I am trying to share our welcome guide to our sitters. If I look on both the app and the web version the option to share is now greyed out and there is only an option to edit it. The sitter is saying they don’t have the guide (although THS seems to be saying I’ve shared it as there is no option to share now available, I tried to share it a month or so back when we confirmed the sit)….anyway I’ve tidied up the welcome guide and updated it and want to (re)share it to my sitters but I don’t get the option…help please…
Is it possible that the sitter hasn’t accepted/confirmed the sit on their end?
When you go to your dashboard, it should show your confirmed sit (if they have confirmed it), and it will show the dates, “view conversation” and “welcome guide”. If you hit the welcome guide button, it should share it with the sitter.
You can’t share your welcome guide until the sitter has accepted your formal offer of a sit. It your listing still shows the dates of the sit, you don’t have a confirmed sitter and can’t share your welcome guide.
If you do have a confirmed sitter, you can share your welcome guide once. After that, the sitter is notified if you make any changes to the welcome guide. At least that was what I was told by sitters when I asked a similar question to yours.
Are any other sitters getting such a notification? I haven’t. I get the email from THS when the HO initially shares the WG and plenty of HOs let me know via THS inbox or WhatsApp if they make post-sharing updates. However, I do not receive a notification from THS that the WG was updated. And yes, my notifications are on. If you do get this, is it an email, a push notification or something else? Cheers for answering.
I’m not sure as an HO. There was a thread not too long ago where sharing the Welcome Guide was discussed by sitters as important for their acceptance of a sit to stick. That brought up questions about HOs revisiting a Welcome Guide already shared because HO’s can not explicitly reshare the Welcome Guide. One of our gray-back sitters on this forum responded that modified Welcome Guides trigger notifications to sitters. Indeed, I recall one sitter who expressed a bit of annoyance when HOs make lots of small changes to their Welcome Guides which generate notices to the sitter without any indication of what or got much was modified. That was all news to this HO and I have no what form the notifications take. I’ll see if I can’t find that thread.
You can’t share it until the sit is confirmed on both ends.
If the sitter wants to see it before a sit has beeen confirmed, you can set your computer to “print” it with “PDF” as a destination instead of a printer. You can then email or share a copy. HOWEVER, as the PDF likely contains information like routing numbers, emergency contact numbers, etc, this might not be the best idea if you don’t have a program that will allow you to edit the PDF before sharing it with an unconfirmed sitter.
If this is a case of a sitter wanting more specific informaition about the house or pet responsibilities prior to confirming, you can cut and past those sections onto a google document and send that. So check with the sitter to see what they want.
Many of us (hosts) have abandoned the Welcome Guide and use our own Google document. I use three separate documents – one all about my home and it’s quirks and maintenance, another about my cats and their quirks and routines, and a third with shopping options, and fun stuff in my neighborhood. I have versions without personal information that I can sent out in advance of confirmation.
Surprisingly, I was able to find it in the “Owner won’t complete Welcome Guide” thread from around July 6.
Also, I don’t actually know if @Maggie8K is really a gray-back. I’m using that term to refer to forum participants who’ve been around a long time and seem to know the intricacies of THS. I would have included you in that category so I’m surprised you’re surprised by this.
I was notified three or four times when one host updated their welcome guide repeatedly. I remember being annoyed by that, because there was no way to tell which part had been updated, so I had to reread the entirety each time.
That sit happened about 18 months ago, and the WG was shared well before the sit. I don’t remember how I received the notifications and have long since deleted, but THS will normally email me when a message hits my THS inbox, because I set it up that way from the outset of joining and I’ve never changed it.
I almost always use the website, rather than the app, though I have the app loaded. I usually use the app when checking whether a host has missing reviews from sitters.
Yes @OnTheRoadAgain, I was aware of that thread. I was hoping that sitters would answer my question. I see that @Maggie8K is typing as I write this.
Not sure about that ‘gray-back’ reference. When I looked it up it certainly didn’t refer to a knowledgeable, seasoned or experienced person. It referenced confederate soldiers, some types of animals, lice or boulders ![]()
Thanks @Maggie8K. Any other sitters routinely getting a THS notification when an already-shared WG gets an update?
On the website there used to be a banner that said ‘updated’ over the welcome guide when it was updated. But since they changed the dashboard a few months ago, I haven’t seen that anymore and I have at least one that I know was updated because the HO sent me a message saying she made a few minor updates. I’m not sure what’s on the app since I rarely use it.
Also, I’ve had a couple welcome guides disappear after they had been shared and I had to request them again. Maybe when HOs update they need to reshare?
I’ve looked for a reshare option after updating the WG. No joy.
the sitter hadn’t worked out how to view my WG…the THS chatbot told me this “Hi Tom…gosh…sounds busy….I have been trying to resend the welcome guide, but I don’t have that option inside THS anymore as apparently I have already shared it….sometime the platform can be quite un user friendly!!!….so i just spoke to their chatbot and it said….”Sitters can view the Welcome Guide after a sit is confirmed by logging into their account, going to their Inbox, selecting the pet parent of the confirmed sit, and clicking ‘View Welcome Guide’ under the confirmed dates. This gives them all the details they need for a happy, well-prepared sit! “ which I sent him and then he was able to find it…thanks for your help
thanks it was user error on my sitters side…all sorted now
I agree a reshare option would be great and helpful….