Sermon Published without my permission

Sean McIntyre
Sean McIntyre Member Posts: 331
edited November 20 in English Forum

I woke up this morning to find that whilst I was asleep my unfinished sermon was published to soundfaith without my permission. I was asleep at the time and so I know there's nothing I did. I have also never used soundfaith before.

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Comments

  • GregW
    GregW Member Posts: 848

    There's a check box at the bottom of the Sermon header information to pubilish it automatically to Soundfaith. I think this was new in 7.5. I make sure it's unchecked every time, as it somehow got checked on one occasion. I suspect if you check your Sermon document you'll find this box is checked. 


    Running Logos 6 Platinum and Logos Now on Surface Pro 4, 8 GB RAM, 256GB SSD, i5

  • Sean McIntyre
    Sean McIntyre Member Posts: 331

    Thanks Greg.

    Shouldn't be that easy, I think a button would be more appropriate. It's like one of those opt in email things. 

  • JT (alabama24)
    JT (alabama24) Member, MVP Posts: 36,469 ✭✭✭

    Shouldn't be that easy

    I agree... mostly. It should be that easy for those who want it to be so, but it should be an OPT IN and NO ACTION should be required on the part of those who don't want to participate. 

    macOS, iOS & iPadOS | Logs |  Install

  • Scott Alexander
    Scott Alexander Member, Logos Employee Posts: 3,816

    Thanks for the feedback.

    Unchecking the checkbox sets a preference that will apply to all future Sermon Editor documents. In other words, you only need to uncheck it once. 

    Additionally, the sermon that was published can be deleted by updating the publish state on soundfaith.com



    My apologies for the unexpected behavior, we definitely want to leave control of your content up to you. 

  • Garrett Ho
    Garrett Ho Member Posts: 203

    I echo Alabama's suggestion. It should require opting in, although the current behavior is the next best thing. Also, since the website seems to use the sermons as a selling point for its premium service, I'd suggest that Faithlife be careful about these sorts of issues.

    Unlimited access to an ever-growing library of practical tools for sermon prep, including sermons from other pastors, text illustrations, and over 6,000 motions and stills for only $19.99/month!'

  • Graham Criddle
    Graham Criddle Member, MVP Posts: 32,421 ✭✭✭

    Unchecking the checkbox sets a preference that will apply to all future Sermon Editor documents. In other words, you only need to uncheck it once. 

    This doesn't seem to be how it works for me.

    On the left is a sermon document I was working on yesterday and - as you can see the publish box is unchecked. On the right is a sermon document I have just opened and publish box is checked

    I am running 7.6 beta 1 but believe I saw the same behaviour on the stable 7.5 release

  • Jacob Carpenter (Faithlife)
    Jacob Carpenter (Faithlife) Member, Logos Employee Posts: 335

    Graham, I'm not able to reproduce this behavior.

    The checkbox remembers the last explicit value choice. (Which can be different from the value from your last sermon, say if you check it, and then delete that sermon.)

    Are you sure the last choice you made was to uncheck it, and then a new sermon started with it checked?

  • Mark
    Mark Member Posts: 2,635 ✭✭✭

    Jacob and Scott

    Why cant the default be that the box is unchecked, and if one wants to opt in, they have the option to check the box and up in? 

  • Scott Alexander
    Scott Alexander Member, Logos Employee Posts: 3,816

    Jacob and Scott

    Why cant the default be that the box is unchecked, and if one wants to opt in, they have the option to check the box and up in? 

    Mark, there was much discussion internally around this change. SoundFaith has proven itself to be a valuable sermon archiving resource and its integration with Sermon Editor makes it possible to utilize without any extra work. Most people won’t change the defaults and we really want people to get to use this feature. However, we understand it’s not for everyone and so we send a notification email after the first auto-publish event, ensuring that everyone knows about the change.

  • Sean McIntyre
    Sean McIntyre Member Posts: 331

    Mark, there was much discussion internally around this change. SoundFaith has proven itself to be a valuable sermon archiving resource and its integration with Sermon Editor makes it possible to utilize without any extra work. Most people won’t change the defaults and we really want people to get to use this feature. However, we understand it’s not for everyone and so we send a notification email after the first auto-publish event, ensuring that everyone knows about the change.

    I compared it to an email opt-in vs opt-out  box for a reason. It is always very irritating to the customer. Giving us a choice means that you will have to work a little harder to promote and educate about the product but is more respectful to the customer.

