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As always, the animals found on PetPoint and Petango can and should be included on your group's individual website via the Adoptable Search. Below are a few links that can get you started with the process of updating your website with a tool that will take care of displaying animal records online and in real time for your group, including features like Happy Tails and Featured Pet.
PetPoint’s Adoptable Search I-frame provides live adoptable pet data to your website, giving the world information about pets that are available in your shelter or rescue. Because it’s real-time, your website will be instantly updated when changes are made in PetPoint, such as when a pet is adopted.
Adoptable Search Quick Setup Guide
How to Setup PetPoint’s Adoptable Search Plug-In for real-time Adoptable animal listings on your website. Add or remove Adoptable pets from PetPoint, and your organization’s website is automatically updated in real time.
You can read more about the different Adoptable Search Options here.
PetPoint’s Lost/Found/Stray Search I-frame provides live Lost, Found and Stray pet data to your website, giving the world information about pets that have been reported found to you by the public, are currently in your shelter’s or rescue’s custody (as a “stray”), or pets that have been reported Lost to you by the public; giving them a better chance at being found.
Set up your Lost/Found/Stray Search I-Frame using this document.
You can read more about the different Lost/Found/Stray Search items here.
PetPoint’s Happy Tails I-frame provides adopted pet data to your website on a daily basis, giving the world information about pets that have found happy homes! Updated pictures of your alumni and their 'happy tale' from your adopters can be added to PetPoint and displayed in the Happy Tails I-frame.
Set up your Happy Tails I-Frame using this document.
You can read more about the different Happy Tails Options here.
The Standard and Advanced Featured Pet I-frame is intended to be used as a “mini” I-frame in which a select few of the overall list of Available animals are displayed. For example, you might want to display 1-4 animals on your home page so they are highly visible the moment users enter your website. The Standard Featured Pet functionality provides shelters with the ability to display a subset of your Available animals in an Adoptable Search I-frame. The Advanced Featured Pet functionality allows you to select a few "Featured Pets" out of the total list of animals to display in the smaller I-frame.
Set up your Featured Pets I-Frame using this document.
You can read more about the different Adoptable Search Options here.
With all available animal exports, additional setup is required. Please see the following links to make sure your listings will be correct:
If you wish to display animals in stages other than available online, you can learn how administrators make this database wide change here:
How to Add other Stages in the Adoptable Search Listings
We have created the Petango Editor for volunteers or data entry personnel who do not need access to the entire PetPoint database, but need access to the animal's online profiles. Users with this role will have the ability to do limited editing of active inventory animals for display on Petango.com and within the Adoptable Search I-frame.
Memo - Advanced: As a note, you may want to make sure any user who is going to be creating or updating info for the online listings have Memo - Advanced as a User Role, otherwise they will only be able to add new memos rather than edit or change memos.
PetPoint provides several options for listing your available, lost, found, and stray animals on the internet. We work with third-party vendors to provide automatic hourly uploads of your listings to their national sites, provided those vendors accept the 24PetWatch and ShelterCare branding embedded within the listings. Uploads run daily from 8am Eastern – 11pm Eastern.
The setup you need to do to enable online listings varies depending on which service you are using and some services do require specific setup. Here we provide instructions for setting up Adopt-a-Pet and Pets911 uploads, as well as the setup needed within PetPoint for this optional service. We will update and manage your data for you on these websites for a rate determined by the number of intakes you do.
Please be advised that, effective August 1st, Pethealth will no longer be providing free of charge uploads of adoptable pets and related information to the adoptable search sites www.adopt-a-pet.com and www.pets911.com.
Notwithstanding the fact that Adopt-A-Pet competes with our own Petango site and offers an insurance program competing directly with our ShelterCare and 24PetWatch insurance programs, we have uploaded adoptable pet content free of charge to this site at the request of PetPoint users since February 2007.
However, for some time now we have wanted to streamline the upload services we provide under a single module operating within PetPoint. Over the past few months we have invested in creating this technology and believe its functionality will meet the needs of a broader segment of PetPoint users.
