From clerk at truelineengineering.net Mon Jan 1 10:21:34 2007 From: clerk at truelineengineering.net (Stake Clerk) Date: Mon, 01 Jan 2007 11:21:34 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Historical Reports In-Reply-To: <7378de6f0610211633h222313a0g19866ea06427bb7d@mail.gmail.com> Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Does CHQ usually send out some kind of letter regarding annual historical reports? When is the 2006 report due? Thanks. >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From tlwalker at nethere.com Mon Jan 1 11:18:38 2007 From: tlwalker at nethere.com (Tom Walker) Date: Mon, 01 Jan 2007 12:18:38 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Historical Reports In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. The Stake President should get an "Official cover Sheet" from SL to be filled in and mail back with the Stake History. Some Stake Presidents may NOT be diligent on passing it on though. :-( According to my Wife who is out stake History collector/assembler there is no Firm return date But should be done in late January or Early February. Tom Walker El Cajon Calif Stake Stake Clerk wrote: >>From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. > >Does CHQ usually send out some kind of letter regarding annual historical >reports? When is the 2006 report due? > >Thanks. > > >>From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. >See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ > >Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com >To join: subscribe ldsclerks >To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks >To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest > > > > > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From klarsen at MormonsToday.com Mon Jan 1 11:33:09 2007 From: klarsen at MormonsToday.com (Kent S. Larsen II) Date: Mon, 01 Jan 2007 12:33:09 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Historical Reports In-Reply-To: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> References: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Our stake has solved this problem by using a previously active "Stake History Committee" (this committee has even published a book, see http://www.mormonpavillion.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=12 or http://www.amazon.com/dp/0850513030/) Before the history committee got involved, the stake was running as much as a decade behind in filing these history reports! Since this stake report is dependent on each ward Bishop filing that ward's report with the stake, members of the history committee goes to each Bishop and interviews the Bishop about what has happened in the past year (the interview generally happens in late November or in December). Each committee member interviews 1 or 2 bishops. The results of the interview are not only the basis for the stake report, but also are published in the committee's newsletter, which is distributed to members of the stake. I'm not sure how this would work when there isn't a similar committee (I realize this committee is unusual), but perhaps this might give someone else an idea of how to get these reports done. Kent At 9:18 AM -0800 1/1/07, Tom Walker wrote: > >The Stake President should get an "Official cover Sheet" from SL to be >filled in and mail back with the Stake History. >Some Stake Presidents may NOT be diligent on passing it on though. :-( >According to my Wife who is out stake History collector/assembler there >is no Firm return date But should be done in late January or Early February. > >Tom Walker >El Cajon Calif Stake > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From tdmorris at htcomp.net Mon Jan 1 13:02:50 2007 From: tdmorris at htcomp.net (Travis Morris) Date: Mon, 01 Jan 2007 14:02:50 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Historical Reports In-Reply-To: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> References: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> Message-ID: <45995ADA.5050107@htcomp.net> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. According to the lesson at lds.org > Serving in The Church > Melchizedek Priesthood > Church Record Keeping and Auditing Training > Preparing a Ward and Stake History ( http://lds.org/pa/display/0,17884,6074-1,00.html ) the Ward Historical Report should be turned into the Stake on the 15th of January and the Stake should turn in the Stake Historical Report by the 31st of January. Travis Tom Walker wrote: > >> From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription >> instructions and list URL. > > > The Stake President should get an "Official cover Sheet" from SL to be > filled in and mail back with the Stake History. > Some Stake Presidents may NOT be diligent on passing it on though. :-( > According to my Wife who is out stake History collector/assembler > there is no Firm return date But should be done in late January or > Early February. > > Tom Walker > El Cajon Calif Stake > > Stake Clerk wrote: > >>> From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription >>> instructions and list URL. >> >> >> Does CHQ usually send out some kind of letter regarding annual >> historical >> reports? When is the 2006 report due? >> >> Thanks. >> >> >>> From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. >> >> See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ >> >> Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com >> To join: subscribe ldsclerks >> To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks >> To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest >> >> >> >> >> > >> From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. > > See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ > > Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com > To join: subscribe ldsclerks > To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks > To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest > > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From tlwalker at nethere.com Tue Jan 2 10:31:47 2007 From: tlwalker at nethere.com (Tom Walker) Date: Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:31:47 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Historical Reports In-Reply-To: References: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> Message-ID: <459A88F3.3080900@nethere.com> After YEARS of Letters, "E" Mails, and personal Pleadings with Bishops my Wife finally gave up and just submits what is Received. The Stake President is fully aware of they so the Ball in in His Court. Fortunately we have one ward with the Historians DREAM as their Complier. So the El Cajon Calif Stake History with only a few Exceptions is basicly the "Jamul Ward" History. Tom Walker Kent S. Larsen II wrote: >>From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. > > >Our stake has solved this problem by using a previously active "Stake >History Committee" (this committee has even published a book, see >http://www.mormonpavillion.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=12 or >http://www.amazon.com/dp/0850513030/) > >Before the history committee got involved, the stake was running as much as >a decade behind in filing these history reports! > >Since this stake report is dependent on each ward Bishop filing that ward's >report with the stake, members of the history committee goes to each Bishop >and interviews the Bishop about what has happened in the past year (the >interview generally happens in late November or in December). Each >committee member interviews 1 or 2 bishops. The results of the interview >are not only the basis for the stake report, but also are published in the >committee's newsletter, which is distributed to members of the stake. > >I'm not sure how this would work when there isn't a similar committee (I >realize this committee is unusual), but perhaps this might give someone >else an idea of how to get these reports done. > >Kent > > >At 9:18 AM -0800 1/1/07, Tom Walker wrote: > > >>The Stake President should get an "Official cover Sheet" from SL to be >>filled in and mail back with the Stake History. >>Some Stake Presidents may NOT be diligent on passing it on though. :-( >>According to my Wife who is out stake History collector/assembler there >>is no Firm return date But should be done in late January or Early February. >> >>Tom Walker >>El Cajon Calif Stake >> >> >> > > >>From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. >See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ > >Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com >To join: subscribe ldsclerks >To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks >To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest > > > > > From tlwalker at nethere.com Tue Jan 2 10:31:47 2007 From: tlwalker at nethere.com (Tom Walker) Date: Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:31:47 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Historical Reports In-Reply-To: References: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> Message-ID: <459A88F3.3080900@nethere.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. After YEARS of Letters, "E" Mails, and personal Pleadings with Bishops my Wife finally gave up and just submits what is Received. The Stake President is fully aware of they so the Ball in in His Court. Fortunately we have one ward with the Historians DREAM as their Complier. So the El Cajon Calif Stake History with only a few Exceptions is basicly the "Jamul Ward" History. Tom Walker Kent S. Larsen II wrote: >>From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. > > >Our stake has solved this problem by using a previously active "Stake >History Committee" (this committee has even published a book, see >http://www.mormonpavillion.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=12 or >http://www.amazon.com/dp/0850513030/) > >Before the history committee got involved, the stake was running as much as >a decade behind in filing these history reports! > >Since this stake report is dependent on each ward Bishop filing that ward's >report with the stake, members of the history committee goes to each Bishop >and interviews the Bishop about what has happened in the past year (the >interview generally happens in late November or in December). Each >committee member interviews 1 or 2 bishops. The results of the interview >are not only the basis for the stake report, but also are published in the >committee's newsletter, which is distributed to members of the stake. > >I'm not sure how this would work when there isn't a similar committee (I >realize this committee is unusual), but perhaps this might give someone >else an idea of how to get these reports done. > >Kent > > >At 9:18 AM -0800 1/1/07, Tom Walker wrote: > > >>The Stake President should get an "Official cover Sheet" from SL to be >>filled in and mail back with the Stake History. >>Some Stake Presidents may NOT be diligent on passing it on though. :-( >>According to my Wife who is out stake History collector/assembler there >>is no Firm return date But should be done in late January or Early February. >> >>Tom Walker >>El Cajon Calif Stake >> >> >> > > >>From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. >See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ > >Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com >To join: subscribe ldsclerks >To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks >To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest > > > > > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From klarsen at MormonsToday.com Wed Jan 3 11:33:32 2007 From: klarsen at MormonsToday.com (Kent S. Larsen II) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 12:33:32 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <459A88F3.3080900@nethere.com> References: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> <459A88F3.3080900@nethere.com> Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I had a nice long interview yesterday on Mormon Stories (http://mormonstories.org/?p=190 -- beware, its a 2-hour interview spread over two files) about the recent Deseret Book acquisition of Seagull Books. In part of the discussion, we talked about Internet usage by LDS Church members, and the relatively low number that access the Church-operated websites for wards and branches. (I also mentioned LDSClerks in the interview, and I'm afraid I was mistaken about the number of members on LDSClerks. I think I said there were 200 or so. In fact, the Yahoogroups version shows 418 members, and the total of the regular and digest lists on mormonstoday.com is 527 at the moment -- a total of 945!! -- even if we discount half those numbers as duplicates, bouncing addresses and members who are no longer clerks, we still have probably 500 members. Of course, if each of those 500 represents 1 unit, its still only 5% of the wards and branches in the US and less than 3% of the units in the Church). My question is, am I right? Is participation among most ward members really low? I think that less than 5% of active LDS Church members in the US regularly log into the ward and stake websites to check for information of any kind. Most of them either haven't entered an email address or have an address that bounces. What's your experiences? Is your ward or stake website getting any significant use? Kent >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From bpcuster at yahoo.com Wed Jan 3 12:26:44 2007 From: bpcuster at yahoo.com (Bishop Custer) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 13:26:44 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <200701032006.l03K6xI7019255@mormonstoday.propagation.net> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I suspect the usage is near non-existent in our stake, relatively speaking. The two wards that have the highest potential for usage rarely use it (I was EQP in one ward and am now the Bishop of the