Dear Supporters:
We know it's been very difficult the past 2 months since RescueGroups.org was forced by Petfinder to stop updating pets on your behalf on their web site. For more information on that issue, please read this blog post.
We wanted to let you know that we have come across a new option that is easy to use and very powerful that will keep your pets updated on that site, with almost no work on your part. It's completely unrelated to RescueGroups.org, and is not supported by us.
Update: If you'd like to start using the Sync App, please visit your Animals > Exports page and look for the Petfinder item for information on how to setup your account to support the Sync App, where to download the Sync App.
If you're interested, please contact us and we'll pass the information on to you.
Thank you for your continued support. We are dedicated to helping you work more effectively!
RescueGroups.org
By yvette gordon November 10, 2009 - 6:37 PM
here is the website and would like more info
By rescuegroups.org November 10, 2009 - 9:19 PM
Yvette, click the Contact us link in the blog and we’ll send you the information about the app. Thank you!
By Hominy Valley GSD Rescue November 10, 2009 - 7:21 PM
You know, the simplest solution to this is to simply log in at http://www.petfinder.com/admin and upload/update your pet list directly. It’s not as big a deal as it’s being made out to be. I don’t understand what the big problem is.
By Sheltie Rescue of Utah November 10, 2009 - 9:41 PM
Hi,
We are a small group. Just keeping one website, our own, updated and current is a challenge. We want our data distributed out to the major adoption sites like AdoptaPet and Petfinder because it’s a huge boost to our adoptions. Repeating the data entry required to maintain our listings, update, and add listings to Petfinder is time we just don’t have. You’re right. The actual work of entering the data for Petfinder is easy. But if we barely have the time to keep our own website current, updating a second one is even tougher. I envy you…you must have more volunteers or something to spread out the effort to run a rescue. One day I hope to be there too! – Barbara
By Shannon November 11, 2009 - 1:58 AM
Try up loading over 100 animals twice do you work at the circus as a professional juggler? Have some tips for the rest of us real life, multi-tasking, stressed, over worked volunters? PLEASE!
By April Fels January 10, 2010 - 8:55 PM
We have a small group of volunteers but take in a large amount of dogs and try to update our pets information weekly with new details and photos. Doing this on two sights is VERY time consuming and difficult. We have had many dogs that we make an update on and never get petfinder updated so their information shows incorrectly on petfinder. We simply do not have the time or resources to do so.
By LouAnn January 19, 2010 - 1:18 PM
I see now why you state it’s not a big deal. Your organization only has 5 dogs listed on Petfinder and doesn’t seem to maintain a separate organizational website. For larger organizations that have cats and dogs and a lot of them, it is ridiculous to update twice when the info can by entered into Rescue Groups pet adoption portal and then synced to other external sites. Petfinder is just being greedy and wants to be the only show in town.
By Liz February 21, 2010 - 2:50 PM
We have only four people working at our shelter, and we get in hundreds of dogs and cats. It is a big deal to have to individually update hundreds of dogs and cats on a dozen sites (or more). It takes up more man hours than our employees can possibly handle, so it is left to volunteers. I am one such volunteer, and I spend several hours just keeping our Petango up-to-date. In order to expand outwards, we need a sync app, and we really need the major players (Petango and Petfinder) to be on our side. (Neither Petango or Petfinder will let you use sync apps.)
By Audie Craft November 10, 2009 - 7:26 PM
Yes!! We are interested in this new way to upload to petfinder. Thanks so much for all your hard work 🙂
By KM November 10, 2009 - 8:35 PM
Yes I sure would like to sync my listings.
It’s a pain to have to log into two sites.
By GARD November 10, 2009 - 8:42 PM
When you are having to add 25 + dogs a week to 2 different websites, it IS a big deal.
By Gail November 10, 2009 - 10:55 PM
It is a very big deal to me as it takes me twice as long. When you live in a community that you do not have access to DSL and your connections are as slow as a snail, it makes a HUGE difference!
