Release Notes
Summary
The 2.0 release is the most significant enhancement of the Biographical Database to date. Since its 2020 launch the database has been used by hundreds of thousands of users who have been able to find valuable information about Pioneers, Missionaries, and Mormon Battalion members. The data was structured to specifically provide information about those who participated in these three groups.
With the release of the Church History Biographical Database 2.0, the database has been restructured to take a more holistic approach to providing information about specific people, organizations, and positions and how they interact with each other as well as the Church. This approach lays the foundation to provide more information at a faster pace, while still including all the same information that users are used to expecting in the database.
For example, the same information on pioneer companies, missions, and Mormon Battalion companies can now be found when searching for organizations and on the individual organization pages. Additionally, information about those who held specific positions in these organizations has now been expanded and made available when searching for positions and on the individual position pages.
Specific enhancements to support this new structure are noted below.
Detailed Updates
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Learn about the following updates |
General Updates
Enhanced Search to provide the ability to prefilter searches (replacing list page functionality)
- Removed pioneer company list pages
- Removed mission list pages
- Removed battalion company list pages
Search bar prefilter dropdown
- Changed options from database centric to object centric (people, organizations, positions, sources)
- Removed the functionality to search across all types of objects so searches are specific to People, Organizations, Positions, Sources
Enhanced all timelines with the following:
- Adjusted sources to appear next to every data point when available
- Removed dataset tabs and replaced with a “Filter Activities” multi-select dropdown
- Modified timeline filters to only show items that are filtered on (removed details about vital information unless selected as a filter option)
- Moved “Date Details” immediately below the title
- Reduced duplication of dates unless a qualifier other than “On” is added
- Added “Additional Information” section to all timeline activities
- Added Custom Data fields
- Added “Notes” field
- Added “Media” section to all timeline activities
- Added Custom Activities to all timelines
Simplified the sources section on all pages to display all sources in a single list
Search Results Page Updates
General
Added a new tab for positions
Removed double stacked tabs by removing dataset tabs and adding them to a dropdown labelled "Categories" in the filters box
People Filter Changes
Adjusted the following:
- Removed "Results for" section
- Added "Clear All" button to clear all filters
- Replaced "Search all Fields" and "Sounds Like" checkboxes with:
- “Exact Match” (checkbox)
- “Search Names Only” (checkbox)
- Add "Categories" dropdown
- Removed "Mission," "Pioneer," and "Mormon Battalion" filters and filter categories
Added the following filter categories and filters:
- Location
- “Place” (text field)
- “Years Associated with Place” (text fields)
- “Born Here” (checkbox)
- “Died Here” (checkbox)
- Organization
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- “Organization Type” (multi-select dropdown)
- “Organization Name” (multi-select dropdown)
- “Years Participated” (text fields)
- “Born as Participant” (checkbox)
- “Died as Participant” (checkbox)
- Position
- “Position Type” (multi-select dropdown)
- “Position Name” (multi-select dropdown)
- “Years Position was Held” (text fields)
- “Died While Holding Position” (checkbox)
Organization Filter Changes
Adjusted the following:
- Removed "Results for" section
- Added "Clear All" button to clear all filters
- Replaced "Search all Fields" and "Sounds Like" checkboxes with:
- “Exact Match” (checkbox)
- “Search Names Only” (checkbox)
- Add "Categories" dropdown
- Removed "Years Organized" text fields
- Removed "Company Type" dropdown
- Removed "Vehicle Type" dropdown
Added the following filter categories and filters:
- “Organization Type” (multi-select dropdown)
- “Organization Name” (multi-select dropdown)
- “Years Formed” (text fields)
- “Years Ended” (text fields)
- “Current Organization” (checkbox)
- Location
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- “Place” (text field)
- “Years Associated with Place” (text fields)
- Formed Here” (check box)
- “Ended Here” (check box)
- Position
- “Position Type” (multi-select dropdown)
- “Position Name” (multi-select dropdown)
- “Years Associated with Position” (text fields)
Position Filter Addition
Added the following filter categories and filters:
- “Clear All” button to clear all filters
- “Exact Match” (checkbox)
- “Search Names Only” (checkbox)
- “Categories” (dropdown)
- “Position Type” (multi-select dropdown)
- “Years Created” (text fields)
- “Years Discontinued” (text fields)
- “Current Position” (checkbox)
- Location
- “Place” (text field)
- “Years Associated with Place” (text fields)
- “Created Here” (check box)
- “Discontinued Here” (check box)
- Organization
- “Organization Type” (multi-select dropdown)
- “Organization Name” (multi-select dropdown)
Sources Filter Changes
Adjusted the following:
- Removed "Results for" section
- Added "Clear All" button to clear all filters
- Replaced "Search all Fields" and "Sounds Like" checkboxes with:
- “Exact Match” (checkbox)
- “Search Names Only” (checkbox)
Person Page Updates
Added “Birthdate” and “Death Date” to the card at the top of the page
Timeline changes:
- Replaced Pioneer activities with Organization Association activities
- Replaced Missionary activities with Organization Association activities
- Replaced Mormon Battalion Activities with Organization Association activities
- Added Organization Association activities
- Title (linked to organization)
- Date (Age is calculated)
- Start Date Details
- End Date Details
- Additional Dates
- Subgroups added to “Additional Information” section
- Added Position Association activities
- Title (linked to position)
- Organization name (linked to Organization)
- Date (Age is calculated)
- Link to see others who concurrently held positions in this organization
- Start Date Details
- End Date Details
- Additional Dates
- Marital Status at Start of Position added to “Additional Information” section
Organization Page Updates
Added card at the top of the page with:
- Background Featured Image
- Primary Name
- Additional Names
- Formed Date
- Location Formed
- Ended Date
- Location Ended
- Organization Participants in Database
Added Overview
Added Parent Organization(s)
Added Vehicle Type
Added links to:
- See All Participants in Organization
- See All Positions in Organization
- See All Child Organizations
- See All Organizations in dataset
Added Timeline
- Added Vital activities
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- Title
- Date
- Date Details
- Related Organizations
- Additional Information
- Media
- Added Change in Head Position Activity
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- Title (linked to person and position)
- Link to See others who concurrently held positions in this organization
- Start Date Details
- End Date Details
- Additional Information
- Media
Added Media section to display images and other multimedia about the organization
Added Sources section
Position Page Updates
Added card at the top of the page with:
- Background Featured Image
- Primary Name
- Additional Names
- Created Date
- Location Created
- Discontinued Date
- Location Discontinued
- Those Who Held the Position in Database
Added Overview
Added links to:
- See All Who Held Position
- See All Positions in dataset
Added Timeline
- Added Vital activities
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- Title
- Date
- Date Details
- Additional Information
- Media
Added Media section to display images and other multimedia about the position
Added Sources section
What's Next?
The next major release of the Biographical Database is 2.1, which will introduce Ordinances as the next core structural element of the database, among other interface enhancements. While a release date has not been determined, you can learn more about these upcoming features here.