Generating your directory, subdirectories and addendums

In this Article

Create or Edit your PDF Password

We strongly urge you to always have a password on your PDF directories. To create or edit one, go to Share PDF and you will see that creating a PDF password is the very first thing to do. 

Create a strong password for the protection of your information by including letters, numbers, and special characters. We do not put any restrictions on what you need to include in your password, however. 

When you  generate or update a directory, addendum, or subdirectory PDF, it will inherit the current password that is set. You can edit the PDF password, and then each PDF you generate or update after making a change will inherit the new password.  

If you do not have a password on your PDF, you will see this dialogue message in red. 

To add a password, click the Add Password Button. You'll be asked to enter a password of your choice. As you enter your password, you'll receive feedback as to how strong your password is.

Once you have created a strong password, click the Save button.

Locate directories that have a password and click Generate PDF or Update PDF.

Once all your directory PDFs have a password, you'll receive this "Good Job" confirmation that all of your PDF directories are protected by a password. 

To see the password that you have created, click  Show Password.  The password will display inside each of the sub-sections on the Share PDF page. Click Hide Password to show only the asterisks.

Generate Your PDF Directory, Subdirectory or Addendum

When you edit your directory, all your changes are saved in our database. However, those changes are NOT made to the directory PDF until you Generate PDF or Update PDF.

Before you generate, set your PDF Options. Here is a helpful document about selecting the layout of your directory. 

You can generate your directory under  Share PDF. Choose the Directory you want and click the blue Generate PDF button.

Update Your PDF Directory, Subdirectory or Addendum

You'll use the Generate PDF button to create your PDF for the first time. When you make subsequent changes to your directory and wish to update your PDF, you will click the Update PDF button.

When you update the directory, any changes you have made since the last time it was generated are included in your directory PDF.

So, for example, let's say you set up your directory on February 20th. You entered all your information and pictures the way you wanted. You then generated your directory (under  Share PDF) and downloaded the PDF. Your new PDF has all the information and pictures that you just entered.

You go back a few days later, add some church members and make other changes. Although your new information is saved on our database, to update your PDF to include those changes, you must go to the  Share PDF menu and click the Update PDF button for that particular directory. Otherwise, the PDF will be the same as the one you downloaded on February 20th.

That is why there is a display with the date and time you last generated your PDF directory. It serves as a reminder of when you last generated your changes.

Learn about Ways to Share Your Directory.

Generate an Addendum

If you want to generate and print the directory changes from only a certain date forward, click on Publish Addendum and select the date. Any changes from that date forward will be included, but anything previous will not. 

This is handy when you simply want to alert members to any recent changes in your directory. If a photo is updated or added, the Family will be listed in the Addendum but you will not see the photo. 

Your addendum appears in the Full Directory section on the  Share PDF page.

To create an addendum: 

1.     Go to the  Share PDF menu.

2.     Locate the Addendum sub-section under the Full Directory section.

3.      Enter the date for the changes you wish to be included in the addendum.

4.     Click the  Generate PDF or Update PDF button.

5.     After you've updated your directory, the Addendum will show the date the PDF was last generated.

6.     To share your Addendum, click the  Download link or the Share PDF button. 

Create PDF Subdirectories of Groups

The Group Subdirectories PDF provides a quick reference list of the group members and provides their contact information without you having to search through the entire directory. The subdirectory PDF contains only the Text Roster for that group. 

Once you have members in a Group, generate your subdirectory under the Group Subdirectories section. Simply locate the subdirectory you wish to generate, and then click the Generate PDF button for that group subdirectory. Each time changes are made to your directory, you will need to come back and click Update PDF if you want to get the most up-to-date Group PDF.

Learn about Ways to Share Your Subdirectory.

Watch our brief tutorial - Generate, Share and Update PDF