Tech Forum

We are starting a ward GEO Code initiative from scratch. Does anyone know of a way to put these in without having to do it for each head of household? With a ward our size, that would take a very long time...

Thanks,
Harry

fletch wrote:We are starting a ward GEO Code initiative from scratch. Does anyone know of a way to put these in without having to do it for each head of household? With a ward our size, that would take a very long time...

GEO Codes are assigned on a household basis, so they do need to be assigned for each household. I suppose it would help if MLS had a multi-select capability that allowed bulk assignments, but it doesn't.

Still, it shouldn't take very long. When you go into the Household Geo Codes screen, you just have to click on the Add link in the Ward Code column, then pick the right Geo Code from the pick list. When you have to add a new code, it takes a few seconds longer, but selecting an existing code is really quick, especially if you know that you can double click the code to select it and dismiss the dialog.

So as long as you don't have to scroll, it is one click on the Add button and one double-click on the Geo Code from the pick list. I can do a household in 3 seconds if I don't have to scroll, and 5 seconds if I do scroll. So I could crank through a 200 family ward in 15 minutes. Of course you have to add to this the time necessary to determine what Geo Code to assign to each household, but you have to do that no matter what.

Although I can't help on the input end, I've created a tool that (among other things) lets you draw GEO code boundaries and automatically lists families that are mis-assigned in MLS (still in beta testing, but I would appreciate feedback if you find it useful):
http://hpaulsen.com/hpaulsen.com/WardMap.html

-Hyrum

HPaulsen wrote:Although I can't help on the input end, I've created a tool that (among other things) lets you draw GEO code boundaries and automatically lists families that are mis-assigned in MLS (still in beta testing, but I would appreciate feedback if you find it useful):
http://hpaulsen.com/hpaulsen.com/WardMap.html

-Hyrum

that is really brilliant!! So, couple of questions...

1. Am I uploading sensitive data to a server somewhere, or is the data stored locally?
2. If I wanted to draw out the Ward Geo Codes, how do I know where they ACTUALLY should be located?
3. In the future, could there be the facility to show people by Calling Organisation, or HT/VT organisation?

I'm sure I'll think of others - but this really seems to be excellent. It did kick out quite a few of my addresses, but I'm sure if I look closer, I'll see the reasons why.

dannykos wrote:1. Am I uploading sensitive data to a server somewhere, or is the data stored locally?

No, the only information that is sent to google is the address. Everything else is stored locally, in an encrypted file.

2. If I wanted to draw out the Ward Geo Codes, how do I know where they ACTUALLY should be located?

That's up to the ward, isn't it? Ideally, they should follow natural breaks for emergency preparedness purposes, for example my ward is split by a freeway with only two overpasses. So that creates a natural divide. School district alignments can also be taken into place, though this is less important in my opinion - but useful at the stake level when considering realignments.

3. In the future, could there be the facility to show people by Calling Organisation, or HT/VT organisation?

Yes, I'm working on the ability to show callings. I'm not sure how HT/VT information could be usefully incorporated, but if I figure that out I'll include it, too.

HPaulsen wrote:I'm not sure how HT/VT information could be usefully incorporated, but if I figure that out I'll include it, too.

thanks for the prompt reply!

I was thinking of something along the lines of being able to select a member, and have their companion, and families highlighted. IMO that would greatly assist in planning, and revising assignments - especially if there is an obvious correlation between distance, and lack of visits!

Keep up the good work

Is there any updated info on an easier method of entering stake geo codes. It seems like a long tedious process to enter each household one code at a time.

Is there a way to export the membership info to excel and add geo codes then import it back to MLS?

Can it be done from lds.org now?

Jeff

dbtmkr wrote:Is there any updated info on an easier method of entering stake geo codes. It seems like a long tedious process to enter each household one code at a time.

Although it can be somewhat tedious to enter these codes manually, if you follow the instructions in this post, it's not too bad.

dbtmkr wrote:Is there a way to export the membership info to excel and add geo codes then import it back to MLS?

Although the geo codes can be exported to CSV, which can be opened in Excel, there's no way to import that data into MLS.

dbtmkr wrote:Can it be done from lds.org now?

No, not now.