  • Brad
    Brad Member Posts: 927 ✭✭

    Jacob and Scott

    Why cant the default be that the box is unchecked, and if one wants to opt in, they have the option to check the box and up in? 

    Mark, there was much discussion internally around this change. SoundFaith has proven itself to be a valuable sermon archiving resource and its integration with Sermon Editor makes it possible to utilize without any extra work. Most people won’t change the defaults and we really want people to get to use this feature. However, we understand it’s not for everyone and so we send a notification email after the first auto-publish event, ensuring that everyone knows about the change.

    Thank you for the context, Scott!  That's helpful to know.  The OP pointed out that he hadn't even finished the sermon that got published without his knowledge.  I'm sure he won't be the only one to whom this happens, given the current functionality.  SoundFaith could end up with numerous unfinished documents that will frustrate not only the authors, but those who come to SoundFaith for the content.  Given the fact that the simple publish checkbox is on the same window as the rest of the basic sermon info, it only takes a fraction of a second to select it for publication.  I would greatly prefer the checkbox to be blank for each new document, so that a momentary, yet conscious, decision is required for publication.  And someone who chooses to publish one sermon won't find the next one he starts gets unintentionally published simply because he forgot to "uncheck" the saved publish setting.

    That change could help maintain the integrity of the content quality on SoundFaith, minimize frustration for Sermon Editor users, and help reduce some trepidation among those who are looking forward to trying the Sermon Editor for the first time.  And that can be done with no major inconvenience for Sermon Editor users who wish to publish everything.

    Thanks for your consideration.

  • Floyd  Johnson
    Floyd Johnson Member Posts: 4,007

    It would also pose issues related to coptright. If I am using a sermon this week originally written by a third party and borrowed (legally) from another source, having it published without the consent of the original author might leave Faithlife or SoundFaith open to a lawsuit. 

    Blessings,
    Floyd

    Pastor-Patrick.blogspot.com

  • Graham Criddle
    Graham Criddle Member, MVP Posts: 32,421 ✭✭✭

    Are you sure the last choice you made was to uncheck it, and then a new sermon started with it checked?

    Fairly sure - but I can't reproduce it now either. I'll keep an eye on it

    Thanks Jacob

  • DAL
    DAL Member Posts: 10,573 ✭✭✭

    Mine published too, but the Scripture references don't show. The sermon is in Spanish so that may have something to do with it!

    DAL

  • John Fugh, Jr.
    John Fugh, Jr. Member Posts: 651

    This thread encouraged me to check my soundfaith....

    I noticed the publish tick and before I started writing the sermon, made sure it was unchecked.  But still it was published...albeit draft...multiple times. If it's unchecked, it should never go any place except my own documents...even in draft state.  

    This bothers me for some reason.  I feel strongly that my data is trusted to stay in one place.  And, is logos profiting off of the intellectual work of their users?  Did user agreement change regarding my data?  Will other data be shared on other sites that I will have to police to make sure it's not published?

    If I delete from soundfaith on that website, does it delete on documents.logos.com?  

  • EastTN
    EastTN Member Posts: 1,420 ✭✭✭

    Mark, there was much discussion internally around this change. SoundFaith has proven itself to be a valuable sermon archiving resource and its integration with Sermon Editor makes it possible to utilize without any extra work. Most people won’t change the defaults and we really want people to get to use this feature. However, we understand it’s not for everyone and so we send a notification email after the first auto-publish event, ensuring that everyone knows about the change.

    This approach makes sense if it's limited to cloud-based backup of my sermons (what most people thinking of as "archiving").  It's very disturbing to me if it extends to making a sermon publically available.  Archiving by default can provide an extra layer of security.  Publishing or distributing without explicit permission is a very different matter.

  • George
    George Member Posts: 475 ✭✭

    [Y]

    Jacob and Scott

    Why cant the default be that the box is unchecked, and if one wants to opt in, they have the option to check the box and up in? 

    Mark, there was much discussion internally around this change. SoundFaith has proven itself to be a valuable sermon archiving resource and its integration with Sermon Editor makes it possible to utilize without any extra work. Most people won’t change the defaults and we really want people to get to use this feature. However, we understand it’s not for everyone and so we send a notification email after the first auto-publish event, ensuring that everyone knows about the change.

