EVERYTHING SHELTERSYNC CAN DO
Powerful features for
every shelter website.
ShelterSync Core is free and full-featured. PLUS adds advanced filtering, display customisation, and priority support for shelters that need more. Both tiers run from the same plugin — no separate download required.
WHAT'S INCLUDED
Core vs. PLUS at a glance
Every ShelterSync installation includes the full Core feature set — no time limits, no feature expiry, no credit card required. PLUS unlocks advanced capabilities for shelters that need greater control.
| Feature | Core | PLUS | Notes |
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Animal Display |
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Adoptable animal listing |
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Full grid with photo cards. |
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Adopted & LFS animal display |
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Independent configuration per listing type |
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Animal detail overlay |
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Main Animal Image, key fields, adoption call-to-action button |
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Extended photo gallery |
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Additional photos pulled from the animal Shelter Manager records |
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Bonded pair & groups merged records |
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Ensure your website visitors clearly understand which animal must be kept together. |
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Reserved & Bonded Badges |
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Quick visual indicators for reserved and bonded animals. |
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Quick Info Status Icons |
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Give quick indications of things like vaccines, preferences, “Good with” – letting your website visitors get to know your animls at a glance. |
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Custom Status Descriptions |
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Customise icon labels to suit your needs |
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Filtering & Search |
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Species, sex & age filters |
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Populate from live data automatically |
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Reserved Status filter |
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Show/Hide reserved animals |
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Advanced filters including, breed, size, colour, & location |
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Really give your website visitors the chance to narrow down the perfect animal for them |
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Custom fields as filters |
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Configure any ShelterManager custom field to be used as a filter. |
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Filter display order |
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Drag-and-drop admin control |
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Shortcode pre-filter & exclusion |
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Per-page filter state via shortcode parameters |
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Reserved Call-To-Action Suppression |
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Per-page filter state via shortcode parameters |
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Display Order & Layout |
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Overlay display order |
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Drag-and-drop with section dividers |
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Animal List card display order |
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Independent from overlay configuration |
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Card column selector |
1 to 3 |
1 to 5 |
Responsive collapse automatic |
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Custom Fields |
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Custom field configuration |
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Up to 20 fields with discovery tool |
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Custom field display, filter & sort |
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On cards, animal details overlay, filter bar, sort control. |
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Appearance & Customisation |
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Colour & Styling Configuration panel |
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Colours, fonts, card styling via scoped styling properties. |
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Custom icon upload |
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Replace defaults icons via Media Library |
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Field label customisations |
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Rename any field label. |
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Sync, Caching & Infrastructure |
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Automatic sync & resilient caching |
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Serves last good data on API outage. |
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Configurable sync interval |
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Set your preferred sync cylce to every 15, 13, 45 or 60 mins. |
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Email notifications |
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Sync failure and resolution confirmations |
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ShelterManager Hosted Accounts |
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Standard ShelterManager.com hosted account integration. |
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Self-Hosted ShelterManager Accounts |
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Configurable base URL for self-hosted ASM3 Shelter Manager Installations. |
Ready to get started?
Core is free, always. Upgrade to PLUS whenever you need more.
ANIMAL DISPLAY
Show your animals the way they deserve to be seen
ShelterSync pulls your animal data directly from ShelterManager and displays it in a clean, filterable grid. Every animal gets a photo card and a fulle detail overlay – no manual uploads, no duplicate data entry.
Adoptable animal listing
All animals marked available in ShelterManager appear automatically. Grid layout, responsive on all screen sizes. Filters populate from your live data — only values present in current listings appear as options.
Adopted animals display
A separate listing for adopted animals — ideal for celebrating successful adoptions. Independent field and overlay configuration from your adoptable listing.
Lost, Found & Stray Display
Dedicated community animal listings for lost, found, and stray animals. Type badges (Lost / Found / Stray) shown on each card. Independent CTA and overlay configuration per sub-type.
Animal detail overlay
Visitors click any animal card to open a full-screen overlay with photo(s), all configured field data, and your adoption call-to-action or enquiry link.
Bonded badge
A visual badge on list cards identifies animals that must be adopted with a companion. Icon and label are configurable from the admin.
Reserved badge
When an animal has an active reservation in ShelterManager, a badge overlays their photo on the list card and in their detail overlay.
Reserved & bonded badges
Reserved badge overlays the photo when an animal has an active reservation. Bonded badge identifies animals that must be adopted with a companion. Both are admin-configurable.
Quick-glance Status Icons
Three-state icons (positive / negative / status unknown) calculated automatically from ShelterManager's data.
Custom icon upload available on PLUS.
Pagination
Long listings are split across pages for readability and performance
List layout
An alternative single-column list layout is available alongside the default grid - useful for shelters with fewer animals or a more editorial style.
Bonded pair & groups merged details displays
Bonded pairs and groups display as a single merged profile. Companion animals are linked via internal anchors so visitors see the full picture without leaving the overlay.
FILTERING & SEARCH
Help visitors find exactly the right animal
ShelterSync’s filter controls let visitors narrow listings by specis, age, sec, and more. PLUS extends this with breed, size, location, and custom ShelterManager fields.
Species, sex & age filters
The three most-used filter dimensions. Populate automatically from live data — only values present in current listings appear.