other ward). Although many members in the stake are tech-savvy, most information is relayed through simple e-mail - not through the ward / stake websites. Several people have tried to push me to push the ward(s) towards using the website, but I balked, knowing that the most useful tool was a well maintained e-mail list. The one useful thing about the websites is that I can post e-mail addresses on the front page of the Ward Website. (Look up Oakland YSA Ward in Pittsburgh). Incoming students / YSAs can e-mail me with their questions, concerns, etc. It has been very helpful in that regard - but ultimately, everything flows through e-mail. Bishop Custer Oakland (YSA) Ward Pittsburgh, PA Stake "Kent S. Larsen II" wrote: > >I had a nice long interview yesterday on Mormon Stories >(http://mormonstories.org/?p=190 -- beware, its a 2-hour interview spread >over two files) about the recent Deseret Book acquisition of Seagull Books. >In part of the discussion, we talked about Internet usage by LDS Church >members, and the relatively low number that access the Church-operated >websites for wards and branches. > >(I also mentioned LDSClerks in the interview, and I'm afraid I was mistaken >about the number of members on LDSClerks. I think I said there were 200 or >so. In fact, the Yahoogroups version shows 418 members, and the total of >the regular and digest lists on mormonstoday.com is 527 at the moment -- a >total of 945!! -- even if we discount half those numbers as duplicates, >bouncing addresses and members who are no longer clerks, we still have >probably 500 members. Of course, if each of those 500 represents 1 unit, >its still only 5% of the wards and branches in the US and less than 3% of >the units in the Church). > >My question is, am I right? Is participation among most ward members really >low? I think that less than 5% of active LDS Church members in the US >regularly log into the ward and stake websites to check for information of >any kind. Most of them either haven't entered an email address or have an >address that bounces. > >What's your experiences? Is your ward or stake website getting any >significant use? > >Kent > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From webmaster at byondf1.com Wed Jan 3 12:58:22 2007 From: webmaster at byondf1.com (Greg A. Anderson) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 13:58:22 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <002801c72f69$252c72d0$40002a0a@frp.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. For ours, I stopped updating it in 2005 just to see if anyone would notice. I had the first person ask me last week. So it went well over a year without anyone even noticing the information had not been updated. We decided not to waste any more resources on it. It is too cumbersome to update and keep updated and there are not enough dedicated people in our stake to do it and not enough interest in using it. For information spreading we use Doug Mills' ward/stake info programs for the leaders along with a FTP site, that I host, for the current printable Stake Directory, Stake Calendar and news distribution. I update each of these every Fast Sunday. It seems to work well. Greg A. Anderson ByondF1's Hi-Tech Superstore - http://byondf1.com - The LDS Banner Exchange - http://ldsbe.com LDSircNet - An On-line LDS Community - http://ldsirc.net -----Original Message----- From: owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com [mailto:owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com] On Behalf Of Kent S. Larsen II Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 9:34 AM To: ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com Cc: Kent S. Larsen II Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I had a nice long interview yesterday on Mormon Stories (http://mormonstories.org/?p=190 -- beware, its a 2-hour interview spread over two files) about the recent Deseret Book acquisition of Seagull Books. In part of the discussion, we talked about Internet usage by LDS Church members, and the relatively low number that access the Church-operated websites for wards and branches. (I also mentioned LDSClerks in the interview, and I'm afraid I was mistaken about the number of members on LDSClerks. I think I said there were 200 or so. In fact, the Yahoogroups version shows 418 members, and the total of the regular and digest lists on mormonstoday.com is 527 at the moment -- a total of 945!! -- even if we discount half those numbers as duplicates, bouncing addresses and members who are no longer clerks, we still have probably 500 members. Of course, if each of those 500 represents 1 unit, its still only 5% of the wards and branches in the US and less than 3% of the units in the Church). My question is, am I right? Is participation among most ward members really low? I think that less than 5% of active LDS Church members in the US regularly log into the ward and stake websites to check for information of any kind. Most of them either haven't entered an email address or have an address that bounces. What's your experiences? Is your ward or stake website getting any significant use? Kent >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From fhc_lists at wardell-family.org Wed Jan 3 13:11:07 2007 From: fhc_lists at wardell-family.org (David J. Wardell) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:11:07 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <001901c72f6a$f0927f40$640fa8c0@technica> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Kent, I'm not sure I understand the point you were trying to make as to Internet usage and the number of LDSClerks subscribers (seems to me they are unrelated), but I do have opinions as to ward/stake usage of the sites the Church has made available. This area is my responsibility to maintain/administer. I sympathize with the Church's need to reign-in web site proliferation several years ago for a number of reasons (cost among them), but what they managed to create isn't useful in any meaningful degree. Despite Church CIO Joel Dehlin's statements in his recent blog as to how he listens to his "customers," they didn't listen much, if at all, that time. Without going into extensive design comments, the templates the Church created are difficult enough to implement, and full of so many opportunities for failures and exceptions, that we've never been able to use them successfully. We make a determined effort to keep the calendar current, but simply as a convenient means of assembling data. I'm not aware of more than a few people who try and use it online. What happens is that someone will print the calendar and distribute it. In short, in our stake there are always opportunities to do productive things online, but we do none of them because the Church templates mostly do things no one wants. The few things that might be useful are so difficult to implement that they remain unused. For instance, the ward sites allow for creation of e-mail lists, which track such events as calendar changes. Successfully assembling a list involves people who are willing to receive the messages creating accounts on lds.org with their membership numbers and confirmation dates (not a trivial task), finding their online records, adding a valid e-mail, and setting themselves up to receive message traffic. Assuming they did this successfully, they also need to remember to keep the e-mail current. Because the process is difficult and time-consuming, and it relies upon member initiative to get it going, it is almost impossible to get a usable mailing list with enough valid addresses to make the project worthwhile. I'm not aware of anyone in our stake who even tries to use the e-mail feature. Just a few examples--there are others. In the end, I'm confident usage in other areas is low. The reasons are poor design, inadequate follow-up, and failure to adapt initial shortcomings to real-world conditions. All the best, David Wardell McLean Virginia Stake -----Original Message----- From: owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com [mailto:owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com] On Behalf Of Kent S. Larsen II Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 12:34 PM To: ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com Cc: Kent S. Larsen II Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I had a nice long interview yesterday on Mormon Stories (http://mormonstories.org/?p=190 -- beware, its a 2-hour interview spread over two files) about the recent Deseret Book acquisition of Seagull Books. In part of the discussion, we talked about Internet usage by LDS Church members, and the relatively low number that access the Church-operated websites for wards and branches. (I also mentioned LDSClerks in the interview, and I'm afraid I was mistaken about the number of members on LDSClerks. I think I said there were 200 or so. In fact, the Yahoogroups version shows 418 members, and the total of the regular and digest lists on mormonstoday.com is 527 at the moment -- a total of 945!! -- even if we discount half those numbers as duplicates, bouncing addresses and members who are no longer clerks, we still have probably 500 members. Of course, if each of those 500 represents 1 unit, its still only 5% of the wards and branches in the US and less than 3% of the units in the Church). My question is, am I right? Is participation among most ward members really low? I think that less than 5% of active LDS Church members in the US regularly log into the ward and stake websites to check for information of any kind. Most of them either haven't entered an email address or have an address that bounces. What's your experiences? Is your ward or stake website getting any significant use? Kent >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From simonsen at charter.net Wed Jan 3 13:17:32 2007 From: simonsen at charter.net (simonsen) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:17:32 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <002801c72f69$252c72d0$40002a0a@frp.com> References: <002801c72f69$252c72d0$40002a0a@frp.com> Message-ID: <459C014C.1090206@charter.net> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Greg A. Anderson wrote: >>From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. > >For ours, I stopped updating it in 2005 just to see if anyone would notice. >I had the first person ask me last week. So it went well over a year without >anyone even noticing the information had not been updated. We decided not to >waste any more resources on it. It is too cumbersome to update and keep >updated and there are not enough dedicated people in our stake to do it and >not enough interest in using it. For information spreading we use Doug >Mills' ward/stake info programs for the leaders along with a FTP site, that >I host, for the current printable Stake Directory, Stake Calendar and news >distribution. I update each of these every Fast Sunday. It seems to work >well. > >Greg A. Anderson >ByondF1's Hi-Tech Superstore - http://byondf1.com >- >The LDS Banner Exchange - http://ldsbe.com >LDSircNet - An On-line LDS Community - http://ldsirc.net > > > I am not familiar with "Doug Mills' ward/stak info programs for leaders" What is this? How do I find out more? Thanks, Richard Simonsen Santa Maria California >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From ldsskier at rusticate.net Wed Jan 3 13:25:52 2007 From: ldsskier at rusticate.net (Skier) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:25:52 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: References: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> <459A88F3.3080900@nethere.com> Message-ID: <45737.70.228.227.21.1167852352.squirrel@75.126.28.138> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. On Wed, January 3, 2007 12:33 pm, Kent S. Larsen II wrote: > What's your experiences? Is your ward or stake website getting any > significant use? Back in the day, stakes and wards were setting up their own websites. Many of these had some quality thought and work put into them and were getting some decent use. Those in the central hive did not like this and some major announcements were made that stakes and wards were *NOT* allowed to have websites until the new system was put in place, a development that would take place at a later date. Unfortunately, a bigger deal was made over the "thou shalt not have a stake website" than "the stake websites are now available" and usage never returned to previous levels. >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From webmaster at byondf1.com Wed Jan 3 13:30:36 2007 From: webmaster at byondf1.com (Greg A. Anderson) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 14:30:36 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <459C014C.1090206@charter.net> Message-ID: <002e01c72f6d$a6814960$40002a0a@frp.