Sermon Published without my permission

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. 

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.

Scott Alexander said:

Mark said:

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.

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?  

[Y]

Brad said:

Scott Alexander said:

Mark said:

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.

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?

Mark said:

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.

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. 

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.

Scott Alexander said:

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.