Shortcode pre-filter & exclusion
Pre-select filter state or silently exclude animals via shortcode parameters — no visitor interaction needed.
Reserved status filter
Allow visitors to filter to show only available animals (hiding those with active reservations) or to include reserved animals in their search.
Reserved Call-To-Action Suppression
Replace the adoption CTA with a configurable notice banner for reserved animals — so visitors know the animal is spoken for without removing it from the listing.
Breed, size & location filters
Extend your filter bar with breed, size, and location including foster vs. in-shelter status.
Custom field filters
Any custom ShelterManager field you have configured can be added as a filter dimension. Filter values are populated automatically from your cached dataset.
Filter display order
Drag-and-drop control over the order filter controls appear to visitors. Keyboard-accessible alternative provided.
DISPLAY ORDER & LAYOUT
Present animal information your way
Every field that appears on a list card or in an animal overlay can be reordered, renamed, or hidden. Core includes overlay display order configuration. PLUS extends this to list cards, adopted and Lost/Found/Stray listings, and gives you control over the number of columns in your grid.
Order display order
Drag-and-drop configuration of which fields appear in the animal detail overlay and in what sequence. Section dividers can be added to group related fields visually.
List card display order
Configure which fields appear on animal list cards and in what order. Independent from overlay configuration.
Adopted & LFS display order
Separate display order configuration for adopted animals and lost/found/stray animals — both overlay and list card — independent of the adoptable animals configuration.
Card column selector
Choose upto 5 columns for your animal grid. Responsive collapse is applied automatically for smaller screens.
CUSTOM FIELDS
Surface the data that matters to your adopters
If you capture additional information about your animals in ShelterManager — temperament notes, ideal home type, medical history — PLUS lets you bring that data onto your website without any custom development.
Custom field configuration
Define up to 20 custom ShelterManager fields by API name. Set a display label and choose where each field appears: list card, overlay, filter bar, or sort control. A field discovery tool identifies available custom fields from your live data.
Custom field display
Configured custom fields appear automatically on list cards and in animal overlays, following your configured display order.
Custom field filters
Add any custom field as a filter dimension. Filter values are populated from your cached dataset — only values present in your current listings appear as options
Custom field sort
Allow visitors (or pre-set via admin) to sort animals by a custom field value. Animals with no value for the field are sorted to the end of the listing.
APPEARANCE & CUSTOMISATION
Make ShelterSync look like it belongs on your site
ShelterSync’s CSS is scoped so it never affects the rest of your website. PLUS adds a full visual configuration panel — change colours, fonts, and card styling without touching any code.
Attribution Footer
"Powered by ShelterSync" logo displayed below all animal listings and within overlays. Always shown on Core installations.
Attribution removal
PLUS subscribers can remove the attribution footer if preferred.
CSS Configuration
A dedicated admin panel for visual styling: primary and secondary colours, text and badge colours, body and heading font stacks, card border radius, and shadow toggle. All output as scoped CSS custom properties — changes apply instantly across all listings
Custom icon upload
Replace any of the default attribute icons (neutered, microchipped, house-trained, vaccination, and more) with your own image via the WordPress Media Library. PNG, JPEG, GIF, and WebP supported.
Field label customisation
Rename any field label, filter label, sort label, or icon indicator label to match your organisation’s terminology. Changes apply site-wide across all listing types.
Sync, Cachin & Notifications
Reliable data, always - even when the API isn't
ShelterSync syncs automatically and caches intelligently. If ShelterManager is temporarily unavailable, your website keeps serving the last good data rather than showing an error. PLUS adds configurable sync frequency and admin email notifications
Automatic Sync
WP-Cron schedules data sync from ShelterManager automatically. No manual refresh required.
Sync on activation & update
A sync is triggered immediately when the plugin is activated or updated, so data is always current after a change.
Resilient caching
Cached data is served when the ShelterManager API is unavailable. Visitors see your last good data rather than a broken page or error message.
Configurable sync interval
Choose how frequently ShelterSync syncs with ShelterManager — from every 15 minutes up to every 24 hours depending on how quickly your listings change.
Email notifications
Receive an admin email if a sync fails or credentials stop working, with an optional resolution confirmation when the issue clears.
Infrastructure & Compatibility
Works with your ShelterManager setup, whatever it is
Whether you use ShelterManager’s hosted cloud service or run your own self-hosted instance, ShelterSync connects to it. Installation is a single shortcode. PLUS licence management is handled directly from your WordPress admin.
ShelterManager.com Cloud
Connects to the ShelterManager hosted cloud service. Enter your account ID and credentials once — ShelterSync handles the rest.
Self-Hosted ShelterManager
Connects to a self-hosted ASM3 instance at a configurable base URL. Supports HTTP with an admin-visible security warning where HTTPS is not in use.
WordPress ShortCode
Place [shelter_adoptables], [shelter_adopted], or [shelter_community] on any page or post. Compatible with all major page builders and the WordPress block editor.
CSS Isolation
ShelterSync styles are fully scoped and never affect the rest of your website.
Licence key management
Enter your PLUS licence key from the WordPress admin Settings page. Activation, status, expiry, and deactivation are all managed there.