By Marta November 10, 2009 - 8:49 PM
The problem is that it means we have to post each dog twice instead of just once. This doubles the amount of time spent posting, and more time on administrative tasks rather then out @ the shelters rescueing which is where we should be!I have a full time job plus a PT job, so I don’t have the luxory of time !!!
By Tammy - Toy Breed Rsq November 10, 2009 - 8:52 PM
yes it would be great to get more info- i guess if you’re a small rescue and only post on petfinder it isn’t a big deal, but when you have 100’s of dogs a year and you post on all adoption sites, it’s very time consuming to post and repost the same dog(s) on all sites. Thanks!
By Jennifer November 10, 2009 - 9:07 PM
I agree that I would really like to have all the sites sinked up, but I don’t understand why the information isn’t simply listed in this blog. Why do we have to email someone else to hear more about it? (sigh)
By rescuegroups.org November 10, 2009 - 9:18 PM
Jennifer, the reason is because we want to be sure that organizations that are still supported by Petfinder (the ones that were setup before 5/07) don’t go and start using the app and mess up their Petfinder pet list. We’ll get you the information as soon as possible once we receive your email. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
By Linda Sutphin November 10, 2009 - 9:21 PM
the big deal is when you are a small group of Volunteers that work full time and rescue as many dogs as the big guys, you are strapped for precious TIME & ENERGY. Having to post to each site separately is wasting precious time that could be spent with the dogs!
By avolunteer November 10, 2009 - 10:11 PM
Hominy Valley GSD Rescue – if it is not such a big deal would you like to come help me upload the photos I took at our shelter from this past weekend? It is ONLY 140 photos and you ONLY have to put them on 3 websites. Oh and while you are at it try being a working mom and wife – working 8 to 5, Mon – Fri, raising a family, taking care of 8 pets, volunteering, oh and also maintaining multiple websites/social networking sites for a shelter, along with fostering animals, and I have also had a family member in the hospital to help take care of. The next time you think something is not a big deal and an extra hour or so in the day does not count to anyone – I hope you think of me.
By Caroline November 10, 2009 - 11:44 PM
I find the double uploading to be an annoyance, but hardly a big deal. I mean it’s got benefits such as helping us remember better that basics about each dog.
I think it would be nice if you posted the name of the alternative on this blog with a warning that it is NOT for certain users. I have web work to do tonight and it is “annoying” that I have to do it twice for lack of a simple link.
Thanks regardless.
By d November 11, 2009 - 12:17 AM
petfinder is simply being stupid and childish. It isnt about helping pets with them.
It is obvious their site is about raising money for themselves..hence all the affiliate ads. Normally, I could care less..until they did this.
If they actually cared about the animals there and those of us working in the trenches, they wouldnt play such childish games and remove a feature that has been fantastic for us! What big problem/cost did it cause them..some pride maybe?
it takes me many hours a week to take pictures, crop, post collect info and then to send it to all the different websites we do. Now that our PF site is not updated along with the other sites(ie I now have to do it manually) the site has not been updated. I have gotten to the point I have just placed generic ads and hope people will go to our main website for current info
It is a shame, but I can only do so much in a week
By Mary November 11, 2009 - 12:20 AM
Hominy Valley GSD Rescue, you have 5 dogs on your site, of course it is easy for you. try having 20, 50, or 100+ animals to add and keep updated. if you had more animals you would understand the impact this has had.
By Gina Austin November 11, 2009 - 12:52 AM
Please email me about this new tool. I would appreciate the help. Thanks
Gina Austin
Lab & All Breed Rescue Network
L.A.B.R.N
http://www.labrn.350.com/
Rescue one until there are none.
“ONE LAST PLEA”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDQYDyUE5Dw
Within The heart of every stray
Lies the singular desire to be loved.
By Kerry November 11, 2009 - 9:39 AM
Please send info regarding new upload feature.
thanks.
By Janice at HSLC November 11, 2009 - 12:51 PM
please send info re: petfinder tool to the webmaster email account. Thank you.
