Directory

Once the general production photo shoot has begun, a pictorial directory can also begin to be created in parallel. Basically there are two sections:

• Special photos - Staff, elders etc.
• General populous – parishioner body

Special photos -

The first category, Special photos is comprised of specific groups and activities. The typical categories include staff, elders, volunteers, missionaries and church special events or current activities, etc. If there are other categories desired but not listed, those groups can easily be set up and included in the album. The photos to be viewed for the special categories need to be collected and made available for loading into the specific templates which are available from a menu selection. The desktop publisher, part of the church body, building the pictorial directory will have the flexibility to use any combination of the templates, offering (1-4) photos per page. The choice is made from a pick list when building the album. Along with (1-4) photos per page, there’s room beside each picture on the template to include a title, name, date or some simply verbiage. Once the desired template has been chosen the photos can be placed in that template.

General populous -

The second portion of the directory is the general populous of the family members. These pictures are captured during the photo shoot. Note each family or individual is allowed to choose the photo they want to be included in the directory. The photos designated for the General populous are identified for that use. Every time there is a request to update the General populous directory, the program automatically runs a query and alphabetizes all families by last name included in the field. The output then automatically populates sixteen photos per page and continues the process until the entire field of families has been displayed.

In cases where families want to be included in the directory but have not had a family photo taken, those families will be listed behind all of photographed families.

With a church run photo shoot, make-up sessions can be scheduled and conducted to include those who missed the production run as well as new folks so everyone can be included in the photo directory. Again a simply program query will automatically incorporate all of the latest changes. Using Managed Photos pictorial directory program a church directory never has to be out of date again.

Once a directory has been completed it can be displayed in any number of ways.

• The first and easiest approach is attaching the directory to an organization’s web page for easy home viewing.
• The second option is printing a traditional hard copy. This can be done using church copiers or vending it out to a local printer.
• The third option is to capture given pages and display them on digital signage before and after a service.

With the desktop publishing being managed locally, any changes to the staff or body can quickly be updated. Like wise the pictorial directory can be used in any number of ways as the church owns the content. Owning and managing the content means current activities can always be included and updated into the church directory if desired. These same photos can be shared with other media applications like digital signage.

The link below walks shows a sample of the templates available to build a directory.

Managed Photos album service is offered in conjunction with running a pictorial directory. Managed photos does require an organization have at least one person trained in using the program before that directory building service is made available to end user.