Question: How long does the entire Portal setup process take?
Once your request is processed, you will have access to the Pet Adoption Portal immediately. The next step is to add your animals and then enable exports. You can read more about how to enable exports here. This part can take as little as a day, but often takes a few days, depending on how you decide to add your animals to the Pet Adoption Portal.
Question: How can I add my animals into the RescueGroups.org account so I can use the Pet Adoption Portal export feature?
You have a few options when adding animals into your new RescueGroups.org account. You can request that RescueGroups.org support complete a one-time import from a variety of partner sites during signup. Another option is to import your animals off a spreadsheet (CSV) file. Of course, you can manually add animals into the account yourself. You can also setup an on-going automatic import of animal data from another service using our Import Accounts feature. Finally, you can use our API. Please note that once your account is set up on the Portal, you are responsible for making sure your animal list is up-to-date.
Question: Do I need to already have accounts with the adoption listing websites when I start using the Portal?
Some adoption listing websites do require you to sign-up with them directly, including Adopt-a-Pet and Petfinder. Please register your organization directly with those two websites. After signing up with Adopt-a-Pet and Petfinder, you will need to follow the configuration instructions here and here so our support staff can configure the exports to those sites for you. Most of the other adoption listing websites will be configured for you without any additional action on your part.
Question: I already have accounts on the other sites -- will I now have two accounts?
No, when we set up your automatic updates, we will match up your Portal account and your existing account on the other sites.
Question: How long does it take after I add animal records to RescueGroups.org for the adoption web sites to have my listings?
It generally takes about 2-3 business days for all the accounts to get completely set up and running.
Question: What sites do you update, and can I choose from those?
Here is a link to the sites we update: Adoption Listing Websites. And yes, you can absolutely opt-out of any sites you wish.
Question: When I make a change to my animal records after my account is completely set up, is there anything extra I need to do to update the other sites?
If your exports are enabled, then no other action is needed on your part to update other sites. All you need to do is update your animal records in RescueGroups.org!
Question: When you enable the automatic updates, will my pets change on the other sites?
That depends upon if your existing pet lists on the other sites are complete and up to date. When we enable your automatic updates, the pet lists on the pet adoption web sites will match what you have on the Portal (within the restrictions of what data each web site accepts). Assuming your Portal pet list is the same as the other sites, the public won't notice a difference in your pet list. However, since the animal ID numbers will change on the other sites, any links to those animals will no longer work.
Question: Will my pets appear the same to the public after my automatic updates are enabled?
The public will not be able to tell that your animals have been updated by the Portal instead of being added manually.