backup of data

[janehelp]

Hi

We are 2 people working on powerchurch.

Me.... Membership and activities
Accountant... Accounting and contributions.

We take turns to work on the system.

Is it possible that I backup the "membership and activities" only and work from a different station. He'll be working on accounting and contribution from the "main" station. Then when I am done updating membership, I can just restore to the "main" station without having any missing information.

[NeilZ]

Hi

We are 2 people working on powerchurch.

Me.... Membership and activities
Accountant... Accounting and contributions.

We take turns to work on the system.

Is it possible that I backup the "membership and activities" only and work from a different station. He'll be working on accounting and contribution from the "main" station. Then when I am done updating membership, I can just restore to the "main" station without having any missing information.

You're on the same network? I'm assuming that the 'main' computer is the server, and you're on the client? If that's the case, you're always using the same database, just different parts of it. Not knowing how you're setup, I'm going to assume that you're on a network.

What I would do is this:

1. Setup an automatic Powerchurch weekly backup of the main computer by using the instructions for the Task Scheduler in this Powerchurch Plus newsletter: https://www.powerchurch.com/support/438 ... -fall-2014

You would use the PCBackup.exe program found in the PCPLUS115 directory as shown there. This would insure that you have a FULL backup of the database

2. When you feel you need to do a backup you can do a "Membership Files" backup which will backup the main database's membership tables. You can restore that at any time without disturbing the Accounting and Contributions tables.

HOWEVER You need to remember, that Membership's Personal Profiles interface with Contributions using the Envelope Number. This number is stored on the Membership tables so it can be used to pull up Contribution Information for the Contribution tab on the Personal Profile display, and for Contribution system to pull up the names and addresses of the contributor.

If you do a backup of the Membership, then move some personal profiles around, or add someone new and assign an envelope number. That data won't be saved. Contributions will know that an envelope was used, but that info does not get backed up on a Membership only backup.

If you then restore the backup made before the changes, Contributions will have no idea of what happened, and will show that the envelope was assigned to someone, but will not have any link to any profile. This can cause an issue, and I've seen it before.

Now, if you're not on an network, and you're using two unconnected computers, that REALLY complicates things.

[janehelp]

Thank you.

I guess it's not possible to do what I wanted to do.

Then, why is there an option to backup membership only?

[NeilZ]

Thank you.

I guess it's not possible to do what I wanted to do.

Then, why is there an option to backup membership only?

Well, what were you trying to do? As I mentioned, I could only give information based on an assumption. WIth additional information, I could point out a different way to do it.

[janehelp]

I am not on a network.

I wanted just to backup the membership data, install powerchurch on a different pc (pc2). Work with membership and when I am done, just restore to powerchurch on pc1

[NeilZ]

I am not on a network.

I wanted just to backup the membership data, install powerchurch on a different pc (pc2). Work with membership and when I am done, just restore to powerchurch on pc1

Would the other computer be on the same network? If so, the system is designed for more than one user at the same time.

[janehelp]

No. No network. It's 2 different stand alone computers with powerchurch. 1 works with the membership module. The other works with the contribution and accouting. At the end of the day, a restore is done from 1 to the other

I don't think I can do that.

So, why is the option to backup membership only?

Thank you

[NeilZ]

No. No network. It's 2 different stand alone computers with powerchurch. 1 works with the membership module. The other works with the contribution and accouting. At the end of the day, a restore is done from 1 to the other

I don't think I can do that.

So, why is the option to backup membership only?

Thank you

The membership is backed up separately to allow for those users who only use membership and accounting, but not contributions. There are some who do that.

That said, if the computers are in the same building/location, why aren't they networked to use the one database? That would make everything much easier.

[cbrown]

If you try to back up and restore certain files only, you are really asking for trouble. We used to try to do this at my church and we wound up overwriting databases from one PC to another and wrecked data from the other PC. It is very difficult to select specific files to back up and restore so it’s not a recommended practice.