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An NVivo project contains the materials you are exploring and your analysis of those materials.
In this topic
Your project contains your source materials—for example, interview transcripts, audio recordings, video clips, photographs or survey responses.
Your project also contains your analysis of these source materials. As you explore your source materials, you can:
A standalone project is an NVivo project that is saved to your computer, or to a network drive as a .nvp file. A standalone project file can be opened by only one person at a time—if you are working in the project, no one else can access it.
A server project is an NVivo project that is stored on an NVivo Server. NVivo Server allows concurrent multi-user access—this means that everyone in your team can access the project at the same time.
Both standalone and server projects may contain links to audio and video files which are not embedded in the project. If you copy or move a project containing audio and video sources, you may also need to copy or move the media files—refer to Store audio and video files for more information.
NOTE You are able to work with a server project, if your organization has installed NVivo Server, and you have been granted access to the server and the project—refer to About teamwork in a server project for more information.
You work with your source materials in exactly the same way in standalone and server projects. There is no difference in the way that you create and work with your sources, nodes and other project items. You edit, code, link, and annotate your sources in the same way. You create chart, models, queries and reports in the same way.
The main differences between server and standalone projects are: the location of your project, how your project is saved, and user access controls.
If you are working in a server project:
If you are working in a standalone project:
When you are working with a standalone project stored on your computer or a network drive, you should save your project frequently and make regular back up copies. Saving and copying your project can help prevent loss of data in the event of a power outage or hardware malfunction.
You should consider keeping a back up copy of your project on another physical device (for example, a memory stick or other storage device) stored separately from your computer. This can protect your data if your computer is lost or stolen.
If you work with a project stored on a memory stick, make sure you close the project and close NVivo before you eject or safely remove the memory stick. Refer to Microsoft Windows online help for information about safely removing USB devices.
If your project is stored on a network drive, then (by default) your changes are saved locally until you close the project. When you close the project, the network file is updated with all your changes. To avoid loss of data, make sure that you close your project before you turn off your computer.
You can set your save options so that NVivo updates the network file every time you save. However, if you are working with a large project, the save process may take longer to execute (as the data is transferred across the network).
You can copy a standalone project to the server—refer to Save and copy projects for more information.
When you copy a standalone project to the server, existing project user profiles are copied to the server project as historic profiles. Any future work in the project will be associated with your server project user profile. This may mean you have two user profiles in the server project; your historic standalone project profile and your current server project user profile—you can merge the two profiles together.
The new server project has no connection to the standalone project it was copied from. If you make changes to the server project, your changes will not appear in the standalone project—the two projects are completely separate.
You can copy a server project and create a standalone version of the project saved on your own computer, except when the server project exceeds the maximum size for standalone projects (4GB). Refer to Save and copy projects for more information.
When you copy a server project to your computer:
Existing user profiles are copied.
Project user groups are not retained.
If the server project contains embedded media files stored outside the project, these media files are embedded in the new standalone project until the project reaches 3GB, after which media stored as linked media files.
When you work in the new standalone project, your project user profile will be created if your user name does not already exist in the project.
The new standalone project has no connection to the server project it was copied from. If you make changes to the standalone project, your changes will not appear in the server project—the two projects are completely separate.
It is not possible to work disconnected and 'sync' your project later.
You can only work with your server project when you are connected to your network. If you are unable to connect to your network (for example, because you are out of the office), you cannot work with your project.
If you copy your server project to your own computer, you are creating a new standalone project, which has no connection with your server project. Project user groups are not copied to the standalone project.
You can open projects created in earlier versions of NVivo. When you open a project created in an earlier version of the software, a new NVivo 9 project is created—your older project is not overwritten. Refer to Open a project created in an earlier version.
MAXQDA projects can be opened (and converted) to NVivo 9—refer to Open a MAXQDA project for more information.
ATLAS.ti projects must be exported to XML, before they can be opened (and converted) to NVivo 9. Refer to Open an ATLAS.ti project for more information.