CDOL Access for assistant stake clerks

It appears that assistant stake clerks can now access the CDOL at https://cdol.lds.org. This is great news for me, since I am often the person my stake presidency asks for the kind of information that one can find there. I was updating the CDOL article on the wiki and on a whim decided to try to login and it simply worked!

I imagine that the standard rules still apply -- that a stake presidency member, stake clerk, stake assistant clerk, or stake executive secretary has to be listed in the CDOL and have an LDS Account in order to login.

My guess is that the recent MLS 3.0 upgrade caused additional information to be sent to the CDOL for assistant clerks (assuming that they are properly listed in MLS 3.0 with the correct standardized callings). It's definitely true that for my stake, all the assistant clerks are now listed on the CDOL, which I know was not true a while back.

I wonder if any additional logins are now allowed at the ward level, where only the bishop has been able to login. I've heard many ward clerks suggest that CDOL access would be a big help for them (actually just a way for them to better help the bishop). I don't see anyone but the bishop listed on the CDOL for each of the wards in our stake, so I'm guessing not.

Alan_Brown wrote:It appears that assistant stake clerks can now access the CDOL at https://cdol.lds.org. This is great news for me, since I am often the person my stake presidency asks for the kind of information that one can find there. I was updating the CDOL article on the wiki and on a whim decided to try to login and it simply worked!
.

Good news indeed! As an assistant stake clerk and the STS I've tried before to have access, but was turned down because I didn't qualify. Let's hope that this isn't just an error and that it will continue.

Thanks for the note.

Since you were able to login to CDOL I decided to see if I could. But I could not. There are two possible reasons for this. First, and the most likely reason, is that I am not listed in the stake using one of the standard positions (callings). The second reason is that before MLS 3.0 the stake president had to submit a request to have the stake clerk gain access. If they are using the standard positions list to determine access then there may be no need for the access request. I will have to check how my calling is listed in MLS.

Alan_Brown wrote:I wonder if any additional logins are now allowed at the ward level, where only the bishop has been able to login. I've heard many ward clerks suggest that CDOL access would be a big help for them (actually just a way for them to better help the bishop). I don't see anyone but the bishop listed on the CDOL for each of the wards in our stake, so I'm guessing not.

I just tried (I'm ward clerk) and it didn't give me access, at least not immediately. It did display a form to enter a reason why I need access and a button to Submit Request. I didn't try to make a request as I don't have an immediate need so there may still be a possibility that access can be obtained.

eblood66 wrote:I just tried (I'm ward clerk) and it didn't give me access, at least not immediately. It did display a form to enter a reason why I need access and a button to Submit Request. I didn't try to make a request as I don't have an immediate need so there may still be a possibility that access can be obtained.

That's exactly what I experienced. I know in the past I've received emails for STS since I'm listed that way in LUWS. Since LUWS also uses LDS Account, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think that CDOL is using LUWS positions.

RussellHltn wrote:That's exactly what I experienced. I know in the past I've received emails for STS since I'm listed that way in LUWS. Since LUWS also uses LDS Account, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think that CDOL is using LUWS positions.

Personally, I think it's a huge stretch. I've never seen the slightest evidence that LUWS feeds CDOL. It makes much more sense that MLS feeds CDOL.

The e-mails for STS come because of a separate communication mechanism that definitely uses LUWS, but has nothing to do with CDOL.

For one thing, the calling names that appear in CDOL match the new MLS 3.0. In both MLS and CDOL I am "Stake Assistant Clerk--Technology Spc", but in LUWS I am "Stake Technology Specialist".

Plus there's the issue of timing. I've been listed in LUWS as STS for years. The new CDOL has been up for many months. But then MLS 3.0 comes on the scene with its standardized callings, and a couple of weeks later, a calling matching MLS 3.0 appears and access is granted.

Put that all together, and it seems pretty conclusive that MLS 3.0 feeds CDOL.

RussellHltn wrote:Since LUWS also uses LDS Account, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think that CDOL is using LUWS positions.

LUWS does not feed CDOL. MLS feeds CDOL. Since MLS 3.0 was released, CDOL has been populated with many of the standard positions that are loaded in MLS. This cannot have come from LUWS because they are not populated in LUWS for most of the units in our stake.

I'm an assistant stake clerk. Just logged in without any problems. Thanks for the heads up!

eblood66 wrote:I just tried (I'm ward clerk) and it didn't give me access, at least not immediately. It did display a form to enter a reason why I need access and a button to Submit Request. I didn't try to make a request as I don't have an immediate need so there may still be a possibility that access can be obtained.

