Profiles

A Profile is a named, instant snapshot of your entire WPSD configuration — modes, network settings, and any hand-edited files in the Quick/Full Editors — saved locally on the hotspot itself. Switching profiles takes effect in seconds, with no re-flashing and no file transfer required.

Profiles aren’t just a maintenance/recovery tool tucked away for emergencies — they’re meant to be used regularly, as part of how you actually run your hotspot day to day. If you switch between setups often (say, a BrandMeister-only profile for daily use and a multi-network profile for special events), Profiles are how you do that switching, instantly, without re-configuring anything by hand each time.

This is different from Backup and Restore, which produces a portable .zip file you download to your own computer for safekeeping or moving to a new SD card. Profiles live on the hotspot and are meant for quick, local, everyday use.

Access the Profile Manager from the Profiles link in the top navigation bar of either the Dashboard or the Admin page.

Why you should use Profiles

Beyond daily-driving different setups, several other chapters in this manual point back to Profiles as the recovery mechanism after something gets overwritten. In particular:

  • If you hand-edit the DMRGateway configuration file (or any hostfile) using the Quick/Full Editors in Admin -> Advanced, and then later make a change and click Apply Changes on the main Configuration page, WPSD regenerates those files from your Configuration page settings — silently discarding your hand edits. See DMR Operation & Functionality and How WPSD Manages Hostfiles for the specifics of what gets regenerated and when.

  • A saved Profile taken after your hand edits lets you get back to that exact state instantly, without having to redo the edits from memory.

In short: any time you’re about to make hand edits outside the Configuration page that you want to survive future changes, save a Profile first (or immediately after) — and if you regularly switch between a few known-good configurations, save each one as its own Profile so switching is a dropdown selection, not a re-configuration chore.

Creating, switching, and deleting profiles

The Profile Manager has four functions:

  • Save New Profile — snapshots your current, running configuration under a new name. Names may contain letters, numbers, and spaces; no other special characters are permitted.

  • Switch Profile — pick a saved profile from the dropdown and instantly reconfigures the hotspot to match it. Services restart automatically as part of the switch, and you’ll be redirected back to the Dashboard once it’s done.

  • Quick Save Over Current — updates the currently active profile with whatever your configuration looks like right now, without creating a new one.

  • Delete Profile — permanently removes a saved profile. This cannot be undone.

Note

If any mode is currently paused (via the Instant Mode Manager), the Profile Manager will ask you to resume it first before you can save, switch, or delete profiles.

Tip

Give profiles descriptive names tied to why you saved them — e.g. “Before DMRGateway custom edits” or “BrandMeister only, no XLX” — rather than dates alone. When you have several saved, you want to be able to tell them apart at a glance.