Ward Tools

[cblakes]

I just read the Sept. 2010 LDS Tech newsletter, and in the community member spotlight, Eldon Lewis mentions using "Ward Tools" as a member of a bishopric.

Does anyone know if this is a feature of MLS or a different tool that can help bishoprics manage callings?

Thanks,

Chris

[aebrown]

I just read the Sept. 2010 LDS Tech newsletter, and in the community member spotlight, Eldon Lewis mentions using "Ward Tools" as a member of a bishopric.

Does anyone know if this is a feature of MLS or a different tool that can help bishoprics manage callings?

Ward Tools is not an MLS feature, but is a free third-party product that makes MLS data available on mobile devices. See http://www.wardtools.org for details.

[RossEvans]

Ward Tools is not an MLS feature, but is a free third-party product that makes MLS data available on mobile devices. See http://www.wardtools.org for details.

If you click that link today, you will see that there is news.

The intellectual property of what once was purely a "third party product" is now owned by the Church. Eventually some of its features will be migrated to an expanded LDS Tools, which as you know is not MLS-based. Ward Tools is supported during the transition by its volunteer developers.

[dannykos]

If you click that link today, you will see that there is news.

The intellectual property of what once was purely a "third party product" is now owned by the Church. Eventually some of its features will be migrated to an expanded LDS Tools, which as you know is not MLS-based. Ward Tools is supported during the transition by its volunteer developers.

great news! can't wait for an APP that has all the information I need to be a leader in the church, at my fingertips. HT/VT assignments, callings, membership directory, calendar, etc… etc…

sweet!

[RossEvans]

great news! can't wait for an APP that has all the information I need to be a leader in the church, at my fingertips. HT/VT assignments, callings, membership directory, calendar, etc… etc…

Yes, this is good news strategically. In the short run, we need to temper our expectations with patience.

The specifics of the new LDS Tools functionality are not yet known, nor is the timing. The Church has not even populated the LDS Tools wiki pages yet with high-level functional specs to be executed by Community volunteers.

We know that developers at CHQ are working on an expanded API that could provide the data, but we don't know exactly what will be in it. Of the items you mention, my biggest question concerns what HT/VT data, if any, will become available in centralized databases to feed an API. The last time I asked, which was several months ago, there was not yet a solution for that problem.

[jhonatanflores]

I am in a Spanish branch and all the MLS is in Spanish (obviously)

I have to convert the exported files but nothing any suggestions or ideas?

[RossEvans]

I am in a Spanish branch and all the MLS is in Spanish (obviously)

I have to convert the exported files but nothing any suggestions or ideas?

You didn't mention which platform you are using Ward Tools on. The Android version supports Spanish, but other platforms do not.

Assuming you are using some other platform, such as iPhone, your only choice is to use it in English. So you need to export your MLS data in English, too. You would have to temporarily change your MLS setting to English, as documented here, then export the four csv files. When you are finished exporting, change the MLS setting back to Spanish for other users.

[gldavis1111]

I noticed with the latest exports from the MLS, I can no longer see age or record number. Our Bishop really likes to use this information and have it on his iPad. Does anyone know if development is looking into fixing this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[RossEvans]

I noticed with the latest exports from the MLS, I can no longer see age or record number. Our Bishop really likes to use this information and have it on his iPad. Does anyone know if development is looking into fixing this? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The Membership.csv export has never included a simple element for Age, as such, but rather a field called Birth that is birthdate. The age is calculated dynamically within Ward Tools and other apps consuming that file as an input. That has not changed in either the MLS exports or in Ward Tools, so I'm not sure what you mean.

As for record number (MRN) the Church dropped it from MLS exports recently by design as a privacy measure, and recent version of Ward Tools parse that file without or without the MRN being present. I know of no plans to restore that MRN to the MLS data exports, which did break several third-party applications. (There have been several threads here on that subject over the past several months, including this one andthis one.) Although there may be workarounds in the short run, in the long run the best hope for those leadership users desiring the MRN in handheld apps lies with the Church-developed LDS Tools app, which is to be expanded with confidential content appropriate for leaders.

[nmecantwin73]

My bishop really wants to install Ward Tools on his new iPhone, even though he does use the LDS Tools app. Since he's not the most techie person, he's asked me to help him. Since the internet was just installed in our clerk's office last week, he wants to install it from there, if possible, since we can export the csv files easily.

In researching and reading about the installation process, it appears I can only install the converted files to the iPhone over a wireless network... Is this true? The clerk's office computer is wired. Is it possible to connect the iPhone to the computer via wire and achieve the same results? Am I missing something in the instructions on the Ward Tools website?

Sorry for being dumb about the smart phones... don't have one yet...

Thanks!