Ward Tools

I just read the Sept. 2010 LDS Tech newsletter, and in the community member spotlight, Eldon Lewis mentions using "Ward Tools" as a member of a bishopric.

Does anyone know if this is a feature of MLS or a different tool that can help bishoprics manage callings?

Thanks,

Chris

cblakes wrote:I just read the Sept. 2010 LDS Tech newsletter, and in the community member spotlight, Eldon Lewis mentions using "Ward Tools" as a member of a bishopric.

Does anyone know if this is a feature of MLS or a different tool that can help bishoprics manage callings?

Ward Tools is not an MLS feature, but is a free third-party product that makes MLS data available on mobile devices. See http://www.wardtools.org for details.

Alan_Brown wrote:Ward Tools is not an MLS feature, but is a free third-party product that makes MLS data available on mobile devices. See http://www.wardtools.org for details.

If you click that link today, you will see that there is news.

The intellectual property of what once was purely a "third party product" is now owned by the Church. Eventually some of its features will be migrated to an expanded LDS Tools, which as you know is not MLS-based. Ward Tools is supported during the transition by its volunteer developers.

boomerbubba wrote:If you click that link today, you will see that there is news.

The intellectual property of what once was purely a "third party product" is now owned by the Church. Eventually some of its features will be migrated to an expanded LDS Tools, which as you know is not MLS-based. Ward Tools is supported during the transition by its volunteer developers.

great news! can't wait for an APP that has all the information I need to be a leader in the church, at my fingertips. HT/VT assignments, callings, membership directory, calendar, etc… etc…

sweet!

dannykos wrote:great news! can't wait for an APP that has all the information I need to be a leader in the church, at my fingertips. HT/VT assignments, callings, membership directory, calendar, etc… etc…

Yes, this is good news strategically. In the short run, we need to temper our expectations with patience.

The specifics of the new LDS Tools functionality are not yet known, nor is the timing. The Church has not even populated the LDS Tools wiki pages yet with high-level functional specs to be executed by Community volunteers.

We know that developers at CHQ are working on an expanded API that could provide the data, but we don't know exactly what will be in it. Of the items you mention, my biggest question concerns what HT/VT data, if any, will become available in centralized databases to feed an API. The last time I asked, which was several months ago, there was not yet a solution for that problem.

I am in a Spanish branch and all the MLS is in Spanish (obviously)

I have to convert the exported files but nothing any suggestions or ideas?

jhonatanflores wrote:I am in a Spanish branch and all the MLS is in Spanish (obviously)

I have to convert the exported files but nothing any suggestions or ideas?

You didn't mention which platform you are using Ward Tools on. The Android version supports Spanish, but other platforms do not.

Assuming you are using some other platform, such as iPhone, your only choice is to use it in English. So you need to export your MLS data in English, too. You would have to temporarily change your MLS setting to English, as documented here, then export the four csv files. When you are finished exporting, change the MLS setting back to Spanish for other users.

I noticed with the latest exports from the MLS, I can no longer see age or record number. Our Bishop really likes to use this information and have it on his iPad. Does anyone know if development is looking into fixing this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

gldavis1111 wrote:I noticed with the latest exports from the MLS, I can no longer see age or record number. Our Bishop really likes to use this information and have it on his iPad. Does anyone know if development is looking into fixing this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The Membership.csv export has never included a simple element for Age, as such, but rather a field called Birth that is birthdate. The age is calculated dynamically within Ward Tools and other apps consuming that file as an input. That has not changed in either the MLS exports or in Ward Tools, so I'm not sure what you mean.

As for record number (MRN) the Church dropped it from MLS exports recently by design as a privacy measure, and recent version of Ward Tools parse that file without or without the MRN being present. I know of no plans to restore that MRN to the MLS data exports, which did break several third-party applications. (There have been several threads here on that subject over the past several months, including this one andthis one.) Although there may be workarounds in the short run, in the long run the best hope for those leadership users desiring the MRN in handheld apps lies with the Church-developed LDS Tools app, which is to be expanded with confidential content appropriate for leaders.

My bishop really wants to install Ward Tools on his new iPhone, even though he does use the LDS Tools app. Since he's not the most techie person, he's asked me to help him. Since the internet was just installed in our clerk's office last week, he wants to install it from there, if possible, since we can export the csv files easily.

In researching and reading about the installation process, it appears I can only install the converted files to the iPhone over a wireless network... Is this true? The clerk's office computer is wired. Is it possible to connect the iPhone to the computer via wire and achieve the same results? Am I missing something in the instructions on the Ward Tools website?

Sorry for being dumb about the smart phones... don't have one yet...

Thanks!

nmecantwin73 wrote:. . . it appears I can only install the converted files to the iPhone over a wireless network... Is this true? The clerk's office computer is wired. Is it possible to connect the iPhone to the computer via wire and achieve the same results? Am I missing something in the instructions on the Ward Tools website?

Yes. It is programmed to receive the data over a WiFi network. I had the same trouble at home. Before I set up WiFi on my router, I could not download data for any of those types of programs.

