last update 10/3/2024 7pm PDT by Cynthia

For immediate help, please email
customercare@adoptmeapp.org

NEWS
Congratulations AdoptMeApp Appsters!
275K Postings

Reset password now available!
https://adoptmeapp.org/change_password.php

This page has some Tips and Tricks, answers questions, tells you how to get help, links to each shelter’s diary and much more.

But first, here is a May 2023 video about AdoptMeApp

Key items for AdoptMeApp Users/Shelters

2023 Flyers now available!
How-to-Use AdoptMeApp video created by Erika Bustos at Pinal County Animal Services
How to post a video on AdoptMeApp (also explained in the How-to-Use video above)
Oh no, I made a mistake! What do I do? (also, I found a mistake)
Uh oh, I forgot my password and I can’t find out how to re-set
How to see all of the AdoptMeApp posts for YOUR shelter, and who posted what

Lots more! – click this link to the list of everything else

2023 AdoptMeApp Flyers

We updated the flyer to be primarily a marketing tool to help shelters attract more users, and to inform users that there is more info about AdoptMeApp right here on this webpage.

There are two versions of the flyer – the versions are exactly the same except for the header. Take your pick or use both. Below are the jpg versions. Please feel free to give these flyers wide distribution at your shelter – printed and posted in the volunteer and staff areas, emailed to staff, volunteers and fosters, use in your onboarding of volunteers, use to attract volunteers who love social media, put in your newletters, show to your BoD, etc.
Here is a link to the pdf versions (and also the jpgs).

Flyer: Add your photos and videos with AdoptMeApp!

Flyer: Add your photos and videos to pets’ profiles with AdoptMeApp

Previous AdoptMeApp Poster & Flyer at the end of this page.

Still accurate if you want to use them.

How-to-Use AdoptMeApp

Many thanks to Erika Bustos at Pinal County Animal Care and Control for this wonderful, fun, short video on how-to-use AdoptMeApp.

While AdoptMeApp doesn’t require any training this short video will quickly get you acquainted with everything you can do and where to find additional information.

How to post a video

This is one of our most asked questions. Follow this link for a step by step tutorial but it’s actually very easy. Upload the video to YouTube then copy/paste the “share” URL into the app text field. You must use the “share” link or the “shorts” link NOT the YouTube video URL. This link is also on the video edit page to the right in YouTube. Use this one: https://youtu.be/SQFVfYe4G0c
NOT this one:
~~https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQFVfYe4G0c#action=share~~
UPDATE 4/1/2021: You can also use the “shorts” url.

IMPORTANT! AdoptMeApp only recognizes the YouTube URL. No other URLs are recognized. There is a workaround. See the URL section below.

AdoptMeApp FLYER – how to post video (PDF)

Download this 8.5×11 flyer and email or/and print to hand out to all your shelter volunteers, fosters and staff, post in the community area, and include it in the volunteer and foster training materials.

IMPORTANT! AdoptMeApp only recognizes the YouTube URL. No other URLs are recognized. There is a workaround. See the URL section below.

Oh no, I made a mistake! What do I do?
(also, I found a mistake)

First of all, don’t panic, There is no mistake that is not fixable.

By far the most common mistake is posting for the wrong pet. This is an easy mistake to make – eventually you will make it (maybe multiple times) so do not fret.

1. Re-post for the correct pet (you do not have to wait for the mistake to be corrected)
2. Send an email to customercare@adoptmeapp.org with the subject line something like “I posted for the wrong pet”.
3. Include info about which wrong pet – shelter name or ID, animal name or hashtag or ID.
4. We will delete that incorrect post.
5. That’s it!

What if you see that someone else posted for the wrong pet? Follow steps 2-5 above.

For all other mistakes, just send us an email at customercare@adoptmeapp.org
But do not worry about minor mistakes e.g. spelling errors. Unless your spelling error results in a naughty word or the opposite meaning, it’s fine.

Uh oh, I forgot my password

You cannot re-set your password yourself at this time. Email customercare@adoptmeapp.org and we will help you.

How to see all of the AdoptMeApp posts for YOUR shelter, and who posted what

View all of my shelter’s posts
How to find out who posted what
What is the Twitter account for each shelter?

Each shelter has a diary widget for just their posts.
There is also a widget for ALL of the shelters’ posts.
These widgets can be embedded into any webpage – all of them are here on this blog – look below or on the left in the index. It’s very easy to embed these diary widgets in a blog or on a website. Ask us how to do this.
There is also a real-time list of who posted what for all shelters, and for each shelter (aka User Activity)
~~Each shelter has its own Twitter account.~~ ~~(If you also have a Twitter account you can set it up so that you get an immediate notification whenever an AdoptMeApp post is made at yours (or any partner) shelter.~~
How to Get Real-time Notifications when an AdoptMeApp Post is Made.

