Beta Directory Observations

The new beta directory is a great improvement and I am sure that when it is fully implemented it will be even better. Here are some of the things I like about it:

1. The ability of the administrator to update member profiles. I tried this with a couple of minor changes in some families and it worked! It even made the change on the MLS!

2. Loading photos is a snap compared to the current system and the photos can be much larger. There is no longer any need to spend time resizing to get the maximum size allowed, as is now the case. In fact, I am using it to upload new photos of families because it is so much easier and these show on the current LUWS!

3. Families ability to upload their own photos.... This hasn’t been activated yet, but when it is, I am hoping this feature will encourage more members to register.

4. The address is a link to a map to assist you in finding members.

There are a few issues and questions which I will pursue through the feedback link, but overall, it is excellent.

zaneclark wrote:1. The ability of the administrator to update member profiles. I tried this with a couple of minor changes in some families and it worked! It even made the change on the MLS!

That's interesting. What kind of changes?

zaneclark wrote:In fact, I am using it to upload new photos of families because it is so much easier and these show on the current LUWS!

Interesting. AFAIK, it doesn't work the other way. It also seems I was incorrect when I said the new directory was "per person". It appears it's "per couple". That could make for a interesting leadership directory.

RussellHltn wrote:That's interesting. What kind of changes?

I've been updating phone numbers and e-mail addresses in MLS through the beta directory. It's spiffy.

Interesting. AFAIK, it doesn't work the other way. It also seems I was incorrect when I said the new directory was "per person". It appears it's "per couple". That could make for a interesting leadership directory.

It appears to be both. You can upload a photo for a household that appears on the ward directory, and then you can upload photos and assign them to individuals. These appear on the leadership directory.

nutterb wrote:I've been updating phone numbers and e-mail addresses in MLS through the beta directory. It's spiffy.

Hmmm. That's all I can update on my own profile. Are admins able to do more?

I just checked and as the STS for our stake, I can edit the profile in the new Beta Directory of any member in the stake. - This makes assisting others a LOT easier.

Techgy wrote:I just checked and as the STS for our stake, I can edit the profile in the new Beta Directory of any member in the stake. - This makes assisting others a LOT easier.

Oh, cool! That's new. At least I don't remember that from before.

RussellHltn wrote:Hmmm. That's all I can update on my own profile. Are admins able to do more?

Admins can update a profile, but the only information in a profile that can be updated are the telephone numbers and e-mail addresses for the household and household members and whether those telephone numbers and e-mail addresses are available in the ward directory.

RussellHltn wrote:Hmmm. That's all I can update on my own profile. Are admins able to do more?

I don't think we can do more than the email and phone.... Although the ability to update email addresses will be a great help in keeping them current. I am wondering about something that will probably be answered when the beta is no longer a beta, and that is, if I add an email to a member, will they then get the broadcast posts even though they are not registered for the LUWS?

RussellHltn wrote:Oh, cool! That's new. At least I don't remember that from before.

I'm pretty sure this is new because I don't remember it before either. The appearance of the "Stake Directory" with visibility into other wards points to a new release.

Good work folks!

I'm not sure when this editing feature became available but I have been making phone & email updates to records using this method for at least three weeks.

macsense wrote:I'm not sure when this editing feature became available but I have been making phone & email updates to records using this method for at least three weeks.

So you are confirming what nutterb said, that these updates are rolling back into MLS?

lajackson wrote:So you are confirming what nutterb said, that these updates are rolling back into MLS?

In my case, the updates are showing on MLS but they have stopped appearing on the beta directory. I have sent an inquiry to the feedback asking about this. I will post the response...

zaneclark wrote:In my case, the updates are showing on MLS but they have stopped appearing on the beta directory. I have sent an inquiry to the feedback asking about this. I will post the response...

I have observed what I believe to be the same. MLS is getting updated but the beta directory does not show the changes even after 48 hours.

macsense wrote:I have observed what I believe to be the same. MLS is getting updated but the beta directory does not show the changes even after 48 hours.

The changes I made seem to be holding. I even have added some e-mail addresses for members that aren't registered for and LDS Account and their e-mail addresses are holding.

Are you sure you have it marked to appear in the directory? I guess it's possible you made the change but it's lying hidden from common view.

Is the beta site down today? If it isn't, I have some serious problems with my computer...

I just checked (tried to sign on) and got a server error.

I guess that's why they call it a Beta site. It's back up this morning.
This has occured before - probably maintenance work.