    Thank you for the context, Scott!  That's helpful to know.  The OP pointed out that he hadn't even finished the sermon that got published without his knowledge.  I'm sure he won't be the only one to whom this happens, given the current functionality.  SoundFaith could end up with numerous unfinished documents that will frustrate not only the authors, but those who come to SoundFaith for the content.  Given the fact that the simple publish checkbox is on the same window as the rest of the basic sermon info, it only takes a fraction of a second to select it for publication.  I would greatly prefer the checkbox to be blank for each new document, so that a momentary, yet conscious, decision is required for publication.  And someone who chooses to publish one sermon won't find the next one he starts gets unintentionally published simply because he forgot to "uncheck" the saved publish setting.

    That change could help maintain the integrity of the content quality on SoundFaith, minimize frustration for Sermon Editor users, and help reduce some trepidation among those who are looking forward to trying the Sermon Editor for the first time.  And that can be done with no major inconvenience for Sermon Editor users who wish to publish everything.

    Thanks for your consideration.

  • Scott Alexander
    Scott Alexander Member, Logos Employee Posts: 3,816

    Mine published too, but the Scripture references don't show. The sermon is in Spanish so that may have something to do with it!

    DAL

    Thanks for the report DAL, we'll take a look. 

  • Scott Alexander
    Scott Alexander Member, Logos Employee Posts: 3,816

    This thread encouraged me to check my soundfaith....

    I noticed the publish tick and before I started writing the sermon, made sure it was unchecked.  But still it was published...albeit draft...multiple times. If it's unchecked, it should never go any place except my own documents...even in draft state.  

    This bothers me for some reason.  I feel strongly that my data is trusted to stay in one place.  And, is logos profiting off of the intellectual work of their users?  Did user agreement change regarding my data?  Will other data be shared on other sites that I will have to police to make sure it's not published?

    If I delete from soundfaith on that website, does it delete on documents.logos.com?  

    John, are you using Proclaim? When you send your sermon to Proclaim we automatically create a sermon document in draft mode on SoundFaith.com. The draft sermon is only visible to your account. We do this so when/if you publish your audio recording from Proclaim to SoundFaith the Sermon Editor metadata is preserved and updated, instead of overwritten. 

    More information about sermon audio recording and publishing in Proclaim can be found here.

  • Scott Alexander
    Scott Alexander Member, Logos Employee Posts: 3,816

     The OP pointed out that he hadn't even finished the sermon that got published without his knowledge.  I'm sure he won't be the only one to whom this happens, given the current functionality.  SoundFaith could end up with numerous unfinished documents that will frustrate not only the authors, but those who come to SoundFaith for the content.  
    Brad, the date field in the auto-publish setting is designed to prevent auto-publishing prior to a sermon completion.

    On new documents this value defaults to the upcoming Sunday but you can set it to whatever you like. If that doesn't complement your workflow you can uncheck the auto-publish setting and publish manually when you're ready, using the Export > Post to SoundFaith option.

    Thanks for the feedback!

  • Mark
    Mark Member Posts: 2,635 ✭✭✭

    I have no interest in being negative.  Please understand that.  I want to see the success of the Sermon app.  But I have not used it and this thread makes me not want to use it because I do not feel enough has been done to ensure the privacy of my notes and sermon write ups and ideas.  I would love to use the tool to see how it can help me.  But I am not interested in the kinds of glitches that may produce a published sermon whether done or not when I do not want that to happen.

    A question:  If a sermon is published by mistake or by my permission, and in the future, I wanted to delete it.  Is it possible to permanently delete?

  • Scott Alexander
    Scott Alexander Member, Logos Employee Posts: 3,816

    A question:  If a sermon is published by mistake or by my permission, and in the future, I wanted to delete it.  Is it possible to permanently delete?

    SoundFaith supports a "soft delete" -- the item is marked as deleted and can only be seen by the owner. Any previously public links to the resource will no longer work. 

  • Floyd  Johnson
    Floyd Johnson Member Posts: 4,007

    I have no interest in being negative.  Please understand that.  I want to see the success of the Sermon app.  But I have not used it and this thread makes me not want to use it because I do not feel enough has been done to ensure the privacy of my notes and sermon write ups and ideas.  I would love to use the tool to see how it can help me.  But I am not interested in the kinds of glitches that may produce a published sermon whether done or not when I do not want that to happen.

    There are two features in LOGOS 7 that draw my interest - though I have not yet bit the bullet. One of these features is/was the sermon editor - but as I have read this thread, I am becoming less and less excited about its existence. I do have LOGOS 7 Basic and continue to enjoy the features of LOGOS 6, but still see little need to upgrade to LOGOS 7 or LOGOS NOW.

