"Send a Message" Function on LCR

[russellhltn]

• Message handling updated to address DMARC issues
• Updated groups for selecting who should receive a message
• Mailing groups for ward/stake council, PEC, BYC
• Members can be individually selected when selecting a group
• Indication of which members will or will not receive messages
• The TO/BCC interface has been replaced with an "allow recipients to reply to all" option

Nice! That last one makes me cringe a bit. I realize not everyone understands To vs. BCC. I just hope the privacy factor is hinted at somewhere in there.

[scgallafent]

Nice! That last one makes me cringe a bit. I realize not everyone understands To vs. BCC. I just hope the privacy factor is hinted at somewhere in there.

It has been accounted for. The system won't allow "reply all" if any non-leadership addresses have been added to the group.

This way, we don't have to worry about feedback coming in asking if we can add a "reply all" option.

[russellhltn]

It has been accounted for. The system won't allow "reply all" if any non-leadership addresses have been added to the group.

I like the idea, but I can see the feedback now - someone wants a group discussion of leaders, but wants to include a relevant non-leader. I sure hope the "ward STS" and PFR aren't seen as non-leaders.

[mevans]

I couldn't find any help. Who has permission to use this in LCR? Can the whole ward council do this (like EQ Pres can send to Elders, etc.)?

Who is considered a "Leader" and has permission to send messages to those with a Private email?

[kellymab]

Our ES reported when he tested the system tonight, he got two copies of the email when he sent a test email to himself. When he sent one to me, he also got a copy. Is it safe to assume that it now auto adds the sender as a reciepient of the message as well?

Previously only members of the bishopric including ES and WC could send messages out. Possibly the stake equivilants as well.

[russellhltn]

I couldn't find any help. Who has permission to use this in LCR? Can the whole ward council do this (like EQ Pres can send to Elders, etc.)?

Who is considered a "Leader" and has permission to send messages to those with a Private email?

It would be nice if the Access Table had that info.

[scgallafent]

I couldn't find any help. Who has permission to use this in LCR? Can the whole ward council do this (like EQ Pres can send to Elders, etc.)?

Who is considered a "Leader" and has permission to send messages to those with a Private email?

This is technically part of the 3.1 release. Details on who can access the application are in the 3.1 release notes. This feature got patched into LCR 3.0, so it beat the release notes out.

Ward access is limited to bishopric, executive secretary, ward clerk, ward assistant clerk, and ward assistant clerk -- membership. Stake access is limited to stake presidency, executive secretary, assistant executive secretary, stake clerk, stake assistant clerk, and stake assistant clerk -- membership. Branch and district equivalents to these callings have access. Mission presidents with ecclesiastical responsibilities and their counselors and clerk also have access to send email to districts and branches in the mission.

If you have access to the application, you can send email to members with any privacy setting. The text for the "Private - Leadership Only" setting says "Visible to Church leaders, including your ward quorum and auxiliary leaders." Since the leaders listed above have access to the email address, it was determined that it is reasonable for them to be able to email that same address.

It would be nice if the Access Table had that info.

The access table is scheduled to be updated later, but you surely don't want us to hold a feature back until the access table gets updated, do you?

Our ES reported when he tested the system tonight, he got two copies of the email when he sent a test email to himself. When he sent one to me, he also got a copy. Is it safe to assume that it now auto adds the sender as a reciepient of the message as well?

Now that I've figured out how an ES got access and what one is ....

The sender gets added as a recipient of the message. If he has two different email addresses defined (one in his LDS Account profile and a different one on his membership record -- both visible at https://ldsaccount.lds.org/contactInformation), he would have gotten one at each address. If he got two messages to the same address, there is an issue we need to address.

[russellhltn]

surely don't want us to hold a feature back until the access table gets updated, do you?

No, but I hope the update isn't far behind.

(And don't call me Shirley. )

[drepouille]

You can pull email addresses from the Member List on Leader and Clerk Resources. Go to Membership > Member List. Where it says "Select an organization" choose "All Organizations." Make sure it fully loads (it may take a minute). Then, do a select-all (control-A on Windows or command-A on Mac) and paste into Excel. From Excel, you can easily select all of the email addresses for emailing.

Not wanting to fork this discussion -- I just want to point to the pink elephant in the middle of the room. Many email addresses on the Member List are either incorrect or missing. Most members don't realize they have the ability to update their contact info online. Many members don't realize their email addresses are visible in the ward directory. And yes, many members do not even have email addresses.

Just sayin'.

[mevans]

The sender gets added as a recipient of the message. If he has two different email addresses defined (one in his LDS Account profile and a different one on his membership record -- both visible at https://ldsaccount.lds.org/contactInformation), he would have gotten one at each address. If he got two messages to the same address, there is an issue we need to address.

I sent an email to the Bishopric. I'm in the Bishopric email list. I received two copies to the same email address; however, the capitalization of the email is different, so I don't know if it thinks they're different email addresses? (In my LDS Account email address, it's all lower case; In my Membership email address, it's mixed case, but the same address.)