be the ward boundaries, or it could mean the mission area in which the missionary remains for their entire mission. For the longest time I thought it was the mission area and not the local mission because the map displayed that until today.

What is displayed is always the official boundary for the mission that the missionary is serving in. If you are looking at a missionary assigned to your ward, it will be the mission your ward is located in. If you are looking at a missionary serving from your ward, you will see the mission that missionary is currently serving in.

This is a great new feature to the directory. We have 3 sets of missionaries serving in our ward but only one is listed in the directory. Are we unique enough that this won't be addressed? The missionaries serving from our ward all display, with maps, properly.

mhackwell wrote:This is a great new feature to the directory. We have 3 sets of missionaries serving in our ward but only one is listed in the directory. Are we unique enough that this won't be addressed? The missionaries serving from our ward all display, with maps, properly.

There are two possible reasons for only one of the 3 sets of missionaries serving in your ward being displayed:

• The software can't handle more than one set of missionaries (I consider that to be unlikely, since that situation is not at all uncommon in many areas of the world -- in my mission I don't think we ever had fewer than 2 sets of missionaries assigned to a ward)
• The mission has not properly assigned the missionaries to your ward in whatever software they use to set up these assignments. If that's the case, a quick call to the mission office should let you know the situation, and prompt the mission to correct the assignments.

We have 2 Sisters and 2 Elders assigned to our ward. I've noticed that they appear to be alternated between the Sisters and the Elders, on a 2 day rota.

This applies to the main online Directory, but as at the time of writing this the Maps Beta site is down for maintenance, so I'm unable to see if the same behavior applies.