The Status Markers dialog is available when you click the Status Markers button when Church Directory has been selected as the Output Form on the Print Control page of the Print Names dialog.

The Status Markers dialog allows you to specify markings for names printed in a church directory based on their Membership Status.

This is useful, for example, if you wish to include non-members who attend but want to mark them in some fashion so as to differentiate between them and your regular members that you've included in the directory. Or perhaps you wish to highlight those names who are homebound, or maybe you'd like to note children who have not yet formally joined the church.

Status Markers display differently when you view the list on your screen or send it to a printer than when you send your church directory list to a disk file for importing into your word processor.When viewed on the screen or sent directly to your printer, the status markers appear as Superscript characters. When sent to disk, they appear as regular sized characters.

If you intend to import the church directory into your word processor, see the special note for you at the end of this help topic for hints on how to show the status markers as superscript characters.

What You Can Use as a Status Marker

CMD allows you to enter up to 5 characters for each status mark. 5 characters are permitted in case you wish to put the mark in parentheses. Here are some examples of useful status marks:

(1)

(HB)

Since superscript characters are very small, you may wish to include a blank space at the beginning of the status marker to provide a small bit of separation between a name and its status mark.

We suggest that you use a number enclosed with parentheses, and then include a legend of what the numbers mean somewhere in introductory pages you produce for your church directory.

Please note that all names marked with a given Membership Status will receive the mark defined for that Membership Status.

If You Are Sending Your List to Disk...

We strongly urge you to send all church directory lists to a disk file so that you can import the directory into your word processor. There you will have finer font, column, margin, and page break control than we can provide internally in CMD.

However, when you send a church directory to disk, the status markers cannot be exported as superscript characters. They will appear as regular size characters when you first view it in your word processor.

There is, however, usually a way in most word processors to overcome this in just a few very easy steps.

In MS Word, for example, you can use the Replace command on the Edit Menu. Assuming you've already exported the directory and have called it up into your word processor, here are the steps to follow to instantly change a status marker back into superscript characters:

•Click Edit, Replace. Word's Replace dialog will then appear. In the box labeled Find What, enter the status marker you wish to convert to superscript. Press Tab.

•Now, enter the very same text you entered in the Find What in the Replace With box. After entering it, click the More button. This will reveal a button along the bottom of the dialog labeled Format. Click it, then click the Font item on the menu that pops up.

•At this point you can select Superscript. It may appear as though it is already checked, but it may be only a grayed check. Click on it to make sure it is checked correctly. Click OK.

•Finally, click the Replace All button. This will cause Word to go through your document, find each occurance of the status marker you entered, and change it to superscript characters. This process is very simple and is very fast. You can convert all the status choices you use in a matter of seconds.

While the above process works for Word, most up-to-date word processors will offer a similar function.