Ward Website Admin...Access the LCR? Please!

I am the Ward Wesbite Admin. I was also the YW secretary until last week. I now don't have access to the LCR anymore

As website admin, I also keep everyone's information up-to-date. I like to always check the move ins, move outs, birthdays, new people's email and phone numbers, and etc, etc.

I do mass texting for each auxiliary, which the bishop has me do, with my Google Groups. And I need to always keep these updated, and I need the LCR for this.

Anyway, my question is....will the Ward Website Admin ever be able to access the LCR? I really need it! Please!

Thanks,
Brenda

The ward website administrator does not have access according to the access table for the information that you are looking for. I personally do not see why the ward website admin needs to see move in/move out, birthdays, and other private information. This is not part of the calling to administer this information. If you are using Google groups to send out information, I think that may be in violation of policy.

https://www.lds.org/help/support/meetin ... lang=eng#4

4.9 MLS Data and Membership Information

4.9.1 Information about members, donations, and financial transactions is confidential and must be protected from unauthorized disclosure.

4.9.2 MLS data, database tables, or schemas must not be used or shared to create or assist in the creation of third party software.

4.9.3 The use of MLS data and membership information in third party software is prohibited, whether obtained from within or outside of a meetinghouse.

4.9.4 The use of cloud-based services for storing and/or backing up MLS or any membership related data is prohibited.

I'm just doing as the bishop asked me to

Are you saying that you don't store anyone's email addresses or phone numbers on your phone? That's all I'm doing! If the church had a way to text people, I'd totally use it!

You may want to advise your Bishop of the policy. I do not store anyone's email addresses or phone numbers on my phone that are in my ward. All that information is stored in LDS Tools. If I need it, I access that application. My phone and LDS tools also have 2 layers of different passwords.

I LOVE the LDS Tools app, and use it all the time! I try to get everyone in our ward to use it! Lots do now!

For example, do you really not expect YW leaders to store the girls' numbers in their phone to be able to text them all about a reminder for an activity?

geekiemommie wrote:I LOVE the LDS Tools app, and use it all the time! I try to get everyone in our ward to use it! Lots do now!

For example, do you really not expect YW leaders to store the girls' numbers in their phone to be able to text them all about a reminder for an activity?

Personally, I don't think the policy is meant to be taken that far. If the policy was supposed to prohibit putting phone numbers and emails into a phones contact list there wouldn't be an option in LDS Tools to create and update contacts.

I wouldn't do it indiscriminately but I don't think there is anything wrong with using that feature to add contacts for members with whom you make more frequent contact.

Getting back to the OP, the question is how many wards need someone who doesn't hold a leadership calling to have access to ward information over and above what's in the directory.

dfchamplain wrote:This is not part of the calling to administer this information.

The duties of ward website administrators aren't officially defined anywhere I know of – however, the duties of clerks are defined, and it sounds like you're essentially doing the work of an assistant clerk.

Unfortunately, current church policy requires clerks and assistant clerks to be priesthood holders, otherwise I would suggest talking to your bishop and having him bring your name to the stake to get you called as an assistant clerk.

I would recommend researching other things that may be in the permissions of a ward website administrator, then talk to your bishop and ask if he wants you to help in other ways. For example, a ward website administrator is by default an administrator of the LDS.org Directory, Calendar, Newsletter, and Lesson Schedules. There may be some things you could do to help keep those up-to-date or to train members how to use them.

I'm also a ward website admin, but for a YSA ward. I can see how having a limited access to LCR could be beneficial. I'm responsible for updating the photos on LDS.org, calendar, lesson schedules, etc. It is a pain sometimes to know who is new in my ward, particularly with a high turnover rate at the change of school semesters. It would be nice to have the movein report to quickly identify whose names I have to check for photos.

I also send out text alerts from google, but we make it very clear it is optional, and members have to personally give us the information and permission. They can opt out at anytime. The stake and region are aware of this and have given us permission as it is a tool to reach out to YSAs that don't normally come out to activities. If wards were given text capabilities like the institute programs, we would change over in a heartbeat.

We also write a ward email that is sent from the account, but the only emails it is sent to are our out-of-unit advisory couples, high counsellors over YSAsin our feeder stakes, YSAs who want announcements but wish to stay in family wards and our executive secretary who copies the email and sends it out via LCR. I wish I had access to LCR so I could easily send the email out to everyone all at once.

As for birthdays, that's a little too far and personal. Yes it is nice to wish people happy birthday, but not everyone wants to share that info, especially years.

You can easily see phone numbers and email addresses online. If they are not listed for you to see and are leadership only, you have no right to that info anyways.

kellymab - I totally agree!

For birthdays, I only use those to make sure I add Scouts, Youth, etc, to the proper group for texting.

We always let people opt out if they want to. I always talk to people when they first move in and ask them if they'd like to receive ward texts.

Yes, being able to see if new people need pictures added, etc would be so nice!

Geekiemommie, does you ward have the youth listed in their classes under ward organizations? Since I'm in a YSA ward, the class names show up but we have no one actually in those classes in my unit. This could be a way to verify what groups for the texts.

We have the people when they sign up physically select their groups so we have recorded that they allow us to upload their information to google. We just want to be sure people realize that it is not an official church app that sends the texts and it is completely optional. As a result we never copy the information from mls; it is given freely from the members for a specific communication tool.

Yes, the class organizations appear.

Everyone that receives texts, has agreed to receive them from me

geekiemommie wrote: For example, do you really not expect YW leaders to store the girls' numbers in their phone to be able to text them all about a reminder for an activity?

With LDS Tools, you can create custom lists. That is how I have all my contacts sorted out. I have lists for new converts, home teaching, and ward missionaries.

dfchamplain - I just tested texting from a List. That works awesome! Just hard to make a List of the whole RS, etc. If we could do it from online, that would be great!

I don't disagree with that! I wish that the lists would sync with my LDS account. Maybe in the future.

LDS Tools does allow you to email or text all the leaders in an organization, under Callings (use the share /action sheet button). In 2.5, Callings will be renamed Organizations and will list members of the organizations in addition to the leaders. I don't know if they'll add mass email/text ability to those groups, but if they do, it will almost certainly be for the bishopric and leaders of the organization only (I could see a lot of potential spam going out if anyone could email the whole ward or a whole organization in a ward).

There's currently a limitation imposed by either iOS or the phone carrier that doesn't let you text more than a certain number of people at once (10?) though the native texting system. But email should be possible for larger groups.

Also, custom lists do sync between devices (at least on iOS).

If you go in to the directory on Lds.org select organizations then select adults there is a link at the top right that will give you alist of all the emails for all the adults in the ward. This is available to everyone with a log in.