Proper MLS Entry for Website Administrators

In my ward membership clerk duties over the past few years, I have done a fair amount of updating of our ward website information. But about 3 years ago, another Assistant Ward Clerk was called with the primary duty of being our ward website administrator. Then last year, another brother was called as another website administrator with the primary duty of updating the ward photos for the photo-directory. At that time, I entered his calling into MLS as announced as “Website Administrator. But then I noticed last month that someone on our ward MLS system had also entered him as another Assistant Ward Clerk. Since this calling technically falls under the Stake’s prevue (as you know, calls as actual AWC’s are extended only by the Stake leadership), my understanding is that a calling as a website administrator which was NOT extended by the Stake, should not really be called an Assistant Ward Clerk. I asked our Bishop about this, and he explained that when the brother went to access the website photo features, he was unable to do certain functions with the rights he had been given. So they talked to our Stake technology specialist who told them he would just add a calling for him as an AWC, since that’s what MLS needs to give him the necessary access rights.

Is this really the intent of having the necessary website administrator rights- that these website callings HAVE to be entered into the system as an Assistant Ward Clerk?

Accoding to the documentation, a website administrator "Can edit photos but not profile information for anyone in the ward". What was he trying to do that he needed more rights?

jhigbee wrote:In my ward membership clerk duties over the past few years, I have done a fair amount of updating of our ward website information. But about 3 years ago, another Assistant Ward Clerk was called with the primary duty of being our ward website administrator. Then last year, another brother was called as another website administrator with the primary duty of updating the ward photos for the photo-directory.

A ward website administrator does not need to be an assistant ward clerk. The rights a website administrator has for the directory is listed here. The rights a website administrator has for the calendar is listed here. But it appears the first website administrator had other clerk duties to perform and he was therefore appropriately called as an assistant clerk.

jhigbee wrote:But then I noticed last month that someone on our ward MLS system had also entered him as another Assistant Ward Clerk.... I asked our Bishop about this, and he explained that when the brother went to access the website photo features, he was unable to do certain functions with the rights he had been given. So they talked to our Stake technology specialist who told them he would just add a calling for him as an AWC, since that’s what MLS needs to give him the necessary access rights.

The rights granted a website administrator are sufficient for that particular calling. If the second brother needs the permissions for access to change membership information online then, IMO, he should be called as an assistant clerk - membership since he will be editing membership data and information. The requirements to be called as an assistant clerk are established in the Handbook. Dismissing those requirements and having a member not properly called to perform any of the duties of a clerk or assistant clerk should not be done even if it is for what appears to be a trivial task as editing member addresses, or whatever the other certain functions are that need to be done with assistant clerk rights.

[font=&quot]Thanks for that feedback. No, he was not needing to edit any profile info or the like- only to work with the photos on the ward directory (and he himself certainly wasn’t trying to do anything amiss- stepping on toes, etc.). I tend to agree with your assessment- there should be another way for our Stake technology specialist to get him set-up to work with the ward photo-directory in MLS without incorrectly assigning him as an Assistant Ward Clerk. [/font]

jhigbee wrote:[font=&quot]I tend to agree with your assessment- there should be another way for our Stake technology specialist to get him set-up to work with the ward photo-directory in MLS without incorrectly assigning him as an Assistant Ward Clerk. [/font]

But the STS is unable to make any such assignments. The ward will need to place the member in the correct standardized calling in MLS and then wait a day or two after the send/receive.