Just one quick thought - I'm not sure if they have granted assistant ward clerks (or ward clerks for that matter) access. However, perhaps double check and verify that you are listed in MLS under a standardized Assistant Clerk calling and not a custom position.

crislapi wrote:Just one quick thought - I'm not sure if they have granted assistant ward clerks (or ward clerks for that matter) access. However, perhaps double check and verify that you are listed in MLS under a standardized Assistant Clerk calling and not a custom position.

Actually, I just tried again and this time I got in. So it looks like ward clerks have access now. I can't say whether assistant ward clerks have access. Our membership clerk is out of town.

In another thread a church employee indicated that it's taking a while to process all the calling information coming in from units. I expect that our ward's information has been processed since last time I tried.

EDIT: I was too quick. I did get in but I don't get any results for any search. Every search returns 0 results. So maybe ward clerks don't have access. However, if that's the case it would be nice if it gave an error message rather than just not returning any results for anything.

...And if you once had access because of a calling, get released, and then try to login, the system will allow you to login, but you cannot see or get any search results...

Was a letter sent to units/Bishops to make them aware of the ability for Ward Clerks to login?

opee wrote:Was a letter sent to units/Bishops to make them aware of the ability for Ward Clerks to login?

No letter was sent to wards or stakes about any of these changes to the CDOL login. I just serendipitously happened to discover in the last week or so that I as an assistant stake clerk could login, when previously I couldn't.

Is there a restriction that you must be at a ward computer to browse to the site (perhaps it knows if you are behind a Church firewall)?

I am unable to hit the site from home. Perhaps it is just down? Or could it be some restriction that I mentioned above?

eblood66 wrote:Actually, I just tried again and this time I got in. So it looks like ward clerks have access now. I can't say whether assistant ward clerks have access. Our membership clerk is out of town.

In another thread a church employee indicated that it's taking a while to process all the calling information coming in from units. I expect that our ward's information has been processed since last time I tried.

EDIT: I was too quick. I did get in but I don't get any results for any search. Every search returns 0 results. So maybe ward clerks don't have access. However, if that's the case it would be nice if it gave an error message rather than just not returning any results for anything.

As an assistant ward clerk, I get the same results as eblood66.

eblood66 wrote:I just tried (I'm ward clerk) and it didn't give me access, at least not immediately. It did display a form to enter a reason why I need access and a button to Submit Request. I didn't try to make a request as I don't have an immediate need so there may still be a possibility that access can be obtained.

As the Assistant Stake Clerk - Technology I am able to logon and do searches and I receive results. It would appear that there may yet be restrictions in place at the ward level. It's also possible that the updating of the CDOL database isn't completed yet.

Perhaps someone at CHQ can respond to this question for us?

As a developer on CDOL I thought I would give a summary of some of the MLS 3.0 and CDOL integration.

1. MLS 3.0 has gone out to a large number of units but has not yet been fully released. This release sends all positions (callings) from MLS to CDOL. All of the standard positions are being put into CDOL so that they will be available to other applications at the Church. This initial load is taking some time for CDOL to process and so you may see your units come online at different times.
2. Who has access to CDOL? This is the list of positions currently have rights,
   • Stake
     • Stake President
     • Stake Presidency First Counselor
     • Stake Presidency Second Counselor
     • Stake Executive Secretary
     • Stake Clerk
     • Stake Assistant Clerk
     • Stake Assistant Clerk--Finance
     • Stake Assistant Clerk--Membership
     • Stake Assistant Clerk--Technology Spc
   • District
     • District President
     • District Presidency First Counselor
     • District Presidency Second Counselor
     • District Clerk
   • Ward
     • Bishop
   • Branch
     • Branch President
   • There are some discussions going on about who should be given access.
3. As an additional note eblood66 found an interesting side effect. To simplify the efforts for Bishops and Stake presidencies to get access to CDOL we added the ability to let you log into CDOL if you had an active position in CDOL. That works well, but now with all the positions coming in from MLS that lets people log in but then they don’t have any rights granted. That is why you end up with searches that return 0 results when you feel it is incorrect. We have logged this as an issue and will make some improvements for that.

As a general note you can submit feedback from within CDOL (see the feedback link at top right of each page)

ryan jones wrote:As a developer on CDOL I thought I would give a summary of some of the MLS 3.0 and CDOL integration.

This is very helpful information. Thank you for taking the time to bring us up to date.

I might suggest that many assistant stake clerks will be happy to now have access so they can better help the stake presidency. It would be nice to somehow inform them of this new access (perhaps an MLS Message?).

ryan jones wrote:As a developer on CDOL I thought I would give a summary of some of the MLS 3.0 and CDOL integration.

