With the Evaluations feature you can stop customers (pet parents) booking online for pets that have not yet passed an in-person evaluation, also called a temperament test or assessment. Once it's switched on in your settings, you choose which of your services need a passed evaluation, and your staff record each pet's result on the Evaluations page.

The Evaluations settings are on Settings > Main Settings, in the Evaluations Settings section (there's a Quick Link: Evaluation Settings link at the top of Main Settings).

Once the setting is on, Evaluations appears in the main menu. The number next to it is how many pets are on the Incomplete tab.

When a pet parent tries to book a service that needs an evaluation, the online booking portal stops them at the pet step and shows one of three messages, which you set in Evaluations Settings. In each one you can type {0} and KennelBooker swaps it for the pet's name.

A good message tells the pet parent how to book the evaluation, for example your phone number or the name of your evaluation booking type. The messages can't contain the characters <, >, " or ^.

The Expire evaluations X number of days after their last booking dropdown is in Evaluations Settings. Choose No Expiry, or 30, 60, 90, 120 or 182 days, 365 days (1 year), 730 days (2 years) or 1095 days (3 years). When you pass a pet, KennelBooker sets the pet's Valid Until date that many days ahead. Each time the pet checks out of a booking, the expiry date moves forward to that many days after the check-out date, so the pass only runs out if the pet hasn't been in for that many days. Once that date has gone by, the evaluation counts as expired: the pet goes back onto the Incomplete tab with an Expired tag and the date, and the pet parent sees the expired message on the portal.

When you first switch Evaluations on, every pet already in KennelBooker starts as Incomplete, so pet parents can't book them online until you pass them. To pass them all at once:

The Evaluations page (page title Pets without Evaluations) has four tabs, each with a count: Incomplete, On Hold, Passed and Failed. Incomplete lists every pet that hasn't been evaluated yet, plus pets whose pass has expired.

You can also record an evaluation in the Evaluation Information panel on the pet's profile. Switch on Evaluation Complete (passed) or Evaluation Failed, set the Evaluation Date, check the Valid Until date if your evaluations expire, add Evaluation Notes and click Save. The pet's profile is the only place you can change the evaluation date or the valid-until date by hand. If the pet's evaluation has run out, the panel shows Evaluation out of Date.

From the Services Provided panel on Settings > Main Settings you can switch on the Evaluations booking type (depending on when you signed up this may be called Universal). This booking type can be renamed from the Settings > Customize Text screen.

Once it's switched on you'll have a settings screen for this booking type, where you can set it up. You can either create predefined booking slots that your customers can book, or let customers pick any date and time they wish.

If you offer training, the training settings page also has an evaluation booking option, which "Allows customers to book in for training evaluation class/session".

Use the Evaluations feature. Go to Settings > Main Settings > Evaluations Settings, switch on Require pet(s) complete an evaluation before booking, switch on the services that need it, and click Save. Pet parents then can't book those services online until you mark the pet as Passed.

Yes. On the Evaluations page, on the Incomplete tab, tick the select-all box at the top of the list, then click Passed in the Mark selected as bar at the bottom of the page. You can click Undo straight afterwards if you picked the wrong pets.

Yes. After you mark a pet on the Evaluations page, click Undo in the message that appears. Undo only covers the last change you made on that page. For older changes, click Reset on the pet's row to send it back to Incomplete, or change it on the pet's profile.

No. Evaluations doesn't send an email, SMS or notification when you record a result. The pet parent sees the result only when they next try to book online.

Yes. Evaluations only blocks bookings made by pet parents on the online portal. Staff can still add bookings in KennelBooker for any pet.

Evaluations can be required for boarding, daycare, training, walks, drop-ins, grooming, home stay, nightcare, generic and universal bookings. You choose each one separately in Evaluations Settings.

On Hold is an Evaluations status for pets you haven't made a decision on yet, for example a dog that needs a second session. A pet on hold is still blocked from booking online and sees the "not passed" message. On hold pets have their own tab on the Evaluations page.

Yes. In Evaluations Settings, choose a period in Expire evaluations X number of days after their last booking, from 30 days to 3 years, and click Save. Pets you pass after that get a Valid Until date. Each time the pet checks out of a booking, the expiry date moves forward to that many days after the check-out date. If the pet hasn't been in before the date goes by, it moves back to the Incomplete tab marked Expired.

Yes, on the pet's profile. The Evaluations page records today's date when you mark a pet, but the Evaluation Information panel on the pet's profile lets you edit the Evaluation Date and Valid Until date and click Save.

Yes. The Evaluations page works in the KennelBooker web app in a phone or tablet browser.

The Evaluations menu item only shows when Require pet(s) complete an evaluation before booking is switched on in Settings > Main Settings > Evaluations Settings. Switch it on and click Save.

If Evaluations is on for that service, the pet parent sees your evaluation message instead of being able to continue. Check the pet on the Evaluations page: if it's on the Incomplete, On Hold or Failed tab, or is marked Expired, the portal blocks it. Mark the pet as Passed once it has been evaluated.

The pet's evaluation has gone past its Valid Until date because the pet hasn't checked in within your expiry period. Check the period in Expire evaluations X number of days after their last booking in Settings > Main Settings > Evaluations Settings. To let the pet book again, mark it as Passed on the Evaluations page, or set a later Valid Until date on the pet's profile and click Save.

The pet's profile only has Evaluation Complete and Evaluation Failed switches. If someone saves the Evaluation Information panel on the profile with both switched off, the pet goes back to Incomplete. Use the Evaluations page to put pets on hold.

On the Evaluations page, notes are saved when you click Update Notes, switch tab, or mark a pet. If you close the page while it says You have unsaved notes, those notes are lost. Type them again and click Update Notes.