AdoptMeApp All Shelters’ Widget
This diary widget has ALL of the AdoptMeApp posts from ALL of the partner shelters. As of 12/30/22 there are nearly 175 THOUSAND POSTS!
[175,000!]

All User Postings List
This webpage has the user info on who posted what for all shelters. Info includes username, caption, link to photo, pet hashtag*, link to pet profile*
(*except for RSPCAQLD)

All Tweets
This Twitter list on the Twitter account @adoptmeapp has all of the shelters’ Twitter accounts

But you are probably most interested in this information for just YOUR shelter! See below.

The Twitter accounts for MOST shelters have been suspended (by Twitter). Click here for details.

Shelter Specific

Temporarily Inactive

— East Bay SPCA (CA)
Widget | User Activity | Twitter
— Marion County Dog Services (OR)
Widget | User Activity | Twitter

Inactive due to technical issues with AdoptAPet which is used as shelters’ website display:
— Animal Allies Humane Society
Widget | User list | Twitter
— Fluvanna SPCA AdoptMeApp
Widget | User list | Twitter

Lots More!

- MOST TWITTER ACCOUNTS SUSPENDED BY TWITTER
- FAQ
- Animal Management Systems (AMS) that support AdoptMeApp
- How to find status and diary of any pet currently or formerly in AdoptMeApp
- How to insert a non-YouTube URL into AdoptMeApp
- Known Bugs and Issues
  - AdoptMeApp
  - ~~Twitter~~
  - Issues specific to the underlying Animal Management System (AMS) or adoptables display system
    - Chameleon with PetHarbor/24Petconnect
    - ShelterBuddy
    - Petfinder and Adopt-A-Pet
  - Mobile Device Issues
- Where can I see ALL of the AdoptMeApp posts from ALL shelters since the beginning of time?
- How to get real-time notifications of AdoptMeApp Posts
- Previous AdoptMeApp poster and flyer
- How to take great photos

MOST TWITTER ACCOUNTS SUSPENDED BY TWITTER

but it’s not a big deal because…

THE APP DOES NOT NEED TWITTER. IT WORKS FINE WITHOUT IT

UPDATE MARCH 8, 2023

~~Most accounts except for the handful listed above, are now pointing to @shelterpetadopt.~~

Twitter shut down this account too.

UPDATE January 23rd

~~We have what we believe is a workaround. We will post all of the shelters tweets to a single Twitter account @ shelterpetadopt.~~

Twitter shut down this account too.

BACKGROUND

At around noon PST Thursday January 19th, Twitter suspended nearly all of the AdoptMeApp shelter Twitter accounts. Their explanation is that all of the accounts were not following the Twitter Rules. This is odd since some of accounts were launched quite a few years ago and all of the accounts just tweet your posts.

“Adoptable # cat # Fluffy text text text link” + photo or video

THE APP DOES NOT NEED TWITTER. IT WORKS FINE WITHOUT IT.

That being said I liked the Twitter feeds because it was a quick way for me to see all of the postings via the tweets. And the tweets did drive extra traffic to the pet profiles.

It is unlikely we will get the accounts back even though this is almost surely a bug in Twitter, but Twitter is in total disarray with two-thirds of the workforce gone.

