Updating Family Records: Member Submissions & Admin Approvals
In This Article
Updating Your Family Record: What Members Can and Can't Do
Approving or Rejecting Member Submissions (for Admins and Editors)
Can I see a list of approvals previously made?
Updating Your Family Record: What Members Can and Can't Do
Members can submit updates to their own family records using the Member Website or Mobile App, as long as the following are true:
• The member has an email address listed in the directory
• Mobile or web access is enabled in your directory settings
Need help enabling mobile access? See: Enabling Member App Access
Who Can Submit and Who Can Approve?
| Role | What they can do |
| Members | Submit changes to their own family record |
| Admin & Editors | Review, approve, or reject submitted updates |
What Members Can Update
Members can submit changes to:
• Profile photos
• Adults and children listed in their family
• Phone numbers and email addresses
• Corrections to existing information
• Privacy settings for their contact information (visible only to Admins and Editors)
What Members Can’t Update
Members cannot:
• Add or remove groups
• Edit additional internal details
• Change their member status
• Delete their family record
How Members Submit Updates
Members can submit changes to their family information using either the Member Website or the Mobile App.
Option 1: Member Website
- Go to members.instantchurchdirectory.com
- Sign in to the Member Website
- Select Edit My Family from the menu
Option 2: Mobile App
- Open the Instant Church Directory app
- Sign in
- Tap Menu (☰) > Edit My Family
After making their changes, members click Submit Edits to send their updates for approval.
Important: Changing a login email address
If a member changes the email address they use to sign in, they will need to create a new login using the updated email address.
Tip for church admins:
You can share this article with your members to help them understand how to submit updates and what to expect.
Related article: How Members Submit Updates to Their Information.
Approving or Rejecting Member Submissions (for Admins and Editors)
When a member submits an update, it appears as Pending on your Admin Dashboard under Manage Your Submissions.
Admins and Editors can review and process submissions from this screen.
Admins and Editors will also receive a daily email notification (sent overnight) whenever there are updates waiting for approval.
Tip: Admins can disable these email notifications if they prefer.
How to Approve or Reject an Update
To approve an update:
- Open the submission from Manage Your Submissions
- Click Approve to apply the changes to the directory
To reject an update:
- Open the submission
- Click Reject to discard the changes
What Happens After I Approve a Change?
Approved updates are applied immediately to the directory and become visible to other members right away.
Important:
Updates do not appear in the directory until they are approved.
To reflect approved changes in your Directory PDF, you must regenerate the PDF.
Can I see a list of approvals I’ve already made?
At this time, Instant Church Directory does not provide a history or log of approvals that have already been processed.
You can only view pending submissions that are waiting for review. Once a change is approved or rejected, it is applied to the directory and is no longer listed in a separate approval queue.