Mormon church launching major Web upgrade

SALT LAKE — A major upgrade to the official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is being launched next week after three months of beta testing by tens of thousands of users.

Beginning Tuesday, the address www.lds.org will point to the new website, which, since August, has been accessible at new.lds.org.

The new site design is "warm and inviting, featuring an abundance of images, videos and articles," said Lee Gibbons, director of LDS.org. "Homepage features emphasize doctrines, highlight the ministry of church leaders and show members living lives that are exemplary as followers of Jesus Christ."

Content on the site includes scriptures, church magazines and manuals, general conference addresses, music and a media library of video and audio recordings and images.

Among new features is an individualized "My Study Notebook" function that allows registered users to annotate, highlight and underscore the scriptures and other study materials. The function, accessible via mobile Internet devices as well as personal computers, even allows users to store personal journal entries.

In addition to the personal study tools, the new site's log-in capability allows church members and leaders to access new versions of their ward and stake directories and calendars. Members can edit their own directory information and upload pictures of individuals and families. A church member can see a map of his own ward boundaries — including a satellite view — identifying the homes of members in the ward.

A "Church News and Events" section brings together headlines and links to the church's official news sources, including the Public Affairs Newsroom, church magazines, the Mormon Channel and LDS Church News (a supplement to the Deseret News).

A section called "Prophets and Apostles Speak Today" chronicles the church activities of church leaders and provides access to their speeches, recent and past.

New church administrative handbooks, introduced Nov. 13 in a worldwide leadership training broadcast, are available on the new site; Handbook 2, for priesthood and auxiliary leaders, is freely accessible, while Handbook 1 can be viewed by bishops and stake presidents. In addition, text, audio and video content from the broadcast itself will also be on the new site, in 40 languages.

Initially available in English, Spanish and German, the new website over the next several months will be offered in eight additional languages: Portuguese, French, Italian, Russian, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin and Cantonese.

e-mail: rscott@desnews.com