FAQ

How many posts can I make a day? For each animal? NO LIMIT, the more the better!
Can I try out AdoptMeApp even if my shelter isn’t a partner yet? YES, install AdoptMeApp and signup for the DEMO shelter
What is the best way to take a photo? Use your creativity! But if there is one technique to master, it’s the ability to crop the photo. Remove extraneous landscape, walls, ceilings, floor, cage bars, cat boxes, etc.
What should I write as the photo caption? Use your creativity! You do not have to put in the animal’s name, we automatically generate that info. Many people post in the voice of the pet, but use whatever style suits you.
Which animals are in the app?
All animals that meet the criteria defined by your shelter director/manager. All adoptable animals are in the app including animals in foster care, and for most, but not all, shelters’ “special needs” and “rescue only” animals are also in the app. If you believe an animal is missing, email customercare@adoptmeapp.org.
How does AdoptMeApp work? www.adoptmeapp.org
Why does AdoptMeApp post to Twitter (instead of…)?
Our system is designed in a general way and can conceivably interface with ANY other social media system that has an API. However our resources are limited and for a variety of reasons we chose to interface with Twitter first. Some of our longest term shelter partners have thousands of Twitter followers which generates significant traffic to the pet profiles, but Twitter is primarily used as a management tool by Cynthia. Shelter staff or users do not need to pay any attention to Twitter.
We can no longer post to shelter-specific accounts. All tweets go to one Twitter account. See info below.
How does a new shelter sign up for AdoptMeApp? Email us at cynthiaandrobgroup@kachingle.com. Please include your full name and title, shelter name, url of your shelter website. Subject: AdoptMeApp Inquiry from YOUR SHELTER NAME HERE.
What is the vision of AdoptMeApp? Reduce length of stay by enabling shelter staff, volunteers, and fosters to easily post personality-focused captioned photos and videos that are automatically tweeted and inserted in the shelter’s pet profile.
How many and who are the current AdoptMeApp partner shelters? See adoptmeapp.org for a complete and current list.
What is the business model of AdoptMeApp? AdoptMeApp is a free service run, and funded, entirely by volunteers. Future revenue streams: advertising, sponsorships. AdoptMeApp welcomes any interest from any existing organizations that we might be absorbed by, or merged with.
Who are the people behind AdoptMeApp? Cynthia, Rob, Frank, John, Frederic
How did AdoptMeApp get started? Palo Alto Apps Challenge in 2014
What happens to the link to the pet profile AdoptMeApp (on Twitter) after an animal exits the shelter?
This is dependent on the animal management system used by the shelter combined with the decision made by your shelter director/manager. For all shelters but RSPCA* the link in Twitter goes to that pet’s diary residing on AdoptMeApp. If the pet returns to the same shelter and is again made available/adoptable, the diary will reappear with all of the existing entries.
~~Example: Kaine (fostered by Cynthia)~~
~~(*Currently all RSPCAQld pets that exit the shelter link to a message on their site that says the animal has been adopted.)~~
What do power users have to say about AdoptMeApp? Read their testimonials here
Is there a desktop version of AdoptMeApp? No.
How do I sign up for the AdoptMeApp “Appster” Facebook Group? Go here to sign up
Note that this FB group is not very active as I (Cynthia) don’t have time to manage it anymore given how many partner shelters we have. However I always post important information there first.
What are the components of the hashtag for each pet and how can I use getpet dot info to find that pet’s diary? The hashtag is the petname when currently at the shelter or after an exit (if the staff changed the name upon adoption).

for example: getpet.info/Scrumptious_CCSTCA_01

getpet.info links to either the pet profile if pet still available or to that pet’s diary on AdoptMeApp if no longer available
petname = here it is Scrumptious. If the name is more than one word only the first two words are used. All special characters are not included in the hashtag name.
shelter code plus state code = for Chameleon-based partners their 4 letter shelter code is used – here it is CCST – then followed by the state abbreviation – here it is CA. For partners using other AMSs we create our own code for that shelter.
number of times that name has been used at this shelter since we partnered. This is the first time this shelter has used the name Scrumptious – therefore the number is 01

Animal Management Systems that Support AdoptMeApp

Chameleon with PetHarbor/24Petconnect website
Chameleon with a custom adoptables website
ShelterBuddy with the ShelterBuddy adoptables website
ShelterBuddy with a custom adoptables website
Shelterluv with a custom adoptables website

The below configurations are not supported because these companies have not technology partnered with us. We would like to partner with them – we are just waiting for them to want to work with us.

Shelterluv with the Shelterluv adoptables website
Petpoint
Adopets
Adopt-A-Pet (as the only adoptables website)
Petfinder ((as the only adoptables website)
all others….

How do I find the status and diary of any animal that is in the AdoptMeApp database?

How do I find status/diary of any currently/previously available animal?
Simple answer: http://adoptmeapp.org/lookup.php

More detailed explanation below

Go here and search by name + sheltercode* or animal ID**. If you search by name this must be the name ON EXIT. If the shelter knows the new adopted name, they may use that rather than the previous name the pet was known by in the shelter. Once you bring up the page that has all the pets by that name, search by animal ID (if you have it). If not, find your shelter’s list and drill down to each pet, starting with the most recent (which is at the bottom). More How to Info.
*go here to find out your sheltercode – AdoptMeApp All Shelters’ Widget
** if you search by animal ID there is the likelihood your search may bring up an animal(s) in another shelter with the same ID. IDs are only unique within one shelter. However, just pick out your pet by looking at the sheltercode

