NW Scheduler/Publisher - Updates, Support, and Suggestions

[Lance]

I get it …hardware or software support is not usually the worlds most rewarding jobs.. for the caller or the called .. 

 

[Floyd]

On 5/1/2026 at 11:40 AM, dmorilla said:

Is anyone else having issues with submitting their time for the month of April? Some publishers reported this, and I tried it myself and it is not longer working.  Anyone else?

 

The first thing I always ask the friends is "Have you updated the app."

[Floyd]

How do the public talk coordinators handle swapping dates for speakers when congregation speaker sharing is used?

[jwhess]

I finally got 4.0.7 and it solved my problem with Public Witnessing sign-up...Yay.

[markahart]

According to the directions on the website, talks cannot be swapped using PT Sharing. The talk has to be cancelled and re-requested for the new date. 

[trs]

12 hours ago, Indapipe said:

I find it so sad that this is the way a good number on here feel about our brothers, but I get it. I consider contacting their support only as an absolute last resort. 

 

There’s also the built-in support option in the scheduler (bottom left in the menu). However, after updates, we can’t always answer all questions immediately, as we first need to review changes ourselves and identify workarounds.

 

Appreciation for volunteers: The helpers do their very best alongside preaching, congregation, family, and job obligations. We shouldn't forget that. The developers also work on this voluntarily.

 

My tip from experience: Be cautious after major updates (e.g., 7.9 to 8.0 or 8.0 to 8.1) – these often cause the most issues. It's sometimes good to wait even a week before updating. Always follow the update instructions precisely.

 

Often, an impatient elder without full permissions clicks "update" too early. I'd suggest an admin feature to lock updates congregation-wide until approved. We now coordinate via chat group; others install only after my go-ahead – this succeeds 95% of the time and avoids many problems.

 

Jehova is a God of order, not of disorder (1 Corinthians 14:33).

[➕👇 ꓤꓱꓷꓠꓵ🎵Tone]

6 hours ago, Floyd said:

 

The first thing I always ask the friends is "Have you updated the app."

Sorry. I couldn't resist...

[Tortuga]

2 hours ago, trs said:

Often, an impatient elder without full permissions clicks "update" too early. 

Does that create a problem?

I, um, am asking for a friend...

[Indapipe]

2 hours ago, trs said:

The developers also work on this voluntarily.

Is this so? Confirmed? I have no idea. An earlier post here from a week or 2 back stated that it's a business enterprise and the development team are paid for their work on the app. I really don't know. I do know that as a congregation we pay for the higher tier of access and functionality.

[Jonathan1]

59 minutes ago, Indapipe said:

Is this so? Confirmed? I have no idea. An earlier post here from a week or 2 back stated that it's a business enterprise and the development team are paid for their work on the app. I really don't know. I do know that as a congregation we pay for the higher tier of access and functionality.

 

NW Scheduler is operated by New World Solutions Pty Ltd, an Australian private company registered in 2019 (ABN 52 637 316 995). The company was originally called JW Scheduler Pty Ltd and later renamed in 2022. According to the Australian Business Register, it is an active for-profit company registered for GST in Queensland, Australia.

 

https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?id=52637316995

[Matt S]

On 12/25/2024 at 1:19 AM, dvdgarofalo said:

I agree sort of. Sort of because of these few points:

1. I've been in software support for end users. In fact, the company I worked for at the time bought our KH and moved his business into it The cost to provide upscale end user support can be very excessive. That's why even major software companies provide lackluster support email only support, ticket only support, etc. Hopefully in the future that may change. But we have had this software and the app for a couple years now. I consider it an awesome move. As a secretary in several congregations, over the years I have used TSWIN, KHS and others. This is by far the most comprehensive.

2. We don't 'pay' for the app. We pay for the scheduling software. And frankly, the minimum charge is way lower than it should be for the amount of function and specificity of audience. The app, none of the friends have to pay for. If they are donating they are doing that of their own free will. We have the gold plan. One person pays and we have 10 users of NWS. Try getting MS to let you use their product for 10 users for the cost of NWS. Just something to think about.

3. They make us jump through hoops because that is how you find software issues. I used to also test software at end user level. The developers made us track every mouse click and replicate the problem or they would not even look at it. I've sat at the lead developers desk and he would ask me to 'show' him every step I took to replicate a problem. If I could not, off I'd be sent to find what step I was missing. Sometimes the solution is right in the hands of the end user. But when it is somewhere in 1000's of lines of code, you have to find it.

 

I understand that the support or as some view it the lack of, can be frustrating. But all in all, this software is awesome and I'm sure they will continue to improve and tweak it. Just a couple thoughts to keep it in perspective.

 

[Matt S]

Being registered as a company is a legal requirement in Australia. Even if they operated on a donation only basis, they are providing a service, but that would not qualify them as a charity in Australia, and so would still need to be registered as a company.  A for-profit company is just a normal pty ltd company, the most common business structure in Australia. It does not necessarily mean that the company does make a profit or how much profit it makes. But even if they do make some profit, does anyone here expect brothers to work for us for free.

 

Even the hightest tier is only $39 for an entire year for all elders and MS. If your cong averages 15 elders and MS, that's 22 CENTS each per month! Even Baruch has a support my development button, which starts at $3, 10 times as much as NWS. Then there's all the publishers using NWP for free.

[trs]

3 hours ago, Jonathan1 said:

 

NW Scheduler is operated by New World Solutions Pty Ltd, an Australian private company registered in 2019 (ABN 52 637 316 995). The company was originally called JW Scheduler Pty Ltd and later renamed in 2022. According to the Australian Business Register, it is an active for-profit company registered for GST in Queensland, Australia.

 

https://abr.business.gov.au/ABN/View?id=52637316995

I know one of the developers and it’s a network spread across many countries. He is not in Australia and works on it voluntarily. Just like many others.

 

Of course, there’s also a company behind it, since licenses are sold. That has to run correctly from a tax law perspective (render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s). To my knowledge, the revenues only serve to cover the costs.
 

[dvdgarofalo]

43 minutes ago, Matt S said:

 

I still feel the same way as I did when originally posted. 

[Floyd]

I know they try to keep costs down but I would rather pay a for profit company a lot more money for better stability. Right now I sometimes feel like I am using open source software only its not open source so I can't fix anything myself. I wish they would pay the people working on this a living wage and charge me appropriately.

 

I got my haircuts from a brother and I noticed his price was quite low and I asked about it. He said he gave the brothers a discount. I told him not to do that with me. Everybody deserves to get paid fairly for their work. The grocery store is not going to give him a discount because he is a brother. If I accept a discount then I am actually making it harder for him to eat.

[Floyd]

10 hours ago, markahart said:

According to the directions on the website, talks cannot be swapped using PT Sharing. The talk has to be cancelled and re-requested for the new date. 

 

Yes I know. I want to know what others are doing to make this work. Cancelling a talk because PT Sharing is used is a lot more work than just scheduling without PT Sharing. This happens almost every month.

[Tortuga]

I think there have been seven updates since the major update to NWP. Does anyone remember how many minor updates there were to NWP the last time they did a major update? The end is near...

Edited 2 hours ago by Tortuga