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. You can get more info at http://hcgl.eng.ohio-state.edu/~mills/WardInfo/WardInfo.html The programs are great and provide information in a very usable format for both PDAs and home computers. Our leaders are no addicted to the files I send monthly and tell me they could not function without them. We are using just about every option it has and it has been a long time getting it all going. I will be doing a demo in our next Priesthood Leadership meeting to show others what they are missing out on. -----Original Message----- From: owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com [mailto:owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com] On Behalf Of simonsen Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 11:18 AM To: ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com Cc: simonsen Subject: Re: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Greg A. Anderson wrote: >>From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. > >For ours, I stopped updating it in 2005 just to see if anyone would notice. >I had the first person ask me last week. So it went well over a year without >anyone even noticing the information had not been updated. We decided not to >waste any more resources on it. It is too cumbersome to update and keep >updated and there are not enough dedicated people in our stake to do it and >not enough interest in using it. For information spreading we use Doug >Mills' ward/stake info programs for the leaders along with a FTP site, that >I host, for the current printable Stake Directory, Stake Calendar and news >distribution. I update each of these every Fast Sunday. It seems to work >well. > >Greg A. Anderson >ByondF1's Hi-Tech Superstore - http://byondf1.com >- >The LDS Banner Exchange - http://ldsbe.com >LDSircNet - An On-line LDS Community - http://ldsirc.net > > > I am not familiar with "Doug Mills' ward/stak info programs for leaders" What is this? How do I find out more? Thanks, Richard Simonsen Santa Maria California >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From klarsen at MormonsToday.com Wed Jan 3 14:02:26 2007 From: klarsen at MormonsToday.com (Kent S. Larsen II) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:02:26 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <001901c72f6a$f0927f40$640fa8c0@technica> References: <001901c72f6a$f0927f40$640fa8c0@technica> Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. At 2:11 PM -0500 1/3/07, David J. Wardell wrote: > >Kent, > >I'm not sure I understand the point you were trying to make as to Internet >usage and the number of LDSClerks subscribers (seems to >me they are unrelated), Well, it was unrelated, which is why I put it in parenthesis. I just thought that list members would like to know how many people are on (and, we hope, reading) LDSClerks!! It was also a little bit of a tangent on the Mormon Stories podcast. The number of LDS Church members that use the Internet to get information about the Church is important if you see the Internet as an alternative source of spreading the gospel and Mormon culture. If we on LDSClerks are only reaching less than 5% of our potential audience, how can anyone suggest that the Internet is the solution for ANY Church-related problem. The ward/stake websites are just the most relevant part of this question for Clerks. I'm just trying to make sure what I understand is correct. Let me ask the question a different way, then. Given that so many of you apparently believe that the design of the ward/stake websites is the problem. What percentage of Church members would use the ward and stake websites if they were better designed and more useful? Kent >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From webmaster at byondf1.com Wed Jan 3 14:31:56 2007 From: webmaster at byondf1.com (Greg A. Anderson) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:31:56 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <003001c72f76$37514d70$40002a0a@frp.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I know when I had our stake site up that I had designed there were a lot more people using it. It was getting around 200-300 hits per day. Page views were around 1000-4000 per day. It was a lot faster and didn't require jumping through so many hoops. Most info is not confidential as far as calendar items (unless youth) and news. The confidential stuff was by password only. Let me ask the question a different way, then. Given that so many of you apparently believe that the design of the ward/stake websites is the problem. What percentage of Church members would use the ward and stake websites if they were better designed and more useful? Kent >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From bpcuster at yahoo.com Wed Jan 3 14:48:36 2007 From: bpcuster at yahoo.com (Bishop Custer) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 15:48:36 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <002e01c72f6d$a6814960$40002a0a@frp.com> Message-ID: <20070103204836.2641.qmail@web37210.mail.mud.yahoo.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I used to use this program (it's been about a year). It was tedious to get set up, but once you get the hang of how to use it and all the perks of the program, it's priceless, especially for a ward with a lot of changes. I used it quite a bit - but changed laptops and didn't have the heart to figure out how to get it installed and up and running again. Maybe on a day off I'll tackle it again. Bishop Custer Oakland (YSA) Ward Pittsburgh, PA Stake "Greg A. Anderson" wrote: > >You can get more info at >http://hcgl.eng.ohio-state.edu/~mills/WardInfo/WardInfo.html > >The programs are great and provide information in a very usable format for >both PDAs and home computers. Our leaders are no addicted to the files I >send monthly and tell me they could not function without them. We are using >just about every option it has and it has been a long time getting it all >going. I will be doing a demo in our next Priesthood Leadership meeting to >show others what they are missing out on. > >-----Original Message----- >From: owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com >[mailto:owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com] On Behalf Of simonsen >Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 11:18 AM >To: ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com >Cc: simonsen >Subject: Re: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? > > >Greg A. Anderson wrote: >> >>For ours, I stopped updating it in 2005 just to see if anyone would notice. >>I had the first person ask me last week. So it went well over a year >without >>anyone even noticing the information had not been updated. We decided not >to >>waste any more resources on it. It is too cumbersome to update and keep >>updated and there are not enough dedicated people in our stake to do it and >>not enough interest in using it. For information spreading we use Doug >>Mills' ward/stake info programs for the leaders along with a FTP site, that >>I host, for the current printable Stake Directory, Stake Calendar and news >>distribution. I update each of these every Fast Sunday. It seems to work >>well. >> >>Greg A. Anderson >>ByondF1's Hi-Tech Superstore - http://byondf1.com >>- >>The LDS Banner Exchange - http://ldsbe.com >>LDSircNet - An On-line LDS Community - http://ldsirc.net >> >> >> >I am not familiar with "Doug Mills' ward/stak info programs for >leaders" What is this? How do I find out >more? >Thanks, >Richard Simonsen >Santa Maria California > > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From cwha at ldskc.org Wed Jan 3 15:27:21 2007 From: cwha at ldskc.org (Chuck Anderson) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 16:27:21 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <200701032006.l03K6xI7019255@mormonstoday.propagation.net> References: <200701032006.l03K6xI7019255@mormonstoday.propagation.net> Message-ID: <6806F98F-04B6-45D9-A58B-9F494419B624@ldskc.org> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Yes, that's handy having the ward leaders' email addresses on your Ward Home page. We also use Email heavily to distribute information to various groups of leaders, and we have a Weekly Stake Bulletin that goes to all "online" members for whom we know an email address. We use "Google Groups" (free at groups.google.com) to set up Group Lists so that we can easily send information to selected groups, such as all R.S. Presidents, or all YM Presidents, or all Bishops, etc. You do NOT need to have a gmail.com email address to use Google Groups. Of course, someone needs to maintain the email addresses in the Groups as people change callings or move out. But, Google Groups gives you "global" group addresses that anyone can use, if you allow it, rather than everyone needing to create their own, personal group addresses in their own email program. However, I fail to understand the negative comments from several on this LDSClerks forum about using the Stake and Ward Web Sites -- It's a lot better than not having a website for your Stake/Ward. Yes, there are a number of improvements that would make it even better, but let's be patient - in the meantime, let's use what is available. For "printable" Stake and Ward Leadership Directories, which we maintain in Word format, we simply convert them to a PDF file, readable by anyone, and we post that PDF file under "News and Information" on the Stake Home Page. We have now put 22 documents under "News and Information" on our Stake Home page -- such as the Ward Conference Guidelines, High Council Speaking Assignments list for the next 6 months, a simple line drawing map of the Ward Boundaries, a map and driving instructions for getting to the Bishops Storehouse in our area, the "Teaching for Our Times" lesson schedule for our stake, etc. You can post almost anything under "News and Information" -- Word documents, PDF documents, Excel files, jpg files, etc. - so it is one handy place for members to go to view/ print/download any data you wish to maintain there. Ward Home pages also have a "News and Information" section for ward- specific documents that need to be shared. By posting such documents under "News and Information", members can go there at their leisure to access them, and we don't have to send tons of emails out to distribute these documents. There are simple "fill out the form" pages to populate the Leadership Directory for each Ward and the Stake. No, you cannot "slice and dice" the general membership directories any way you want them, but you can look up addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses (if the member keeps their "profile" up to date - which is easy, by clicking on "Update Profile" in the upper-right after Signing In). Between the "Leadership Directory" and the "Membership Directory" you get much of what you need. You can still provide your leaders with the data exported from MLS. And, the Stake and Ward Website is always "up-to-date" with the MLS membership in each unit. Well, within a few days, anyway. The online Calendar is extremely useful -- this online Calendar is the ONLY calendar we use for our Stake Calendar. When you enter events, you can control which, if any, ward calendars that event appears on by using the checkboxes next to the ward names. Most events we put on the Stake Calendar we allow to fall through to all ward calendars, so anyone viewing a given online Ward Calendar can see the Stake Events that are applicable to all members, or at least to all Ward Leaders. No, you cannot print multiple months at the same time (yet), but you can print one month at a time to a PDF file, which can then be sent via email to all email users who may not yet have to access the Stake and Ward Website. If the Stake/Ward Web Administrator has the full Adobe Acrobat application, then you can "merge" the multiple monthly PDF calendars into one 12 month PDF file for distribution. I say, maintain a positive outlook and find the good in all things -- don't waste time "kicking against the pricks". Make use of the tools we are given and trust that they will continue to be improved over time. We also maintained our own private website for our stake and ward information, which we had to eliminate when the Church came out with the "Stake and Ward Web Sites" feature. Yes, I also complained at first about how much easier it was to maintain "my" website as opposed to the generic website provided by the Church, but realized that complaining was counter-productive, and started learning how to best use the "Stake and Ward Web Sites" and made the most of it. Try it - you'll learn to make productive use of it. Chuck Anderson Lenexa Kansas Stake (go see our Stake Home Page) chuck at ldskc.org On Jan 3, 2007, at 12:26 PM, Bishop Custer wrote: > > I suspect the usage is near non-existent in our stake, relatively > speaking. > The two wards that have the highest potential for usage rarely use > it (I > was EQP in one ward and am now the Bishop of the other ward). > Although > many members in the stake are tech-savvy, most information is relayed > through simple e-mail - not through the ward / stake websites. > > Several people have tried to push me to push the ward(s) towards > using > the website, but I balked, knowing that the most useful tool was a > well > maintained e-mail list. > > The one useful thing about the websites is that I can post e-mail > addresses on the front page of the Ward Website. (Look up Oakland > YSA Ward > in Pittsburgh). Incoming students / YSAs can e-mail me with their > questions, concerns, etc. It has been very helpful in that regard > - but > ultimately, everything flows through e-mail. > > Bishop Custer > Oakland (YSA) Ward > Pittsburgh, PA Stake > > > "Kent S. Larsen II" wrote: >> >> I had a nice long interview yesterday on Mormon Stories >> (http://mormonstories.org/?p=190 -- beware, its a 2-hour interview >> spread >> over two files) about the recent Deseret Book acquisition of >> Seagull Books. >> In part of the discussion, we talked about Internet usage by LDS >> Church >> members, and the relatively low number that access the Church- >> operated >> websites for wards and branches. >> >> (I also mentioned LDSClerks in the interview, and I'm afraid I was >> mistaken >> about the number of members on LDSClerks. I think I said there >> were 200 or >> so. In fact, the Yahoogroups version shows 418 members, and the >> total of >> the regular and digest lists on mormonstoday.com is 527 at the >> moment -- a >> total of 945!! -- even if we discount half those numbers as >> duplicates, >> bouncing addresses and members who are no longer clerks, we still >> have >> probably 500 members. Of course, if each of those 500 represents 1 >> unit, >> its still only 5% of the wards and branches in the US and less >> than 3% of >> the units in the Church). >> >> My question is, am I right? Is participation among most ward >> members