Next Revision Unit Web Sites Wish List

[russellhltn]

Unfortunately, I'm not in a position of authority where I can make that sort of declaration.

No, but you should have the support of someone who does. I would assume the Bishop is supportive of what you are doing. If not, then maybe you need to have a little talk with him.

Getting information is a problem that dates back to Sacrament Programs, so nothing new there.

[AileneRHerrick]

No, but you should have the support of someone who does. I would assume the Bishop is supportive of what you are doing. If not, then maybe you need to have a little talk with him.

Getting information is a problem that dates back to Sacrament Programs, so nothing new there.

The Bishop is supportive of more members of the ward using the site. Although, I think that he would prefer if they used it because they WANTED to... and not because they HAD to... because that could lead to a lot of grumbling and resentment of the website...?

But your suggestion earlier did give me the idea to coordinate with the Building Coordinator... that might be the best way to get an idea of what activities are happening when, even I don't know specifics (like for Mutual Nights).

Thanks!

Ailene

[russellhltn]

The Bishop is supportive of more members of the ward using the site. Although, I think that he would prefer if they used it because they WANTED to... and not because they HAD to... because that could lead to a lot of grumbling and resentment of the website...?

And I'd answer that by saying that members will want to use the web site when they find the information they need. The leaders have to support the site by making sure the admin is somehow in the loop.

In my stake that was done by no longer distributing the calendar and proclaiming the on-line calender as official. That forced a number of leaders to sign up.

[AileneRHerrick]

And I'd answer that by saying that members will want to use the web site when they find the information they need. The leaders have to support the site by making sure the admin is somehow in the loop.

In my stake that was done by no longer distributing the calendar and proclaiming the on-line calender as official. That forced a number of leaders to sign up.

Yes, it's a vicious cycle! I'm tinkering with ideas. Maybe we should make a success story forum where people share their tried and true success stories!

[dmaynes]

Yes, it's a vicious cycle! I'm tinkering with ideas. Maybe we should make a success story forum where people share their tried and true success stories!

I have come to believe it is more important that members receive information from the website than they interact with the website. Therefore, I send out a weekly e-mail blast with a summary of what's coming up (e.g., events for the week), announcements, birthdays, achievements, etc. This has been very well received and, as a result, members of the ward are talking amongst themselves about receiving the e-mails. In the past three months we have had a 33% increase in registrations from 62 to 83.

If the leaders believe the information being sent helps them in their calling, they will support the website. The Relief Society President, HP Group Leadership, and EQ President are all solidly behind this. They see the value of reminders going out for RS Enrichment, Ward Basketball, and Temple Assignments. I still have not gotten support from the YM and YW, but I believe it will come.

I would would say this is the first level of involvement that you want to achieve.

For the next level, I would like to see the leaders submitting calendar events and information items. I would like them to submit the events themselves, but I don't care if they send them to me directly. My strategy to achieve this level is to send out to the leaders on a monthly basis the ward calendar (from the website) in a PDF format for the upcoming month. And then, I am soliciting their calendaring information. I don't kow if this will work yet, or not. But, I am optimistic.

The third level of involvement is to have the members of the ward access the website directly for information. My strategy for accomplishing this level is to post more information on the website than is being sent out through the weekly e-mails. I am posting "Family Spotlights" with pictures. I insert a teaser in the weekly e-mail with the first paragraph of the spotlight and then the weekly e-mail encourages them to go to the website. The family spotlights are also be abridged and printed in the ward newsletter, with a teaser to go to the website and read the full story. I am collecting these into a PDF file so that over time, I will have a large number of these spotlights written. Another strategy is the "Recipe Box." It is similar in that we post a few current recipes and then create a PDF file for collected recipes. I have three other website features that I am trying to use for achieving user interaction: A new member information packet (downloadable PDF document of 20 pages), a collection of inspiring thoughts and quotes that is being updated, and ward forms (such as expenditure authorizations). I want to create scrapbook pages from ward activities, but I haven't gotten photos from the activities committee yet. Another item that I have asked for is the "Emergency Preparedness" plan and neighborhood plan.

Another website feature that I am maintaining is the "Sacrament Meeting Synopsis." I take notes of the talks and post them to the website. We summarize these notes and print them in the Ward newsletter. The intent of this feature is to provide information to shut-ins and to members of the ward who are assigned to work in other wards.

I am seeing modest success at this third level.

The next level is to have ward members actively participate and interact with the website. I haven't had much success at this level. Unless I can come up with ideas that encourage this sort of activity, I doubt that I will have a lot of success at this fourth level.

