Getting access to the online services
Accounts are not created on this website. The online services belong to a parish workspace, and a workspace belongs to a parish datafile - so everything starts in the program itself, not here.
A workspace is the whole online side of Parish Record Keeper, for one datafile and for one year: the parish data kept on the server that several people work on together, an account for each member, the online search for members, the offline phone app, the parish transport register and shared logins for financial data for treasurers or leaders who have no account of their own.
If your parish is not yet using the online services
- Install Parish Record Keeper. The program and its installation instructions are on the downloads page.
- Create your parish datafile in the program and enter your records as usual. The datafile is yours and works completely offline; the online services are optional.
- Register the datafile from inside the program: open Server Actions. If the datafile is not yet registered, it explains this and offers to send a request there and then - no website account is needed for that step. A small window asks for the parish name, your name and your email address; the datafile's Backend ID is filled in automatically.
- Confirm your email address by clicking the link that is sent to you. Only then is the developer notified.
- Make the contribution for the term you chose. You will be told the amount and how to send it. The workspace is created once that contribution has arrived.
- The workspace is set up for you, and you receive an administrator login for it by email. From that point on you can log in on this website, and Server Actions in the program signs in by itself.
Try it first: six months free
A parish that would like to see what a workspace does before contributing can start a free trial. Ask the developer for the free-trial token, then register the datafile as described above and type the token in where the window asks for an activation code. The workspace is set up at once and runs free for six months, with everything a paid workspace has; each email address can start one trial. To keep it afterwards, make a contribution before the six months are over — nothing has to be set up again. If you do not, the workspace simply closes; nothing on your own computer is affected.
What the contribution covers, and for how long
Keeping a workspace on the server costs real money, so it asks a contribution rather than a one-time setup charge. It is a service fee for the workspace alone — the full terms are in the Cloud Service Agreement. The Desktop App is fully functional also without the workspace, including its offline sync engine. Only the Server Actions Panel depends on the workspace.
How long you contribute for
You choose the term when you send the request, and a longer one costs less per year:
| Term | Zambia | From abroad | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| One year | ZMW 400 | USD 20 | — |
| Two years | ZMW 700 | USD 35 | USD 17.50 |
| Three years | ZMW 1,000 | USD 50 | USD 16.67 |
Renewal counts from the date your current term runs out, not from the day the money arrives, so contributing early loses you nothing. The date your current contribution reaches to is shown on the start screen of the program itself, so you can see at a glance when the next one is due; the program warns you there during the last month.
A longer term is worth considering for a reason that has nothing to do with the discount: it survives a change of parish priest. An annual renewal is most often forgotten in exactly the month a parish changes hands.
How long the Workspace itself will last
Parish Record Keeper was written and is maintained by one person, with help from friends of the project. It is not a company, and it carries no guarantee that it will still be running in five or ten years.
We are working towards a more permanent footing, so that the project would be carried by a respected and lasting institution. That work is under way, but it is an intention, not yet an arrangement, and we cannot promise when — or whether — it will be concluded.
What we can promise is that your records are never held hostage. The parish's data file lives on the parish's own computer, and the desktop program is free, needs no server, and needs no permission from us to open it. It will keep working whether or not this project does, for as long as Microsoft Access is on your computer. While the Workspace is running, you may also download your complete Workspace data at any time from your own workspace page, without asking anyone. The Workspace — the online search, the phone app, the parish data on the server, the transport register — is the part that depends on the server availability, and it is the part that could one day stop.
If you contribute for several years at once, the intention is that the money is set aside for the server years it was given for. Should the Workspace be discontinued before your term is out, the unused portion is refunded on request, so far as funds and circumstances permit. Both sides give what they can, in good faith: the parish contributes towards the running costs, and the project keeps the Workspace going for as long as it is able. Neither side gains a claim on the other beyond that.
The program itself is free and is not affected by any of this: your parish datafile is yours, it works completely offline, and it keeps working whether or not you use the online services.
If your parish already has a workspace
Ask the administrator of your parish workspace to add you as a member. They can do this on the workspace page of this website, or from Server Actions in the program. Your account is created at that moment and you are given the password to use here - there is nothing for you to fill in beforehand.
If you already have an account
Simply log in. If you no longer know your password, use Forgot password on the login page.