The documents and data you upload to Actionstep Practice Management are your property. You can request a backup copy of your data and documents at any time. This takeaway backup is a downloaded version of all of the real-time data and documents within your system to date.
Requesting a Backup
NOTE: Your documents and data are replicated across multiple locations. This eliminates the risk of an isolated storage system failure.
To request a backup:
Note the following about your backup request:
- You will be required to provide your orgkey, which you can find by clicking the Actionstep icon in the top-left corner of the page.
- You will also need to provide the email address you would like the link for the backup files sent to.
- In order for your request to be processed, the Actionstep Support team will need to verify that you have the necessary authority within your organization to receive the backup. You will need to be an Admin with Authority in order to receive a backup. Or, an Admin with Authority can request a backup for a user without these permissions.
- Most backup requests will be completed within 1-2 business days of receiving the request; however, if you have a particularly large data set, this might be slightly longer. When the backup has been completed, you will be sent an email message with a download link. You will be called or emailed separately to provide you with a password to decrypt the backup. (For security purposes, the password and the download link are never sent in the same email message.)
What's Included in Your Backup
The email you receive will contain links to download one or more password-protected ZIP files. (For large backups, data may be saved across several zip files to make it easier to download.) You should download the zip files and then unzip them using the password that was provided to you by Actionstep Support.
The first zip file will contain your database data and possibly some documents. Subsequent zip files (if any) will contain the rest of your documents.
CAUTION: Please note that the password assigned to the zip file will expire seven days after receiving your backup. Be sure to download and unzip the file with the password before it expires. If it expires before you can access your files, you can request another backup by contacting Actionstep Support.
Backing Up Emails
Depending on the email services your firm uses, Actionstep stores either a full email message file, a JSON file containing email information, or a dynamic reference header that retrieves content from the mail server in your database.
With the reference header option, Actionstep does not store email files in the database, but instead displays email content in Actionstep by pulling (or referencing) the content from the third-party mail service (like Microsoft or Google). This means that when performing an Actionstep backup or export, email content may appear to be 'incomplete' due to this difference in storage locations. When this happens, it's recommended you either download the content from your relevant mail service, or re-assign the emails in your new system.
This setup should not present risks to statutory retention periods since the data is still within the control and access of the firm—just not within the Actionstep platform based on the above-mentioned integration and data storage methods.
Working with the Data
In the first zip file, there will be a folder called "Data". Inside this folder, there will be several CSV files that you can view in Microsoft Excel or any text editor.
Each data file contains rows of data and their associated unique keys (usually numeric with a column name containing "id"). You can use the keys to relate rows of data together from several data files. This makes it easier to import this data into another relational database system. Here is an explanation of what is contained in each data file:
| Filename | Key | Data |
|---|---|---|
| actions.csv | action_id | All your actions (our generic name for matters, projects, etc) and who they are currently assigned to |
| action_types.csv | action_type_id | The defined "types" for each action. This governs the workflow and configuration of each action |
| action_folder.csv | folder_id | The default folder structure for documents stored within each action type |
| action_participants.csv | action_id, participant_type_id | The participants of each type that are linked to each action |
| chart_of_accounts.csv | ac_account_id | All the accounts defined in your general ledger |
| check_series.csv | check_id | All checks (cheques) for banking check printing |
| custom_action_data.csv | data_collection_name, data_field_name | All custom data values linked to actions. Fields are grouped into rows using the record_id key |
| disbursements.csv | disbursement_id | Disbursements loaded against actions |
| document_log.csv | log_id | A list of all documents saved to matters. The file_name field should match to documents in this backup. You can use this file to match the actions to the files listed in the "documents" folder of the backup zip files |
| email.csv | email_id | Message headers and subject. The message contents can be found in the linked attachments. |
| email_associations.csv | association_id | What items an email is linked to within Actionstep (actions, invoices, contacts, etc) |
| email_attachment.csv | attachment_id | Email attachments. You can use this to match the email messages to the attachment files listed in the zip folders under "email/attachments" |
| general_ledger_transactions.csv | transaction_id | A full extract of all your accounting entries |
| participant_document.csv | document_id | A list of documents saved to contact records. You can match these to the files in the zip folders under "participant/documents" |
| participants.csv | participant_id | Contact records |
| participant_types.csv | participant_type_id | The types of parties (client, lawyer, witness, etc) defined for each action type |
| primary_participant_types.csv | participant_type_id, action_type_id | The main participant type for each action type (usually "Client"). In other words, the person shown in the action header area on the screen inside Actionstep |
| receipt.csv | receipt_id | Receipts issued for payments received |
| sale_purchase_line_items.csv | line_item_id | The line items of quotes, orders, and invoices |
| sale_purchase_payment.csv | payment_id | Payments received against invoices |
| sale_purchase.csv | sale_purchase_id | Header information for quotes, orders, and invoices |
| tasks.csv | task_id | Tasks |
| time_records.csv | record_id | Timesheet entries |
| rate_sheets.csv | rate_id | Rate sheets |
| transaction_references.csv | transaction_reference_id | Any additional reference information for the general ledger transactions |
| trust_*.csv | transaction_id, action_id | Transactions related to the trust account for each action |
Working with Documents
Other than the "data" folder, all other folders contain copies of all documents you have uploaded to Actionstep in their original format. The documents are arranged in a folder by functional area. In many cases, the file name of the document is prefixed with the corresponding database key. For example, 7865_some_file_name in the "documents" folder will relate to action ID 7865.
Additional Resources:
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