We are a small, nine-man-and-a-dog, web development team based in Bromsgrove, UK and we're all going to heaven.
Bit of background
As you can see on the Innoware Dog page, we have a regular visitor to the office, Steve's ex-racing greyhound Natty. In the summer of 2008, we approached the great people at her former home, Daybreaks Kennels in Solihull, and asked if they would like a free website to help promote their dogs, news, and events. Thankfully they accepted.
The new website
So in the second half of 2008, Steve and Tom worked hard to build the new website, and were very happy to see it launch in the early hours of February 2009.
You can see it here, RGT Perry Barr.
The new website already allows kennel staff and volunteers to...
- Quickly add new dogs to their site as soon as they enter the kennel. This is especially handy as the kennels are so good that they can have a very quick turnover of hounds. It's important that the list on the website is very up-to-date.
- Upload multiple pictures of each dog, and create a thumbnail on the site - they don't have to create separate thumbnails offline.
- Upload event lists - let visitors find out where they can come and meet dogs and owners for help and advice.
- Post news stories and invite visitors to comment on them.
- Allow visitors to comment on dogs, events, and news stories - creating a real community spirit.
- Show events in a calendar list for planning.
- Add, remove and edit pages with our content management system.
- Acesss almost everything above in RSS or iCal feeds.
- Delegate different types of admin tasks to individual volunteers.
- Automatically print out kennel notes for each dog.
- And lots more
And that's just a list of the things that it does at the moment. We certainly don't see the current site as finished, but the first step in what we hope will be the premier pet rehoming site in the world. Seriously - that's not hyperbole!
It could be yours.
Every step of the way, we have developed the website for Perry Barr RGT in a way that it can be customised for any animal rehoming centre, whether you are an independent organisation, or one of the big-boys with multiple branches.
The software (codenamed Puplicity) is in early Alpha state at the moment, and is very geared towards greyhounds. It is absolutely in our plans to sign up many, many more rehoming centres over the coming years - regardless of the breed of dog, or type of animal you are looking after. Here is our roadmap
Now to May 2009
Work with Daybreaks Kennels to finish ironing out any early bugs or issues.
Summer 2009
Move to Beta and look to add another one or two small shelters. Monitor site performance and bandwidth and come up with a sustainable pricing structure.
Autumn-Winter 2009
Officially launch Puplicity and allow anyone to sign up.
Pricing
Other than for Daybreaks and our Beta testers, we have to find a way to recoup or costs on Puplicity. In Beta testing, we will look at a variety of different payment structures and types and work out which delivers best value for both us and the users. This may take the form of a yearly subscription, or a free site with either adverts, or chargeable upgrades. We're not sure just now - but just wanted to give you a heads-up that it's very unlikey that Puplicity will be completely free for all but the smallest kennels.
Find out more
If you'd like to register interest, or be considered as a summer beta-tester, please email Steve Fitzpatrick (steve.fitzpatrick @ innoware.co.uk). We'll be in touch when we think that there's anything important to share.
Many thanks for getting to the bottom of this page, and we wish both you and your animals the best of health.