As a result, on August 1st, we will be releasing the PetPoint Adoptable Pet Upload module featuring a pay-as-you-go service offering PetPoint licensed organizations the ability to have their adoptable search content uploaded to any or all of the following adoptable search sites: www.petfinder.com, www.adopt-a-pet.com, www.pets911.com automatically on an hourly basis. A fee schedule for this module is below:
For those organizations which have signed up for our Enterprise application, this module can be licensed at 25% Off the regular cost. For those of you using full or part time employees to manually upload your adoptable search content to other adoptable search sites now, use of this module will save your organization money and, in cases where volunteers are being used, will allow you to reallocate their efforts to other parts of your operation. Available Pet feeds to Petango.com, our own site, will continue to be live, real time and free of charge to all PetPoint licensed organizations.
The following links will walk you through setting up the automatic, hourly export of “Available” / “Adoptable” animal records (including pictures, stories, and profiles) from PetPoint to your website or other online adoption sites.
Note: before you do any of the steps below, speak with your Outreach representative to provide a quote and answer any questions you may have.
Adopt-a-Pet animal uploads are turned off by default when you receive your database, but please follow these steps to enable listings to begin transferring to Adopt-a-Pet.
The PetPoint user needs to have an account on Adopt-a-Pet.
The user needs to request a link between the programs is setup for PetPoint uploads from Adopt-A-Pet during the initial account setup process.
Adopt-a-Pet will need to know the PetPoint shelter ID for the group. (USXXYYYY)
Adopt-a-Pet will contact PetPoint to get the process started.
PetPoint users without an existing Adopt-a-Pet account will need to visit http://www.adoptapet.com/shelter/terms_conditions_signup.html to sign up for one.
Once your shelter or rescue has obtained an Adopt-a-Pet account, you will request that uploads from PetPoint to Adopt-a-Pet be enabled by contacting Laurie Wisneski at laurie@adoptapet.com. This request should come from an administrator and include your shelter’s Name & PetPoint Shelter ID. They will then contact us and get the process started.
Once our developers let us know the setup has been completed, we will send Adopt-a-Pet a closure notice, and they will notify you that the process has been enabled and should start with the next hourly upload.
While completing the above steps, it is highly suggested that you verify your PetPoint records are ready to be exported. To do this, you will want to review the animal records in PetPoint and your PetPoint setup to insure that once the import/export is enabled, that the records upload correctly.
Verify that you have stored a primary picture of the animal in PetPoint if you want a picture uploaded along with the animal's record. Pictures can be added via Edit - Animal. Picture #1 in PetPoint will be the primary animal’s picture in the upload file. Pictures 2 & 3 will display in Pethealth’s online listing tools, and be uploaded as well to some third-party vendors.
Verify that you have created an Animal Memo – Petango/Adoption Description if you want the animal’s 'warm & fuzzy' story to be included in your online listings. Animal Memos can be created in PetPoint using the Animal Memo button that appears in the Animal Search Results window any time an animal is searched for and selected.
If you are copying & pasting text from Word, your current Adoptable Animal listings, or any other source INTO a Petango/Adoption Description Animal Memo within PetPoint, please be aware that such text may contain special formatting (bold text, special fonts, emoticons, etc.) that will prevent the entire memo to be uploaded to the web. As such, we STRONGLY suggest that you copy the text into Windows Notepad (usually found in Start – Programs – Accessories) FIRST to remove the special formatting and THEN copy & paste the text from Notepad into Petango/Adoption Description Animal Memo. Failure to remove special formatting may result in the animal NOT being uploaded to Adopt-a-Pet.
Verify that any of the “flags” on the Animal Profile screen are checked as appropriate. The fields are: Special Needs, No Dogs, No Cats, and No Small Kids. Fill in additional information to set the animal up to show
Verify that all animals that you want uploaded are in the "Available" Stage within PetPoint. The Animal: Inventory by Stage report will give you a list of these animals.
The following details are uploaded from PetPoint to Adopt-a-Pet:
Name, Animal ID, Species, Breed, Primary Color, Gender, Spayed/Neutered, Age Group, Bio and three Photos.
