Individual Ordinance Summary - Member Access

I would like to submit a feature request to allow member's access to their own IOS on LDS.org. It would save paper and delays in getting in touch with the ward clerk.

Since you submitted this in the Leader and Clerk Resources forum I doubt this feature would be available to the general membership from either of these applications since they do not have access to either of the applications. This would need to be available in some other section or another menu item similar to the Patriarchal Blessing added to the sign in menu.

jdlessley wrote:Since you submitted this in the Leader and Clerk Resources forum I doubt this feature would be available to the general membership from either of these applications since they do not have access to either of the applications. This would need to be available in some other section or another menu item similar to the Patriarchal Blessing added to the sign in menu.

But nonetheless, the IOS is currently available through Leader and Clerk Resources. That's the only web application that makes the IOS available in any form. So although it would involve some other access method for individual members, this is as good a place as any to submit the suggestion.

I would think this could be in the form of a simple PDF attachment to the individual in the directory, since that all it is in the Clerk Resources.

Good suggestions. We'll add them to our backlog.

You guys at HQ ROCK!!!!!!!!!

I too would like this feature.

What is the process whereby requests like these get approved and implemented? Should we expect it in several weeks or months from now?

son_of_will wrote:What is the process whereby requests like these get approved and implemented? Should we expect it in several weeks or months from now?

I don't know the exact process, but it's clear that items on the backlog get prioritized. Those that get assigned a high priority go through an approval process, and the approved, high priority items get implemented when the development team gets to those items. Some items get implemented in weeks or months, and some items that were put on various product backlogs two or three years ago are still not implemented and may very well never be implemented.

A feature like this is clearly in the "nice to have" category -- not an essential feature -- so if I were you, I would not have any expectations at all. When it gets implemented (if that ever happens), we'll be notified in some sort of release notes.

bnakyema@gmail.com wrote:I need my membership record number now

Your ward or branch clerk will be able to give you that information. No one here at this user-to-user forum has that information.

Hi, I believe this should be an important feature to prioritize, to save paper and make it a lot easier on clerks.

My biggest issue related to this, is that an IOS gets printed automatically for every single change to any member record, so several sheets of paper and printer ink get wasted every week.

It's a pain to have to compare every printed IOS to the current member record to see what changed, to see if it would be worth making contact with the member to deliver it to them. (Most of them are insignificant changes that the member does not care about getting a new IOS paper for.) And it pains me to take all those IOS papers freshly printed every week and feed them directly into the shredder. Waste of paper, ink, wear and tear on the printer and the shredder, waste of time, etc. IMHO, much more than a "nice to have" - it's a "need to have".

What I suggest : Instead of having it automatically print an IOS for every single change, automatically email the member to let them know what got changed, with the IOS attached as a PDF file. The email can also let them know they can also request the IOS from a clerk at church.

Perhaps the big changes (new ordinances, or updates to ordinance info) can be still be auto-printed -- but printing a new IOS for every change of phone # or email or correction of spelling or name preference, is such a waste.

zToddW wrote:And it pains me to take all those IOS papers freshly printed every week and feed them directly into the shredder.

There is no requirement to print the IOS. Any clerk keeping up with membership changes will know why MLS is giving the print pop-up. Just cancel the print job and proceed on to the next one. If there is a change that may need to be printed just make note of it or print to PDF and store on the secure thumb drive kept in the filing cabinet until the member is contacted to see if they want it.

Since the forum is primarily user-to-user help and support your suggestions may never be seen by those who can consider implementing any changes. In MLS you can send feedback to the membership department with your suggestion.

As stated, there's no requirement to print out all the reports that MLS automatically generates. However, last I knew, the print out was about the only way to notice if a new move-in has a annotation on their record. There are ways to see it, but it's about the only way it comes to attention.

russellhltn wrote:However, last I knew, the print out was about the only way to notice if a new move-in has a annotation on their record. There are ways to see it, but it's about the only way it comes to attention.

That's what I look for when I preview the print requests.

First I preview and if the print is for a membership record and if there is no annotation then the membership record print is deleted. I notify the bishop if there is a new membership record with an annotation. He then has access to the record with the annotation while I do not.

If a print job is an IOS, I record the name in a notebook file to ask the member if they would like their new IOS. Then I delete that print job also. The only paper needed is when the member wants a copy. When all the members in the notebook file have been contacted then that file is deleted.

jdlessley wrote:

zToddW wrote:And it pains me to take all those IOS papers freshly printed every week and feed them directly into the shredder.

There is no requirement to print the IOS. Any clerk keeping up with membership changes will know why MLS is giving the print pop-up. Just cancel the print job and proceed on to the next one. If there is a change that may need to be printed just make note of it or print to PDF and store on the secure thumb drive kept in the filing cabinet until the member is contacted to see if they want it.

Since the forum is primarily user-to-user help and support your suggestions may never be seen by those who can consider implementing any changes. In MLS you can send feedback to the membership department with your suggestion.

Thanks for that suggestion.

It's normally either the bishopric, the main clerk (I'm the membership clerk), or the finance clerk that opens and closes MLS, triggering the send/receive and printing of IOS forms. Usually after church when they're doing tithing.

So do you suggest that they skip printing every time they don't know of any ordinance change or other big change to the person's record? Or that they always print to PDF and save them all for me to review? Then I guess I ought to review it against their member record to see what changed, and decide whether to contact them to see if they want it.

Still seems like a lot of work that could be easily avoided - I wish it would at least let us know what exactly got changed. Or just automatically skip printing if it's just a phone # or email.

I guess I'll send feedback via MLS. Thanks,

zToddW wrote:It's normally either the bishopric, the main clerk (I'm the membership clerk), or the finance clerk that opens and closes MLS, triggering the send/receive and printing of IOS forms. Usually after church when they're doing tithing.

So do you suggest that they skip printing every time they don't know of any ordinance change or other big change to the person's record? Or that they always print to PDF and save them all for me to review? Then I guess I ought to review it against their member record to see what changed, and decide whether to contact them to see if they want it.

Since my response was addressing the issue of wasting paper I offered a suggestion that does that. How anyone handles the issue of MLS printing new records or an IOS for record changes is discretionary. Just note that if the IOS and records are printed on paper or electronically they must be secured (locked away in a locked filing cabinet) to prevent unauthorized viewing and disclosure of private and confidential information. Also note these print jobs offer the clerk an opportunity to review the information for accuracy and other information such as record annotations.