Working in a ShipWorks Archive

Background

ShipWorks version 5.24 or later gives you the ability to archive orders into an archive database. This can be very helpful if you wish to remove orders from your main (live) ShipWorks database, but would still like to be able to easily access your order history. When you create an archive in ShipWorks, a separate archive database is created to which you can easily connect and view your order history.

Since the purpose of a ShipWorks archive is to view archived order history only, when connected to a ShipWorks archive much of the ShipWorks functionality is disabled. This article will cover what functionality is available to you when working in a ShipWorks archive.

First Things First

Before you can work with archives in ShipWorks, there are a couple things that you need to have in place:

We recommend that you run the latest version of the ShipWorks software. This allows you to access the latest tools and features and ensures the steps in this article will work for you. For assistance with checking your version of ShipWorks or with upgrading to the latest version, please see this help article.
You need to be logged into ShipWorks as a user with administrator rights.

How to Tell You Are in a ShipWorks Archive

When connected to a ShipWorks archive, there is a banner at the top of the ShipWorks application that indicates that you are connected to an archive database.

You can also return to the main (live) ShipWorks database by clicking on the Return to live database button located within the banner.

Available Functionality in a ShipWorks Archive

A ShipWorks archive is designed to allow you to view historical information about your archived orders. Here is a list of things you can do in a ShipWorks archive:

Use the Search All Orders and the Advanced Search functionality in order to search for an locate orders.
View order details such as:
- Items on an order
- Charges
- Order history (printing, emails, shipments, etc.)
- Can open the order editor in a read-only, allowing you to view the order details, history, address and audit details.
View shipment history and tracking information.
Filter orders, including the ability to edit existing filters and to create new filters.
Preview, print and save reports.

Disabled Functionality

Since a ShipWorks archive is a read-only database, you cannot:

Modify, add or delete orders.
Create, edit or delete shipments.
Email customers.
Download orders.

This is a partial list of the disabled features. However, if you attempt to perform a disabled function in a ShipWorks archive the following message will be displayed.