Your Tracker — Set It Up Right (Lesson 1)

Please do these steps before you add real work. They take five minutes and they protect everything you'll put in.

The one thing to understand first

Your tracker keeps your data on your own computer, in your own browser, I never see it or store it. That's brilliant for your privacy, and it means one thing is your job: making sure it's backed up. Do the setup below once and it takes care of itself from then on.

This is currently in beta, it works well, but while we're testing, please treat your backup as essential, not optional.

Step 1 — Open it in Chrome, on your computer

Use Google Chrome on a computer (Mac or Windows) for all your editing. Not Safari, not your phone.

Once it's open, bookmark it, and always come back through that bookmark. This keeps you on the same "door" every time, which is how your data stays exactly where you left it.

(You can look at your tracker on an iPad or phone too, more on that at the bottom, but you'll only ever add and edit on your computer.)

Step 2 — Set up your backup (this is the important one)

You have two ways to keep your data safe. Set up at least the first one.

A. Automatic sync (recommended, set once, then forget it)

If you use Google Drive or Dropbox with their app installed on your computer:

1. Go to the Data & Backup tab.

2. Under Sync across computers, click Create a sync file.

3. When the save window opens, save the file inside your Google Drive or Dropbox folder, and name it something like my-tracker-data.

That's it. From now on, every change you make saves into that file automatically, about a second after you make it, and your Drive or Dropbox backs it up to the cloud. You don't press anything.

B. Manual backup (do this too, as a safety net)

On the Data & Backup tab, click Download full backup any time you want a saved copy. I'd suggest doing this once a month when you update your tracker, and keeping the file somewhere safe.

Step 3 — Add your first design

Go to the Art Library, click + Add artwork, and add one design. Watch it appear. If you set up sync in Step 2, it's already saved to your Drive/Dropbox, nothing else to do.

Every time you come back (important for monthly updates)

Because you'll probably only pop in now and then, here's the one habit to remember:

When you open your tracker, if you see a "Reconnect" button on the Data & Backup tab, click it first. That's just your browser asking permission to keep saving to your file, one click and everything you do that session auto-saves again. (Tip: when Chrome asks, choose "Allow on every visit" and you'll rarely see it again.)

After that, work normally. There's no save button, it saves itself.

Looking at your tracker on iPad or phone

You can open your tracker on an iPad or phone to look at it, your designs, deals, calendar, income, but adding and editing only happens in Chrome on your computer. The app will show a "view-only" note on those devices, so you can't accidentally make changes that won't be saved.

To see your latest data on an iPad or phone, use Data & Backup → Restore and pick your backup or sync file from your cloud storage.

If it ever looks empty — don't panic

Your data is almost certainly fine. It usually means you've opened the tracker in a different browser, a different Chrome profile, or a slightly different web address than usual. Come back through your bookmark, in Chrome, and it'll be there. If it's still empty, use Data & Backup → Restore with your backup file, that's exactly what it's for.

Quick checklist

• Opened in Chrome on my computer

• Bookmarked it

• Set up my sync file (Drive/Dropbox), or downloaded a backup

• Added my first design

• I know to click Reconnect when I come back, if asked