really >> low? I think that less than 5% of active LDS Church members in the US >> regularly log into the ward and stake websites to check for >> information of >> any kind. Most of them either haven't entered an email address or >> have an >> address that bounces. >> >> What's your experiences? Is your ward or stake website getting any >> significant use? >> >> Kent >> >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From mark_werner at byu.edu Wed Jan 3 15:30:53 2007 From: mark_werner at byu.edu (Mark Werner) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 16:30:53 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <002801c72f69$252c72d0$40002a0a@frp.com> Message-ID: <002b01c72f7e$72965cb0$fd02000a@MarkWD800> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. It's a little tough to gauge usage, since there are no login counters, but we currently have 23% (over 600) of our members registered, which probably translates to 40-45% of households. I actively maintain our site, especially the calendar, since that's our official stake calendar. Yes, I'd like a more-flexible calendar, but I've made it work fine for our needs. I've also received positive comments about the calendar, particularly because I make an effort to include important community and school activities so people won't try to schedule against them. Also, I try to provide as many details about activities as possible, so people won't have additional questions. The only calendar printing we do is two months' worth with our monthly stake leadership newsletter. Two of our three building schedulers are posting the building schedules online (and we'll hopefully resolve the third one before too long). I use the e-mail broadcast function on a regular basis as part of our publicity tool set; it's very helpful, especially when an activity falls on Friday or Saturday and people have put it out of mind since the Sunday announcement. :-) I get about 45 bounced messages each time and try to follow up on them, which is a challenge, but that still means I'm reaching nearly 600 people (and more, if you include their families). We also post a number of useful documents on our site, such as directories, a reimbursement form, key form, the form we use for recommending people for callings, stake-lesson outlines, etc. (BTW, I've found that we're not really limited to documents of 50K or less, as the site suggests, but perhaps I shouldn't say that too loudly or they'll cut us off!) Our wards don't keep everything up as well as I'd like, but one area where they're doing pretty well is posting members' photos. It's really great to be able to print a photo directory for any of our wards! I personally don't have a big problem with the site design, but maybe that's because I'm too familiar with it; I use it nearly every day. I maintain that most of us are in a catch-22 situation. I regularly run into people who haven't logged in for months. But that's because they look around once and don't see much of interest. If people could use our sites the same way they do the rest of the Web, that would be something! So instead of someone saying, "Let's look online to see what movies are playing," they might say, "Let's check the stake and ward calendars to see what's happening this weekend." I'd like, for example, when we have ball games, to post the specific schedules and even scores. I'd want people to be able to see how to write to missionaries, find out who their leaders are (for new members especially), see what lessons are being taught this week, find out who had a baby, etc. I'm really quite excited about the possibilities, but it does take continual effort to maintain any sort of worthwhile site and it also requires some vision of what can be done. We're not going to get a lot of usage unless we have some compelling content. Mark Werner Provo Utah East Stake > -----Original Message----- > What's your experiences? Is your ward or stake website getting any > significant use? >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From rickiebrinegar at cox.net Wed Jan 3 15:40:26 2007 From: rickiebrinegar at cox.net (Rickie Brinegar) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 16:40:26 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <003601c72f7f$c8c711f0$6501a8c0@rickielifebook> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. In our ward, about 80% of the adults are registered. This has take the effort of the Bishop to pass out "How To Register" instructions at tithing settlement for the last two years, responding to request for current ward rosters by stating "Yes, I can give you one. However the most current information is on the ward website.", and sending out meaningful ward information email broadcast on ward and stake activities. We also maintain a "Who To Contact" document on the ward web site containing information for contacting ward and stake staff in one easy to access location. I regularly receive comments on out dated calendar items. I try to be responsive in a timely manner to those comments. It does show that our ward members are using the website. To answer your question, our use of the website is not as much as I would like to see it, but it is a LOT better than 5%. And, yes, the web site features could be better, but most tool take time to evolve. Rickie -----Original Message----- From: owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com [mailto:owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com] On Behalf Of Kent S. Larsen II Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 10:34 AM To: ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com Cc: Kent S. Larsen II Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I had a nice long interview yesterday on Mormon Stories (http://mormonstories.org/?p=190 -- beware, its a 2-hour interview spread over two files) about the recent Deseret Book acquisition of Seagull Books. In part of the discussion, we talked about Internet usage by LDS Church members, and the relatively low number that access the Church-operated websites for wards and branches. (I also mentioned LDSClerks in the interview, and I'm afraid I was mistaken about the number of members on LDSClerks. I think I said there were 200 or so. In fact, the Yahoogroups version shows 418 members, and the total of the regular and digest lists on mormonstoday.com is 527 at the moment -- a total of 945!! -- even if we discount half those numbers as duplicates, bouncing addresses and members who are no longer clerks, we still have probably 500 members. Of course, if each of those 500 represents 1 unit, its still only 5% of the wards and branches in the US and less than 3% of the units in the Church). My question is, am I right? Is participation among most ward members really low? I think that less than 5% of active LDS Church members in the US regularly log into the ward and stake websites to check for information of any kind. Most of them either haven't entered an email address or have an address that bounces. What's your experiences? Is your ward or stake website getting any significant use? Kent >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From drepouille at hotmail.com Wed Jan 3 18:54:28 2007 From: drepouille at hotmail.com (Dana Repouille) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 19:54:28 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <005c01c72f9a$e34cd1c0$0301a8c0@3nnwq61> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Kent, There are now 419 members of the Yahoo group, with 26 "bouncing" members. I am subscribed to both groups, but choose to only receive messages from the MormonsToday group. Dana in Omaha -----Original Message----- From: owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com [mailto:owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com] On Behalf Of Kent S. Larsen II Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 11:34 AM To: ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com Cc: Kent S. Larsen II Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I had a nice long interview yesterday on Mormon Stories (http://mormonstories.org/?p=190 -- beware, its a 2-hour interview spread over two files) about the recent Deseret Book acquisition of Seagull Books. In part of the discussion, we talked about Internet usage by LDS Church members, and the relatively low number that access the Church-operated websites for wards and branches. (I also mentioned LDSClerks in the interview, and I'm afraid I was mistaken about the number of members on LDSClerks. I think I said there were 200 or so. In fact, the Yahoogroups version shows 418 members, and the total of the regular and digest lists on mormonstoday.com is 527 at the moment -- a total of 945!! -- even if we discount half those numbers as duplicates, bouncing addresses and members who are no longer clerks, we still have probably 500 members. Of course, if each of those 500 represents 1 unit, its still only 5% of the wards and branches in the US and less than 3% of the units in the Church). My question is, am I right? Is participation among most ward members really low? I think that less than 5% of active LDS Church members in the US regularly log into the ward and stake websites to check for information of any kind. Most of them either haven't entered an email address or have an address that bounces. What's your experiences? Is your ward or stake website getting any significant use? Kent >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From embunker817 at msn.com Wed Jan 3 19:13:40 2007 From: embunker817 at msn.com (Eric Bunker) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:13:40 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Kent, I think that it is very clear that most members do not use the church's stake and ward websites. On one end is the the paper generation people who are uncomfortable with and/or do do not like interfacing with computers. One the other end, tech savvy people find it technically out of date, annoying to use and difficult to keep up to date with other software systems working better. As it stands it is a mal-fit for most members and is often viewed as a cumbersome orphaned step-child one has to keep up to satisfy church leadership. However, with the diligence of a good clerk it can be a good tool as it is. The tech heads want a better designed website, which may help a bit, but I personally don't think that allowing technical people to solve a sociological problem is going to fix it. The problem is not mainly a tech problem but an interfacing problem. We can strong-arm people into putting more man hours into web updates and cajole members from the pulpit to go along with the program and use it as is. That will help a bit, but in a totally volunteer organization that never is a very good long-term solution. Sooner or later, to be used, it has to feel and be useful to the ordinary member to the point where it becomes indispensable. Since the solution to the problem is in its usefulness, to that end I think that the following is a must. 1. MLS and the web must be connected completely. a. Clerks, via the web can access and change MLS data anywhere, including a go to my PC type function, so they are not confined to the office to do much of their work. b. Organization Presidencies, can access and change relevant MLS data via the web including home and visiting teaching lists and stats, keep track of allotted budgets, and submit member contact and address changes. c. Members can report home and visiting teaching efforts, access and change personal MLS data via the web, including contact information, address data which could automatically if they desired, send membership files to their new ward along with the ability to submit contact and address information for inactive family members and friends who have moved or have lost contact with the church. d. The web and MLS needs to be the place to store, track and disseminate information for all of the youth award programs, such as Faith in God, Duty to God, Young Women in Excellence and Scouting, assessable to both the leaders and parents. 2. All buildings need to have Wi-Fi access so that every bishopric, ward council and organization presidencies can be on the ward's website in every council and presidency meeting, viewing, updating and disseminating information in real time along with having access to all the approved church websites. This would reduce physical time spent in administrative meetings along with lowering our printing and paper cost significantly. 3. All buildings need to have a terminal and printer in a publicly assessable place for members to use or for someone to use for them that will only connect to church approved websites to do all of the above in #1 when ever a clerk is present in the building to oversee it. 4. The church needs to develop and/or allow privately developed programs to automatically update a member's PDA, phones, laptops or desktop units with directories, contact data and calendars from the Ward's or stake web in a stand along program so that members will not have the need to be on the web to access the most current data or to do many keystrokes to process it. 5. MLS and the web needs the ability to track contact information for individual members and not just households, which should included home, cell, work and one or two email addresses according to the desire of the member and parents for minors. 6. In regards to printing lists and data, MLS and the Ward and stake Websites need to allow users via the print command button, to select where the data is to be dumped whether it be the church's preformatted lists or user selected formats such as Word, Excel or other such programs without the need of doing any fancy keystrokes or making confusing formatting decisions only understood by tech savvy people. 