msa import publishers hourglass - ajtruckle/meeting-schedule-assistant-support GitHub Wiki

From Hourglass

This importer allows you to bring publisher information exported from Hourglass into Meeting Schedule Assistant. It is available from the Import menu and also from the Publishers Database window.

Use this importer when you have an Hourglass JSON export containing congregation groups and publisher details. Only new publishers are added; existing publishers are skipped.

What the Importer Does

The Hourglass Publisher importer reads a JSON file exported from Hourglass and imports:

  • Congregation groups
  • Publisher names
  • Their gender
  • Their appointment (Elder, Ministerial Servant)
  • Their serving status (Unbaptized Publisher, Publisher, or Regular Pioneer)
  • Their congregation group assignment
  • Group Overseer and Assistant roles (based on Hourglass group data)
  • Optional internal notes for continuous auxiliary pioneers

Only new publishers are added.
If a publisher already exists, they are skipped.

It does not modify existing speakers, congregations, assignment history, or meeting schedules.

Required Format

The JSON file must contain the following sections:

  • fsGroups — congregation groups, including overseer and assistant IDs
  • publishers — publisher records with names, gender, appointment, serving status, and group assignment

These sections must appear exactly as exported by Hourglass.

Opening the Importer

From the Import Menu

Import → Publishers → From Hourglass

Image

Figure 1: Selecting the Hourglass Publisher importer from the Import menu.

Import Steps

1. Select the Hourglass JSON file

Choose the JSON file exported from Hourglass.

If the JSON includes a privileges section, the importer converts the Hourglass privilege names into Meeting Schedule Assistant assignment permissions and applies any implied roles automatically.

2. Complete the import

A summary is displayed showing how many groups / publishers were added or skipped.

Field Mapping

Field How it’s used in Meeting Schedule Assistant
id Used internally to match overseer and assistant roles.
first_name + last_name Combined to create the publisher’s full name.
sex Determines the publisher’s gender.
privileges Indicates the publisher’s appointment (Elder,  Ministerial Servant)
status Indicates the publisher’s serving status (Unbaptized Publisher, Publisher, Regular Pioneer).
group_id Assigns the publisher to a congregation group.
overseer_id (from fsGroups) Marks the publisher as the Group Overseer when their ID matches.
assistant_id (from fsGroups) Marks the publisher as the Group Assistant when their ID matches.

Summary

The Hourglass Publisher importer provides a simple way to bring publisher and group information into Meeting Schedule Assistant. It supports:

  • Importing congregation groups
  • Publisher names
  • Their gender
  • Their appointment (Elder, Ministerial Servant)
  • Their serving status (Unbaptized Publisher, Publisher, Regular Pioneer)
  • Their congregation group assignment
  • Group Overseer and Assistant roles

Only new publishers are added.
Existing publishers are skipped.

After processing the file, a summary report shows how many publishers were added or skipped.

Back to Publisher Importers

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