Church Management Software - White Mountain Software

A. Yes. You may have to change some compatibility settings. Results of our testing can be found by clicking here.

A. Yes. Results of our testing can be found by clicking here and reading the information near the bottom of the page.

A. Yes ChurchWatch runs very well on an Apple Macintosh. But you'll need a good Windows emulator such as "Parallels" (http://www.parallels.com/en/products/workstation/mac/). We have customers that use this solution without problems.

Q. How do I move ChurchWatch from an old computer to a new one?

STEP 1:	Install ChurchWatch onto the new computer (either from CD or download).
STEP 2:	Upgrade the software to the latest version. Click HELP->UPDATE YOUR SOFTWARE ONLINE from within ChurchWatch.
STEP 3:	Copy *.DBF files from the old ChurchWatch 'root' folder to the new. The 'root' folder is where you installed ChurchWatch - usually its C:\Program Files\White Mountain Software\ChurchWatch3
STEP 4:	Copy *.CDX files from the old ChurchWatch 'root' folder to the new.
STEP 5:	Copy *.FPT files from the old ChurchWatch 'root' folder to the new
STEP 6:	Copy the entire ARCHIVE folder contents from old computer to new.
STEP 7:	Copy the entire PHOTOS folder contents from old computer to new.
STEP 8:	Copy the entire SIGS folder contents from old computer to new.
STEP 9:	Copy all sub-church or secondary database folders. The folder name is the name you setup in ChurchWatch when the secondary database was created. If you are not sure what this means you likely don't have any and can skip this step.

Q. Is it possible to import 2 or more version 1 databases into a newer version of ChurchWatch?

A. Yes it is and all versions beyond version 1 of ChurchWatch were/are able to handle multiple databases in a single installation of the program. It's very powerful. Note that this process applies ONLY if you are importing FROM version 1. Here are the steps. We'll assume the version 1 files and the new version x installation are on the same PC for simplicity. If not, you can just copy the entire version 1 folder(s) from the old computer to the new one temporarily:

Step 1: Run the UPGRADE.EXE program found in the new ChurchWatch folder. When prompted, point it to the data in the SECOND church database - the one you don't want to be the main church data. Import the data.

Step 2: Run the new version of ChurchWatch, browse around and make sure the imported data is there.

Step 3: Go to the SETUP->CHURCH page and click the button found there for creating a second church database. Enter a proper name for this second church database and make sure you check the "Copy Main Church Data" checkbox. We want a copy of the imported data. Click OK to create the second database.

Step 4: Using a Windows File Explorer window, find the ChurchWatch folder. Usually this is C:\Program Files\White Mountain Software\ChurchWatch x. MOVE the new church folder you just created out of the ChurchWatch folder. The name of the folder is the same name as the church name you just created in step 3.

Step 5: Go into ChurchWatch and ZAP the data for the main church. This is done on the SETUP->MAINTENANCE page. You'll need to be logged in as the "admin" user to access this page. Once there, click the ZAP button.

Step 6: Exit ChurchWatch.

Step 7: Once again, run the UPGRADE.EXE program. This time, import the main church data from the original version 1 folder where the data resides.

Step 8: Run ChurchWatch. Once again, create the same second church folder with EXACTLY the same name as in step 3. This time, there is no need to copy the main church data so leave the box unchecked. Click OK to create the database and folder.

Step 9: Exit ChurchWatch.

Step 10: Now move the folder you saved in step 4 back into the ChurchWatch folder. This will replace the folder that is already there (created in step 8). But you will be bringing in the second church data. You may be prompted that you are replacing files. This is OK.

Step 11: Run ChurchWatch. You should now have two church databases. Churches/Databases are accessed from the pull-down menu on the toolbar. The one that has your main church name in it...

Step 12: You can now delete the version 1 folder(s).

Q. I am getting a "Table is Corrupt" or "Data is Corrupt" type error message. What does it mean and what do I do to fix it?

A. This type of error can occur if you have a power outage or computer crash while ChurchWatch is open. White Mountain Software highly recommends the Windows XP operating system which is much more stable than Windows 95/98. The solution is very simple. First make sure ChurchWatch is shut down on all computers. Next, run the Database Rescue Utility by selecting START->PROGRAMS->CHURCHWATCH3->DATABASE RESCUE UTILITY. When the program opens make sure that "Rebuild Index Files" and "Reindex all Tables" are checked off. Also make sure that at least the "Do Home Folder" checkbox is checked. Then click the Rescue button. This should solve the problem with no loss of data.

Q. ChurchWatch comes up in a small window in the center of the screen. It seems to be the wrong resolution. What's wrong?

A. This may occur in very rare cases when using Windows XP. To fix, right-click on the ChurchWatch icon, choose Properties. Then choose Advanced. Make sure the display window is blank (no chosen options) and then click Apply. On some installations, the program may be setup for 256 colours which is incorrect. Make sure that no option is chosen and then Windows XP will use the default.

Q. I can't seem to do anything with ChurchWatch. I can't find any buttons and the forms don't fit on screen. What am I doing wrong?