Pets911 Listings Powered by PetPoint
Pets911 animal uploads are turned off by default when you receive your database, but please follow these steps to enable listings to begin transferring to Pets911.
The PetPoint user needs to have an account on Pets911.
The user needs to request an FTP account be setup for PetPoint uploads.
Pets911 will need to know the PetPoint shelter ID for the group. (USXXYYYY)
We will need to know Pets911’s ID for our client and the FTP credentials where the data is to be sent.
PetPoint users without an existing Pets911 account will need to visit http://www.pets911.com/ui to sign up for one.
Once your shelter or rescue has obtained a Pets911 account, you will request that uploads from PetPoint to Pets911 be enabled by contacting us – techsupport@petpoint.com. This request should come from an administrator and include your shelter’s Name & PetPoint Shelter ID. We will then contact Pets911 to create the FTP account required for this process, and send an email copy of the request and ticket number to your administrator.
When your group’s FTP account is set up on their end, Pets911 will reply to us with the FTP info and the group’s Pets911 ID # which will complete the process, and uploads will begin shortly after we have submitted that information to our developers.
Once the developers let us know the process has been started, we will send the administrator and Pets911 a closure notice, letting you know the process has been enabled and should start with the next hourly upload.
In order to display your animals in most online listings, you will need to “map” several field values that are unique to your organization to standardized lists we provide in Admin Options – Setup – Add/Edit Field value.
Animal Type / Species / Breed
PetPoint’s Cat & Dog breeds automatically map over to Petango, Pets911 and other online listings. However, if you have setup other Animal Types / Species / Breeds within PetPoint (such as Rabbits, Ferrets, Birds, etc.), then you will need to map each of the Species and Breeds to a corresponding Petango Animal Type and Breed.
When PetPoint was set up, we defined the Age Groups for ALL animals in your shelter using Admin – Admin Options – Add/Edit Field Value – Age Groups. Each PetPoint Age Group has a “Petango Associated Value” drop-down containing all of the choices we provide in the Petango “Age Group” list (i.e. – Baby, Young Adult).
Organizations who wish to list their Lost Reports, Found Reports, and Stray animals online must be using PetPoint Professional – this feature is not available to organizations running PetPoint Lite. Administrators will need visit Admin – Admin Options – Setup – Lost/Found Setup to define the rules for their own internal lost & found searching as well as the rules for publishing these records online.
Once configured, any animals that are processed through an intake type marked “Shared” will be sent to Pets911 as Found animals, and any animals under any intake type/sub type who are listed as the stage “Available” will be uploaded as adoptable animals. The uploads are sent once hourly between 8 A.M. - 11 P.M. Eastern. The upload will include any information that the Pets911 website accepts for 90 days post intake, including a photo and the bio for the animal (entered as the Petango/Adoption Description memo). Updated information will also be sent hourly, although it may take a short time for Pets911 to include it on their website.
FOR DETAILED DOCUMENTATION & INSTRUCTIONS ON USING THIS SCREEN, PLEASE VISIT THE FOLLOWING SECTION OF ONLINE HELP: http://sms.petpoint.com/help/lost_found.htm
Add the Intake Types / Subtypes you wish to be searchable within your own database and exported to the web. Additionally, you can choose to share out the Intake Types / Subtypes you setup here to be searchable by any organization within your region or state that is using PetPoint by checking the Share box.
This section is used to define which Intake Types / Subtypes are displayed on the web where the Lost/Found animals are available and searched when “Selected” is chosen from the Search Intakes field on Lost / Found Search.
You may also want to default the expiration date for stray animals and for lost and found reports.
Now that your lost/found/stray animals are uploading to Pets911, it is important for you to understand which animals will be displayed as well as how to control and update their information in PetPoint.
Lost Reports are only included if they are NOT Cancelled, NOT Expired, and ARE marked as Shared in the last step of a Lost Report.
Found Reports are only included if they are NOT Cancelled, NOT Expired, and ARE marked as Shared in the last step of a Found Report.
“Stray” animals are those defined as “Searchable” and “Shared” Intake Subtypes in the Lost/Found Setup. They are included in the Found I-frame, but labeled as “Animal in Custody”.
