User Support Forum

Why does the given name override the preferred name when printing different things? I have Harvey and Gwendolyn who go by Tony and Gwen. I have PC set up that Tony and Gwen are their preferred names. Yet when I do mailing labels for them they come out as Harvey and Gwendolyn. What is the purpose of having a preferred name if it isn't used. One of my friends goes by his middle name so I have put that in the preferred name spot. However, the system prints using his first name -- if I sent something to him with that name on it he would kill me!! I had to change his record to say his middle name was his first. I would rather the system be as accurate as possible for historical purposes. How can I get the preferred name to be used?

Laurie

Still waiting for someone who may know how to retain the "preferred name". Informally it is used but in formal situations it isn't. If the name is preferred shouldn't it be used in all situations? Thanks!

Laurie

Besides a spot for preferred name, there is a bullet to mark as well as a salutation line. When printing labels I think it takes the Salutation line instead of the preferred name line.
I may be wrong, but you might want to check that.

I have someone whose first name is Gladys, but goes by her middle name Margo. I put Margo in the preferred line as well as the salutation line.

I seem to remember from the beta testing that the preferred name usage has been integrated in some areas, and will be intergrated in others eventually. Not sure of the timeline they have for that at all.

I tested your theory Beth and it still doesn't work. I do set up the salutations to reflect the names we call our members. however, I set the family name up to be the given name.

I have one gentleman whose name is Francis but he goes by Fran. The family name is Mr. and Mrs. Francis Smith but the salutation is Fran and Lois. On his individual record it is Francis Smith with the preferred name Fran. I thought a mailing label might be pulled from the family record using the family name of M/M Francis Smith. So I tried pulling an individual mailing label. It still came out with Francis. i frankly can't recall where the preferred name is actually used but it is getting frustrating. Currently that preferred name box does me no good if everything PC+ prints is going to come out with the given name.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Laurie

I guess I've never really noticed how it works with my list. I'll watch next time and see what is happening. No one here has complained, so I just didn't notice.

I only noticed because one of my good friends is named Kenneth but goes by the middle name of Wade. For accuracy and posterity I put Kenneth in the record but he would absolutely shoot me if he got something with Kenneth. That's how I discovered the problem --- a mailing label addressed to Kenneth!

Laurie

I don't see an answer to this question. We had the same problem when printing out mailing labels for the Sunday school children. It printed the given name instead of the preferred name and the family was not happy about that. How do you override this?

I have an example of this problem and hope there is a solution soon. When I print a list of people who have a particular activity assigned to them, it uses the "preferred" name. When I print labels for that same activity, it uses the "given" name. What gives?

This is, unfortunately, the way that it works. Send suggestions to wishlist@powerchurch.com to chime in on the topic!

This is a new post to a very old question, however, I have just started using this resource.

I think the preferred names only print out on reports or labels used in the family mailing list.

If you're printing out something from personal profiles, labels are printed by given names, I believe.

I would like to be able to choose preferred or given. Lots of folks don't use either of their given names. I feel like they don't think we know who they are when we mail out something with anything other than their preferred name.

This is a great wishlist suggestion.

If you are using V10.4 try going to the Personal Profiles window on one of the names that you want to use the preferred name. In that window you will find at the right center of the window a selection option of Name Format and select "Preferred" and see if this resolves your problem.