By Petra Brooks November 11, 2009 - 1:02 PM
Why is it that rescuers always have to bicker and fight amongst each other? I came on this site to check out the new option but even here, I have to read bitter words. I just had to say this. It is so disheartening…
By Becky November 15, 2009 - 6:33 AM
I agree….not enough time for multiple websites, but plenty of time to type up mean spirited blogs. Yikes, folks…if you are spread this thin, do you need to take it out on GSD Rescue or do you need to re-examine your volunteer recruiting efforts? We are all in this together and if someone makes a silly statement that is quite truthful for their situation, then it is their Truth. Yours may be different, but keep the bitter comments elsewhere!
By From the Heart Rescue November 11, 2009 - 8:28 PM
Did you ever think the link or info may be being posted so that PF doesn’t figure it out and block it too? They (PF) is so childish I wouldn’t put it past them and RescueGroups is professional enough not to put that in writing.
By kittycat November 12, 2009 - 8:08 AM
I used the new sync solution and it worked great! Thank you to whoever did it! I don’t know and don’t care about the hows and whys, but this will save me so much time!
By Kathy November 12, 2009 - 8:30 AM
the new feature works great for updating Petfinder – thanks!
By Kathy November 12, 2009 - 11:59 AM
I am very excited to try this new sync tool, but does anyone have any idea who developed it or the validity of the program? Since it requires actually downloading the application to your own PC, I am concerned about the app possibly loading a virus onto the computer or using it’s resources without my knowing. Does anyone know anything about who developed the application and if it is save to use (relatively- I understand nothing is 100% safe). Thanks
By From the Heart Rescue November 12, 2009 - 12:21 PM
We ran it through the anti-viral screen and didn’t pop up with anything (although that is only 80% effective at any given time). We tried it and it was fabulous!!! THANK YOU to the kind soul who took pitty on us overworked rescuers ….
By Susan November 12, 2009 - 6:24 PM
We started using this sync tool today and it works great. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much to the person that developed it, this will save me hours of time that I have been wasting entering all of our pets in two places. We have about 80 pets online and it took about an hour for the tool to run the first time, but after that it just updates any changes you make, so it takes much less time. And you can work on other things in the meantime, it pops up a box to tell you when it’s done.
Thank you!
By Randi November 14, 2009 - 7:19 AM
I volunteer for 2 organizations that were affected by this and both have now been using the sync tool for a few days. It works great and is saving us SO much time. One of the organizations is a county shelter where we post about a dozen pets per day and putting data in twice was really stressing our limited resources.
Thank you so much!
By Jolynn November 14, 2009 - 6:18 PM
been using the sync program for a month or so now- works WONDERFULLY.
By Jade November 15, 2009 - 4:48 AM
Hi, I want to get more info on this but I can’t find the “contact us” part that you are talking about. Can you please give me some more info?
By rescuegroups.org November 15, 2009 - 10:52 AM
The contact us part is the link in the blog post. It’s just an email popup, but we ask for your name and organization name. Just send us an email at info@rescuegroups.org and include that information, and we’ll reply back with a link to the download page.
By avolunteer November 15, 2009 - 2:22 PM
Yes, a huge THANK YOU to the developer – it saved me so much time and our shelter has already had an increased number of phone calls about adopting. Also, I am sorry if my comments seemed bitter to anyone – I am stressed and perhaps a little too touchy. I can only say that yes, some of us may be spread too thin but sometimes we are the only ones willing to help. I can tell you this tool greatly lifted some weight off my shoulders and really helped out.
By STL Boxer Rescue November 16, 2009 - 2:09 PM
We are one of the lucky ones that are still supported by Petfinder for our updates through RescueGroups.org. Even though we are very small, I always found this to be a terrific service that was available to us. I can’t even imagine the amount of time and energy that the larger organizations and shelters must spend on entering the information on two or more sites! For those of you doing this, I commend your dedication but let’s face it; we all know that time could be better spent in other areas of helping and caring for these creatures. Since it appears that Petfinder is not willing to get these issues resolved any time soon, I was happy to hear that this sync tool is available for making so many of your lives easier and lessening your burdens. Thank you, RescueGroups for informing everyone of this option.