7. Even though the size of the church and security concerns naturally would inhibit the responsiveness to member feedback, church tech administration need to be much better connected and amenable to the requests and needs of the members. This is clearly an administrative, policy and staffing problem. With the church becoming a worldwide concern, I don't think that is now very helpful to this situation as it is also in other many other administrative functions to have so many native Utah people in professional appointed administrative positions at church headquarters. In our attempt to build much needed meetinghouses, we have run headlong into this problem. The policies and processes to build meetinghouses that work well in LDS dominated Utah, were often very counterproductive for use here in Arizona and it put is about 6 years behind in getting necessary building up in place. We are gaining but not caught up, with part of the problem due to a somewhat arrogant Utah mindset of an older generation of former administrators who very gladly now have been replaced, at least in this area. Eric Clerk Queen Creek Arizona Stake ----- Original Message ----- From: Kent S. Larsen II To: ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com Cc: Kent S. Larsen II Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 10:33 AM Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? I had a nice long interview yesterday on Mormon Stories (http://mormonstories.org/?p=190 -- beware, its a 2-hour interview spread over two files) about the recent Deseret Book acquisition of Seagull Books. In part of the discussion, we talked about Internet usage by LDS Church members, and the relatively low number that access the Church-operated websites for wards and branches. (I also mentioned LDSClerks in the interview, and I'm afraid I was mistaken about the number of members on LDSClerks. I think I said there were 200 or so. In fact, the Yahoogroups version shows 418 members, and the total of the regular and digest lists on mormonstoday.com is 527 at the moment -- a total of 945!! -- even if we discount half those numbers as duplicates, bouncing addresses and members who are no longer clerks, we still have probably 500 members. Of course, if each of those 500 represents 1 unit, its still only 5% of the wards and branches in the US and less than 3% of the units in the Church). My question is, am I right? Is participation among most ward members really low? I think that less than 5% of active LDS Church members in the US regularly log into the ward and stake websites to check for information of any kind. Most of them either haven't entered an email address or have an address that bounces. What's your experiences? Is your ward or stake website getting any significant use? Kent >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From robbtx at earthlink.net Wed Jan 3 19:13:58 2007 From: robbtx at earthlink.net (Robb Lund) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:13:58 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? References: <001901c72f6a$f0927f40$640fa8c0@technica> Message-ID: <002801c72f9d$9f4b9490$640fa8c0@RLHome> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I believe usage of the Ward/Stake sites would improve if we were allowed to have more dynamic content. I have been asked many times (by members of the stake presidency and others) if we can allow certain content on the website. The only way of "publishing the content" is through posting documents to the News section. I have also been asked about having a site where multiple stakes (think tri-stake activities, Single Adults, etc.) could share information. Other suggestions include online sign-up for activities, sharing sports schedules, etc. I have often been asked if it would be OK to have a separate site that offers some of these features that the Ward/Stake sites do not. I also agree with some of the other posts, wards/stakes that have good web usage, have the good usage because they work at it. Keeping the data current, actively maintaining email lists, etc. It sounds like it could keep someone pretty busy keeping it up to date, but they are getting value out of it that I haven't seen. Even with individual ward administrators, not much gets done. Some of the wards have asked me to provide information on the Ward/Stake site (and other LDS sites) during a 5th Sunday discussion. I did so using a projector and a wireless laptop (thanks to the FHC in the building). I saw increased usage initially, but it was short lived. Robb ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kent S. Larsen II" To: Cc: "Kent S. Larsen II" Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 2:02 PM Subject: RE: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? > >>From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription >>instructions and list URL. > > At 2:11 PM -0500 1/3/07, David J. Wardell wrote: >> >>Kent, >> >>I'm not sure I understand the point you were trying to make as to Internet >>usage and the number of LDSClerks subscribers (seems to >>me they are unrelated), > > Well, it was unrelated, which is why I put it in parenthesis. I just > thought that list members would like to know how many people are on (and, > we hope, reading) LDSClerks!! > > It was also a little bit of a tangent on the Mormon Stories podcast. The > number of LDS Church members that use the Internet to get information > about > the Church is important if you see the Internet as an alternative source > of > spreading the gospel and Mormon culture. If we on LDSClerks are only > reaching less than 5% of our potential audience, how can anyone suggest > that the Internet is the solution for ANY Church-related problem. > > The ward/stake websites are just the most relevant part of this question > for Clerks. > > I'm just trying to make sure what I understand is correct. > > > Let me ask the question a different way, then. > > Given that so many of you apparently believe that the design of the > ward/stake websites is the problem. What percentage of Church members > would > use the ward and stake websites if they were better designed and more > useful? > > Kent > > > >>From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. > See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ > > Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com > To join: subscribe ldsclerks > To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks > To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From pete_arnett at hotmail.com Wed Jan 3 19:18:19 2007 From: pete_arnett at hotmail.com (pete_arnett) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 20:18:19 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Joel Dehlin, CIO & Directors in Church technology - "Tech Talk" Meeting Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Please review Joel Dehlin (LDS CIO) Weblog and post your comments about making the "Tech Talk" meetings a video conference of just a one way video stream ============================================== Joel Dehlin Weblog, he is the Chief Information Officer for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the mormon church). Please go to his weblog at http://www.ldscio.org/ scroll down and click on "Tech Talks" and post your comments Thanks >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From larrypete at usa.net Wed Jan 3 20:27:27 2007 From: larrypete at usa.net (Larry) Date: Wed, 03 Jan 2007 21:27:27 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? References: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> <459A88F3.3080900@nethere.com> Message-ID: <001d01c72fa7$e15b9d30$26a0fea9@BLUE> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Kent - As others have reported, I worked hard maintaining our Ward web site. I was even proud of my work. I, like others made numerous suggestions which I felt could help improve the site administration, without even an acknowledgement. I knew how many members of our Ward are signed up,(small %) but I have no no idea of who or how often it was actually used. Counters of sme kind are on most other sites. I hasseled the Bishopric to periodically write an article (and some were good) and then the auxillary leaders to write things about what their activities and then follow-up on who participated. Some did that, most didn't & there was never follow-up when it didn't happen. I made note of use of the internet an adgenda item at evey Ward Council. I compared my effort and my results with other web sites that I administer, some of which I would consider fairly successful. Wondering what the usage really was, I like others I disabled everyone except myself and the Bishop. I quit doing anything. It did take 3 months for someone to call and say they could not check the Ward Calendar, I have had a couple more calls saying they miss the site. My appraisal is there has to be something new and interesting at all times! We can't distribute printed calendars except only to those who do not have internet access (or charge for them) and the same thing goes for membership lists. Some of the urgent suggestions such as the calendar needs to be improved so it operates more like Calendar Creator, especially on recurrent events. The organization changes should be populated from MLS so it only requires one entry and, you don't have to fool with that silly order routine. Photos should be easier like implemented in MyFamily.com. Composition of news articles should be like WordPerfect, Word or Open Office, and a bunch of other suggestions that have been made. I think the Ward/Stake website concept has good potiential, but the implementation needs some priority. Maybe we should even make the Ward Web site a gateway to lots of the resources that are on LDS.ORG. To be successful, it must not only be current but it must have the active SUPPORT of the leadership at the Ward and Stake levels. Kent - in answer to how many use the site, I don't know what it used to be, but now it is none in our Ward because it isn't worth the trouble and I am a failure as far as this venture is concerned. Sorry to be a complainer, but that attitude just didn't develop overnight, and it has been by others. I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who sees the possibilities but is dissapointed with the results. Larry Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? ...... > My question is, am I right? Is participation among most ward members really > low? I think that less than 5% of active LDS Church members in the US > regularly log into the ward and stake websites to check for information of > any kind. Most of them either haven't entered an email address or have an > address that bounces. > > What's your experiences? Is your ward or stake website getting any > significant use? > > Kent >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From wa7jos at xmission.com Wed Jan 3 23:02:07 2007 From: wa7jos at xmission.com (Chuck Johnson) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 00:02:07 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <001d01c72fa7$e15b9d30$26a0fea9@BLUE> References: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> <459A88F3.3080900@nethere.com> <001d01c72fa7$e15b9d30$26a0fea9@BLUE> Message-ID: <459C8A4F.7080801@xmission.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I am ward administrator, but NOTHING has been updated on our web page in a couple of years. The last I checked there were less than a dozen people signed up, and almost all of them were in leadership positions. No one has submitted anything, and no one has complained. I generate the paper calendar for the stake. I tried to press the issue of using the web page for calendaring, but there was no interest. We're also on our FOURTH printing before the new year even began (and someone discovered another error last Sunday.) I have very little confidence that things calendared a year from now will be accurate - and once it's printed, there's NO way to make sure everyone gets the "replacement" pages. Still, the printed page is what everyone seems to want. I seem to recall that a few on this group tried to get a jump on 2007 by entering events early, only to have CHQ "lose" their entries so they had to start over. That's no way to instill confidence in a system already considered marginal. Can you say "backup"? I knew you could. My SP approached me about publishing multi-stake YSA events. The "best" workaround is for each stake to separately enter the information. Yeah, that's going to work. I maintain a family web site. It mostly has addresses and birthdays for an extended family group. I also have a list of everyone's church times for each family. These families are 95% active members, and yet it's like pulling teeth to get everyone's new church time each January. I asked for input 2 weeks ago, and have received TWO responses. The real killer is when someone CALLS me (toll call) to ask for an address rather than looking it up. People move, have babies, and change phone numbers, and nobody tells me. Putting information on a web page SOUNDS like the right thing to do, but I see little evidence that the general public has embraced this method of information exchange. And as a final nail in the coffin, the place you are most likely to need calendar information is while you are at church, and that's the ONE place you can't have Internet access. Libraries are expressly forbidden to have a computer, and yet, the THOUSANDS of items in the meetinghouse library could easily be handled electronically instead of taking up hundreds of square feet of storage space. A single CD holds ALL of the church magazines ever printed in a searchable and cataloged format. These and more are also available at lds.org. If you need a copy of a talk for your lesson, you COULD go to the library and get it. This is perfectly possible right now from home, not not at the meetinghouse. When I was ward clerk, I took my laptop to every meeting. I would have given my eye teeth for wireless Internet access, but alas, meetinghouses are still in the dark ages. Chuck Johnson >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From adr at rossers.net Thu Jan 4 04:45:12 2007 From: adr at rossers.net (Andrew R.) