Encouraging Members to Use Unit Websites

[pmouritsen-p40]

We post news on members of the ward - births, deaths, baptisms, mission calls, school awards, etc. We also post short biographies of ward members, some of which I write and other that the members themselves submit.

As while back I sent out the following broadcast e-mail to encourage members to submit stories. It seemed to work.

"Message: I am looking for interesting news to post on the ward web site.

The Lord has commanded us, as members of the church, to share each others' joys
and sorrows. So let me know about events in your family that you would like to
share with the other members of the ward. If you receive some special
recognition in your profession, if your child graduates, makes the honor roll,
or wins in a sporting event, if you have a new grandchild or there is some other
big milestone in your life, let us know about it so we can rejoice with you.

And, of course, if you hear about achievements of other members of the ward who
are too modest to tell anyone, let me know.

Here is how to do it:

1. You can just e-mail me the information or and I can write it up for you, or

2. You can submit it yourself by going to "News and Information" on the home
page and then click on "Submit News and Information" in the upper right-hand
part of the page.

Of course, there are some limitations. No commercial or polititical
announcements, please. Also, make sure not to post anything that might invade
the privacy of others or make them feel uncomfortable. I look over proposed
postings before they go on the site and decide whether they are appropriate."

[bhofmann]

We post news on members of the ward - births, deaths, baptisms, mission calls, school awards, etc. We also post short biographies of ward members, some of which I write and other that the members themselves submit.

As while back I sent out the following broadcast e-mail to encourage members to submit stories. It seemed to work.

That is a good idea. Thanks! Thanks for the verbiage too. Often it is easier to copy and paste rather than to come up with something from scratch.

[JasonG-p40]

I really like the idea about the short biographies, I think I might have to borrow that idea. Thanks for mentioning that, pmouritsen!

[nbflint]

I'd like to see a discussion forum and an internal messaging system to allow all members to communicate with each other via the ward websites. These types of communication venues are primary when you start looking for "fresh" content to draw people in.

[russellhltn]

I'd like to see a discussion forum and an internal messaging system to allow all members to communicate with each other via the ward websites. These types of communication venues are primary when you start looking for "fresh" content to draw people in.

Perhaps. The biggest issue is I don't see that happening without moderation controls. Who would be the ward website moderator?

Secondly, I suspect that the main attraction of forums is to talk to people you don't normally have interaction with and even to some extent be able to express yourself without blowback in your real life. To that end, it's my personal expectation that local unit forums are not likely to see a lot of use.

[mkmurray]

Perhaps. The biggest issue is I don't see that happening without moderation controls. Who would be the ward website moderator?

Ward website forum moderation would be required for the exact same reason this forum needs moderation. We don't want people using forums like these as outlets for griping about local leadership, Church policy, or doctrinal arguments. Ward website forums would technically be sponsered by the Church, just as this forum is.

[daddy-o-p40]

I almost forgot about another major issue with the calendar, that is event notifications! Currently, as soon as the event is posted, a notification is sent immediately to everyone in the groups selected. This may not be a problem in a few cases, such as when the event is scheduled to happen with a week or so, but is probably not useful at all if the event is scheduled to be held, say, 10 months in the future. Better to configure how many days before the event to send the notification, or better yet, let the members configure this in their profile; this way members in the applicable groups will get an email reminder at a time when it would be helpful to them.

Amen!

The only thing I would add is a bit more detail than the standard "see the ward website for details.":)

[nbflint]

While I understand the moderating nightmare a forum could entail; I think an e-mail group would be a good additional feature.

We used an e-mail list in the Single's Ward years ago and saw a dramatic increase in the use of the then Ward website, e-mail list, and involvement in activities. Every ward member with an account to access the ward website could send an email to yourward@list.lds.org; the e-mail is then moderated (approved, edited, or rejected) and received by everyone on the site that elects to receive e-mails from the list. Lists could also be set up to send e-mails only to certain groups e.g. the Bishopric, RS presidency, etc. This way I don't have to track everyones e-mail address, just the lists which would remain the same when new people are called into leadership.

[seangates]

This is already a feature of the current website. You can select to send an email to specific groups, but it is unmoderated.

[russellhltn]

This is already a feature of the current website. You can select to send an email to specific groups, but it is unmoderated.

Individuals can send to specific leaders (Email Bishopric) from the Leadership page.

LUWS admins can send "broadcasts" out to selected groups. So if a user uses feedback, they can ask the admin to send a broadcast.

So the tools are there, it's just not obvious.