Adding members photos to ward directory on lds.org

Hi we have had a request from our bishopric to help our members submit photos to the ward directory on lds.org. We have a clerk over histories and statistics that we would like to help members do this. Recognizing that members can upload their own but there are enough elderly people that have issues with web-applications that they could feel intimidated, what suggestions do people have for trying to do this in a timely fashion? IS this something that a clerk can do for people? Would we have to log in with the members and have them do it themselves?

What have other clerks done in the past with success?

Yes, this is something that a ward clerk or assistant clerk can do for people. He can simply edit their profile and set the photo. The member doesn't have to login (doesn't even have to have an LDS Account) for the clerk to be able to do this.

In my ward, an assistant clerk took a bunch of pictures at tithing settlement time (and more pictures since then) and has uploaded those photos for those members who didn't already have photos.

There are some definite advantages to having this effort centralized. The photos that people have uploaded themselves are wildly inconsistent -- some show full bodies for individual photos, when a head shot is best (particularly for thumbnails); some are not cropped well (individual photos should be square); some are goofy (one family used their Halloween family photo).

A web admin can also do photos (but not set/modify profiles).

how do i add the pictures for the other members in the ward? I've been made a web administrator but i dont see any thing that allows me to add/change pictures

brettcoltongardner wrote:how do i add the pictures for the other members in the ward? I've been made a web administrator but i dont see any thing that allows me to add/change pictures

Detailed instructions for managing photos are in the help pages at Managing the directory.

If you don't see the options in the menu on the left side of the Directory for "Upload photos", "New photos", and "Manage photos", then that means that you don't have the correct standard calling of "Website administrator" (or that this calling has not been fully processed by the system -- it can take a day or so for you to have permissions in the Directory based on a new calling). Check with your ward clerk to make sure that he has given you the standard calling "Website administrator" (a custom calling won't do you any good in this regard).

found that to get photos is easy if arrive at meeting early and take picture as members arrive. bulk install by clerk would avoid many problems.

I am a ward clerk in a YSA ward. My Bishopric takes the photos they email them to me then I upload right from the clerks office that day. I found that this system works great.

The new version of LDS Tools for iOS (2.0.0.395) allows those with access to select a member, take a picture, and upload it to the LDS.org directory right from the iOS device (Provided it has a camera). It worked pretty slick when I tested it today.

Has anyone had members want to use a photo other than themself? I have a member who submitted a photo of a cat for each member of the household. I am not seeing anything in church policy that says no, but directions say should identify the individual.

l8ndad wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2026 9:49 am Has anyone had members want to use a photo other than themself? I have a member who submitted a photo of a cat for each member of the household. I am not seeing anything in church policy that says no, but directions say should identify the individual.

Just a personal opinion, but I don't see how a photo of a cat would identify a person--except maybe to a viewer who already knows the family closely enough to know which cat is connected to each member of the family.

l8ndad wrote: Sun Sep 20, 2026 9:49 am I am not seeing anything in church policy that says no, but directions say should identify the individual.

The Help Center article Photo Upload Guidelines states in the fifth bullet: "The photo should accurately depict the individual. The photo should not be modified to alter the individual’s appearance. It should not impersonate others, be a caricature, and so forth."

And I'd also add that the same help article has a bullet point regarding mobile/digital temple recommends. It's interesting that a printed recommend doesn't have any ID requirements, but the mobile recommend does have the requirement that the church account photo can identify the individual.

The point mentioned by @jdlessley is the correct reference, just adding another aspect which might help.