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 05:45:12 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <002e01c72f6d$a6814960$40002a0a@frp.com> Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Whilst I can see the benefit of this programme, it does seem to go against established Church policy. I find it odd that units would so readily comply with the "no unit web sites" rule and yet happily expose membership data through this medium. Andrew R. --- In ldsclerks at yahoogroups.com, "Greg A. Anderson" wrote: > > You can get more info at > http://hcgl.eng.ohio-state.edu/~mills/WardInfo/WardInfo.html > > The programs are great and provide information in a very usable format for > both PDAs and home computers. Our leaders are no addicted to the files I > send monthly and tell me they could not function without them. We are using > just about every option it has and it has been a long time getting it all > going. I will be doing a demo in our next Priesthood Leadership meeting to > show others what they are missing out on. > > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-ldsclerks at ... > [mailto:owner-ldsclerks at ...] On Behalf Of simonsen > Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 11:18 AM > To: ldsclerks at ... > Cc: simonsen > Subject: Re: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? > > Greg A. Anderson wrote: > > > >For ours, I stopped updating it in 2005 just to see if anyone would notice. > >I had the first person ask me last week. So it went well over a year > without > >anyone even noticing the information had not been updated. We decided not > to > >waste any more resources on it. It is too cumbersome to update and keep > >updated and there are not enough dedicated people in our stake to do it and > >not enough interest in using it. For information spreading we use Doug > >Mills' ward/stake info programs for the leaders along with a FTP site, that > >I host, for the current printable Stake Directory, Stake Calendar and news > >distribution. I update each of these every Fast Sunday. It seems to work > >well. > > > >Greg A. Anderson > >ByondF1's Hi-Tech Superstore - http://byondf1.com > >- > >The LDS Banner Exchange - http://ldsbe.com > >LDSircNet - An On-line LDS Community - http://ldsirc.net > > > > > > > I am not familiar with "Doug Mills' ward/stak info programs for > leaders" What is this? How do I find out > more? > Thanks, > Richard Simonsen > Santa Maria California > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From drepouille at hotmail.com Thu Jan 4 06:00:38 2007 From: drepouille at hotmail.com (Dana Repouille) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 07:00:38 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <459C8A4F.7080801@xmission.com> Message-ID: <006801c72ff7$f2f5a180$0301a8c0@3nnwq61> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. A few years ago, in April of that year, the stake FHC director (my wife) added a Family History Fair to the calendar in October of that year. She got it approved by the Stake PEC and added to the calendar on the stake web site. Later that year, the Relief Societies of the wards that met in our chapel got together and announced a Super Saturday for Sisters (in our chapel) on the same day as the Family History Fair (in the stake center). My wife asked why they would choose a date she had already reserved. Didn't they check the stake calendar on the web site? Their reply was, "What web site? We just looked at the printed stake calendar, and the date was clear." Their compromise was to suggest that the sisters go to both events. Sigh My motto is "As soon as you print it, it becomes obsolete." Dana (the Oracle DBA) -----Original Message----- From: owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com [mailto:owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com] On Behalf Of Chuck Johnson I generate the paper calendar for the stake. I tried to press the issue of using the web page for calendaring, but there was no interest. We're also on our FOURTH printing before the new year even began (and someone discovered another error last Sunday.) I have very little confidence that things calendared a year from now will be accurate - and once it's printed, there's NO way to make sure everyone gets the "replacement" pages. Still, the printed page is what everyone seems to want. >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From pete_arnett at hotmail.com Thu Jan 4 09:06:00 2007 From: pete_arnett at hotmail.com (pete_arnett) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 10:06:00 -0500 Subject: LDSC: DST Time Zone Update for 2007 Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Any word from Headquarters ---------------------------------- Microsoft Desktop Patch: MS KB928388: MS US DST Time Zone Update for 2007 "Starting in the spring of 2007, daylight saving time (DST), start and end dates for the United States will transition to comply with the Energy Policy Act of 2005. DST dates in the United States will start three weeks earlier (2:00 A.M. on the second Sunday in March) and will end one week later (2:00 A.M. on the first Sunday in November)." The update that this article describes changes the time zone data to account for the United States DST change. This time zone update will also include changes for other related DST changes, time zone behavior, and settings. Some of these changes will occur in 2007, and some have occurred since these versions of Windows were originally released. The update that this article describes also includes some changes that have previously been released as individual hotfixes. An example of this is the Sri Lanka change in time zone offset. This update will also include some changes that have been individually documented in Microsoft Knowledge Base articles." For more information about Windows DST, please visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928388 >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From tlwalker at nethere.com Thu Jan 4 10:00:05 2007 From: tlwalker at nethere.com (Tom Walker) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:00:05 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <459C8A4F.7080801@xmission.com> References: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> <459A88F3.3080900@nethere.com> <001d01c72fa7$e15b9d30$26a0fea9@BLUE> <459C8A4F.7080801@xmission.com> Message-ID: <459D2485.5000505@nethere.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I always thought a Paper Back Stake calendar was a Criminal Waste of tithing Dollars .And for Three years we went without one. NOW the "Squeaky Wheels" have won out and we are printing another one!! :-( :-( Tom Walker El Cajon Calif Stake Granite Hills Ward Chuck Johnson wrote: > >> From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription >> instructions and list URL. > > > I am ward administrator, but NOTHING has been updated on our web page > in a couple of years. The last I checked there were less than a dozen > people signed up, and almost all of them were in leadership > positions. No one has submitted anything, and no one has complained. > > I generate the paper calendar for the stake. I tried to press the > issue of using the web page for calendaring, but there was no > interest. We're also on our FOURTH printing before the new year even > began (and someone discovered another error last Sunday.) I have very > little confidence that things calendared a year from now will be > accurate - and once it's printed, there's NO way to make sure everyone > gets the "replacement" pages. Still, the printed page is what > everyone seems to want. > > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From Steve.Neeland at ingrambook.com Thu Jan 4 10:33:40 2007 From: Steve.Neeland at ingrambook.com (Neeland, Steve) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 11:33:40 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? Message-ID: <61F9465B7871FA4AAF36C89DCC2064B919FF3152@IBC2K3EXCH.ingrambook.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. We have been pretty fortunate so far with our ward calendar usage. I do give extra attention to keeping it updated. I have the advantage of being in lots of meetings so I get info for any calendar changes needed. I update the calendar right away. Our auxiliary leaders check the online calendar for scheduling conflicts and availability. Our sacrament bulletin gets manually fed from the online calendar. Our ward leadership meeting agendas also get their updates from the online calendar. The single reference point helps to reduce confusion. I too would look forward to the recurring events being saved as individual events. If you want to update one event within the recurring schedule (say a PEC meeting is cancelled) it effects all the events. It takes a little time during setup, but I have to enter each event individually. I've learned to use the BACK browser button pretty well..... The ability to print the membership phone list has been nice. My requests on Sunday have dropped dramatically since we have broadcast that ability. We have had some positive experiences with members researching areas to move to, read the message on our primary site page and visited our services. If the little maintenance nuances I deal with help bring the sheep to our flock then I consider it a success. I'm sure our desires are being noted and discussed. From reading this list, the OSS list and some other stuff it appears they have a lot of projects in the works. Should be an interesting year... I too agree with an earlier statement that this is in its infancy and is sure to improve with time, constructive suggestions and resource availability with the development staff. Just think back to some of the earlier releases of MLS to put it into perspective.... Steve -----Original Message----- From: owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com [mailto:owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com] On Behalf Of Tom Walker Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 10:00 AM To: ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com Cc: Chuck Johnson; Tom Walker Subject: Re: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I always thought a Paper Back Stake calendar was a Criminal Waste of tithing Dollars .And for Three years we went without one. NOW the "Squeaky Wheels" have won out and we are printing another one!! :-( :-( Tom Walker El Cajon Calif Stake Granite Hills Ward Chuck Johnson wrote: > >> From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription >> instructions and list URL. > > > I am ward administrator, but NOTHING has been updated on our web page > in a couple of years. The last I checked there were less than a dozen > people signed up, and almost all of them were in leadership > positions. No one has submitted anything, and no one has complained. > > I generate the paper calendar for the stake. I tried to press the > issue of using the web page for calendaring, but there was no > interest. We're also on our FOURTH printing before the new year even > began (and someone discovered another error last Sunday.) I have very > little confidence that things calendared a year from now will be > accurate - and once it's printed, there's NO way to make sure everyone > gets the "replacement" pages. Still, the printed page is what > everyone seems to want. > > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From cwha at ldskc.org Thu Jan 4 11:24:03 2007 From: cwha at ldskc.org (Chuck Anderson) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:24:03 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <459D2485.5000505@nethere.com> Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I agree -- "Paper" Stake Calendars are a Criminal waste of resources. Thus, we simply print the "online" calendar to a PDF document, and then email the PDF document to those who want a paper calendar. We still don't waste paper. Fortunately, in our stake all leaders have email. Chuck Anderson chuck at ldskc.org On Jan 4, 2007, at 10:00 AM, Tom Walker wrote: > > I always thought a Paper Back Stake calendar was a Criminal Waste > of tithing Dollars .And for Three years we went without one. NOW > the "Squeaky Wheels" have won out and we are printing another > one!! :-( :-( > > Tom Walker > El Cajon Calif Stake > Granite Hills Ward > > Chuck Johnson wrote: >> >> I am ward administrator, but NOTHING has been updated on our web >> page in a couple of years. The last I checked there were less >> than a dozen people signed up, and almost all of them were in >> leadership positions. No one has submitted anything, and no one >> has complained. >> >> I generate the paper calendar for the stake. I tried to press the >> issue of using the web page for calendaring, but there was no >> interest. We're also on our FOURTH printing before the new year >> even began (and someone discovered another error last Sunday.) I >> have very little confidence that things calendared a year from now >> will be accurate - and once it's printed, there's NO way to make >> sure everyone gets the "replacement" pages. Still, the printed >> page is what everyone seems to want. >> >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From jguest at brazoriainet.com Thu Jan 4 11:37:10 2007 From: jguest at brazoriainet.com (Jim Guest) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:37:10 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? References: <4599426E.40109@nethere.com> <459A88F3.3080900@nethere.com> <001d01c72fa7$e15b9d30$26a0fea9@BLUE> <459C8A4F.7080801@xmission.com> <459D2485.5000505@nethere.com> Message-ID: <003d01c73026$f7bb0d70$6600a8c0@JIMSCOMPUTER> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Walker" > I