Hey everyone! Welcome to the latest instalment of our community help series, dedicated to helping you navigate Connect like a pro.
I’m Naresh, a Level 10 Local Guide from India, and I’ve been a Connect Moderator since 2020. Finding inspiration through travel, mapping my journeys, and attending Local Guides meet-ups brings me so much joy. With all the amazing interactions happening daily on this platform, you might sometimes want to keep a personal record of your contributions. Today, let’s look at how to easily back up your activity in Community Help Series Post No. 4: How to Export Your Connect Data.
Whether you want to save a backup of your posts, review your account preferences, or just keep a personal archive of your Local Guides Connect journey, the platform makes it very simple to download all your data at once.
Here is a complete, step-by-step guide on how to request and download your personal archive, from start to finish!
Step-by-Step Guide to Exporting Your Data
Part 1: Requesting the Archive
- Click your Profile Photo in the top right corner and select Preferences.
- In the main Account tab, scroll all the way down until you see the Export your data section.
- Click on the grey Request archive button.
- A pop-up window will appear asking, “Do you really want to download an archive of your account activity and preferences?” Click the blue Yes button to confirm.
- A second pop-up will let you know the system is working on it, stating: “We’ve started collecting your archive, you will receive a message when the process is complete.” Click OK.
Part 2: Downloading Your File Because compiling all your activity can take a few minutes depending on how active you are on the forum, you don’t need to stay on the settings page.
- Keep an eye on your Notifications bell icon.
- Once the file is ready, you will receive a notification from the system titled: “[User Archive] Data export complete”.
- Click on the notification to open the automated direct message.
- Inside the message, you will find a secure download link for your
.zipfile (e.g.,user_archive-[YourName]-...zip). Click the link to download it to your device.
Important Notes for Your Download:
- Time Sensitive: The download link generated in your system message will only be valid for 48 hours, so be sure to download it promptly!
- Extracting the File: The data is compressed as a zip archive. If the archive does not extract itself automatically when you open it on your computer, the system recommends using 7-Zip to unpack your files.
What’s Inside Your Zip Folder?
Once you extract the .zip file, you will find a collection of files (usually in .csv format) that serve as a comprehensive backup of your Connect account. This generally includes:
- Your Contributions: A primary file (typically named
user_archive.csv) containing the text, dates, and details of all the forum topics and replies you have posted. - Account & Profile Data: A record of your current profile settings, earned badges, and account preferences.
- Community Interactions: Spreadsheets logging your activity, such as posts you have liked, topics you have bookmarked, and your category preferences.
- Private Messages: A secure backup of your direct message history with other Local Guides.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this quick introduction! If there’s a specific feature you’d like to explore further, let us know in the comments below, or browse the rest of the topics in this series.
- Concerned About Your Privacy on Connect? Here is How to Go Private
- Take Control of Your Interactions: How to Ignore or Mute Users on Connect
- Master Your Alerts: A Guide to Connect Notifications
- Keep Your Connect Memories Safe: Export Your Local Guides Connect Data (This post)
