Fixing uploading errors

For AutoUploading to function on your Adopt-a-Pet.com account, you must have at least one Pet Publicist set as the AutoUploading or Error contact. If your uploaded files have any errors, our system sends your AutoUploading contact(s) an automated email every 12 hours listing the errors. The subject line will be "Adopt-a-Pet.com AutoUploading Errors in the last 12 hours" and they come from [e-mail] so please add that email to your contact list or address book.

The most common errors are breed and color mapping errors. AutoUploading uses two files: pets.csv and import.cfg. The first is your pet data, the second is a configuration file that tells our system how to "map" or translate your values to our values. Like you may have a cat breed in your software named "Domestic short hair" and our system's value is "Domestic Shorthair." For our system to know it is the same breed, the import.cfg file maps it.

Below is a basic 10-step how-to for fixing AutoUploading errors for any software that does not upload an import.cfg automatically each time along with your pet CSV data file. 

1. Login to your Adopt-a-Pet.com account http://www.adoptapet.com/login

 

2. If  you have multiple accounts, switch to the account you want to edit: 

Use the "Switch" dropdown menu on your Admin Home page.

Confirm that you now see the correct account name in the upper left.

 

3. Click "Shelter/Rescue" in the green navigation bar and select "AutoUpload/Import Pets".

 

4. Scroll down to see that account's FTP info:

 

FTP Username	(all numbers)
FTP Server	autoupload.adoptapet.com
FTP Password	(all capital letters)

 

5. Use that info to log into your FTP using your FTP program. 

 

6. Download the import.cfg to your desktop.

 

7. Go back to the AutoUpload page and click the "Test Import Now" button. 

 

You will then see the ERROR and INFO messages.

All you need to fix are the ERROR ones.

As an example, you might see:

 

ERROR: "Chicken - Rooster" is not a valid Breed for the Animal type of 'Farm Animal' (must be a valid breed name). Pet data file: line 3 (Pet ID: 380935)

 

8. Open the import.cfg file you downloaded.

 

Helpful tip from a shelter: If you use a PC, to be able to open and edit your import.cfg file and have it save with the needed line breaks, try TED notepad (it's free): http://jsimlo.sk/notepad/ -- Mac users can use TextEdit.

 

Look for the Breed section and add a mapping. It looks like this:

 

#4:breed=Breed

Chicken - Rooster=Chicken

 

The text to the left of the = is what you have in your CSV that you're uploading to us.

The text to the right of = is the value we allow. 

Values we allow may be found in the Excel file

List of Breeds and Colors [XLS] 

There are different sheets/tabs for the animal types.

We have a few special breed values for mixed breed dogs. While you can only use "Mix" as a dog's Breed2, for a dog's primary breed you can use:

Mixed Breed (Large)
Mixed Breed (Medium)
Mixed Breed (Small)

 

All values are case, space, and punctuation sensitive.

 

 

9. Save your edited import.cfg

 

10. Go back to your FTP program and upload the import.cfg overwriting the import.cfg that is there.

 

That's it! You can check that you fixed all the mapping errors by clicking the "Test Import Now" button again. You should either see green checkmarks, or just INFO messages. No more ERROR ones. Note that photo errors do not show up in "Test Import Now" just in your error emails.

 

If you need more help, please click the blue "help" bubble below, search for anything then click "Contact Us" to contact us via that form. Thank you!