PowerChurch Software Newsletter - Year End 2022

Welcome to the year end issue of the PowerChurch Software Newsletter for 2022. In this issue, we cover an exciting update for the PowerChurch Check In system, installing Maintenance Release updates, our year end sale/promotion, and revisit the year end support article archives.

Check In Maintenance Release

A Maintenance Release dated November 8, 2022 was released for Check In. This added the ability to print labels using virtually any label printer.

The Check In system was originally designed to work with Dymo LabelWriter 400 and 450 models. This functionality was dependent on an SDK (software development kit) published by Dymo. That SDK wasn't updated after the release of the Dymo LabelWriter 550 series printers, making them incompatible with software designed to work with the previous generation of printers.

This Maintenance Release adds a Check In Label Printer app, which acts as a print server, listening for communications from the Check In Kiosk with label data to be printed. It also includes a grid-based label editor, allowing you to customize the layout of labels, creating custom label sets. We have tested this with Dymo, Brother, Zebra as well as a generic/unbranded printer from Amazon, but any printer should work.

The documentation in the Check In Kiosk, PDF manual, and the Check In online training video series have been updated with information about setting up and using the Check In Label Printer app.

Installing Maintenance Release Updates

Maintenance Releases are updates to your version of PowerChurch Plus that provide bug fixes and minor feature tweaks. Updated tax forms and other requirements are also distributed via Maintenance Release. The current and one prior version are maintained. As new versions of the software are released, older ones are removed from maintenance.

All Maintenance Release notifications are posted on the News page at https://www.powerchurch.com/news, on our Forum at https://www.powerchurch.com/forum, and also by email. You can subscribe to Maintenance Release emails on our website at https://www.powerchurch.com/email.

For PowerChurch Online users, Maintenance Releases are completely automatic. The PowerChurch Plus program as well as Check In Servers are updated automatically overnight when a new Maintenance Release has been published. Check In for PowerChurch Online users will see the Kiosks update themselves automatically the next time they connect after an update.

For desktop PowerChurch Plus users with Versions 11 and higher, the software is designed to check our website once a week at start up to see if a new Maintenance Release has been published. If it finds that an update has been published, the software offers to download the installer for you. The next time the software starts up, it will install the update.

When checking for Maintenance Release updates, the software verifies the Registration Number (RN), church name, and address against our software registration database. If you receive a message saying that the church name or ZIP/postal code doesn't match our records, verify the information as it is entered in PowerChurch under File > Preferences > System Setup Options. If the information is correct in the software, then it may just be outdated in our customer database. In that case, you can send an email from our website at https://www.powerchurch.com/contact with updated contact information.

The Check In system for PowerChurch Plus doesn't have automatic updates. For that, you can manually download and install the latest Maintenance Release from our website at https://www.powerchurch.com/mr. There you will find a form asking for the Registration Number (RN), church name, contact info, etc. You can skip the step of filling out the form each time by registering a site account at https://www.powerchurch.com/register.

Check In Maintenance Releases are installed on the server/host computer. The Check In Kiosks will update automatically next time they connect.

Year End Sale - Two Free Months of PowerChurch Online Service

Every year, PowerChurch Software has a year end sale for new users which runs from November 1 to January 31. This offer is also extended to existing PowerChurch Plus desktop users who are signing up for PowerChurch Online for the first time. With the purchase of a monthly or yearly subscription, you will receive two additional months free.

PowerChurch Online is an installation of PowerChurch Plus that resides on our servers and is accessed remotely from across the internet. It's Windows and Mac compatible, includes new version upgrades, and unlimited Technical Support service at no additional charge. For more information, including pricing & ordering, visit https://www.powerchurch.com/online.

Year End Archives

In prior year end issues of the newsletter, we published articles and reminders specific to year end processes and support. There is a dedicated page on our website at https://www.powerchurch.com/yearend where you can find links to those articles and other articles pertinent to year end.