We are trying to keep it very simple. Creating a page on the main site would take time and expertise. THS have obviously prioritised things and will have a time table. Doing on the forum in the simple form I suggested would take no work. Fancy titles and explanations are not needed either. Let the sitters profile tell the story.
If a HO was desperate enough they would read through a long list. Someone else suggested having a thread for each continent.
2 Likes
Exactly.
And why not give it a try?
Actually I don’t see why not any sitter could start a thread.
Why wait for an admin to do it? All they can do is close it if they don’t want it.
It doesn’t cost anything and there’s no extra work for THS. Until anything fancy could be developed, the situation probably will have changed completely. It’s obviously needed NOW not in months or even years to come.
2 Likes
Just want to commend you for the initiative @ElsieDownie.
Simple straightforward communication sometimes even with the people you have already on your calendar is what I have found works for me. I have many extensions of existing bookings and new invites just by sending a simple message of current availabilities when things change. Flexibility is brilliant.
3 Likes
It could work on a threaded forum. Continents could be threaded into countries and then also states or regions and maybe even towns (which eventually could be further threaded into months).
But on a linear forum like this one? I cannot see it working.
I explained in a post further up, that this definitely could work, because we have something similar in a Facebook group.
All opinions mean nothing without trying it out.
The threads can be closed if it doesn’t work.
We very rarely do repeat sits as we are always on the move. We do make exceptions when we are in the UK.
For the next two years we are on a road trip through North America so know where we want to be on approximate dates. Most of the trip will be self catering holiday let’s with some pet sitting when our dates and location fit in with someone else’s holiday arrangements. I just thought it would be helpful if the process was tried the other way around - book a sitter first then book a holiday. Less stress as the pet owner would know they had a guaranteed sitter.
I’ve definitely ended up doing things which I felt obligated to do which weren’t mentioned in the initial agreement.
I find it so awkward to say ‘no’ in those situations, even when I feel they shouldn’t be asking me to do these things or changing the parameters in the first place.
‘Scope creep’ sounds a good term for describing this.
2 Likes
This is to an opinion but a fact
- There are no threads on this forum but topics and posts
- Facebook posts are threaded, this forum´s posts are not
- You cannot thread linear forums …, this is why they are called linear and not threaded
1 Like
“I’m sorry I already have commitments that prevent me from doing this”…
that may include a commitment to yourself that you aren’t going to watch more than three animals at one time.
That might be your commitment to yourself about not blowing a tank of gas on a 6-hour round trip drive for a 2-night stay.
I also have commitments to teach classes for video, so if there isn’t good internet access, I can’t accept that invitation.
2 Likes
I know what you mean, and it took me a long time to stick up for myself, but I remember how crappy it feels when l let someone take advantage of me. And I deserve to not feel like crap!
I’m all for trying it! It would only take a little time to set it up, no other expense.
I updated my own profile to include my travel plans, but nobody has read it yet… I’ve still gotten invitations to travel to Europe, and I’m not planning on doing that until summer 2023.
2 Likes
I tend to agree with @ElsieDownie and @anon39388349 that it would be worth giving this a try, in a similar format to the Meetups threads.
It could be tried as a temporary measure to assist with the current imbalance of sitters and available sits. If it doesn’t work, or is no longer required, it can be removed.
There is, no doubt, a better long term solution. However that will take time to develop and implement, and therefore not help with the current oversupply of sits / shortage of sitters in some areas.
1 Like
Yes! I have my Google calendar updated with personal work, online teaching work, my personal commitments, and there are ways to integrate it on either side of the equation:
Not only can a company collect your calendar information and post it anonymously as your availability on their website ( rover.com )
But also, a company can “feed” their calendar onto your Google calendar, so that when you get bookings through that company, it will appear as an event on your own calendar. And I’ll tell you, that’s such an easy integration that I’ve done it myself, you could subscribe to my cooking school’s event calendar to find out what my in-person class schedule is!
1 Like
I wish my husband would subscribe to my calendar! 
Sure thing, whether shared or linked google calendars can be a very usable, easy to implement workable solution. Even for THS. Quick fix. At least for now.
Under the circumstances, I almost think it would be more beneficial with personal calendars (as opposed to THS calendar) as they would not be dependent on THS (development time, content, maintenance, ev bugs) and thereby be fully controlled by users
p.s. so, so, so terribly sorry … I do not cook 
Hi to everyone who has been debating ways to handle the issue of availability.
This is a great idea and Angela and I have been following the conversation today as it has developed, but on just discussing this further there are some very valid reasons why we can’t do this in the forum.
We have discussed this before in the community when there was a surge of listings and profiles being posted and we talked in the forum about how it’s important we don’t fragment the site. The guidelines were also updated so that the only listings/availability are for Last Minute Sits because these are categorized on the main site. We also have guidelines about posting links to profiles in topics and posts which you can read here:
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/faq
We are just on a shift changeover, and Angela is going to reply in more depth to explain why, despite this being one creative way to deal with this, it is in all possibility something that we won’t be able to be put into action at this stage.
Thanks for your understanding and patience.
All the best
Vanessa and Angela
2 Likes
Hi Everyone this is an update on @Vanessa_A post.
Firstly thanks to everyone for contributing to this discussion, it’s great to see our community working together to help solve a problem … “Team work makes the dream work”
This is a great idea, one I have also proposed with the idea of helping owners fill last minute sits, cancellations, encouraging owners to travel more knowing there was a sitter available EXACTLY where and when they needed them and on the other side, presenting sitters with more opportunities in preferred and planned locations although I’m sure those involved in the discussion could add more to this list of benefits.
BUT, and this is a very valid “BUT” this cannot be introduced on a public forum, Vanessa identified the most important reason and that is not fragmenting the purpose and functionality of the website which is used by ALL TrustedHousesitters members.
However there are other very valid and relevant reasons:
-
Existing user guidelines: No posting of links to profiles in topics & posts Community Rules - TrustedHousesitters Community Forum this was put in place to maintain the forum’s purpose, to create and provide a place where members came to share experiences, learn, communicate and connect, not to advertise sits or sitter needs which is the website’s purpose.
-
The forum is public and open to non members - there would be nothing stopping non members from posting contact details and non member owners contacting sitters
-
Moderation - posts would need to be constantly monitored
-
High risk of sit arrangements going off site and losing all THS on site sit benefits
-
Dividing our community … this would create a two tier system benefitting no one
Introducing new and innovative features to any product requires research and testing to ensure success and the best user experience possible. A feature like this is no different, yes it may seem as simple as adding details to a page but as we know in this digital world nothing is that simple and without planning and process there will to be more problems than solutions created.
Thank you all again and Vanessa and I will take this back to the Product Team on your behalf.
Yep that all makes sense, thanks.
Quite understandable that this is a reason why it’s not allowed on the forum, but, I must confess, I don’t know why this forum has to be open to the public in the first place.
3 Likes
not sure why you’re apologizing, but…You don’t know how or you just don’t?
“Don’t know how”, I can fix! 
“Don’t (or Won’t)” I don’t do that anymore. 