Known Bugs and Issues: There are a few pretty obscure ones, nothing serious

Bugs: AdoptMeApp

Cannot use new line or carriage return in the text. If you do, everything afterwards will be truncated (not the desired result!)
Only the share url or the shorts url from YouTube can be used in the text. Any other url will cause it and everything afterwards to be truncated (not the desired result!). The way around this if you want to include a non-YouTube url is to type anywebsitenameblahblah.com rather than www.anywebsitenameblahblah. However because this is not recognized by AdoptMeApp as a URL the character count will be equal to the actual number of characters.
(Tip: If the url is too long, use tinyurl or bitly to shorten it.)
Every once in a great while an error occurs. We will get an error message but you may or may not. If you believe your post didn’t go through please contact customercare@adoptmeapp.org. This is a very rare occurrence and almost all of these errors are either poor internet connection at your location, or Twitter failed (but the diary entry will be intact).
Copying and pasting a lot text messes up our character count if it is greater than what fits. If there is a lot of text you want to include type it somewhere else and take a screenshot then use that as the photo. For example can be very effective to put Facebook or Instagram posts into AdoptMeApp.
~~Examples:~~
~~— https://twitter.com/AdoptLAAnimals/status/1464667118880837632~~
~~— https://twitter.com/AdoptMePimaAZ/status/1463731644062486530~~
The favorites feature works but instead of showing the correct species in the preview it show a number (which is our code for that species). However the post is done correctly so just ignore this bug since it is in the app display only.

~~Bugs: Twitter~~

Sadly Twitter no longer pulls up all tweets in chronological order. In fact, sometimes clicking on an animal’s hashtag does not bring up any tweets. This is because the animal hashtags are unique and in Twitter’s myopic view of the use of hashtags those that are not used by a lot of different people are not treated properly. So, especially for newly posted animals, their hashtag may not bring up any tweets, even though their tweets exist. Yes, it’s exasperating! Also, you will get the most tweets for a pet hashtag if you click on both “Top” and “Latest”. However you may not get all of the tweets. But do not despair, just click on the getpet.info link in the tweet which will take you to that pet’s complete diary* which has all of the AdoptMeApp posts. Each diary entry also has a link back to the tweet (via the time/date stamp in the top left-hand corner).
~~(*except for RSPCAQld)~~

Issues: PetHarbor/24Petconnect

Because of the way PetHarbor implemented the news feed (aka RSS feed) that AdoptMeApp uses to find out the animal status, the PetHarbor pages MAY (OR MAY NOT) stay up for about 3 days after an exit. This can be confusing if a direct link is followed and, for example, an animal has been adopted, as the PetHarbor page will not indicate the animal has exited the shelter. This is ONLY an issue if a PetHarbor link is followed. Drilling down through a shelter website will not have this issue as the pet will not be in the shelter view of available animals.

That being said, PetHarbor does have an elegant solution to this issue where they display “adopted” on the PetHarbor page (for those 3 days or so when the pet profile is still accessible). This has only been implemented at Contra Costa County Animal Services as far as we know, we are not sure why it has not been rolled out to all shelters, but if this is something your shelter wants just email customercare@adoptmeapp.org and we will get the ball rolling.

Issues: ShelterBuddy

When a pet is put on a hold and subsequently adopted, the ShelterBuddy pet profile will not show “adopted” as the outcome. It will say no longer available. This is unfortunate as some animals are first put on a hold and then adopted. However this is not easy to fix technically for ShelterBuddy so for now it is what it is.

Partner shelters that use ShelterBuddy as their animal management system, but use AdoptAPet as their web display are no longer able to show the AdoptMeApp widget in the pet profiles. This is because after we implemented, and everything worked, AdoptAPet instituted a policy to not allow javascript on their website. Our diary widget is written in javascript so it has been blocked. We have attempted to discuss with AdoptAPet but since only a very small number of shelters have this configuration they decided our request was unimportant. This also means that NO diary widgets appear in AdoptAPet.org regardless of whether the shelter is Chameleon or ShelterBuddy based.

Issues: Petfinder and AdoptAPet

The AdoptMeApp diary does not appear in either of these websites (although it does appear in PetHarbor.com now 24Petconnect.com for Chameleon-based shelters). At some point, when we have more market clout and a posse of partner shelters we expect to be able to fix this issue. If you want to work with us on this, email cynthia@adoptmeapp.org.

Issues: Mobile Devices

We have seen some obscure problems with unusual mobile devices e.g. Google Pixel (sometimes but not always).

View ALL AdoptMeApp posts from ALL shelters since the beginning of time

AdoptMeApp home page has the All Stories diary widget which has in real-time the posts from all partner shelters.

Here is another version of this all-shelters’ diary widget that aggregates from all partner shelters. A link to this version is also in the left sidebar of this webpage. The sidebar also has links to each shelter’s diary widget. (Links to the shelters’ diary widgets also higher up in this page.) This version has the shelter ID codes.