By Joni Solis November 16, 2009 - 9:51 PM
Yes, please send me info on this new tool too. Thanks!
By Bob Donham November 17, 2009 - 3:39 AM
HI All,
I have only one question to all of you. Were any of you in any way nervous about listing your usernames and passwords for both petfinders and your RescueGroups. org websites.
I retired last year after 40 yrs in Management Accounting. For the last 10 yrs I did investment accounting for a large Midwest Life Ins. Co.
My part of the portfolio totaled 32 billion dollars and the security was so tight and controlled that I had 5 layers of passwords just to get into my pc and into the investment accounting software to access the daily trades that settled at Bank of New York (with another set of 3 passwords).
In the company employees handbook, employees (500 hundred in our location) were informed that if they gave their passwords to anyone ( even their managers, supervisors or IT dept) they would be immediately terminated!
Made it really awkward when I was going to be out of the office for a day or two because there was an “auto download program” from the bank of New York that only could be installed on 1 pc …Mine. So, If I was there to log, the download wouldn’t run and the prior days hard copy of investments settled didn’t get downloaded. Made for a lot of grumpy co-workers! We finally figured out a work around.
To make this long story short, I guess I learned to be overly cautious about passwords.
What sort of risk analysis did any of you do in your individual rescues. And…Did this action require your Board’s approval??
Thanks
By Kathy December 3, 2009 - 7:37 AM
We have been using the sync tool for several weeks and it was working great. I say was, because the last 2 days I am getting an error message saying the Updated encountered an error and needs to close. Has anyone else experienced an error like this? Yes, I have tried rebooting the PC – famous first words from our MIS department at my work 🙂 We really appreciate the effort that went into developing the tool and hope to get it working again soon. Thanks
By Bob Donham December 3, 2009 - 8:33 AM
Kathy
Here is a suggestion. First of all, has there been any new or updates done to your firewall, antivirus or internet browser programs done recently? IF so, this could be the cause of the problem. Here is what I would try: Deleted your temporary internet files, uninstall the upload program, completely shut down your computer (not just re-start) do a complete shut down. Then restart, download and install the upload program and see if this doesnt take care of the problem. If not, let us know and we will press on. Good Luck!
By Gail December 3, 2009 - 1:53 PM
I am having the same problem and I have not done any changes or updated any of those things. Not sure what else to do.
By David December 3, 2009 - 8:58 AM
Better check the web page for the sync tool — looks like there’s a problem with the program that will be fixed soon.
By hotash December 10, 2009 - 4:30 AM
I cleared my cache, no go – still crashing
I removed the program and re-downloaded it and all is well 🙂
I do believe there has been a recent update with firefox – so maybe this was the issue? or a program version change?
At any rate, we are back on board again!
Thanks
E
By RescueGroups.org Newsletter 1/19/2010 « RescueGroups.org's Blog January 21, 2010 - 11:46 AM
[…] sure if your Petfinder update is currently running please check your Exports page. Check out this blog post for more information about the Sync […]
By Priscilla February 17, 2010 - 1:15 PM
I am lucky enough to have found a volunteer who is willing to check my website weekly and she updates the Petfinder site. She is also a foster and will update her own foster listings with how the dogs are doing, etc. She is a true luxury that most organizations do not have. Those who don’t understand why it’s a pain to update PF don’t have to update a lot of listings. Those of us with more than 5 listings understand. Unfortunately I was never able to get the PF updater to work properly.
By Mary February 17, 2010 - 2:31 PM
I had trouble with the PF updater when I first tried it. Recently I gave it another try, and it’s working perfectly! I would try it again, Priscilla.
By Tami February 22, 2010 - 10:14 AM
I downloaded the PF sync last night, and it ran with no errors, but it also said that 0 pets were updated. I only have seven cats right now on the pet portal, and I have no cats listed in PF. I just tried doing this again from my computer at work and it still is not working. I even went as far as to add one cat to PF and see if that would change things – nothing. Any suggestions?