Techgy wrote:I guess that's why they call it a Beta site. It's back up this morning.
This has occured before - probably maintenance work.

I guess the correction hasn't reached Las Vegas yet.... I still get server errors....

zaneclark wrote:I guess the correction hasn't reached Las Vegas yet.... I still get server errors....

I was able to log in, but both the directory and the calendar are having some kind of certificate issues. Sometimes it makes it look like it is working part way, but the page doesn't load all the way correctly.

Same here, logged in just fine, but both the calendar and directory don't fully load... Though I noticed that the subscriptions are still working fine... I copied the URL from my main calendar to another just to make sure it wasn't just left over from the last sync but the new one pulled all the events automatically without any problems...

zaneclark wrote:I guess the correction hasn't reached Las Vegas yet.... I still get server errors....

The beta site is up now but I was hoping while they were doing maintenance or whatever they were doing, they would fix the bug that doesn't keep the email and address changes and additions on the beta site. I have sent another note to the feedback and will let you know if/when they respond...

zaneclark wrote:The beta site is up now but I was hoping while they were doing maintenance or whatever they were doing, they would fix the bug that doesn't keep the email and address changes and additions on the beta site. I have sent another note to the feedback and will let you know if/when they respond...

It has been 2 weeks since I sent my query to the "feedback" for the beta directory and although they have answered some questions in the past, I haven't heard from them this time, so does anyone here have any inside information on the public launch of the the new LUWS? I am hoping that the reason they haven't answered is because they are busy working on the program!:D

zaneclark wrote:It has been 2 weeks since I sent my query to the "feedback" for the beta directory and although they have answered some questions in the past, I haven't heard from them this time, so does anyone here have any inside information on the public launch of the the new LUWS? I am hoping that the reason they haven't answered is because they are busy working on the program!:D

Was your query through the feedback about the full release of the beta directory or was it about the entire new LUWS? The full release of the entire new LUWS is unknown. But we do know that the full release of the calendar is set for 1 January 2011. I suspect that the full release of the directory will accompany it. There are other modules for the complete LUWS that need to be worked on also. I don't know if they would need to go through beta like the directory and calendar since they are not as complex. We will only know as we progress further through this year.

jdlessley wrote:Was your query through the feedback about the full release of the beta directory or was it about the entire new LUWS? The full release of the entire new LUWS is unknown. But we do know that the full release of the calendar is set for 1 January 2011. I suspect that the full release of the directory will accompany it. There are other modules for the complete LUWS that need to be worked on also. I don't know if they would need to go through beta like the directory and calendar since they are not as complex. We will only know as we progress further through this year.

My main query was why the ability to update profiles was no longer working as it was when I first logged on to the beta directory. Since it is a beta, I'm sure there are lots of things like this to work through, but thought they should know about this.

zaneclark wrote:My main query was why the ability to update profiles was no longer working as it was when I first logged on to the beta directory. Since it is a beta, I'm sure there are lots of things like this to work through, but thought they should know about this.

They answered my Query! I only wish they wouldn't call my queries "complaints." i know this is still in beta and I am grateful for all the work they do to make it a successful program. Here is their answer:

You submitted a complaint on March 17, 2010 at 8:01 AM:

"Thanks for reporting this - We'll get testers on it asap."

When the new directory was first introduced, when you logged on, the first screen was your local ward and stake. Now it opens only to the Area and it is necessary to open the pull down menu and then open the stake to get to your ward. Does this bother anyone else? I have sent an inquiry to feedback but thought I would toss it into this forum as well.

zaneclark wrote:When the new directory was first introduced, when you logged on, the first screen was your local ward and stake. Now it opens only to the Area and it is necessary to open the pull down menu and then open the stake to get to your ward. Does this bother anyone else? I have sent an inquiry to feedback but thought I would toss it into this forum as well.

I noticed the same thing. I would agree that it would be better to have the default set to my home ward. Few, if any, members would have use of an area directory and having this set as the default could lead to confusion for some.

zaneclark wrote:When the new directory was first introduced, when you logged on, the first screen was your local ward and stake. Now it opens only to the Area and it is necessary to open the pull down menu and then open the stake to get to your ward. Does this bother anyone else? I have sent an inquiry to feedback but thought I would toss it into this forum as well.

It looks like it is a bug: https://tech.lds.org/jira/browse/LUD-829. It doesn't look like the area should be there at all. The Jira entry says they fixed the bug yesterday but of course we won't see the fix until they do another release.

