Backing Up

[GNBBC]

Good morning. I did a backup of "Membership Files on Monday of this week. If I were to restore those files today, would this restoration manipulate data entered in other files as well, such as Accounting, Contributions, All data files & pictures, etc.? Thank you.

[Zorak]

If the backup contains only Membership files (it will have "MEM" in the filename rather than "ADP" for all data files & pictures or "CO" for contributions) then restoring it will only overwrite the info found under the Membership menu.

On the screen when restoring the backup, PowerChurch will show the type of backup it is and the date/time it was created, asking if you want to restore all files or selected files. Just verify it says it is a Membership backup and the date/time is correct before continuing.

[GNBBC]

Thank you, Zorak, for your response.

As a follow-up question, would the restoration only update "Membership" files on the computer it was restored onto or all desktop computers in the network?

Also, now that I know we can update solely "Membership" files, can we do the same for Accounting, Contributions, etc? And like you mentioned below, if we were to restore "Contributions," for example, we would be given the option to choose filename "CO", which would restore data strictly in the "Contributions" module and not affect any of the data in the other modules. Am I following you correctly?

Thanks again.

[Zorak]

would the restoration only update "Membership" files on the computer it was restored onto or all desktop computers in the network?

That would depend on whether this is a networked installation of PowerChurch. When you add a family in Membership, can all of those other computers on the network see that new family in PowerChurch? If so, then restoring the backup and overwriting that Membership information would affect them all.

Also, now that I know we can update solely "Membership" files, can we do the same for Accounting, Contributions, etc? And like you mentioned below, if we were to restore "Contributions," for example, we would be given the option to choose filename "CO", which would restore data strictly in the "Contributions" module and not affect any of the data in the other modules. Am I following you correctly?

Basically, yes. It doesn't prompt for the filename of the backup, it's just part of the information that is coded into the file name. So, PCBACKUP_04052023_1637_ADP.ZIP would be an All Data Files & Pictures backup that was created on April 5, 2023 at 4:37 PM.

The backup process in PowerChurch is just a copy of the selected database tables wrapped up in a zip file. So, if you choose Contributions when making a backup, the only data files contained in that zip file will be the CO* tables in the database.

Restoring a backup simply unzips that backup file and overwrites your current database files with whatever it finds inside the backup zip file.

[NeilZ]

To clarify.

If you want only to restore Contributions ONLY backup the Contributions database. It is not recommended to try and restore individual modules such as Contributions or Accounting, from a full backup as the only restore selections are all files, or individual files. Unless you know which files are used in each module, its very possible to miss one to restore, and cause issues.

So, if you're working in Accounting, do a backup of ONLY the Accounting database when finished; same with Contributions, Membership, etc.

What I usually do is
1. Weekly at least one full backup of all files. I used to do this Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday to cover when the secretary was in (M,W) so all membership data was covered, and Sunday, to add in the Contributions.
2. The volunteer bookkeeper was instructed to do a backup of only the accounting files when they were finished working on them, usually at least once a week.
3. I always made a backup whenever I was asked to do a change to the Accounting database setup so I could revert if needed.

[GNBBC]

Thank you, sir.

I backup each of these modules on their individual flash drive: All Files & Pictures, Membership, Contributions, and Accounting. Since you're the expert, is it your recommendation to not make it a practice of restoring individual modules, esp. Accounting and Contributions? Your information has been very helpful. Thanks again.

[NeilZ]

Thank you, sir.

I backup each of these modules on their individual flash drive: All Files & Pictures, Membership, Contributions, and Accounting. Since you're the expert, is it your recommendation to not make it a practice of restoring individual modules, esp. Accounting and Contributions? Your information has been very helpful. Thanks again.

My backup strategy of full backups takes care of most of the backup requirements. The only individual module I backup as I said is accounting as everything else easily fixed. I see restorations as a last resort.

To reiterate, I do backups on the days our secretary is in to pick up any changes there, and on Sunday, to get the Contributions and any membership additions there.

If I have to restore, I restore the newest full backup and if the accounting backup is newer, I then restore that.