Next Revision Unit Web Sites Wish List

[russellhltn]

I think the resolution of most of these issues are already in progress. The plan is to use a "send only" address that properly reflects the fact it comes from the website rather then you personally. A "reply to" address will be used for any replies.

But you do raise an issue as to what the reply-to should be.

3. People do not keep their user profiles up to date on the LUWS, Because of this some of those same people assume that messages sent to them that they do not want are my problem. I get irrate reply messages quite often telling me to remove them from my mailing list (This is another issue in itself.).

My request would be for a message footer that explains why the person is receiving the email and where to go to change their settings. I've done that manually for some email broadcasts, but it would be nice if it was there as part of the template.

[russellhltn]

I think the resolution of most of these issues are already in progress. The plan is to use a "send only" address that properly reflects the fact it comes from the website rather then you personally. A "reply to" address will be used for any replies.

But you do raise so issues as to what the reply-to should be.

3. People do not keep their user profiles up to date on the LUWS, Because of this some of those same people assume that messages sent to them that they do not want are my problem. I get irrate reply messages quite often telling me to remove them from my mailing list (This is another issue in itself.).

My request would be for a message footer that explains why the person is receiving the email and where to go to change their settings. I've done that manually for some email broadcasts, but it would be nice if it was there as part of the template.

[fergie34-p40]

Thanks to all who have taken the time to give us suggestions for improvements to the Local Unit Websites. I am on CHQ team that is working on gathering these requirements ... , the same team that will ultimately rebuild the LUWs & internationalize them. Please be assured that we have captured your feedback & will take it into consideration in our planning. Again, we appreciate it.

I can't give details yet, but there is great momentum at this time around this project at CHQ. Exciting things are in the works (more than just planning & requirements gathering). However, as you all know, things take time here. That has been one of my lessons learned in my first year of employment at the Church. Please continue to be patient, and continue to give suggestions. We hope to have news for you soon. As Tom W. has said --- the members of this forum will be among the first to know about any announcements in this area.

Again - thanks for your faith & interest in advancing the Lord's work.

Chad F. (Snr. Product Manager - LDS Church)

I posted this in another thread before I found this one.

http://tech.lds.org/forum/showthread.ph ... 1#post9251

It really belongs in this one.

[121887mattandjulie]

Item 8 in the summary: I found out that if each family member gets their own web site account (a good idea) that their email address from their profile shows up in the directory assuming they have not elected to block its display. It does not provide a hot link to click on to send email but the address is there. Husbands & wives should have separate website accounts anyway so that rights can be assigned based on calling. IE one may need control of one resource while the other another. Being married may be good for receiving council on ones calling but does not grant to the spouse the rights & priveledges of that calling. If a Bishop shares a website account with his wife and I grant the Bishop Admin rights to the website, his wife will have admin rights as well every time she logs in since it is based on login id.

[aebrown]

I found out that if each family member gets their own web site account (a good idea) that their email address from their profile shows up in the directory assuming they have not elected to block its display. It does not provide a hot link to click on to send email but the address is there.

Just to clarify: there is indeed a hot link for sending e-mail on the regular membership directory -- it's only an icon (it doesn't actually display the e-mail address until you get to the popup window). Only on the "Format for Printing" and the "with Photos" options do the e-mail addresses actually appear, and as mentioned above, there is no hotlink. That's understandable, since these are formatted for printing.

Husbands & wives should have separate website accounts anyway so that rights can be assigned based on calling. IE one may need control of one resource while the other another. Being married may be good for receiving council on ones calling but does not grant to the spouse the rights & priveledges of that calling. If a Bishop shares a website account with his wife and I grant the Bishop Admin rights to the website, his wife will have admin rights as well every time she logs in since it is based on login id.

This is of course true. I guess I never imagined that someone would share an account, given that you have to sign up for the account with your own personal membership number and your own personal confirmation date. But if some people are doing this, it's a good thing to mention.

