Show preferred name rather than full name

11 postsstarted by jlmarutz 7,177 viewsoriginal topic

New Member
#1
When posting messages in circles it uses my full name rather than the preferred name Set in LCR. Can we get the app updated to show preferred names?
Community Moderators
#2
What name shows in the Ward Directory on the Church website and in Member Tools? I just checked and my preferred name shows in Circles messages as well as the Ward Directory (both locations). Have you asked your ward clerk what preferred name, if any, is set in your membership record?
JD Lessley
Have you tried finding your answer on the ChurchofJesusChrist.org Help Center or Tech Wiki?
New Member
#3
The ward directory shows my preferred name, while posting messages in circles is displaying my full name.
Senior Member
#4
Can we get the app updated to show preferred names?
For your awareness, this Forum is primarily user-to-user discussion, and posting enhancement requests here will not reach your intended targets. The best method is to submit in-App feedback. Alternatively, you can also submit feedback using the button available at the bottom of most every Church webpage. Those feedback requests will reach the Church development team.
Community Moderators
#5
I have confirmed that members in my ward using a preferred name are displayed with their preferred name in Gospel Living app Circles as well as in the Directory. I also asked a few others what they see, to ensure all are seeing the same thing, and they were able to confirm members were displayed with their preferred name. I recommend checking what others using preferred names are seeing displayed for themselves in Circles. It is unusual that some members would be displayed using their preferred names while others, in other units, would only see their full name.

It appears that the feature to display users with their preferred name in Circles has been programmed. If after checking with your ward clerk as well as with others in your ward as to what they are seeing for displayed names and there are any that are not seeing preferred names then submit a report using the in-app Send Feedback.
JD Lessley
Have you tried finding your answer on the ChurchofJesusChrist.org Help Center or Tech Wiki?
Community Moderators
#6
Was the preferred name on your membership record changed recently? I wonder if Circles uses the preferred name as of the time the circle was created, and it's gotten out of sync since that time?
Samuel Bradshaw • If you desire to serve God, you are called to the work.
Community Moderators
#7
Adding to sbradshaw's post: Try signing out of the Gospel Living app and sign back in to force a refresh of all data.
JD Lessley
Have you tried finding your answer on the ChurchofJesusChrist.org Help Center or Tech Wiki?
New Member
#8
I am the ward clerk and have a member whose name in the gospel living app shows up as her full name from her previous marriage. This doesn't match her current member name, preferred name or maiden name, so where is it pulling this information from? She has signed out and signed back in to the Gospel Living app just to see if it would fix it, but it didn't change anything. Also, her divorce and remarriage was before the Gospel Living app was released, so I doubt it was a sync issue to begin with. Has anyone dealt with this before?
Community Administrator
#9
You might want to check her Household name. That's what usually trips up last name issues.

However, I'd expect her to be listed under the household name in the ward directory, so it seems a bit off for the first discovery to be the GL app.
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New Member
#10
I am having the same issues - my former married name still shows up even though on the LDS.Org website is shows my maiden name. What is going on?
Senior Member
#11
Asiangem wrote: Sat Sep 28, 2024 1:01 pm I am having the same issues - my former married name still shows up even though on the LDS.Org website is shows my maiden name. What is going on?
If this is a relatively recent change, then perhaps the app had an issue with syncing the new data (Church apps are known to occasionally suffer from this). You can try one of the following:
  • in-app data sync,
  • in-app data refresh,
  • log-out and then log back in, or
  • a complete re-install of the app
For most members, one of these options will get the app data fully synced with what's shown on the Church website[.]