Release Notes

The 2.1 release of the Biographical database will introduce Ordinances as the next major structural elements of the database along with People, Organizations, and Positions. While not every person in the database will include data about ordinances, this new ability to include ordinances going forward will provide improved functionality and search options.

Some ordinances have been visible in past iterations; this release takes a more comprehensive approach. For future datasets, all milestone ordinances in a person’s life that have been performed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be available to be associated to a person in the database. This release will allow users to search for ordinances, view a detailed page for each ordinance, filter search results for people by the ordinances in their timeline, and view individual ordinances as events on a person’s timeline.

There are no plans at this time to retroactively add previously missing ordinances to all individuals in the database. This database will not include a complete list of all ordinances for every person, but as additional datasets are added, the ordinance data will become more complete.

Additionally, interface enhancements will be implemented to give Person, Organization, Position, and Ordinance pages a common look and feel. For example, summary cards at the top of the page will have similar layouts. These pages will also be adjusted to have a common set of tabs, for ease of navigation, rather than a single long-scroll page. These tabs include Overview (for long-format descriptions), Timeline, Media, and Sources. A reference ID (RID) will be added to every entity in the database that can be used in searches and for quick reference to any person, organization, position, or ordinance.

Other enhancements will include the ability to provide in-depth participation details about a person’s involvement in an organization and the ability to indicate a person’s national or ethnic identity, as well as details about alternate names and a new sharing menu on all detail pages.

Specific enhancements to support this new structure are noted below.

View the Biographical Database 2.0 Release Notes

 

 

Learn about the following updates Included Ordinances General Updates Search Results Page Person Page Updates Ordinance Page Updates

 

Specific ordinances that can be added include:

• Naming and Blessing
• Baptism
• Rebaptism
• Confirmation
• Conferral of the Aaronic Priesthood
• Conferral of the Melchizedek Priesthood
• Ordination to the Office of Deacon
• Ordination to the Office of Teacher
• Ordination to the Office of Priest
• Ordination to the Office of Elder
• Ordination to the Office of High Priest
• Ordination to the Office of Seventy
• Ordination to the Office of Apostle
• Initiatory and Endowment
• Sealing to Spouse
• Sealing to Parents
• Sealing of Adoption

Person, Organization, Position, and Ordinance Pages

• Removed featured images behind the Overview Cards
• Added featured images to all Overview Cards
• Added an entity tag to all Overview Cards
• Added an entity type to all Overview Cards
• Added a public Reference ID (RID) to all Overview Cards using the following format:
  • PER-XXXXXXX (for people)
  • ORG-XXXXXXX (for organizations)
  • POS-XXXXXXX (for positions)
  • ORD-XXXXXXX (for ordinances)
• Added a Sharing Menu to all Overview Cards that include options to:
  • Share to Facebook
  • Share to X
  • Share via Email
  • Print
  • Copy Link
• Removed sharing options below the Overview Card
• Added a Name details section that provides notes and sources if there are multiple names
• Added the ability to add a long-format description to a page
  • Descriptions include the ability to add subheadings, links, basic formatting (bold, italics, underline), and footnotes
  • Footnotes can be text only or include a source
  • All sources in footnotes are included in the Sources tab
• Added tabs to pages for ease of navigation. Tabs include:
  • Overview
  • Timeline
  • Media
  • Sources

Enhanced the Search Bar

• Added the following options to the prefilter dropdown:
• “Ordinances”
• For all prefilter options, if a RID is searched for, results will include that entity (if the prefilter matches the RID entity type) and any entities associated with it

General

Added a new tab for ordinances.

Added RID to search results for person, organization, position, ordinance

Person Filters Updates

Added a new Ordinance filter category

• “OrdinanceName” (multi-select dropdown)
• “YearsOrdinance was Received” (text fields)

Ordinance 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)
• “YearsInstituted” (text fields)
• Location
  • “Place” (text field)
  • “Years Associated with Place” (text fields)
  • “Instituted Here” (check box)

Overview Card

• Removed “View in FamilySearch” and “Attach Source to FamilyTree”
• Added a More Options Menu that includes
  • “View in FamilySearch”
  • “Attach Source to FamilyTree”
• Added Birthplace
• Added Death Place
• Added National/Ethnic Identity

Timeline

• Added Ordinances as a Filter Activities option
• Added Ordinance Activities
  • Title (linked to Ordinance and other person/people if it is a sealing)
  • Date (Age is calculated)
  • Who performed the ordinance (linked if the person is in the database)
  • Date Details
  • Additional Information
  • Media
• Added the ability to include participation details in Organization Association activities and Position Association activities
  • A link is displayed saying “See all participation details”
  • Link brings up a popup box with a simplified timeline of all information available in the database about how the individual interacted in the organization or position. Each entry is linked to the original source from which the information was derived.

Added Overview Card

• Featured Image
• Ordinance Name
• Date Instituted
• Location Instituted

Added Overview Tab

• Added a link to see those in the database who are listed as receiving the ordinance

Added Timeline Tab

• Added Filter Activities multi-select dropdown with the following options:
  • Vital
  • Other
• Added Vital activities
  • Title
  • Date
  • Date Details
  • Additional Information
  • Media
• Added Custom activities
  • Title
  • Dates
  • Start Date Details
  • End Date Details
  • Additional Information
  • Media

Other

• Added Media tab to display images and other multimedia about the position
• Added Sources tab

The next release of the Biographical Database is 2.2, which will include the addition of places to the database and several visual interface enhancements. A release date has not been determined.