[121887mattandjulie]

Resource Scheduling: The days & times under the control of the resource coordinator should be high lighted in a specific color & those times/days owned by other wards or the Stake in alternate colors. The resource coordinator would then be able to submit requests for resources to another ward or the Stake owner automatically after seeing the resource is not yet scheduled for the pending date (overlay view). The web site would automatically know the owner of the resource for the date time requested as Web Admins would define dates & times of the specific resource assigned (Bldg. Room etc..)The new design would thus allow you to see easily what resources were available regardless of owner in a layered view for the entire Stake. Stake / Resource coordinators could then set up guidelines that any resource not scheduled by a certain number of days in advance is up for grabs first come first served. This would allow wards to use & share resources that might otherwise go unused. It would also show those events approved across the Stake for specific resources so resource coordinators could request resources from other owners and they would be put in a waiting list first come first serve. If the resource was allocated by the owner to their own ward an automatic rejection notice would be sent to those other resource owners camped on. Kind of like conference room scheduling on steroids.

Fix for SPAM Interpretation of Messages sent out from Website: It seems the only fix to allow web site messages to end up in the In-Box and not junk mail box of members in the future is for the message to originate from the same mail server as the return address. There are three possible fixes:
a) Create one Churchwide email address on the Church server for the express purpose of sending out notifications, calendar announcements emailed out would then have the same server address as the return email address. Messages sent out would indicate do not reply as this account does not accept responses etc.... and could have some generic message about use the feedback link on the ward website to contact the Administrator etc... Downside- Admins would not know if users email addresses were out of date so they could encourage them to update it & members would not receive notifications.
b) (Preferred) An alternate would be to create email addresses on church server for each Admin and rejected returned / received messages would be forwarded to the Admins normal email account without the Admin having a need to access the Church provided secured account! Best of both worlds without having to worry about what was sent out from the Church Servers! Problem Solved!!!! User gets mail in their InBox and Admins have a way to be alerted of members who have bad email addresses in their profiles.
c) Set up code scripting that would import the message format and addressee list into the Admins own mail client on their computer at home with one click so the mail server and return email address are the same. Then users could reply if needed. Downside, Admins could not send out messages if away from home or at work on a break etc

[lajackson]

Item 8 in the summary: I found out that if each family member gets their own web site account (a good idea) that their email address from their profile shows up in the directory

This fixes the e-mail problem, but not the phone number problem. I know it is on the list, and please keep it there. To emphasize, we now have key stake leaders who only use cell phones. We have to decide if the brother should get the Relief Society calls or if the sister should get the high councilor calls.

It is not a pretty situation.

[121887mattandjulie]

Give local web admins ability to create email subscription groups and then members of the ward who are interested can sign up. Example and Church relationships: We are all encouraged to get our food storage in order. Having a food specials email list might be good as it can alert members of managers specials etc that members find at local stores that may be unanounced or unadvertised. IE tuna for $.50 / can no limit. etc. With gas prices & therefore food prices rising members need all the help they can get to find deals & to encourage stocking up & being thrifty. Those not interested would not subscribe ergo would not be bothered with emails. Obviously web admin guidelines would still apply in that postings should have some Church related value / benefit. This could include categories for jobs available for members looking for work, information about the local cannery hours & specials, family history etc... Newly added groups would show up in the profile list of all ward members with the default of unselected. When a member moved to another ward etc the customized groups would not follow them obviously.

[dobrichelovek]

I don't recall seeing this suggested, but since it is clear that the next version of LUWS is in the works, I was wondering if a Unit RSS feed might be useful. I don't always go to the ward website, so it might be nice if I could embed the publically viewable feeds into my reader so that I could see when things are happening from something like my igoogle account. If I want to see any more details, I would have to log in, but at least I could see if there was something important for me to log in for. Reminder e-mails, if implemented might help, but the current implementation only allows one e-mail upon creation, no matter how many months in advance. A feed of the items that are publically viewable may help not miss certain events that are not regular.

[mprusse]

I'm envisioning a modular LUWS 2.0 where the ward admin can turn on sections for various auxiliaries as requested. Let's say the RS wants to really go all out with their information on the web site. The ward admin can turn on the RS section in LUWS 2.0 and then turn on different aspects of the RS section as requested such as RS leadership, RS calendar, RS news & downloads, RS email lists, etc. When someone enters an event in the RS calendar, they have the option of having it show up on the main ward calendar as well. Same with news & information. Each auxiliary would have their own admin(s) for their section.

If the EQ doesn't want to participate right now, their section isn't turned on by the ward admin and therefore a link for it doesn't show up on the ward home page.

The same would go for the stake web site as well for various auxiliaries. The stake admin can turn on sections for stake auxiliaries.