always thought a Paper Back Stake calendar was a Criminal Waste of > tithing Dollars .And for Three years we went without one. NOW the > "Squeaky Wheels" have won out and we are printing another one!! > :-( :-( ======================================= In my case I have been the squeaky wheel. When I first found out that stakes could sign up for the stake and ward site a few years ago I contacted our Stake President and he signed up for them. That's probably been six or seven years ago. I "volunteered" to be called as the administrator, both for the stake and my ward. It's been slow going with the wards and branches, but we have made headway in getting the leadership to at least use the calendar. The use of these sites depends largely on the Stake Presidents and the Bishops. If they are computer literate and want them used , they will be. My Stake President had said that the stake calendar on the stake site will be the stake calendar and anyone wanting to schedule a stake event will do it on the stake site. Two years ago he said that the stake will no longer print a stake directory. It is expensive and more updated information is on the ward and stake sites. My Bishop at the time was a little slow warming up to use of the ward site calendar, but he too declared that the ward site calendar would be the one to schedule ward events on. I haven't pushed using anything past the calendar. I do put the ward lesson schedules on. I used to have problems getting stake information because the stake exec. secy. who was supposed to be my contact with the stake, was not all that, well, consistent. That has changed now. After ten years I have been released as ward clerk and ward administrator, but the new clerk is the administrator and he's probably more efficient about it than I was. I'm still stake administrator and my former Bishop is now the stake exec. secy. so I get much more information from the stake level. I have found a few shortcuts. One is that I don't use the "time" feature for scheduling events. It takes up too much room on the calendar. I just write in the time in the event slot in front of the event, like "9am to 12pm Stake Pinewood Derby". I think the system is working about as good as can be expected here. "Older" people still hold most of the positions in the wards and stakes. They were not "raised" with computers. Many of us take to them because of the need to use them at work, or as in my case (I'm 74 next month) loving to learn using them since way back when. I owned two Commodore computers before getting my first PC. (It was an XT Clone. Ran at 10 MHz. 20Meg hard drive.) But I see the problems we have with the system is because the Church is ahead of most of the members, which is a good thing. In another twenty years it will be different. The "computer generation" will be in responsible church positions. That's when the potential of the computer in the Church will be appreciated by those who hold positions on the stake and ward levels. Jim Guest >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From Go4milk at aol.com Thu Jan 4 11:47:22 2007 From: Go4milk at aol.com (Big Al) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 12:47:22 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Sunday Bulletin Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I am the Executive Secretary (and web administrator) for our ward and have learned much through this group. THANKS! Now the Bishop has asked if I could take over the Sunday bulletin when the current person moves out next week. Since I am privy to the goings on he figures it may be something I could handle fairly easily. My question is, does anyone here have a template of a ward bulletin in the tri-fold (legal paper) version that they might share? The current one we have is two-fold but the Bishop would like more info included in future bulletins. I have Word at home and Open Office at the Church. I could figure something out (on short notice) but thought if someone has something already made up that is working, I might get some ideas from it. BTW too, we have 24 ward members signed up at the website location and I know of at least 3 that use it regularly. I am planning a Saturday session next month, to train anyone interested in learnin more to come down to the church building. I will have my laptop and clearwire unit to access the web. We will see how it turns out. Al >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From webmaster at byondf1.com Thu Jan 4 12:00:06 2007 From: webmaster at byondf1.com (Greg A. Anderson) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:00:06 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <000801c7302a$2c0456b0$a901a8c0@frp.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. What policy would that be? We are not maintaining a directory, we are simply carrying it with us. It is no different then printing a copy and keeping it in a binder. The program makes sure that only people that need information for their callings are the ones that get that particular information. And all data is password protected when it is emailed. -----Original Message----- From: owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com [mailto:owner-ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com] On Behalf Of Andrew R. Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 2:45 AM To: ldsclerks at MormonsToday.com Cc: Andrew R. Subject: Re: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Whilst I can see the benefit of this programme, it does seem to go against established Church policy. I find it odd that units would so readily comply with the "no unit web sites" rule and yet happily expose membership data through this medium. Andrew R. --- In ldsclerks at yahoogroups.com, "Greg A. Anderson" wrote: > > You can get more info at > http://hcgl.eng.ohio-state.edu/~mills/WardInfo/WardInfo.html > > The programs are great and provide information in a very usable format for > both PDAs and home computers. Our leaders are no addicted to the files I > send monthly and tell me they could not function without them. We are using > just about every option it has and it has been a long time getting it all > going. I will be doing a demo in our next Priesthood Leadership meeting to > show others what they are missing out on. > > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-ldsclerks at ... > [mailto:owner-ldsclerks at ...] On Behalf Of simonsen > Sent: Wednesday, January 03, 2007 11:18 AM > To: ldsclerks at ... > Cc: simonsen > Subject: Re: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? > > Greg A. Anderson wrote: > > > >For ours, I stopped updating it in 2005 just to see if anyone would notice. > >I had the first person ask me last week. So it went well over a year > without > >anyone even noticing the information had not been updated. We decided not > to > >waste any more resources on it. It is too cumbersome to update and keep > >updated and there are not enough dedicated people in our stake to do it and > >not enough interest in using it. For information spreading we use Doug > >Mills' ward/stake info programs for the leaders along with a FTP site, that > >I host, for the current printable Stake Directory, Stake Calendar and news > >distribution. I update each of these every Fast Sunday. It seems to work > >well. > > > >Greg A. Anderson > >ByondF1's Hi-Tech Superstore - http://byondf1.com > >- > >The LDS Banner Exchange - http://ldsbe.com > >LDSircNet - An On-line LDS Community - http://ldsirc.net > > > > > > > I am not familiar with "Doug Mills' ward/stak info programs for > leaders" What is this? How do I find out > more? > Thanks, > Richard Simonsen > Santa Maria California > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From bpcuster at yahoo.com Thu Jan 4 12:33:13 2007 From: bpcuster at yahoo.com (Bishop Custer) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 13:33:13 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <6204.16201.qm@web37204.mail.mud.yahoo.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Eric - AMEN to all your suggestions - wonderful! I would love to do half the things you suggested. Eric Bunker wrote: > >Kent, > >I think that it is very clear that most members do not use the church's >stake and ward websites. On one end is the the paper generation people who >are uncomfortable with and/or do do not like interfacing with computers. >One the other end, tech savvy people find it technically out of date, >annoying to use and difficult to keep up to date with other software >systems working better. As it stands it is a mal-fit for most members and >is often viewed as a cumbersome orphaned step-child one has to keep up to >satisfy church leadership. However, with the diligence of a good clerk it >can be a good tool as it is. > >The tech heads want a better designed website, which may help a bit, but I >personally don't think that allowing technical people to solve a >sociological problem is going to fix it. The problem is not mainly a tech >problem but an interfacing problem. > >We can strong-arm people into putting more man hours into web updates and >cajole members from the pulpit to go along with the program and use it as >is. That will help a bit, but in a totally volunteer organization that >never is a very good long-term solution. Sooner or later, to be used, it >has to feel and be useful to the ordinary member to the point where it >becomes indispensable. > >Since the solution to the problem is in its usefulness, to that end I >think that the following is a must. > >1. MLS and the web must be connected completely. >a. Clerks, via the web can access and change MLS data anywhere, including >a go to my PC type function, so they are not confined to the office to do >much of their work. >b. Organization Presidencies, can access and change relevant MLS data via >the web including home and visiting teaching lists and stats, keep track >of allotted budgets, and submit member contact and address changes. >c. Members can report home and visiting teaching efforts, access and >change personal MLS data via the web, including contact information, >address data which could automatically if they desired, send membership >files to their new ward along with the ability to submit contact and >address information for inactive family members and friends who have moved >or have lost contact with the church. >d. The web and MLS needs to be the place to store, track and disseminate >information for all of the youth award programs, such as Faith in God, >Duty to God, Young Women in Excellence and Scouting, assessable to both >the leaders and parents. > >2. All buildings need to have Wi-Fi access so that every bishopric, ward >council and organization presidencies can be on the ward's website in >every council and presidency meeting, viewing, updating and disseminating >information in real time along with having access to all the approved >church websites. This would reduce physical time spent in administrative >meetings along with lowering our printing and paper cost significantly. > >3. All buildings need to have a terminal and printer in a publicly >assessable place for members to use or for someone to use for them that >will only connect to church approved websites to do all of the above in #1 >when ever a clerk is present in the building to oversee it. > >4. The church needs to develop and/or allow privately developed programs >to automatically update a member's PDA, phones, laptops or desktop units >with directories, contact data and calendars from the Ward's or stake web >in a stand along program so that members will not have the need to be on >the web to access the most current data or to do many keystrokes to >process it. > >5. MLS and the web needs the ability to track contact information for >individual members and not just households, which should included home, >cell, work and one or two email addresses according to the desire of the >member and parents for minors. > >6. In regards to printing lists and data, MLS and the Ward and stake >Websites need to allow users via the print command button, to select where >the data is to be dumped whether it be the church's preformatted lists or >user selected formats such as Word, Excel or other such programs without >the need of doing any fancy keystrokes or making confusing formatting >decisions only understood by tech savvy people. > >7. Even though the size of the church and security concerns naturally >would inhibit the responsiveness to member feedback, church tech >administration need to be much better connected and amenable to the >requests and needs of the members. This is clearly an administrative, >policy and staffing problem. > >With the church becoming a worldwide concern, I don't think that is now >very helpful to this situation as it is also in other many other >administrative functions to have so many native Utah people in >professional appointed administrative positions at church headquarters. > >In our attempt to build much needed meetinghouses, we have run headlong >into this problem. The policies and processes to build meetinghouses that >work well in LDS dominated Utah, were often very counterproductive for use >here in Arizona and it put is about 6 years behind in getting necessary >building up in place. We are gaining but not caught up, with part of the >problem due to a somewhat arrogant Utah mindset of an older generation of >former administrators who very gladly now have been replaced, at least in >this area. > >Eric > >Clerk >Queen Creek Arizona Stake > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From joel at finlinson.net Thu Jan 4 13:19:18 2007 From: joel at finlinson.net (Joel Finlinson) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 14:19:18 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: [ldsclerks] Digest Number 1447 In-Reply-To: Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. On 