New maps beta now available!

[studentclerk-p40]

Our ward is doing a sort of find the lost sheep initiative. We want to map out the lost sheep (preferably in one color, or several classifications red=lost sheep married, blue=lost sheep with children etc) and then put active members in another color to show active members that they may have someone right next door to them etc. I realize that's not possible with this software, but is it possible to export data from this and use it in another piece of software? Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks
studentclerk

[RossEvans]

Our ward is doing a sort of find the lost sheep initiative. We want to map out the lost sheep (preferably in one color, or several classifications red=lost sheep married, blue=lost sheep with children etc) and then put active members in another color to show active members that they may have someone right next door to them etc. I realize that's not possible with this software, but is it possible to export data from this and use it in another piece of software? Does anyone have any ideas?

Once the underlying problem of geocoding is solved within the LDS Maps application, which is the hardest part, it is quite thinkable to use this data in external applications for custom mapping. There is an export option available in the beta release, and hopefully by the time the final version is released the exports for authorized leaders will also include the Member Record Number for linking to records exported from MLS.

In any case, assuming you have some means of classifying the records you are interested in, there are many ways to produce such custom maps.

For interactive use, the Google Earth application is a good choice. You can write your own scripts or use third party helper applications to produce the KML files for display and browsing in Google Earth. We do that now in our ward for leadership use, including all members color-coded, plus home and visiting teaching routes. Other solutions exist for hard-copy maps. (For example, we already color-code families in wall-size and paginated maps for our full-time missionaries. We found that most easily accomplished with relatively low-priced commercial mapping software.)

Beware of uploading this data to any third-party web sites such as Google Maps, though. That would likely violate Church policy.

[RossEvans]

The help document says that when authenticated leaders download the geocoded file it can include the Member Record Number. I tried that. but the MRN was missing.

I noticed today that the MRN column has been restored to the confidential version of the download CSV file, which is terrific.

There seems to be a formatting issue, which I have reported. But beta testers can probably work around that to make the format match the format displayed in and exported from MLS.

[mkmurray]

I just got a reply to my feedback that this is indeed a bug for membership clerks. They said it will be fixed in the next release of the site.

UPDATE: Assistant Ward Clerks - Membership are now included in the "Leadership" role of verifying and moving around household dots on the map. This bug has apparently been fixed and rolled out to the public facing beta site.

Thanks CHQ!

[psnarula]

I still cannot access the "My Ward" part of the website. I sent a message to the "Feedback" link. I guess we'll see what happens.

Re the custom report / mail merge options -- i'll have to give that a try. I am new to this but I do have a graduate degree in Computer Science so it's not like I shouldn't be able to figure this out. I just need to find the time to play with it. Thanks for the tips.

Still no access and also no reply to my feedback email. Grrrrrr...

[techgy]

Following several ward boundary changes in our stake, the boundaries that are displayed in the BETA maps site are incorrect. I have already spoken with the map department at CHQ and confirmed that the ward boundaries in our stake are correct. I have even been provided with a large map that was given to our stake presidency. So I have assurance that the boundaries are correct.

A day following the official boundary changes the BETA map site actually showed the boundaries as being correct and they remained that way for almost a week. Then last Saturday 12/5 I noticed that the boundaries on the BETA map site had reverted back to their previous locations for our stake.

Believing that something may have changed I contacted CHQ and was told that everything was correct. My only thought is that the BETA maps site is pulling boundaries from an out-of-date database.

I've attempted to contact those who work on the BETA maps site through the feedback utility of that site, but the choice for boundary changes just tells me that I should work through the stake.:rolleyes:

Can anyone at CHQ shed some light on this issue? I understand that the site IS a BETA and I can accept that, but the fact that the boundaries were correct for almost a week, then went back to their previous settings is a little weird.

[RossEvans]

One thing I still don't understand about the workflow is the concept of groups, and how clerks are supposed to work with the groups automatically generated by the application in the geocoding process. (For example, households at the same street address might be grouped together.)

The Help documentation says in part:

Ward leaders can determine when a grouping is appropriate.

But as far as I can tell, clerks are not able to create or delete a group. Nor have I figured out how to add or delete a household in an existing group.

We apparently can rename a group, or move it visually. But we really can't control the grouping otherwise, at least so far as I have discovered. Perhaps this functionality is just unfinished. I have inquired about it via the feedback feature but have not yet received a response.

[mkmurray]

One thing I still don't understand about the workflow is the concept of groups, and how clerks are supposed to work with the groups automatically generated by the application in the geocoding process. (For example, households at the same street address might be grouped together.)

The Help documentation says in part:


But as far as I can tell, clerks are not able to create or delete a group. Nor have I figured out how to add or delete a household in an existing group.

We apparently can rename a group, or move it visually. But we really can't control the grouping otherwise, at least so far as I have discovered. Perhaps this functionality is just unfinished. I have inquired about it via the feedback feature but have not yet received a response.

Well, I can remove a household from a group. All you have to do is select the household(s) that you want to "move." When you do this, the group is split up. I haven't had to combine groups yet because every household that has the same address was put in a group for me. The splitting up that I have done have been some households with addresses near each other in the same condo building.

[eblood66]

But as far as I can tell, clerks are not able to create or delete a group. Nor have I figured out how to add or delete a household in an existing group.

You can add a household to a group by moving it and placing the new location on top of an existing household or group. When you do it will give you a pop-up which allows you to either keep the household separate or to group it with the existing household or group.

To split a group, first click on the group. This should give a pop-up showing the households in the group with checkboxes by each. Select one or more of the households, click the Move Selected button and move those households to another location. The selected households will be split from the existing group. If there is only one household left it will no longer be a group. If you want the households separate but in the same location then first move them somewhere else and then move them back and tell it to keep them separate.

At least that's how it's worked for me. I split and created several groups in our ward this way.

Overall it seems to make sense, although they could probably provide a simpler way of splitting a group and keeping the households in the same location.

[mkmurray]

My only thought is that the BETA maps site is pulling boundaries from an out-of-date database.

I am noticing a few odd issues with members that are suppossed to be recently moved in or out. I'm not sure if it's related or not, but it makes me wonder how the data is pulled and if it can be slightly delayed. I wonder if our ward MLS install needs to confirm that we got the info from CHQ via Send/Receive somehow too.