Sharing Data with Other Computers

ChurchTrac 2009 introduces a new feature that allows you to share data between all your computers. When you enable this feature, the changes made on Computer A are automatically copied to Computer B, and vice versa, so both computers always have the most up-to-date data. This even works with remote (or offsite) computers. To access and set up this feature, choose “share data with other computers” from the utilities menu.

There are many useful applications for ChurchTrac’s data sharing process. Here are just a few:

  • You can view or update your ChurchTrac data from home
  • The pastor’s laptop will always have access to the latest ChurchTrac data, whether he’s at home or in the office
  • Your volunteers can enter data (like contributions or attendance) from home or another location
  • A church staff that doesn't have a central office can use and share ChurchTrac data, regardless of where their computers are located.

Suppose you have a volunteer who enters attendance data from home every Monday night. After she enters this week's attendance records, ChurchTrac synchronizes her new entries with the online server. Then, on Tuesday morning when you arrive at the church office, you turn on your computer. When you open ChurchTrac, it quickly downloads all the new data, giving you access to the attendance records the volunteer entered the night before! (And the volunteer's home computer doesn't need to be online or even turned on for you to download the latest data updates!)

NOTE: Be sure to carefully follow the setup instructions on the Data Sharing screen in ChurchTrac. You will not be able to share data between two or more computers until each computer is correctly configured. You can access and print the setup instructions from the Overview tab on the Data Sharing screen.

In the top right corner of the data sharing screen is the computer’s Synchronization ID. This number must match on all the computers that you want to share data with. To ensure that each computer has the same Synchronization ID, follow the setup instructions on the Overview tab. The setup instructions contain additional information about configuring and using the data sharing features of ChurchTrac.

Notes for Using the Data Sharing Features:

  • If one of your computers is having trouble synchronizing, it might be due to a firewall program blocking ChurchTrac's access to the server. Make sure that ChurchTrac and its support programs have access to the internet. If you're still having problems, contact tech support.
  • If you're new to ChurchTrac, then it is recommended that you use one computer to initially set up your database before using the data sharing features. In other words, enter all the names, contact information, groups, etc., on one computer before setting up ChurchTrac on the rest of your computers. To avoid problems later, try to avoid using duplicate names for items (for example, no two groups should have the same title).
  • Once you begin using the data sharing features in ChurchTrac 2009, do not revert to using an earlier version of ChurchTrac. Make sure all of your computers are upgraded to the latest 2009 version. The earlier versions of ChurchTrac (before 2009) do not support the data sharing process. Using an earlier version together with the 2009 version will likely result in data loss during the data sharing process. It is recommended that you delete any shortcuts on your desktop or in your start menu that belong to earlier versions of ChurchTrac.
  • Make sure all your computers are always running the latest version of ChurchTrac 2009. When installing the latest program update on one computer, you should also install the update on every other computer in your data-sharing network. This will help to ensure that all the computers can share data effectively.