Greetings All,
I would just like to say what an amazing job on the new website. I was hoping to update the various photo's from our ward and I keep getting the error message of #2032 and won't let me update any photos from our ward. I am the ward administrator and would like to begin this process. Any advice?

v/r

Dan Marshall

I am having the same problem uploading photos. I tried my other computer and it gives me a different error number. Both computers are windows 7 64bit.

We have now been invited/urged to begin using the new directory. I have already been using it for some time and love it. My question is in regards to administrative access. I am the ward and stake wed administrator and also an assistant ward clerk. I currently can upload and manage photos for my ward and update email and telephone info.

Q. Where does this authority come from? Clerk or web administrator?

Q. When will I be able to use the new directory to send broadcast emails to the ward and stake?

Q. Will the members who have an email address listed in the new directory be able to receive these broadcast emails even though they might not have and LDS Account?


(I have sent this same message to feedback.)

I'll answer with the best of my understanding and then wait to be corrected.

zaneclark wrote:We have now been invited/urged to begin using the new directory. I have already been using it for some time and love it. My question is in regards to administrative access. I am the ward and stake wed administrator and also an assistant ward clerk. I currently can upload and manage photos for my ward and update email and telephone info.

Q. Where does this authority come from? Clerk or web administrator?

Yes. (as in, both..but I could be wrong about the web administrator)

Q. When will I be able to use the new directory to send broadcast emails to the ward and stake?

I don't know that the directory is intended to be linked to e-mail broadcasts. But we've not seen anything about the e-mail broadcasts yet. I wouldn't expect anything before 2012 at the earliest, and I wouldn't hold my breath for that either.

Q. Will the members who have an email address listed in the new directory be able to receive these broadcast emails even though they might not have and LDS Account?

No...at least I hope not. To receive e-mail broadcasts, I imagine you would want voluntary enrollment. The only way to guarantee enrollment is voluntary is to have them sign up for it.

zaneclark wrote: Q. Where does this authority come from? Clerk or web administrator?

Both of these roles are given the same admin privileges in the directory app.

zaneclark wrote:Q. When will I be able to use the new directory to send broadcast emails to the ward and stake?

I'm not sure that broadcast emails will be a part of the directory app, or another app under lds.org, but the functionality will be added some time in the next year or so.

zaneclark wrote:Q. Will the members who have an email address listed in the new directory be able to receive these broadcast emails even though they might not have and LDS Account?

Technically, yes. However, there will be opt-out capability, so it just depends on the default setting that is decided upon. If the default is opted-in, then users without LDS Accounts will automatically start receiving emails until they create an account to log in and opt-out. If the default is opted-out, then they will need to create an account and log in to opt-in.

A notification system for the Calendar and Directory apps is already underway and should be delivered in the next couple months. This is not a general broadcast system, but includes the ability to notify admins of new calendars or uploaded photos pending approval, as well as calendar reminders and notification to general members of new events.

zaneclark wrote:When the new directory was first introduced, when you logged on, the first screen was your local ward and stake. Now it opens only to the Area and it is necessary to open the pull down menu and then open the stake to get to your ward. Does this bother anyone else? I have sent an inquiry to feedback but thought I would toss it into this forum as well.

techgy wrote:I noticed the same thing. I would agree that it would be better to have the default set to my home ward. Few, if any, members would have use of an area directory and having this set as the default could lead to confusion for some.

It would appear that the default has been changed to the user's home ward. In fact, I didn't notice the Area selection at all.

techgy wrote:It would appear that the default has been changed to the user's home ward. In fact, I didn't notice the Area selection at all.

And they have corrected the date! Thank you!

In the new directory, if I select ward or stake leadership and then print, I only get the ward directory. Is this a bug? I expected (and wanted) to print the stake and ward leadership directories.

hirsp1 wrote:In the new directory, if I select ward or stake leadership and then print, I only get the ward directory. Is this a bug? I expected (and wanted) to print the stake and ward leadership directories.

This is a known issue. At present the only directory that can be printed is your own ward's.

hirsp1 wrote:In the new directory, if I select ward or stake leadership and then print, I only get the ward directory. Is this a bug? I expected (and wanted) to print the stake and ward leadership directories.

While it isn't a perfect workaround, you should be able to capture a screenshot of what your browser displays and then print the screenshot. (There's a certain commercial site I frequent that I have to use that method to print a certain confirmation page.) That's also the only method I have found that works well for printing the 'Combined Records' page on newFamilySearch.