Comments on: How Bishops Use the Photo Feature on Ward Web Sites

By: Gabe Black

Gabe Black — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:26:19 +0000

The main issue I had with the ward website is that if I wanted to print out the directory for distribution, it prints on about 30 pages! That is without photos. With photos it gets closer to 60.

I at one time was in charge of the ward directory and had the challenging job of making a photo directory.

So I created a program to make it easier. The application is freely available (open source too) and can make compact directories. It is also able to import the data from MLS and from the ward website. It is available for download at http://warddirectory.blogspot.com

I posted in the hopes that it would be useful to someone that is in the same situation I was once in.

By: Rick

Rick — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:22:45 +0000

I was pondering how to get all the ward members photos when a friend suggested I take the photos while families were waiting for tithing settlement. I asked the bishop if I could do this and to my surprise he said yes. Almost all the families agreed readily to having their picture taken. One sister didn’t like the idea at all. She said, “What idiot suggested that we have our pictures taken at tithing settlement?” I replied, “Your husband.”

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:04:36 +0000

8. A ‘when moving out of ward’ information item for members.

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:59:11 +0000

Here are a couple of suggestions to help the website membership directory meet the specific needs of such wards as ours:
1. Multiple formats for photo directories, especially grids(3×4, 4×4, etc); the current ‘photo’ directory is over 15 pages long, and has 5 pictures per page. Although this is a desirable format for taking notes, it isn’t practical for printing multiple times, even if printed front to back.
1.A. The options of including a bishopric photo at the beginning (Larger in size), Custom titles and headers, and text space for notes & information at the end for those using the directory (ie. contact info for photographer / directory specialist, etc.)
1.B. The option to override alphabetical order for special entries, like the bishop to be listed first, for example.
2. The option for Administrators to print all information available for entries, even if they have choosen to keep it hidden from regular visitors. (This would be effective for bishops and other leaders who need such info, while protecting the rights of members to keep it hidden from general ward membership)
3. (If it doesn’t already happen) The picture of a household to transfer into the directory when the records come into MLS (assuming a picture has already been uploaded once before in the previous ward)(we have allot of move ins, outs, and back ins).
4. The leadership directory on the website to be updated when the MLS directory is updated for the ward (Like the membership directory is updated when records enter our MLS)
5. –If possible–the photo file to be included when exported as a .csv or .vcf
6. Suggestions and examples of how to use the .csv and .vcf files for ward purposes, customizing, or any other useful thing.
7. Multiple Entry-photo upload at once.

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:57:45 +0000

Since I was called as ward clerk in a married student ward at BYUI I’ve been researching if it is possible to counter act some of the negative aspects of high-turnover semester-based membership. Anyone involved with such a ward will know just how any ward administration item is complicated exponentially by the 30-60% turn over every 3 1/2 months! Having been in a secretarial position as a student(Exec. Sec., EQ Home Teaching Sec., EQ Sec., now Ward Clerk) for the past 2+ years I can only say a solid ‘AMEN’ to what’s been said already.

I’m VERY pleased to know that someone is listening when it comes to these concerns.

I feel very strongly that not only are these changes good, but they are going to be essential for student wards at BYU-Idaho etc. to reach their full potential. I mean, where else in the world do you find multiple stakes with stats like BYU-I(Church Schools)? You don’t.

When 99.99% of a stake qualifies as full-tithe, why do we see faltering, and sometimes ridiculous, home teaching/visiting teaching statistics?

Sure, maturity, testimony, and false traditions play a role, but you should see the bad communication that happens! Almost always a brother who struggles can be paired with a brother who is a valiant home teacher in our ward. This usually takes care of the subjective problems, with few exceptions.

Most of the problems come from “I didn’t know who my companion was”, “I don’t know their phone number”, and “Who is that? I’ve never seen them before?” This is where the picture directory comes in handy, even necessary.

Now the best part about the web site is that it is directly linked to MLS. If we used the online directory this would save us A TON of time and overhead, instead of creating a directory via a calling (who takes pictures & formats the directory MULTIPLE times a semester–and lags behind the records). On top of that, if pictures came with records then taking pictures (not an option now) would be reduced depending on needs. This helps when people move between student wards, or out and in again (which happens allot).

Overall, the accessibility with security, timeliness, and accuracy of a photo directory are essential for student wards to be successful. That’s why we do it!