One more version appears on the homepage tab at the top of the page titled “LIVE feed of every AdoptMeApp post!“. This version also has the shelter ID codes.

In all of the above widgets’ posts there is no direct link to the pet profiles, because these posts appear in each pet’s diary. To get to the actual pet profile click on the timestamp at the top left of the post. That will take you to the tweet. Then click on the getpet dot info link in the tweet.

How to Get Real-time Notifications When an AdoptMeApp Post is Made

It’s simple. You can get ~~either~~ an email ~~or a Twitter notification.~~ Please note: Email notifications are only provided for shelter staff or anyone authorized by shelter staff.

For email notifications let Cynthia know and she will set it up for you. The email that this goes to can be your email, a staff email, a distribution list, anything that looks like an email address.

For Twitter notifications you have to have a Twitter account but you don’t need to ever tweet. Twitter already has the notification capability so we utilize that feature for AdoptMeApp notifications. The “how-to” documentation below is done using the Twitter app on an Android phone but the iPhone and desktop processes should be similar.

~~Cynthia can set this up for you too if you don’t want to go through the steps below yourself. This capability is mainly for people that already have Twitter accounts.~~

~~Create a Twitter account (if you don’t already have one)~~
~~Notifications can be on your phone via the Twitter app, SMS, or email (all or some). The description shows phone notifications but the others are similar.~~
~~On your Twitter app, click “Settings and privacy” then on “Notifications”.~~
Click on the type of Notifications that you want. For the purposes of this explanation “Push notifications” is chosen. You can choose 1, 2 or all 3 types of notifications but you have to do them separately. Turn on “Push notifications”.
~~Search for the account you wish to follow. See above for the name/link to your shelter’s AdoptMeApp Twitter account. For this explanation, the AdoptMeAppDemo shelter’s Twitter account is selected.~~
~~Turn on “Following” for that account, then click the bell and choose “All Tweets”.~~
~~When an AdoptMeApp post is made for that shelter, a tweet automatically goes out.~~
~~You will get an app notification, text message or email depending on what type of notification you selected. This is the app notification.~~
~~Click on the notification to see the tweet~~
~~Then click on the getpet dot info link to visit that pet’s pet profile~~
~~Note that in your settings/notifications screen it will now tell you the Twitter accounts on which you want the notification tweets.~~

URLs that are NOT YouTube

At this time AdoptMeApp only recognizes YouTube. It does not recognize Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or any other social media, or any links at all (except YouTube).

AdoptMeApp actually removes the links from the post.

Put the TikTok video or whatever onto YouTube.

There are two workarounds:

1) Take a screenshot & post as a photo. This obviously doesn’t work too well for TikTok but it’s very effective for non-video social media on Instagram & Facebook.

2) Put the url in as text without the leading http://www

So…like this –

ORIGINAL URL FOR CLEOPATRA

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CgNxgAMpgJq/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

MODIFIED URL FOR ADOPTMEAPP

instagram.com/reel/CgNxgAMpgJq

NOTE THAT THE /? AND ALL CHARACTERS AFTERWARDS SHOULD ALSO BE REMOVED

This is to make the url short enough to fit in the AdoptMeApp text box. Those characters are not needed.

I posted this with AdoptMeApp. See it in her diary now. The link is not made “hot” by the diary but if you highlight it & click the link works.

getpet.info/Cleopatra_LACTCA_01

Tips:

1) Do not use any line feeds between the text & the url. Only use a space. AdoptMeApp will handle the necessary text wrapping. I suggest you put the url before the text as this reduces the chance of that error.

2) if the url is still too long, use tinyurl or bitly to shrink it.

AdoptMeApp GUIDE – Poster (PDF)

AdoptMeApp GUIDE – Handout (PDF)

How to take the BEST pet pics!
by the Maryland SPCA

Useful video about taking great shelter pet photos. The tips are basic but important. I would add to crop out boring extraneous backgrounds such as concrete, lots of grass, distractions on the side & in back, etc. Many people are looking at the AdoptMeApp photos on their mobile devices so having the pet as large as possible is best, of course without harming the composition.

(Note there are a couple sponsor ads in the middle of the video but it continues afterwards.)

The key element IMHO is that the photo (or video) brings out the pet’s personality and shows how the pet can fit into an adopter’s home and lifestyle.

For immediate help, please emailcustomercare@adoptmeapp.org

NEWSCongratulations AdoptMeApp Appsters!275K Postings

Reset password now available!https://adoptmeapp.org/change_password.php