An adoption can only be recorded by signing an adoption contract on an approved application, so your organization needs at least one active adoption template. See Recording the adoption.
The list
Each template shows its name and version, what it is for, the conditions it is offered under (“Offered for: every animal”, for one with none), and its text. A template that has been signed says how many times. Tick Show retired to list retired templates too; they are marked Retired.New template
Press New template.
Then set what it asks at signing (adoption templates only) and when it is offered, and press Create. Two templates cannot share both a name and a version.
For
Body
Write the agreement as you would a reply: bold, links, lists, headings, tables, pictures, a letterhead. Put merge fields where the details go, for example:I, {{signer_name}}, agree to adopt {{animal_name}} for {{fee}} on {{date}}.
Your organization’s name is not a merge field. Type it into the text.
Merge fields
Under the body, Merge fields: click to insert lists every merge field. Click one to insert it where the cursor is, spelled exactly. Hover over one to see what it fills in.
A detail that is simply missing, such as a co-applicant on an application without one, fills in as nothing.
Asked when it is signed
An adoption template can ask up to four things when it is signed on an approved application. Tick each one the template needs; the merge fields it fills are shown beside it, to put in your text.
What the signing form offers for each is described under What this contract asks. The answers are kept with the signed contract, as they were given.
Only the approved application asks these questions. A template that uses
{{payment_instructions}}, {{approved_by}} or {{completed_at}} cannot be signed from an adoption’s own Contract tab, because nothing fills them there. The media release is asked on both.{{payment_method}} fills in as nothing, and the others stay unfilled, so the contract cannot be signed on the application until the template is fixed; the preview names the field. The media release is the exception when the application already answered it.
Offered when
Which records a template is offered for. Leave everything blank to offer it for every record of its kind.
Add a condition on a field adds a test on a field of The animal’s or The adopter’s record:
- the animal’s status, species, breed, sex, size, altered, health status, intake source, name, medical flags, behavioral traits, microchip number or primary color;
- the adopter’s email, phone, roles, preferred contact or status;
- or a custom field…, named by its field key.
- On an approved application, only the templates offered for the chosen animals can be picked.
- On an adoption’s Contract tab, the offered templates come first, under Offered for this record, and the rest are still there under Other agreements.
Editing a template
Press Edit on a template to change its body, what it asks and when it is offered, then Save. The name, version and kind cannot be changed. Editing does not change any contract already signed. Each signature keeps its own copy of the exact text that was agreed, with the template’s name and version as they were. A template that has been signed says so on its card, with how many times. Contracts signed after you save use the new text.Versions
The version is a label you choose, shown beside the name wherever a template is picked (“Adoption agreement · v2”) and kept on every contract signed from it. Because a template’s version cannot be changed, a new version of an agreement is a new template:1
Create the new version
Press New template and give it the same name with a new version, such as v2.
2
Retire the old one
Press Retire on the old version, so it is no longer offered.