Thanks,
Dennis

[AileneRHerrick]

The next level is to have ward members actively participate and interact with the website. I haven't had much success at this level. Unless I can come up with ideas that encourage this sort of activity, I doubt that I will have a lot of success at this fourth level.

Wow! You have been busy! Great work!

I do have an idea for your fourth level. Here goes.

Find the Java trick for the links... and you can do this.

The Young Women's Organization gave me their information for birthdays, so I put something like this in their section of the News and Information section of the website.

Upcoming Birthdays
You can wish someone a Happy Birthday if they are registered with the Pink Grass Ward Website and have chosen to make their email address public.
January 13th - Jane Doe
January 21st – Emma Smith (Wish Emma Smith a Happy Birthday!)

Where it says "Wish So-And-So a Happy Birthday!" is a link that takes them to the form to email them. I've done this with those who have a public email address on the Ward Website. If their email address is not public or they are not registered, I just list their birthday, but not a "Wish So-And-So..."

Then, all someone has to do is click on that link, and a window will pop up with the form to email them, and they can type a Happy Birthday Message.

You can do the same thing for births, achievements, and exciting events (like a "Congratulate So-And-So...!")

You could also do it for condolences if it's appropriate... like someone's spouse dies ("Send Condolences to So-And-So.")

Hopefully that's a good idea for you!

Ailene

[preston.baxter]

Perhaps just a step in the direction of this idea would be a "FILES" area with access restrictions.

As the Exec Secretary I maintain a spreadsheet of those who have spoken in Sacrament Meeting, another file with bulletins, etc. If I had a folder on the LUWS to which I could restrict access to the bishopric, I would definitely store the files there. Even though I email out these lists about once a month, invariably I get at least one request from a bishopric member about who has spoken recently ...

[AileneRHerrick]

Perhaps just a step in the direction of this idea would be a "FILES" area with access restrictions.

As the Exec Secretary I maintain a spreadsheet of those who have spoken in Sacrament Meeting, another file with bulletins, etc. If I had a folder on the LUWS to which I could restrict access to the bishopric, I would definitely store the files there. Even though I email out these lists about once a month, invariably I get at least one request from a bishopric member about who has spoken recently ...

I can see how this would be useful, and I can also see how it could be misused. A member of the Bishopric would probably have to approve all uploads to a restricted area. I would normally say that the web administrator could do this... but I don't think it would be appropriate for a web administrator to approve uploads for the Bishopric.

But I agree, it would be a great thing to have a place where confidential information is only shared and accessed by certain people (such as certain leadership positions). Careful planning would have to ensure that security would not be compromised.

[dmaynes]

Here are a few wishes that I have for the LUWS:

1- Automatically attach a creation date and modification date to every item that is added to the LUWS. Allow website viewers to sort the items by modification date (most recent first) instead of by the main page priority setting. This would allow a person who visits the website to see what has been changed since the last visit.

2- Create a RSS feed gadget that members can subscribe to for seeing website changes. (I don't know how this would work because of the requirement to login to the website.)

3- Create a "dummy" or "stem" LDSAccount for every member and allow website administrators to update and maintain e-mail addresses. This would allow a broader reach of communication to the ward membership. When member decides to register for the website, the "dummy" account is replaced or updated with the live account information (i.e., username and password).

4- Allow a user to remove the e-mail address, but still retain registration on the LUWS.

Thanks,
Dennis

[jdlessley]

On the event calendar when a date has multiple activities scheduled and the user clicks the numeral of the date to view the details of all the events on one page the events and details are sorted alphabetically by event title in ascending order. When there are only a few events this may not be a problem. But when a user is trying to determine the chronology of a larger list of events for their personal needs then sorting events by title can be troublesome. Sorting events in a chronological order by time would provide a more usable picture of the events of the day.

For example these events are scheduled:
Stake Activity at 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM,
Stake Basketball at 11:30 - 1:00 PM,
Multi-stake Seminary Activity & Dance at 2:00 PM - 10:30 PM, and
Baptism at 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM.
Adult Overnight Scout Leadership Training

The order of events is currently shown as:
Adult Overnight Scout Leadership Training
Baptism at 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Multi-stake Seminary Activity & Dance at 2:00 PM - 10:30 PM
Stake Activity at 8:00 AM - 11:00 AM
Stake Basketball at 11:30 - 1:00 PM

Even a user selectable sort order could be made available. This way the events could be sorted according to the needs of the user. For example the events could have the following options for sorting - start time, end time, or event title.

In those cases where the sort is by time and a time for an event is not provided then the sort would first be by time and then by title. The same sort criterion could be used for events that start on one day with a start time and then end on another later date, the date being viewed, with only an end time, or no end time at all.