msa backup - ajtruckle/meeting-schedule-assistant-support GitHub Wiki

Backup

Regularly creating a backup is strongly encouraged. In the event of a computer failure or other data loss, you can restore your entire Meeting Schedule Assistant environment with a single click.

You can access this feature from:

  • File — Backup
  • Toolbar – Backup

What the Backup Includes

This feature creates a complete backup of your Meeting Schedule Assistant data.
The ZIP archive contains:

  • All personal settings and preferences
  • All databases (congregation, publishers, assignments, schedules, etc.)
  • All templates, including custom ones
  • All S‑89 assignment slip files
  • Any other data stored in your MSA application folders

In other words, the backup contains everything needed to restore Meeting Schedule Assistant to its previous working state.

Off‑Site Backup Recommendations

To protect against catastrophic data loss, it is recommended that you also create an off‑site backup by:

  • Sharing the ZIP file with a trusted friend
  • Saving it to an external USB memory stick
  • Using a cloud storage service such as OneDrive or Dropbox

This feature is also useful when sharing your data with another person who helps prepare schedules, or when handing over the assignment entirely.

Tip: You can also configure Meeting Schedule Assistant to create backups automatically. For details, see Automatic Backup.

Progress Monitoring

During the backup process, a progress bar is displayed to show the current status:

Progress bar showing the backup process in Meeting Schedule Assistant. The bar is at 68% and displays the current file being processed (“AssignmentSlips\2020\s‑89‑ptg.css”). The local congregation name is shown on the right side of the window.

Figure 1: The progress bar shows the current status of the backup.

Video Tutorial

(This video tutorial is out of date)

Watch the video tutorial on YouTube.

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