--- title: How do my ShedMate databases and their versions work? description: How ShedMate keeps a version of your pricing and ordering databases every time you save, why each quote keeps its own copy, how to save safely, restore an earlier version and archive a database. --- [Skip to content](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/how-your-shedmate-databases-work#main-content) English Show submenu for translations ![](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/shedmate-logo.png?width=100&height=75&name=shedmate-logo.png) - [Setting up Pricing in Shedmate (course)](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/introduction-to-shedmate-costing-course) - [Frequent Asked Questions](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/frequent-asked-questions) - [Setting up Shedmate](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/setting-up-your-enquiry-system-for-marketing-usage-qr-codes) - [Integrations](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/trimble-tekla-structures-integration) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Setting up Pricing in Shedmate (course)](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/introduction-to-shedmate-costing-course) - [Frequent Asked Questions](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/frequent-asked-questions) - [Setting up Shedmate](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/setting-up-your-enquiry-system-for-marketing-usage-qr-codes) - [Integrations](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/trimble-tekla-structures-integration) - English Show submenu for translations - Contact us Contact us How can we help you? - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Help Center](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge?hsLang=en) 2. [Setting up Shedmate](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/setting-up-shedmate?hsLang=en) 3. [Costing Database & Pricing Calculations Setup](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/setting-up-shedmate?hsLang=en#costing-database-pricing-calculations-setup) # How do my ShedMate databases and their versions work? **Every time someone saves a database, ShedMate keeps it as a new version. Each quote and each order keeps its own copy of the version it loaded.** That copy doesn't move forward on its own, and **Save Database** saves the job's whole copy as the next version. So load the latest version before you change anything. If a save goes wrong, you can go back to an earlier version.   **The short version** 1. Read the database version in the footer before you change anything 2. Behind? Click **Load Database**, then your database's row 3. Changed one job only? **Save Quoting**. Changed it for everyone? **Save Database** 4. Saved by mistake? Load the earlier version, then **Save Database** ### Your two databases | | Instant Quoting | Instant Ordering | | --- | --- | --- | | **The database** | Your pricing (costing) database | Your procurement database | | **What's in it** | Prices, pricing calculations, variables and virtual items | Procurement packages, views, virtual items, formulas and variables | | **Bring a job up to date** | **Load Database**, then your database's row | **update available** in the footer | | **Save this job only** | **Save Quoting** | **Save Ordering** | | **Save for your whole team** | **More**, then **Save Database** | **More**, then **Save as Database** | | **Tells you the job is behind?** | Not on this screen: read the footer. The **Quoting** window in the Shed Designer shows **Current Database** | Yes, the footer shows **update available** | ### Each quote keeps its own copy ![Diagram. Your database has versions v8, v9 and v10, the latest; each Save Database adds a new version. A quote built on v8 keeps v8 prices until you click Load Database then Save Quoting, and then the same quote is on v10. A new quote starts on v10, because you pick the database and the quote loads its latest version. A quote never moves to a newer version by itself. In Instant Quoting read the version in the footer; Instant Ordering shows update available](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hubfs/Shedmate%20Guides/DB01__1-each-quote-keeps-a-copy.png) When you pick a database, the quote takes a copy of its latest version. A new job asks you to pick one before you start quoting. Saving a newer version later doesn't change quotes that already exist. They keep their prices until someone loads the newer version into them. The footer of **Instant Quoting** shows the database name and the version this quote is on (1). **Quoting Version** on the right (2) is the quote's own save count, not the database version. ![Instant Quoting footer: the database name and Version 72 marked 1 on the left, and Quoting Version 8 marked 2 on the right](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hubfs/Shedmate%20Guides/DB01__04-quoting-footer__marked.png) To bring a quote up to date, follow [My quote still shows my old prices. How do I update it?](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/my-quote-still-shows-my-old-prices?hsLang=en) ### Before you click Save Database ![Diagram. What goes wrong: v8 has the base; a teammate saves v9 with their change; your quote was still on v8, so when you make your change and click Save Database, v10 is v8 plus your change and the team change is lost. The safe order: 1 Load Database and click your database's row, 2 check the footer shows the latest version, v9, 3 make your change, 4 Save Database, so v10 is v9 plus your change and the team change is kept. Changed only this one quote? Click Save Quoting instead](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hubfs/Shedmate%20Guides/DB01__2-load-the-latest-first.png) **Save Database** saves this quote's copy of your database as a new version for your whole team. It doesn't combine your copy with changes other people saved since. If your quote is on an older version, saving undoes everything saved after it. | | Do this | | --- | --- | | 1 | Click **Load Database** and click your database's row, before you change anything. Loading replaces the quote's copy, so anything you changed first is lost | | 2 | Check the footer now shows the latest version | | 3 | Make your change | | 4 | Click **More**, then **Save Database**. The window lists the database this quote came from and its current version (1). If that's higher than your footer, someone saved in the meantime: close the window and go back to step 1. If it matches, click the row to save | | 5 | ShedMate then asks whether to save the quoting too. **Save** moves this quote onto the new version. **Ignore** leaves the quote as it was | ![Saving Costing Database window: please select the database you will like to save a new version to. The selected database row marked 1 shows Current version 72 and its saved date; New Costing Database marked 2](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hubfs/Shedmate%20Guides/D-01__04-saving-costing-database__marked.png) Changed one quote only, such as a special price for one customer? Click **Save Quoting** instead. It saves the quote and leaves your database alone. Want to try a change without touching the database your team quotes from? Click **New Costing Database** (2) and save it under a new name. ### Go back to an earlier version, or archive a database ![Diagram. Restore an earlier version: v11 is good and v12 was saved by mistake. 1 Load Database, then the clock icon, Load previous versions, and pick v11. 2 Check it in your quote. 3 Save Database. v13, the latest, is a copy of v11, and v12 stays in the history so you can still look at it. Archive a database: a database you no longer use, such as last year's prices or a test copy; Archive costing database, the box icon on its row, then confirm; it is hidden from the lists and no longer shows when you pick a database; want it back, turn on Show Archived Databases, then Unarchive. Restoring adds a new version with the old content; archiving only hides a database](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hubfs/Shedmate%20Guides/DB01__3-restore-or-archive.png) Each row in **Load Database** has two icons. The clock (1) is **Load previous versions**. The box (2) is **Archive costing database**. To load a database, click the row itself, away from both icons. ![Two views of the same database row in Load Costing Database, Version 79. In the top view the clock icon is marked 1 and its tooltip reads Load previous versions. In the bottom view the box icon is marked 2 and its tooltip reads Archive costing database](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hubfs/Shedmate%20Guides/DB01__05-row-icons__marked.png) #### Restore an earlier version Every saved version is kept, with who saved it and when. Restoring doesn't delete anything: it saves the earlier version again as the newest one. | | Step | | --- | --- | | 1 | Open a test quote, or one you don't mind changing. Loading a version replaces that quote's copy | | 2 | Click **Load Database**, then the clock icon on your database's row. The list shows every version (1), newest first | | 3 | Click the version you want. The quote's prices update on screen. Check the prices and items you expected are there | | 4 | Click **More**, then **Save Database**, and click your database's row. The window shows a higher current version than your footer: that's expected here. ShedMate saves the version you loaded as the next version, so it's now the latest | | 5 | Tell your team. Quotes already on the version saved by mistake stay on it until someone loads the latest | ![A database's history window: selecting a version here will update the prices on your current quoting, and you can then choose to save a new quotation version to keep it. Each row shows who saved it and when; Version 79 (Latest) is marked 1, then Versions 78 and 77](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hubfs/Shedmate%20Guides/DB01__06-version-history__marked.png) Only want to look at an earlier version? Load it into a test quote and don't save.   **Not sure which version is the right one?** Don't save again. Email support@shedmate.com.au with the database name and roughly when the wrong save happened, and we'll look at it with you. #### Archive a database Archive a database nobody should pick any more, such as last year's prices or a test copy. Click the box icon on its row, then confirm. It disappears from the list when you pick a database. Nothing is deleted, and quotes that already use it keep their own copy. If someone clicks **Save Database** from one of those quotes, the database comes back into the list, so archive it again if that happens. To bring one back, turn on **Show Archived Databases** (1). Archived databases join the list and look like the others. Hover over the box icon (2): on an archived database it reads **Unarchive costing database**. Click it. ![Load Costing Database with Show Archived Databases switched on, marked 1. Below it an archived test database row, with the box icon marked 2 and its tooltip reading Unarchive costing database](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hubfs/Shedmate%20Guides/DB01__07-show-archived__marked.png) ### In Instant Ordering Your procurement database works the same way, with a few differences. **The footer tells you when the job is behind.** It shows **update available** (1) beside the database name and the job's version. Hover over it to see which version is the latest. ![Instant Ordering footer: the database name with the job's version, v40, and update available marked 1. The tooltip reads: Version 51 of this procurement database is available, click to update this job](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hubfs/Shedmate%20Guides/DB01__09-ordering-update-available__marked.png) Click it, read the message, then click **Update**. Updating replaces the job's procurement packages, views, virtual items, formulas and variables with the latest version, and anything you set up here that isn't saved as a database is lost. Nothing is saved until you click **Save Ordering**. So update first, then make your changes. **In Load Database, "currently loaded" names the database, not the version.** The row this job came from says **currently loaded** (1). The version beside it is that database's latest version. The job's own version is the one in the footer. The icons are the other way round from Instant Quoting: the box archives the database (2) and the clock loads a previous version (3). ![Load Procurement Database window: loading a database replaces this job's procurement packages, views, virtual items and variables with the database's. Show archived (1). The first row, Version 51 currently loaded, is marked 1, with its archive icon marked 2 and its previous-version icon marked 3](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hubfs/Shedmate%20Guides/DB01__10-load-procurement-database__marked.png) **Save as Database: pick the row marked "this job's source".