Stray animal records require a default expiration date and only appear until the expiration date.
For #1 & #2, it’s important that your users leave the “shared” box checked (unless the person specifically declines sharing their report) when filing a Lost/Found Report: Additionally, you should review what you have setup as your default expiration date for Lost/Found Reports in Admin – Admin Options – Setup – Lost/Found: For #3, you should review what Intake Subtypes you have setup as searchable within PetPoint’s Lost/Found system. Only those that are both “Searchable” and “Shared” will be shown within the Found animal I-frame because you consider those animals as potential “strays”. If you do not have any marked as Shared & Searchable in your database, it will not only impact your Lost/Found/Stray I-frame, but may limit the potential for successful matches within PetPoint’s Lost Search. Full documentation for setting up your Lost & Found system in PetPoint can be found in Online Help. For #4, this is a new section that you will want to change if you want your animals to appear on the I-frame longer or shorter than the point that they are Released/Outcomed. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you choose the Emancipation Date option, but a given animal does NOT have an Emancipation Date, it will be excluded from the I-frame.
While completing the above steps, it is highly suggested that you verify your PetPoint records are ready to be exported. To do this, you will want to review the animal records in PetPoint and your PetPoint setup to insure that once the import/export is enabled, that the records upload correctly.
Verify that you have stored a primary picture of the animal in PetPoint if you want a picture uploaded along with the animal's record. Pictures can be added via Edit - Animal. Picture #1 in PetPoint will be the primary animal’s picture in the upload file. Pictures 2 & 3 will display in Pethealth’s online listing tools, and be uploaded as well to some third-party vendors.
Verify that you have created an Animal Memo – Petango/Adoption Description if you want the animal’s 'warm & fuzzy' story to be included in your online listings. Animal Memos can be created in PetPoint using the Animal Memo button that appears in the Animal Search Results window any time an animal is searched for and selected.
If you are copying & pasting text from Word, your current Adoptable Animal listings, or any other source INTO a Petango/Adoption Description Animal Memo within PetPoint, please be aware that such text may contain special formatting (ie – bold text, special fonts, emoticons, etc.) that will prevent the entire memo to be uploaded to the web. As such, we STRONGLY suggest that you copy the text into Windows Notepad (usually found in Start – Programs – Accessories) FIRST to remove the special formatting and THEN copy & paste the text from Notepad into Petango/Adoption Description Animal Memo. Failure to remove special formatting may result in the animal NOT being uploaded to Pets911.
Verify that any of the “flags” on the Animal Profile screen are checked as appropriate. The fields are: Special Needs, No Dogs, No Cats, and No Small Kids).
Verify that all animals that you want uploaded are in the "Available" Stage within PetPoint. The Animal: Inventory by Stage report will give you a list of these animals.
The following details are uploaded from PetPoint to Pets911:
Name, Animal ID, Species, Breed, Primary & Secondary Color, Color Pattern, Gender, Spayed/Neutered, Age Group, Zip Code, Date Posted, Bio and one Photo. The photo that is selected will be listed as photo 1 on the Edit Animal screen.
Name, Animal ID, Species, Breed, Primary & Secondary Color, Color Pattern, Gender, Spayed/Neutered, Age Group, Zip Code, Date Posted, Bio and one Photo. Please note that the animal could show up both as “Stray” and “Available” but since Pets911 only has 1 memo field, the Petango/Adoption Description will appear in both places.
Summary of troubleshooting tips, like for third-party vendors, be sure to contact us and them!
For all third-party vendors, if you are having any issues with the upload process, such as you feel that your uploads have ceased to operate or they are operating but missing some information (i.e. - photo missing, bio or animal details not working correctly) please contact PetPoint by emailing techsupport@petpoint.com and either copy Pets911 at info@pets911.com or Adopt-a-Pet at laurie@adoptapet.com. Also, please provide as much information as you can about your group and the problem. This includes, but is not limited to, your shelter’s name and shelter ID, and the animal numbers you have noticed the issue on. We will respond to you and resolve your issue as soon as we can.
Last updated for Professional (formerly PetPoint SMS) & Lite July 2011- Melissa Wainscott