I’ll be curious to see if this is removed by the moderators.
I just opened welcome guides for some soon to be sits and I really can’t believe that the format for sitters has actually gotten worse!
Used to be able to open multiple sub-sections within a section - for example I could open Home and then click the + for each sub-section (contact details, home details, security…) and have them all open on the web page - and then print out multiple sections at once. Now when you open a sub-section you can’t open others. So instead of printing all of a section at once, you must print each sub-section separately - and there are 2 pages of boilerplate at the bottom of each sub-section.
I’ve been asking for improvements for years and it gets worse. Some programmer should be able to figure out a way to export the guide to a single PDF that can be downloaded/printed!!!
There seems to be a way for HOs to print their welcome guides, but I can’t find a way for sitters to do it - or am I missing something? If TH has created a path for HOs to print the entire welcome guide, why not make it available for sitters?
https://support.trustedhousesitters.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360020826218-How-to-print-the-Welcome-Guide
TH brags about being a B-Corp and lists 'climate principles and sustainability - Sustainability | TrustedHousesitters.com
Forcing sitters to go through multiple steps and waste paper to print a welcome guide doesn’t demo any concern about climate and sustainability.
I tried chat and this is the response I got from unnamed TH chatter (I removed the name of the chatter to protect privacy)
The Welcome Guide can only be printed by the pet parent and not the sitter.
The reason for this is it contains sensitive information about the pet parent and it is up to them if they want this printed.
I closed my chat asking that TH put a check box for owners to allow sitters to print the guide.
I did read the code of conduct and find nothing about not printing the guide. https://www.trustedhousesitters.com/static/resources/code_of_conduct.pdf
I’ve never tried printing a Welcome Guide, but it seems like a very reasonable request to make it easier for sitters to print the guide as a PDF.
What I normally do is:
- create a calendar invite for the dates I’ll be sitting
- copy the contact details of the HO, of the vet, and things like Wifi password, into the calendar invite and hit Save
Anything else I’ll look up online during the sit if relevant. Most of the times I don’t need to consult the welcome guide during the sit.
@Bluehorse - Thanks, most of the time this is a great solution, but in 90+ sits I’ve had elaborate instructions for some pets or for gates and keys, etc. Why not just make it easy for sitters?
This was seen as an improvement but there was nothing wrong with the original Welcome Guide. It’s been discussed
I just updated my WG for my next sit. If it makes you feel better (misery loves company!), it’s a total PITA for HOs too. Navigating it is really challenging.
Also, I made all kinds of updates, hit “Apply”, then “Save All Changes” - and the whole page reverted to the prior version.
I generally want to use the formatting within an app, but I understand why some create their own outside the app and just use that.
Hi @toml
We only remove posts which go against our Community Guidelines and as far as I can see, you’re just giving your feedback on a feature that’s changed, so it’s totally ok to have this discussion.
Members have also been discussing their thoughts over here - linking just in case you haven’t seen it.
I’ve passed your feedback over to the team. As always, I can’t promise anything, but I’ve made sure that your thoughts are with the right people.
If there are any changes made in future to the Welcome Guide, we’ll make sure to update the Forum.
Jenny
I usually take photos of the pages of welcome guide and sit details of photos together with the agreed sit dates in notes on my phone. That way if there’s a power outage I’ve got the phone details to refer to. Some emergency stuff is good to have in case I’m out when something of an emergency occurs.
Of course I could get my phone stolen or lost… but it is a useful back up.
Yup. Likewise, I take screen shots. If yours are stored in the cloud, you could access on other devices, even if say your phone were lost or stolen.
One of the other advantages of grabbing shots is that a sketchy host who updates a welcome guide in hope of hiding duties can’t get away with it as easily, because you have the welcome guide snapshots at a moment in time.
I take photos of specific WG pages on my cell phone. I also make hand-written notes just in case…
I have it saved as a pdf. I can send it separately. I also have it printed off and in a folder/binder.
I agree
The format is a pain.
Hate it.
Because THS has made it impossible for sitters to download and print the welcome guide, I have made it a habit to ask the homeowners to do this.
While I feel badly asking our homeowners to do this, I have sat in places where the internet has been unreliable, and I do not want to be unable to access important information about their pets or home.
An easy solution to this would be for THS to simply ask the homeowner (tick a box) to provide permission for their sitter to download and print their welcome guide.
I take screen shots of it and store it on my phone in notes. Then if there’s an emergency when I’m out with the pet I have all the vital info. I’ve housesat and experienced a power cut so I like to be prepared!
I agree with toml. It’s ridiculous that sitters can’t download the welcome guide. I go through each section copying and pasting to a Word document so I have all the info I need for the sit. There are several reasons for this. As already pointed out, there may be reasons we can’t get online in an emergency (power cut/wifi outage etc). In addition, there have been cases of welcome guides containing inaccurate information, and I want a record of exactly what I was told beforehand in case of any dispute. I commend the homeowners who supply a word document or PDF direct to sitters. Saves me doing it myself A block on downloading for sitters is pointless if we’re all taking screenshots or copying and pasting, so the privacy issue is redundant.