PowerChurch Online - Shortcuts for easy access and performance
It is possible to have the Desktop icon for PowerChurch Online/IDS Client software store information to speed up the login process. You can have it store your username and password, for example, so you are not prompted for it each time. There are also some visual quality tweaks that can be taken advantage of.
The usable command line arguments can be found in the following table:
| Argument | Description | Notes |
| -h | The IDS server address | This will always be "online.mypowerchurch.com" |
| -u | The client username | pcuXXXXX (XXXXX is the church registration number) |
| -p | The client password | Your password |
| -ac all | Determines how printers are initialized at startup | "all" will set up all printers, "none" will not set up any, and "default" will set up only the default printer. (This is the default setting) |
| -mx 32 | Determines color depth | Allows 8, 16, or 32. 16 is the default. ** |
| -qt 0 | Determines image compression | Allows a visual quality range of 0 (best) to 100 (worst) ** |
| -a | Run a program | PowerChurchPlus or PowerChurch Plus will both work |
| -clientdpi | Set DPI scaling | Allows 0 or 1 |
| -mm | Enable multi-monitor support | Allows 0 or 1 |
** A note about the visual quality settings: By default, PowerChurch Online is set to operate with a reduced color palette and high image compression. The default settings garner a huge improvement on system responsiveness and performance. While increasing the color depth and decreasing the image compression will make the program better to look at, you can expect decreased speed and performance as a result.
To use these arguments you will right click on your PowerChurch Online/IDS Client shortcut, and select properties. You will receive a dialog box similar to the one below:
You will add the arguments at the end of the target line, after the quotes.
The "-h" argument is automatically added if you check the "Create desktop shortcut to the specified server." option on the installer.
The following examples are based on the default installation directory. The login information provided is also for the online demo.
Using the following example:
"C:\Program Files (x86)\IDS LLC\IDS\Client\ids.exe" -h online.mypowerchurch.com -u demo1 -p demo -ac all -a PowerChurchPlus
The program will launch automatically going to the server "online.mypowerchurch.com" using the username demo1 and password demo. Because the username and password are both supplied the initial login box will never be displayed. The "-ac all" will allow the program to start up with access to every printer that is installed on your computer.
Last updated: 05/13/2025