Frequently Asked Questions

PastPerfect Online is an optional, add‑on product for users of our desktop program, PastPerfect 5.0, who want to share their collections online. For more information, visit the PastPerfect Online product page.

PastPerfect Web Edition is our cloud-based collections and contacts management software for organizations looking for a hosted solution. For more information, visit the PastPerfect Web Edition product page.

PastPerfect is required to collect sales tax on qualified sales to customers in Pennsylvania. Although we don’t collect sales tax in other states, based on your state’s laws you may be required to pay sales tax directly to your state. Here is some specific information for our customers in Washington, Oklahoma, and Vermont.

In Washington, sales or use tax is due on certain purchases delivered or sourced to Washington. Washington requires you to file a use tax return when sales tax is not paid at the time of purchase. This message is required under the Revised Code of Washington 82.13.020(2)(a)(i). For more information visit dor.wa.gov/find-taxes-rates/use-tax.

In Oklahoma, sales or use tax is due on certain purchases delivered or sourced to Oklahoma. Sales or use tax may be due pursuant to 68 O.S. §1393. The Oklahoma purchaser is required to file a return if tax is due. For more information visit https://www.ok.gov/tax/.

In Vermont, sales or use tax is due on certain purchases delivered or sourced to Vermont. Vermont purchasers are required to file a return if tax is due. For more information visit https://tax.vermont.gov/.

A​A​S​L​H stands for the American Association for State and Local History. Institutional members of A​A​S​L​H receive a 20% discount on PastPerfect products. For more information about A​A​S​L​H membership, visit https://aaslh.org/membership.

Our conversions team can take a look at your existing data and provide a free estimate on the cost to transfer your data into PastPerfect. For more information on our conversion services, visit museumsoftware.com/conversions.html.

Register for one our webinars to learn more about PastPerfect Web Edition and the upgrade process. After attending a webinar, we can set up a free trial of Web Edition for your organization. For existing PastPerfect users, trials include a consultation with one of our Web Edition Specialists to discuss your needs and review your data. If you have additional questions, please contact us at 1‑800‑562‑6080 and ask to speak to one of our Web Edition Specialists.

PastPerfect Web Edition requires only a strong internet connection and the use of either Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or Microsoft Edge.

Hosting for PastPerfect Web Edition starts at $596 per year. Hosting packages are based on the number of users and how much storage space is required. For more information, visit the Web Edition product page or use the pricing calculator to estimate your costs.

PastPerfect Web Edition is hosted on Amazon Web Services in the US East region.

Yes, PastPerfect Web Edition has a built-in tool to import PastPerfect 5.0 data and images. We assist every organization that upgrades to Web Edition with this import process to ensure that all data and images is transferred. If you are upgrading from an earlier version of PastPerfect, we will get your data into PastPerfect 5.0 before upgrading to PastPerfect Web Edition.

PastPerfect Web Edition makes automatic backups of your data every night. Images and attachments are backed up as soon as you upload them. Users may also intiate their own backups.

Access to your data is limited to the users you have added to your software. If you need technical assistance from our staff, they may ask for permission to access your software to help with troubleshooting. You may grant them access or one of our senior staff members can grant access if you are unable to.

Users may share logins, but only one person can be logged in at a time. If a second person uses the same login, the first person will be logged out of the software.

Users can be assigned to a Role (i.e. Collections Manager) and Restrictions may be set for that Role. You may restrict roles from specific information (like insurance or appraisals), from entire areas of the software (such as Contacts or Loans), or from certain functions (like printing or running reports).

Digital files of any kind, including JPG, PNG, TIF, PDF, audio, video, etc., can be attached under Attachments & URLs to any record in PastPerfect Web Edition. When an image is attached in Image Management, the original image is saved, and a discovery image is created. This discovery image is a smaller image that can be viewed alongside the data as you are viewing the record. This image can also be cropped, rotated, watermarked, etc.

While we recommend using the standard fields as much as possible, we understand organizations often need to record data unique to their collections that does not fit into any standard field. PastPerfect Web Edition offers the ability to add a variety of custom field types to your records.

PastPerfect Web Edition comes with a number of built-in templates, including Deed of Gift, Outgoing Loan Agreement, Membership Renewal Letter, and Donation Thank You Letters. Each template can be customized with the logo, design, and text of your choice. Forms and letters can be printed, saved as PDFs, or emailed.

We release updates for PastPerfect Web Edition every few weeks. Updates are published automatically.

Give one of our support specialists a call at 1‑800‑562‑6080 or send an email to support@museumsoftware.com. The User Guide is available at museumsoftware.com/we. If you are logged in to PastPerfect Web Edition, you can also access the User Guide by clicking the question mark icon at the top of the screen.

PastPerfect runs on Windows operating systems and servers. It is also possible to run PastPerfect on Mac computers with additional software. For more information, review our Hardware Requirements and our Knowledge Base article Does PastPerfect Run on my Mac?

PastPerfect 5.0 does not require any annual fees for use of the program. Technical support is optional and available on an annual basis or per incident.

Yes, PastPerfect 5.0 can be installed on multiple computers on the same network with the purchase of a Network Upgrade. The Network Upgrade is based on the number of computers PastPerfect 5.0 will be installed on. For more information, visit museumsoftware.com/pp5.html.

The basic package includes installation of a single database and software access from one computer. Additional access licenses may be purchased. To grant access on up to 5 computers, you would need to purchase the Network Upgrade 2‑5 users. For additional information and pricing on our Network Upgrades, visit museumsoftware.com/pp5.html.

Wireless networks are not recommended for use with PastPerfect. The required network throughput speed for PastPerfect is 100 Mbps (Megabits per second).

All add‑ons are optional and available for purchase separately from the PastPerfect 5.0 Basic Program. This allows organizations to only purchase the upgrades they need.

Yes, with our optional add‑on, PastPerfect Online, organizations using PastPerfect 5.0 can share their collections online through a fully searchable, customized database. To learn more, visit museumsoftware.com/pastperfectonline.html.

We release free updates every few months for PastPerfect 5.0. Updates are available for all PastPerfect 5.0 users to download from museumsoftware.com/softwareupdates.html.

Yes. From selecting your records to designing your site, we are here to help with the whole process. Contact us either by phone 1-800-562-6080 or email pposupport@museumsoftware.com.

Yes, you choose which records to share online and then select additional records when they're ready. Upload more records as often as you'd like.

Yes, simply deselect the record in PastPerfect and the record will be removed after your next upload. We provide simple tools for removing all PastPerfect Online records if you ever want to start fresh.

Once you select the records you wish to share, then upload them to your site, access to your collection is almost immediate.

Absolutely, you decide when your site goes live. Your PastPerfect Online site is "unlisted" until you share the URL with others and ask us to add your link to the PastPerfect Online portal.

Yes, when you feel your collection is ready for Google indexing, we will submit your site so that your artifacts show up in Google's search results.

With the click of a mouse, you can choose to have your web images watermarked with the name of your organization or additional copyright information. There is no need to manually watermark each image in your collection.

By watermarking and resizing your online images, PastPerfect Online minimizes any potential risk of downloading files. You select the size of your online images, effectively rendering them useless for anything other than web viewing.