3 Jan 2007 23:21:07 -0000, ldsclerks at yahoogroups.com > Yes, I would say that usage for most wards/branches/stakes is low. I signed up, looked around, and haven't used it since. I only know about 4 for 5 people in my ward who use it. When we have to force/encourage/entice/assign/direct (insert any other word you'd like) people to use the Ward and Stake websites, is something not obviously too difficult and broken? Many church members are using all kinds of free email accounts, instant messaging, blogs, foto sharing websites like Flicker, MySpace, DSL/cable/wireless connections......without any encouragement at all! I would imagine that Doug's WardInfo program, Firefox web browser, OpenOffice.org, AVG or AVast, Google's products of Picasa, Earth, Toolbar, Desktop, etc. are also on many church members' computers with little or no encouragement. What's the difference between all these and the lds.org W&S websites? Ease of use in signing up and navigation? Accurate and current content? If we can figure that out, we'll be on the way to getting better participation. JOEL >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From russellhltn at gmail.com Thu Jan 4 13:22:00 2007 From: russellhltn at gmail.com (RussellHltn) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 14:22:00 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <002b01c72f7e$72965cb0$fd02000a@MarkWD800> Message-ID: <005f01c73035$9d5bfd80$6401a8c0@cciclass4> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. Reading the responses so far, I think we're about the middle. The stake said "we're not printing - go to the website" so all of our leaders are signed up. But I don't think it's trickled down to the rank-n-file membership. Why should they? They get handed a program every Sunday. Unless you are a leader, why do you need to think ahead more then a couple of weeks or need numbers other then Bishop, EQ pres, RS pres, etc? I think a lot of the problems are that there's simply not much compelling to make someone go to the site. It's a fine reference site, but not something you'd visit regularly. But as a reference site, it's something of a hassle, with trying to remember your login, etc. Frankly I've been surprised at the CIO's blog. It makes it sound like there's someone at the top. That sure isn't what I've seen so far. Why did/does FamilySearch have a separate login from the local units? (Left hand, meet right hand. Right, left) Yeah, I understand the need to limit things to members and all, but I think it's created a major barrier. Oddly enough, if you go to the CES website, you can see leaders and calendars and all kinds of things without a login of any kind. Try this one: http://www.lds.org/institutes/home/0,8473,768-1-36-60251,00.html Interesting that the church handles it's students differently then the general membership. As for the local unit websites, I have my share of complaint about the calendar. Unable to make changes to individual items for re-occurring events. (A Palm handles that quite nicely asking if a given change is for this event or for all of repeating events or even "from now on".) I assume that quite a few have been through Franken Planer's classes given how popular they were. Don't they remember the commandment "thou shalt have but one calendar"? Having multiple calendars makes it far to easy to create conflicts. So why do we have a "resource" calendar that is totally unconnected with the main events calendar? The two do influences each other. As it stands now, our stake exec sec simply schedules buildings in the main stake calendar. What needs to happen is the main calendar allows scheduling of resources as a check box for what's going to be used. And the ability to "pad" the event for resource planning. Parties use the facility for hours before the main event. >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From larson at aznex.net Thu Jan 4 13:42:17 2007 From: larson at aznex.net (Reed) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 14:42:17 -0500 Subject: LDSC: MLS data export In-Reply-To: <000801c7302a$2c0456b0$a901a8c0@frp.com> Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. There is an implicit but obvious endorsement by CHQ of applications like WardInfo because MLS does in fact export. One of the export options is even "export to Palm" or some such verbiage. . . I really like WardInfo, at both the ward and stake levels. . . -----Original Message----- What policy would that be? We are not maintaining a directory, we are simply carrying it with us. It is no different then printing a copy and keeping it in a binder. The program makes sure that only people that need information for their callings are the ones that get that particular information. And all data is password protected when it is emailed. -----Original Message----- Whilst I can see the benefit of this programme, it does seem to go against established Church policy. I find it odd that units would so readily comply with the "no unit web sites" rule and yet happily expose membership data through this medium. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.432 / Virus Database: 268.16.5/616 - Release Date: 1/4/2007 1:34 PM >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From tlwalker at nethere.com Thu Jan 4 18:26:27 2007 From: tlwalker at nethere.com (Tom Walker) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 19:26:27 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Sunday Bulletin In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <459D9B33.7010003@nethere.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I have never done it but it should not be too hard to make a Three Column Landscape document for Legal paper in either4 Word or Open Office. OF course if someone has already made a template that would be perfect. Tom Walker El Cajon Granite hills Ward Big Al wrote: >>From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. > > >I am the Executive Secretary (and web administrator) for our ward and >have learned much through this group. THANKS! Now the Bishop has asked >if I could take over the Sunday bulletin when the current person moves >out next week. Since I am privy to the goings on he figures it may be >something I could handle fairly easily. My question is, does anyone >here have a template of a ward bulletin in the tri-fold (legal paper) >version that they might share? The current one we have is two-fold but >the Bishop would like more info included in future bulletins. I have >Word at home and Open Office at the Church. I could figure something >out (on short notice) but thought if someone has something already made >up that is working, I might get some ideas from it. > >BTW too, we have 24 ward members signed up at the website location and I >know of at least 3 that use it regularly. I am planning a Saturday >session next month, to train anyone interested in learnin more to come >down to the church building. I will have my laptop and clearwire unit >to access the web. We will see how it turns out. > >Al > > > >>From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. >See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ > >Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com >To join: subscribe ldsclerks >To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks >To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest > > > > > >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From reggie at internet49.com Thu Jan 4 20:50:23 2007 From: reggie at internet49.com (Reggie) Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2007 21:50:23 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Sunday Bulletin References: <459D9B33.7010003@nethere.com> Message-ID: <002701c73074$3fe54c80$6900a8c0@monster> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. This is a multi-part message in MIME format. -------------- next part -------------- Tom See if this will this work . Reggie CSHI Computer Service Including Computer Services for the Hearing Impaired Reggie & Janice Key ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tom Walker" To: Cc: "Big Al" ; "Tom Walker" Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 4:26 PM Subject: Re: LDSC: Sunday Bulletin > > I have never done it but it should not be too hard to make a Three Column > Landscape document for Legal paper in either4 Word or Open Office. > OF course if someone has already made a template that would be perfect. > > Tom Walker > El Cajon Granite hills Ward > > Big Al wrote: >> >>I am the Executive Secretary (and web administrator) for our ward and >>have learned much through this group. THANKS! Now the Bishop has asked >>if I could take over the Sunday bulletin when the current person moves >>out next week. Since I am privy to the goings on he figures it may be >>something I could handle fairly easily. My question is, does anyone >>here have a template of a ward bulletin in the tri-fold (legal paper) >>version that they might share? The current one we have is two-fold but >>the Bishop would like more info included in future bulletins. I have >>Word at home and Open Office at the Church. I could figure something >>out (on short notice) but thought if someone has something already made >>up that is working, I might get some ideas from it. >> >>BTW too, we have 24 ward members signed up at the website location and I >>know of at least 3 that use it regularly. I am planning a Saturday >>session next month, to train anyone interested in learnin more to come >>down to the church building. I will have my laptop and clearwire unit >>to access the web. We will see how it turns out. >> >>Al >> -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: 3 colomms landscap legal .doc Type: application/msword Size: 20992 bytes Desc: not available Url : http://lists.mormonstoday.com/pipermail/ldsclerks/attachments/20070104/7c17aec6/attachment-0002.doc From Steve.Neeland at ingrambook.com Fri Jan 5 07:47:31 2007 From: Steve.Neeland at ingrambook.com (Neeland, Steve) Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2007 08:47:31 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? Message-ID: <61F9465B7871FA4AAF36C89DCC2064B919FF3166@IBC2K3EXCH.ingrambook.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Guest" <> ...After ten years I have been released as ward clerk and ward Administrator... ======================================= 10 years?? I've been doing this for two and I'm already drained. I salute you! Steve >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From mwallred at yahoo.com Fri Jan 5 08:22:22 2007 From: mwallred at yahoo.com (Marty Allred) Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2007 09:22:22 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: Message-ID: >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. --- In ldsclerks at yahoogroups.com, "Kent S. Larsen II" wrote: > > In part of the discussion, we talked about Internet usage by > LDS Church members, and the relatively low number that access > the Church-operated websites for wards and branches. > I think that low usage is caused by poor updating. Anyone that has gone to a website regularly and finds that it isn't being kept up-to-date will stop using it and will not recommend it to others. In a ward where it was being maintained, a lot of us used it. We had a high percentage of the active members registered. Once it wasn't kept up (and in my new ward) people stopped using it because they knew that the information was outdated and missing or incomplete. "Build it and they will come" has some truth to it. The problem is, they won't come back unless you maintain it. The [lack of] ease with which it is maintained is probably a contributing factor, but mostly I think it's just that people haven't been promoting it enough, especially to the leadership who should be submitting events for the calendar with useful information to go along with them. It would also be nice if the church had a mapping service so that you could include a map or a link to a map in the announcements. Marty Allred Columbia, SC >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From bpcuster at yahoo.com Fri Jan 5 09:00:57 2007 From: bpcuster at yahoo.com (Bishop Custer) Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2007 10:00:57 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? Message-ID: <200701051916.l05JGl2I030528@mormonstoday.propagation.net> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. HERE, HERE! Jim - you're an example to us all! God bless, - bp. c. "Neeland, Steve" wrote: 10 years?? I've been doing this for two and I'm already drained. I salute you! Steve From: "Jim Guest" <> ...After ten years I have been released as ward clerk and ward Administrator... ======================================= >From ldsclerks: Please do not send copyrighted material to ldsclerks. See list info at: http://www.MormonsToday.com/ldsclerks/ Send commands in the body of a message to majordomo at MormonsToday.com To join: subscribe ldsclerks To leave: unsubscribe ldsclerks To join digest: subscribe ldsclerks-digest From tlwalker at nethere.com Fri Jan 5 10:03:40 2007 From: tlwalker at nethere.com (Tom Walker) Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2007 11:03:40 -0500 Subject: LDSC: Re: Is use of ward & stake websites low everywhere? In-Reply-To: <61F9465B7871FA4AAF36C89DCC2064B919FF3166@IBC2K3EXCH.ingrambook.com> References: <61F9465B7871FA4AAF36C89DCC2064B919FF3166@IBC2K3EXCH.ingrambook.com> Message-ID: <459E76DC.9020902@nethere.com> >From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list URL. I was a Ward Finance Clerk for 19 1/2 Years and Loved it. I was moved up to Ward Clerk with a bishopric Change two years ago and frankly I HATE it. It is the Most demoralizing And Depressing Church Calling I have ever had. Tom Walker Neeland, Steve wrote: >>From LDSClerks: Please see bottom of this message for subscription instructions and list UR