member data inconsistent

Why is it that photos, email addresses, phone numbers, and other data are inconsistent across all screens in the directory? Some places don't show photos that are in other displays, and the same is true of other data. Why can't member data be synchronized across all screens? I shouldn't have to upload my photo in any more than one place.

I'm not sure what you are talking about. There is only one place for members to upload their photos. There's one household photo, plus one individual photo per person, and they are uploaded in just one place. The same is true of all other data such as phone numbers and email addresses. All this data exists in just one place.

Now it is true that different subsets of this information will be displayed in different places. A photo may not appear in every place because a photo may take up too much space in some places. But still, the data is the same -- we're only talking about which subset of the data is displayed in a particular place.

If you're seeing something different from this, please give a specific example of what you are seeing in what part of the Directory, and what you expect to see.

My Branch Clerk has a photo that appears on the Branch Leaders page but not on his Household page. He is the only person in the branch with his name. How is it that the Leaders page and again on the Branch Organization page carries his photo, but not the Photos page nor the household page? I have members whose pictures show in the Households page but not in the Relief Society or Elders pages. I have phone numbers or email addresses that show in the Household page but not in the Relief Society or Elders pages, and the reverse is also true. Thanks for any help you can offer, but it appears to me at this point that there are redundant databases being maintained out of synch.

aebrown wrote:
If you're seeing something different from this, please give a specific example of what you are seeing in what part of the Directory, and what you expect to see.

Do you have a way of contacting me directly so we can look at what I'm seeing together?

eldonhancock wrote:My Branch Clerk has a photo that appears on the Branch Leaders page but not on his Household page.

What you are noticing is the difference between household and individual photos, email addresses, and phone numbers.

eldonhancock wrote:How is it that the Leaders page and again on the Branch Organization page carries his photo, but not the Photos page nor the household page?

The Leaders page and the Branch Organization page will show the individual photo, but the Photos page and the household page both show the household photo.

The system sounds like it is working correctly for a person who has an individual photo, but no household photo. If you create a household photo for the household of that person, you'll start seeing a photo in all the places you expect.

eldonhancock wrote:I have members whose pictures show in the Households page but not in the Relief Society or Elders pages. I have phone numbers or email addresses that show in the Household page but not in the Relief Society or Elders pages, and the reverse is also true. Thanks for any help you can offer, but it appears to me at this point that there are redundant databases being maintained out of synch.

No, it's just one database, and nothing is out of sync. Every example you have given makes perfect sense once you understand that RS and Elders organization pages and any Leadership pages will show individual photos, email addresses, and phone numbers; the Photos and Household pages will show household photos, email addresses, and phone numbers (the Household pages do have a section below the household area for individual info for each member of the household as well).

Thanks for the answer, but I need to know how to make them consistent in the data? What two places do I need to either have all membership clerks in the stake enter the data or to have individual members do it? As I look at every unit in our stake, they are all in the same mess, as I've described. So I'm not the only one who cannot seem to make sense of this, even after your explanation. What do we have to do? I'd like to have at least my branch to work properly; one out of 13 units. Thanks sincerely for any direction you can give.

eldonhancock wrote:I need to know how to make them consistent

Have each individual load an individual photo, and have each family load a household photo. In many cases, the household photo will be the same as one of the individual photos. But even if it is, it needs to be loaded twice, once for the individual and once for the household.

Then, when you call up a list that displays household informatoin, the household photo will display. And when you call up a list that displays individual information, the individual photo will display.

Thanks,
I'll try that. Now what about all the other data, such as address, email address, phone number, cell number, etc? Are there two places I have to inform people to go on that too? I ask because I see no consistency there either. Is there a Household record of data, and another Individual record of data?

eldonhancock wrote:Thanks,
I'll try that. Now what about all the other data, such as address, email address, phone number, cell number, etc? Are there two places I have to inform people to go on that too? I ask because I see no consistency there either. Is there a Household record of data, and another Individual record of data?

Just as with the photo, each household has an email address and phone number, and each individual can have an email address and phone number. That's not a question of inconsistency -- they are separate fields.

So just as with photos, if you have households that are missing an email address, you might want to set it to be the individual email address of the head of household. And vice versa. The same logic applies to phone numbers. That's a pretty obvious choice with households with only one member (which is pretty much everyone in a YSA ward), but may or may not be exactly what a multi-member household would choose, so you may need to check with the members before making widespread changes.

Thanks. I'll give that a try.