** Each row shows its current version and the version saving creates (1). If the footer shows **update available**, update first. To save under a new name, click **New Procurement Database** (2). ![Save as Procurement Database window: publishes this job's procurement packages, views, virtual items and variables as a reusable database. The row marked 1 reads Currently version 33, saving creates version 34, this job's source. New Procurement Database is marked 2](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hubfs/Shedmate%20Guides/DB01__11-save-as-procurement-database__marked.png) Archiving works the same way: jobs already using an archived procurement database keep working, and you can restore it later with **Show archived**. **Load Versions** on the toolbar is different again: it loads an earlier version of this job's ordering, not the database. See [How do I keep track of what has been ordered?](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/keep-track-of-what-has-been-ordered?hsLang=en) ### Good habits for a team - Agree who saves the database, and tell everyone when a new version is saved, so anyone with a live quote loads it before sending - Read the version in the footer and the version in the Save window, every time, just before you save - Name test copies clearly, and archive them when you're done - Big change coming, such as a price rise? Note the version number before you start, so you know which one to go back to ### Printable guide Download [How do my ShedMate databases and their versions work? (PDF, 7 pages)](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hubfs/Shedmate%20Guides/ShedMate-KB-How-Your-Shedmate-Databases-Work.pdf?hsLang=en) to print it or share it with your team. ### Related articles - [My quote still shows my old prices. How do I update it?](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/my-quote-still-shows-my-old-prices?hsLang=en) - [Updating your pricing list from Excel (price rises)](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/updating-your-pricing-list-from-excel-to-shedmate-applies-for-price-rises?hsLang=en) - [Adjusting your ordering setup](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/adjusting-your-ordering-setup?hsLang=en) - ["Template" means three different things in ShedMate](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/template-means-three-different-things-in-shedmate?hsLang=en) Stuck? Email support@shedmate.com.au with the job number and the database name. - [Introduction to Shedmate (How does it work)](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/introduction-to-shedmate-how-does-it-work?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Introduction and useful information](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/introduction-to-shedmate-how-does-it-work?hsLang=en#introduction-and-useful-information) - [Workflow for Cold Formed x Structural Steel](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/introduction-to-shedmate-how-does-it-work?hsLang=en#workflow-for-cold-formed-x-structural-steel) - [Frequent Asked Questions (FAQ)](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/frequent-asked-questions-faq?hsLang=en) - [Release Notes](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/release-notes?hsLang=en#main-content) - [2025](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/release-notes?hsLang=en#2025) - [2024](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/release-notes?hsLang=en#2024) - [2026](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/release-notes?hsLang=en#2026) - [Setting up Shedmate](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/setting-up-shedmate?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Costing Database & Pricing Calculations Setup](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/setting-up-shedmate?hsLang=en#costing-database-pricing-calculations-setup) - [Getting Started](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/setting-up-shedmate?hsLang=en#getting-started) - [Setting up Shedmate Costing (COURSE)](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/setting-up-shedmate-costing-course?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Introduction to Cost Engineering & Shedmate](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/setting-up-shedmate-costing-course?hsLang=en#introduction-to-cost-engineering-shedmate) - [Starting from Scratch - A necessary learning practice](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/setting-up-shedmate-costing-course?hsLang=en#starting-from-scratch-a-necessary-learning-practice) - [Fast-Tracking Your Pricing Setup with Pre-Built Templates](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/setting-up-shedmate-costing-course?hsLang=en#fast-tracking-your-pricing-setup-with-pre-built-templates) - [Integrations and API](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/integrations-and-api?hsLang=en) - [Designing Shed Projects](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/designing-shed-projects?hsLang=en#main-content) - [Doors and Openings](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/designing-shed-projects?hsLang=en#doors-and-openings) - [Quoting A Shed Project](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/quoting-a-shed-project?hsLang=en) - [Preparing for Fabrication and Delivery](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/preparing-for-fabrication-and-delivery?hsLang=en) - [Engineering and Design Checks](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/engineering-and-design-checks?hsLang=en) - [Setting up Pricing in Shedmate (course)](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/introduction-to-shedmate-costing-course) - [Frequent Asked Questions](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/frequent-asked-questions) - [Setting up Shedmate](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/setting-up-your-enquiry-system-for-marketing-usage-qr-codes) - [Integrations](https://help.shedmate.com.au/knowledge/trimble-tekla-structures-integration) [![Chill listening crop-3](https://help.shedmate.com.au/hs-fs/hubfs/shedmate-logo-1.png?width=75&height=26&name=shedmate-logo-1.png "Chill listening crop-3")](http://www.shedmate.com.au) 1 James St, Mount Gambier 5290 South Australia [mailto:support@shedmate.com.au](mailto:support@shedmate.com.au) Copyright © 2025, Shedmate