    Blessings,
    Floyd

    Pastor-Patrick.blogspot.com

  • PetahChristian
    PetahChristian Member, MVP Posts: 4,636

    SoundFaith supports a "soft delete" -- the item is marked as deleted and can only be seen by the owner. Any previously public links to the resource will no longer work.

    Soft deletes are good and bad. While it's good that you can still recover something you inadvertently deleted, you also end up with a growing number of soft-deleted cloud documents that FL doesn't let us permanently delete. It becomes unnecessary clutter.

    Thanks to FL for including Carta and a Hebrew audio bible in Logos 9!

  • Robert murray
    Robert murray Member Posts: 58

    This does not fix the issue at hand. The main issue is that your internal discussion decided to profit extra off of your users by opting us in automatically.  An explaination email doesn't fix the issue.  It is ALWAYS wrong to automatically opt someone in.  The email should be and should have been to let people know this is an option.  It should not be, hey this is what we did to you because you want to pay for this service but you can undo it if you want.

    The software is amazing so we as consumers put up with the exorbitant prices from Logos.  It is the price we pay to have the best.  However, that doesn't mean you should also profit off of what we do/create. And then, you expect us to pay $20/month to use the same service.

    I am sorry if I sound a little harsh but this was very irritating. 

    Robert

    Missionary in Bolivia

    --------

    iMac - Macbook Air - iPad - L7 Baptist Portfolio - Logos Now

  • JT (alabama24)
    JT (alabama24) Member, MVP Posts: 36,469 ✭✭✭

    It is ALWAYS wrong to automatically opt someone in.

    I agree. [Y]

    macOS, iOS & iPadOS | Logs |  Install

  • Nord Zootman
    Nord Zootman Member Posts: 596

    Can you imagine the outcry that would happen if Microsoft started publishing everything we wrote in Word? Especially if they charged others to use your writings? I have been using sermon builder and have had mixed thoughts about it, trying to decide whether to continue using it as it matures. This makes the decision easy. I am going back to Word and Powerpoint and publish my sermons when and where I decide to do so.

  • Mark
    Mark Member Posts: 2,635 ✭✭✭

    SoundFaith supports a "soft delete"

    It is good that something we inadvertently deleted can be undeleted.  BUT, we should have the right to permanently delete files, even personal books after sometime...OR after sometime, deleted files should automatically be purged.

    And as others have pointed out, it is not right to automatically opt us in.  At this point the sermon editor is not something that interest me as this thread has given me no assurances.

  • Brad
    Brad Member Posts: 927 ✭✭


    Brad, the date field in the auto-publish setting is designed to prevent auto-publishing prior to a sermon completion.

    On new documents this value defaults to the upcoming Sunday but you can set it to whatever you like. If that doesn't complement your workflow you can uncheck the auto-publish setting and publish manually when you're ready, using the Export > Post to SoundFaith option.

    Thanks for the feedback!

    Thank you, Scott!  Yes, the Export button is likely the best choice for many of us.  My current workflow includes development of several sermons, in various stages of completion, at any given time.  If I accidentally have the "automatically publish" box checked, defaulting to the following Sunday, and did all of my prep through the Sermon Editor tool, I would end up with a variety of published "sermons" ranging from completed sermons, to outlines, to simply scripture texts with or without observations, illustrations etc.  That would be a real "published mess."  Perhaps more of us would jump in with both feet if FL simply eliminated the "automatically publish" check box and steered us to rely on the intentional "Export" button.  It might result in less content on SoundFaith, but the content would be of higher quality, and we might have more users willing to engage the benefits of the Sermon Editor Tool without the fears of unwanted side effects like blasting our rough ideas and rough drafts before they are "ready for prime time."

    We appreciate you working through this with us, Scott.  Thank you again for the thoughtful discourse.

     

  • Mark
    Mark Member Posts: 2,635 ✭✭✭

    we might have more users willing to engage the benefits of the Sermon Editor Tool without the fears of unwanted side effects like blasting our rough ideas and rough drafts before they are "ready for prime time."

    We appreciate you working through this with us, Scott.  Thank you again for the thoughtful discourse.

     Perhaps more of us would jump in with both feet if FL simply eliminated the "automatically publish" check box and steered us to rely on the intentional "Export" button.

    [Y]