diff --git a/main/src/com/metaweb/gridworks/ProjectManager.java b/main/src/com/metaweb/gridworks/ProjectManager.java
index 7b27cdfc3..1f8675b18 100644
--- a/main/src/com/metaweb/gridworks/ProjectManager.java
+++ b/main/src/com/metaweb/gridworks/ProjectManager.java
@@ -86,10 +86,33 @@ public abstract class ProjectManager {
     public abstract void exportProject(long projectId, TarOutputStream tos) throws IOException;
 
     /**
-     *
+     * Saves a project and its metadata to the data store
      * @param id
      */
-    public abstract void ensureProjectSaved(long id);
+    public void ensureProjectSaved(long id) {
+        synchronized(this){
+            ProjectMetadata metadata = _projectsMetadata.get(id);
+            if (metadata != null) {
+                try {
+                    saveMetadata(metadata, id);
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                    e.printStackTrace();
+                }
+            }
+
+            Project project = _projects.get(id);
+            if (project != null && metadata.getModified().after(project.lastSave)) {
+                try {
+                    saveProject(project);
+                } catch (Exception e) {
+                    e.printStackTrace();
+                }
+            }
+        }
+
+    }
+    protected abstract void saveMetadata(ProjectMetadata metadata, long projectId) throws Exception;
+    protected abstract void saveProject(Project project);
 
     public ProjectMetadata getProjectMetadata(long id) {
         return _projectsMetadata.get(id);
diff --git a/main/src/com/metaweb/gridworks/io/FileProjectManager.java b/main/src/com/metaweb/gridworks/io/FileProjectManager.java
index 317880350..c41fbe7fb 100644
--- a/main/src/com/metaweb/gridworks/io/FileProjectManager.java
+++ b/main/src/com/metaweb/gridworks/io/FileProjectManager.java
@@ -179,37 +179,17 @@ public class FileProjectManager extends ProjectManager {
         }
     }
 
-    /**
-     * Make sure that a project's metadata and data are saved to file. For example,
-     * this method is called before the project is exported to a .tar file.
-     *
-     * @param id
-     */
-    public void ensureProjectSaved(long id) {
-        synchronized (this) {
-            File projectDir = getProjectDir(id);
-
-            ProjectMetadata metadata = _projectsMetadata.get(id);
-            if (metadata != null) {
-                try {
-                    ProjectMetadataUtilities.save(metadata, projectDir);
-                } catch (Exception e) {
-                    e.printStackTrace();
-                }
-            }
-
-            Project project = _projects.get(id);
-            if (project != null && metadata.getModified().after(project.lastSave)) {
-                try {
-                    ProjectUtilities.save(project);
-                } catch (Exception e) {
-                    e.printStackTrace();
-                }
-            }
-        }
+    @Override
+    protected void saveMetadata(ProjectMetadata metadata, long projectId) throws Exception {
+        File projectDir = getProjectDir(projectId);
+        ProjectMetadataUtilities.save(metadata, projectDir);
     }
 
     @Override
+    protected void saveProject(Project project){
+        ProjectUtilities.save(project);
+    }
+
     public Project loadProject(long id) {
         return ProjectUtilities.load(getProjectDir(id), id);
     }