Since Internet access was just installed, your FM Group may be planning to install wireless in the near future. You might want to check with your PFR (usually a high councilor) to see what the plan/schedule is for that installation.

nmecantwin73 wrote:My bishop really wants to install Ward Tools on his new iPhone, even though he does use the LDS Tools app.

Are there specific features that he's looking for? You'll notice up-thread that the product started off third-party is now owned by the church and the features being migrated into LDS Tools.

In a nutshell, you need a wireless network. Also it will not work with the wireless internet provided by the Church, at its meeting houses, as the Church supplied firewall blocks the data transmission.

The ideal method is to use your home wi-fi router/modem, as the data carrier.

As an aside Ward Tools has just been updated to version 2.1. They have corrected a few minor issues, details of which can be seen in the ITunes App Store. Ultimely the idea is to incorporate the Ward Tools functionality in to LDSTools.

Hope this helps.

PS. I hadn't realised that the threads carried on to the next page, with my initial reply. As an STS, I can confirm that the Church wi-fi system won't allow the data to be carried.

Biggles wrote:In a nutshell, you need a wireless network. Also it will not work with the wireless internet provided by the Church, at its meeting houses, as the Church supplied firewall blocks the data transmission.

I would adjust that statement a bit. The problem is not with the Church-managed Cisco Firewall, nor with the wireless Internet supplied by the Church. It is the Sophos firewall that is doing the blocking. But either way, it is indeed a challenge in meetinghouses.

nmecantwin73 wrote:My bishop really wants to install Ward Tools on his new iPhone, even though he does use the LDS Tools app. Since he's not the most techie person, he's asked me to help him. Since the internet was just installed in our clerk's office last week, he wants to install it from there, if possible, since we can export the csv files easily.

In researching and reading about the installation process, it appears I can only install the converted files to the iPhone over a wireless network... Is this true? The clerk's office computer is wired. Is it possible to connect the iPhone to the computer via wire and achieve the same results? Am I missing something in the instructions on the Ward Tools website?

Sorry for being dumb about the smart phones... don't have one yet...

Thanks!

I export the data files to a USB thumb drive, then take the drive home and convert it on my home computer. Then I use my wireless home network to update the files to my iPhone. Works like a charm.

Thank you for all of your responses! We'll see if we can get it to work.

aebrown wrote:I would adjust that statement a bit. The problem is not with the Church-managed Cisco Firewall, nor with the wireless Internet supplied by the Church. It is the Sophos firewall that is doing the blocking. But either way, it is indeed a challenge in meetinghouses.

Thanks for the insight into Sophus being the cause. I took my own laptop into the meetinghouse, last night. Lo and behold it worked perfectly. I hadn't thought to try that option before.

I am in a bishopric in a Young Single Adult Ward. I am able to view my home ward and stake data in Home Ward, but NOT my YSA ward. Is there a way I can access both?

Brent Robinson

You may need to be listed in the "Out of Unit Callings" with one of the standard callings. I believe this has to be done in the "Stake MLS" not the "Ward MLS".

gdbrown wrote:You may need to be listed in the "Out of Unit Callings" with one of the standard callings. I believe this has to be done in the "Stake MLS" not the "Ward MLS".

Stake MLS has no provision to input out-of-unit positions for wards. The procedure to have an out-of-unit member listed in a leadership position in a ward is to first to create an out-of-unit member recordin the ward MLS and then their name will appear in the membership roles when selecting names for a position.

bwr3000 wrote:I am in a bishopric in a Young Single Adult Ward. I am able to view my home ward and stake data in Home Ward, but NOT my YSA ward. Is there a way I can access both?

Since I am not familiar with Ward Tools I can't provide any corrective action for a situation in which a member is called to an out-of-unit position. I would definitely ensure there is an out-of-unit member record in the ward MLS and then the standard position used in filling the calling in the YSA.

The new directory provides for out-of-unit members to view both their home ward/stake and the ward/stake in which they are serving as discussed in the thread YSA and Home Ward Access. I do not know if this applies to Ward Tools.

I thought Ward Tools was fed from a MLS export file. As such, the most important thing would be to get a export from the YSA Ward MLS. I don't know if Ward Tools can support two wards. That might be something to ask in the support forum for WT.

Where are the "cookbook" directions for installing and using Ward Tools on an HTC Evo android? I used to use Ward Tools on my iPhone, but when wi-fi became part of the process I lost interest. Yesterday, my Bishop and I tried to download Ward Tools to the Clerk's computer. We got that far, but the updater process failed. We need step by step instructions. |:-)=<

I'm not familiar with the Android application installation, but if you are trying to use the Clerks computer to facilitate any kind of data transfer, this will be blocked by the Sophus anti-virus software.

I originally had this problem (Ward Tools on an Ipod) and blamed the Church firewall, until another enlightened forum member put me straight. I did my own tests and confirmed that this was the case.

Hope this helps, if this is the scenario you are having a problem with.

Check posts #15 & #18, of this post, for the original solution.