Thanks too for the information. It's good to know where things stand.

Hopefully the further discussions will result in at least one ward level clerk with access. The bishop has so many things to do I'd much rather provide him with this kind of information myself rather than making him take the time to do it. But I know there are many considerations and we may not be aware of all of them.

eblood66 wrote:Thanks too for the information. It's good to know where things stand.

Hopefully the further discussions will result in at least one ward level clerk with access. The bishop has so many things to do I'd much rather provide him with this kind of information myself rather than making him take the time to do it. But I know there are many considerations and we may not be aware of all of them.

I would second that...

opee wrote:I would second that...

Yes, our ward clerk has been asked by the Bishop to contact previous Bishops about new move-ins, just as a precaution in case the record was moved or requested before a previous ward could mark it as "contact prior leader."

I as the assistant ward clerk have no need for CDOL access at the present time.

eblood66 wrote:Hopefully the further discussions will result in at least one ward level clerk with access. The bishop has so many things to do I'd much rather provide him with this kind of information myself rather than making him take the time to do it. But I know there are many considerations and we may not be aware of all of them.

Good news!

According to a modification made to the wiki article Church Directory of Organizations and Leaders‎, at the ward level not only bishops, but also bishopric counselors, ward executive secretaries, and ward clerks now have access to the online CDOL (similarly for branches).

Of course these people must be properly entered in MLS with standardized callings and must have an LDS Account. But this will be helpful for wards.

Alan_Brown wrote:Good news!

According to a modification made to the wiki article Church Directory of Organizations and Leaders‎, at the ward level not only bishops, but also bishopric counselors, ward executive secretaries, and ward clerks now have access to the online CDOL (similarly for branches).

Of course these people must be properly entered in MLS with standardized callings and must have an LDS Account. But this will be helpful for wards.

I just saw that myself and have verified that it is correct (at least for ward clerks).

Alan_Brown wrote:Of course these people must be properly entered in MLS with standardized callings and must have an LDS Account. But this will be helpful for wards.

Interesting. I can now log in (was unable to before), but get this message at the top of the page:

Your assignment has no rights assigned which allow you to view information within the Church Directory. You are currently recorded in the following active assignments. Please contact <email deleted> for clarification or questions.
Ward Assistant Clerk--Finance

The message is true. No information is visible to me. I realize this information would be of limited use to my calling, but it sure would have been handy when I was trying to contact the financial clerk from a neighboring stake about an outstanding check we sent to them.

At least I know our "Wark Assistant Clerk--Membership" is on the ball with the standardized callings.

oregonmatt wrote:The message is true. No information is visible to me. I realize this information would be of limited use to my calling, but it sure would have been handy when I was trying to contact the financial clerk from a neighboring stake about an outstanding check we sent to them.

At least for now, assistant ward clerks are not on the list of those granted access that is in the Church Directory of Organizations and Leaders wiki article. So the behavior you are seeing is not surprising, given your current calling.

On those rare occasions that you need such information, it should be easy enough for your ward clerk to get it for you.

Alan_Brown wrote:At least for now, assistant ward clerks are not on the list of those granted access that is in the Church Directory of Organizations and Leaders wiki article. So the behavior you are seeing is not surprising, given your current calling.

I see that now. I got excited and went to the site before I scrolled all the way down the wiki page.

Alan_Brown wrote:On those rare occasions that you need such information, it should be easy enough for your ward clerk to get it for you.

It certainly shortens the loop now. As I recall, it was a call to my Stake Clerk, who gave me the number of the other Stake Clerk, who had to give me the number of his Financial Clerk. :p

oregonmatt wrote:Interesting. I can now log in (was unable to before), but get this message at the top of the page:

This message is actually quite an improvement, as before (a few months back) when I or you (as assistant ward clerks) logged into CDOL, it would appear we authenticated and were granted access. However, a search or a browse of units would result in empty results and a mostly blank screen. No indication was provided to let the user know that they actually didn't have access to this sensitive information.

mkmurray wrote:This message is actually quite an improvement, as before (a few months back) when I or you (as assistant ward clerks) logged into CDOL, it would appear we authenticated and were granted access. However, a search or a browse of units would result in empty results and a mostly blank screen. No indication was provided to let the user know that they actually didn't have access to this sensitive information.

This message was actually added as a result of these forums and realizing that people were getting in and not understanding why nothing seemed to work.

Thanks for your help in improving the product.

ryan jones wrote:This message was actually added as a result of these forums and realizing that people were getting in and not understanding why nothing seemed to work.

Thanks for your help in improving the product.

You're welcome for the unintentional validation of the change.