A. ChurchWatch is designed for a monitor resolution of 800x600 or higher. Change your monitor resolution so that the forms fit on your monitor. We also recommend setting your monitor for "small fonts".

A. You'll need a good Pentium class computer or better. We recommend as much memory as you can get but 128 Meg should work nicely. 100 Meg of disk space is also recommended and a color monitor with at least 800x600 resolution set to high color. A backup system (e.g. zip drive, USB memory stick etc) is also recommended. ChurchWatch runs only on Windows XP, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 or later and Windows Server 2003. Installation on Windows NT 4.0 Terminal Server Edition is not supported. You can run on any Windows compatible network if networking. White Mountain Software recommends Windows XP but other operating systems (listed above) are also supported.

A. A very popular question and yes you can! The technology for doing this is still somewhat weak but there are several methods you can use:

1. Download VNC from Real VNC (free download) and use a high speed internet link to access your church computer. PROS: good performance. CONS: Takes control of your church computer and allows only 1 user at a time.

2. Use Microsoft Windows Terminal Server and/or Citrix to run ChurchWatch on your church server and then 'serve' it to the remote workstation via a dial-up or high speed connection. PROS: good performance, multiple users simultaneously. CONS: takes considerable network knowledge to create and maintain this type of network. Costly.

3. Just do a second installation at the remote site. PROS: Cheap, simple and it works. CONS: Creates 2 copies of your database that cannot be kept in sync. Many of our customers have taken this route.

A. There are many excellent accounting packages available and it would be foolish for us to try to compete. Instead, ChurchWatch exports contribution data to QuickBooks, Quicken and Simply Accounting file formats (most accounting packages can read QuickBooks import files). You then use the accounting package to keep track of your church finances.

A. Yes, for attendance tracking and in the Library Manager for library cards and library items. We require the use of a scanner that has a keyboard wedge interface. This way the scanner acts just as if you had entered the bar code or ID directly on your keyboard.

A. To some extent, yes. You can use the Export Manager to export the membership (name and address etc). Then use the Palm Pilot import utility to import the names and addresses into your Palm Pilot.

Q. What other software packages does ChurchWatch work with or interface with?

A. Word, WordPerfect, Excel, Lotus 123, QuickBooks, Quicken, Simply Accounting, Crystal Reports. You can also send all reports to Word, Excel, HTML, PDF, text etc.

A. We are located in one of the high tech centers of Western Canada in Saskatoon, SK (pop. 200,000+). Although we are a Canadian company we have an excellent relationship with our American cousins, and in fact, about half of our customers are located in the USA. Check out Saskatoon here.

Specific Questions...

A. In the Report Manager, "Options" page, you likely have "Summary Lines Only" checked off. Uncheck this to get normal details.

Q. When I type in a family name the formatting is changed incorrectly. For example "de Haan" becomes "DeHann". What do I do?

A. Turn off auto formatting for a moment. On the Data Context Toolbar, click the "Ab" button to disable auto formatting. Remember to turn it back on if you use it. You can also disable permanently in SETUP->FORMATS.

A. Remove the white space from your scanned signature file using Paint or another similar program. Your signature file should be a picture 1 inch high by about 4 inches wide with little or no white space.

Q. I am on a network. When I attempt to start ChurchWatch on a network workstation I get the error "Resource File Is Not Valid" and then "Cannot open Parish, File is Read Only" or similar messages and then ChurchWatch will not start. What do I do?

A. You are likely running the ChurchWatch server copy on a Windows XP or NT server or Windows XP Pro or maybe even Windows Vista. There are 2 possible reasons. First of all, you may have copied your data directly from a CD-ROM backup and the files are now marked read-only. Turn off the read-only attribute for all files in the entire ChurchWatch folder and all folders underneath. Secondly, and more likely, you have not setup permissions on the server for users that access the ChurchWatch data from network workstations. You will need to add each person and give them Full Access to the shared ChurchWatch folder. To test this, right-click on the ChurchWatch folder and choose the "Sharing" item. Next, click on the SECURITY tab and then click the ADVANCED button. You will see a list of users and permissions. Make sure that each user who accesses ChurchWatch is in the list and that they have "Full Access" privileges. Also make sure that permissions are not inherited from another folder. In some cases you may need to add the permissions twice, once on the "sharing" tab and once on the "security" tab, depending on your operating system. At your server, you should also check off "Allow network user's to change my files" when you are looking at the sharing and security privileges of the ChurchWatch folder on the server. Another suggestion is to install ChurchWatch in a different folder that is not under the "Program Files" folder. Windows XP Pro does not like it when programs modify files under the Program Files folder tree.

Q. I am on a network. I have mapped drive letters. Every time I cycle power on my workstations I lose the mapped drive and then ChurchWatch does not open. What do I do?

A. Your server is likely a Windows NT or Windows 2003 operating system. These operating systems remove mapped drives after a period of inactivity. This feature can be disabled. Please refer to Microsoft article Q297684 for more information.