Making these changes to the web site will not only be a luxury from my perspective, but also a vital step forward in training and preparing the next generation’s leadership.

In counsel with my Bishop, he reminded me that people-to-people is always the best way to do the Lord’s business (which we should be careful about when considering what is appropriate to do online!), but we need information availability too! In the end, it comes down to people’s initiative, faith, and willingness to serve. The website should make it very easy for members, even with tiny initiative, to obtain any and all information they need to contact leaders and fulfill assignments.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:43:10 +0000

I’ll add my two cents. Perhaps my point has been covered already, but didn’t make it through all the comments.

Having served as bishop in a ward in Florida, and now living in Utah, my observation is that the bishop’s I’ve known in Utah generally know almost everyone in the ward. That may have to do with activity levels and geographic proximity of the members.

Likewise, when I served as bishop in Florida, I knew virtually all of the active members. However, I knew very few of the less active. I was in a ward of 750 people, of which less than 200 were active. Getting a picture of all members of the ward would be extremely difficult, if even possible. Many less active would not want their picture taken (many didn’t even want a visit!). With over 500 less active, we struggled to even visit a significant number of them, let alone get a picture.

So, it would be useful to have pictures of the less active, but those would be the least likely to provide a picture.

By: Eric

Eric — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 00:57:26 +0000

When I was Bishop, I insisted that everyone who had a computer get registered on the ward web site and trained them to use the calendar and web site for booking church resources. I always referred people to the web site when they asked for information.
The photo part of the ward web site is a terrible feature however, causing the ward directory to load *painfully* slow.
A better solution that we used was to create a photo directory, which we did once and now – 6 years later, we still refer to it for people who are not familiar with everyone.

By: Dave Hanley

Dave Hanley — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:25:15 +0000

We have a unique challenge in our city ward, in that we have 300 active members and 400 inactive members who are mostly single (at least in the records) and many of whom would not be up with the ward photographer stopping by. The ratio is even more skewed when comparing households.

If we used the photo feature on lds.org, most lines would be blank.

That said, I do have a photo directory, which is managed by a member of our ward. We take the csv export of our ward metadata and run it against a database of pictures to produce our own document.

The features that are most helpful in our version
1. The format: leader list on the first page, grid view of pictures w/ name, address, phone (3 households wide, 4 high), followed by a complete 2-column directory of everyone’s phone numbers and addresses. It’s updated every week or two and I use it daily.

Other tip for bishoprics and anyone else working with the general ward body, I dumped those same pictures on pda with the filenames recorded as the family (lastname, first names) and quizzed myself until I knew everyone.

So what do I want from lds.org’s directory?
-grid view of households with pictures
-active search (quickly get to the person I want with the search box guessing)
-multiple phone support for cell phone families
-attractive printable version with a half-decent font.

By: Karl Greenwood

Karl Greenwood — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 05:12:49 +0000

Frankly I agree with nearly every comment on here. I don’t know why I bother reading posts like these here or on LDS Tech or any other site – it just frustrates me more. The Church is, in my not so humble biased and frustrated opinion, moving everlastingly too slow. To use a scriptural term, perhaps nearing “everlastingly too late” to stop the disgust, frustration, lack of trust, lack of function, etc… of the North America only archaic website from the 90s. Get the new platform out there, stop working towards perfection, anything – ANYTHING even in modules would perhaps make the websites worth the effort to utilize. Tack the word “beta” on there, in the meantime we’ll use our Excel docs, our Gmail lists, our Yahoo/Google groups accounts, our Google Calendars, our other workarounds to “unofficially”, under the table, etc… get the functionality we need and want to accomplish our purposes until the web teams and bureaucracy in downtown SLC get with the times and take even the slightest risk in implementing something.

I know you all do great work, but something has to streamline this – it’s worse than waiting for a new Microsoft OS (i.e. XP – Vista). Hopefully we won’t be disappointed, even if we have to wait and muddle through until late “2009/2010″, 2012, 2014…….20xx.

Oh, and something to counteract the disgusting Vignette URLs would always be appreciated.

I usually praise the Church for most of their work, but having been a ward web admin several times and a clerk several more times, this is a sore spot.

By: Silus Grok

Silus Grok — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 03:30:04 +0000

@Matt … I’m not sure what the mechanics are that cause it, but the LDS web group moves at a snail’s pace. The new look of LDS.org was designed a full TWO YEARS before it saw the light of day. Too many cooks in the kitchen, I’m guessing.