Tags are a great way to make important client and pet information more visible for you and your team. This can include information that helps keep your team and the other pets you work with safe (i.e. if a pet is extremely nervous, sick, or a potential bite risk), as well as info that helps you better tailor your services to the client/pet in question (i.e. senior pets, clients travelling longer distances to work with you, clients/pets with mobility concerns, etc.). Custom tags can be used to quickly reference anything you need when looking at your client's profiles and bookings. In this guide, we will take a look at custom tags in detail, from how they are created to how they are used.

To locate your existing tags, start by clicking the gear icon in the bottom-left corner of the page to open your Settings navigation page.

Then select "Tags" at the bottom of the "Product Configuration" section.

That will open your main Tags page. This page is split into two sections: Client Tags and Pet Tags.

Once you begin adding tags you will see each listed with a preview of the tag as it appears when assigned to a profile, the number of tagged clients/prospects/pets, and a few action icons. Selecting any tag's preview allows you to edit it.

Let's take a closer look at the action icons available for each tag.

Select the number under "Tagged Clients", "Tagged Prospects", or "Tagged Pets" to open a list of clients/prospects and their pets (or pets and their associated clients) to whose profiles the tag has been assigned.

Clicking the name of any listed client/pet opens their profile page.

After making edits to any of your tags (either by clicking the tag where it's listed on the Tags page or by clicking its pencil icon), be sure to click the "Update Tag" button to save any changes.

To create a new tag, start by selecting the "New Tag" button at the top of the main Tags page.

That will open the New Tag form. The fields on this form allow you to customize what the new tag will look like when displayed throughout your account.

Select the "Tag Type" field to open a drop-down menu with the options "Client" and "Pet". This setting controls whether the tag will be available to be applied to pet or client profiles.

Click the colour field (the button with the small, black rectangle to the right of the Tag Type field) to open a small pop-up. This pop-up allows you to select the colour you want for your tag. Drag the small circle in the colour bar then select a colour from the gradient at the top of the pop-up, use the dropper tool to copy a colour from elsewhere, or enter values into the RGB fields to set the colour. Your new tag will display with this chosen colour. When configuring your tags, it is a good idea to choose distinct colours so they will be easy to identify at a glance.

Next, click the tag icon field (to the right of the colour field). This will open a drop-down menu with a variety of icon options to choose from. Select one from the menu to set it as the icon for your new tag. Use these icons to classify the type of tag or to more easily differentiate the tag from others.

Finally, choose a name for your tag. Click the name field (to the right of the icon field) and type the tag name you want to use.

Keep in mind that the tag name will be displayed as part of the tag itself so it's a good idea to use something concise and avoid anything too wordy. Remember that tags are visible only to you and your team, so they only need to be named in a way that you will understand! i.e. Instead of using something like "Travelling from outside service area, notify of cancellations early" try "Travelling 30km+" or something similar.

When you are done choosing the settings for your new tag, click the "Create Tag" button to create the tag and return to your main Tags page.

After saving your new tag, a green confirmation message with the name of the tag will appear at the top of the page.

Now that we've explored how to create, edit, and manage tags on your account, let's take a look at how to use them. Though the process for adding tags is similar for customers and pets, they do display slightly differently for each, so we've split the next section of the guide into two parts to discuss tags for Client Profiles and Pet Profiles in more detail.

Note that assigned profile tags are visible from the Customer Index as well. Client tags will be listed in the "Tags" column, just to the right of the customer's lifetime value. Each tag will be shown in its selected colour with its icon and full name.

Pet tags are also visible from the Customer Index, but are shown in a slightly abbreviated format. Tags on pet profiles will show as only the icon in the chosen colour. Hover your mouse over any pet tag icon to see the name of the tag.

Previously assigned tags can also be seen at the top of a customer's profile page. Each profile page lists the client's name at the top, followed by any default tags. These default tags appear only on client profiles, not on pet profiles.

Custom tags always display below the defaults. Once you have created at least one custom tag, an add tag button will appear below each client's default tags. Select this button to assign a tag to the profile.

That will open a list of available client tags. Click on one to add it to the profile.

Once a tag has been assigned to the profile, it will display with its chosen colour, icon, and full name.

Hovering your mouse over any previously assigned tag will cause a trash can icon to appear. Click the trash can icon to remove the tag from the client's profile.

The process for adding and viewing tags on pet profiles is very similar to that for client profiles. Once you've opened the pet's profile page, you will see their name listed at the top-left, followed by any custom pet tags that have been associated with their profile.

As for client tags, clicking the add tag button will open a list of available tags. If the pet already has tags on their profile, the list will include only those that have not yet been assigned. Select any tag to assign it to the profile. Once chosen, tags are listed with their chosen colour, icon, and full name.

Hovering your mouse over any previously assigned tag will cause a trash can icon to appear. Click the trash can icon to remove the tag from the client's profile.

Note that pet tags can also be viewed from their associated client's profile page. Just as on the Client Index, tags listed in a client's pet list will display as coloured icons. Any associated tags will be listed below the pet's gender, vaccine status, name, and breed.

Click or hover your mouse over any pet tag to open a small bubble with that tag's name.

Custom tags can be very useful in providing you and your team extra information about clients that have booked services with you. As such, BusyPaws displays your custom tags on your booking pages. The manner in which these tags appear does vary slightly however between bookings for individual services and those for groups.

Pet tags are visible for all pets registered for a group booking. To locate the tags for any registered pets, start by opening the "Attendance" tab on the booking's information page.

Each pet on the attendance list will have any associated custom tags shown to the left of their profile photo. These tags will display as coloured icons.

Click/hover your mouse over any of the tag icons to see the tag's name.

Individual bookings display any custom tags for the registered pet(s) as well as those for the registered client. To see the assigned custom tags, locate the "Customer Info" section on the booking's information page. This is generally located just below the Booking Location details.

This section includes basic information about the client and pet(s) that the booking has been scheduled for. Any custom tags that have been assigned to the client or pet(s) will display here in their assigned colours with their chosen icon and full name.

Many businesses offer services that they may not wish to be available to all pets. Pet tags can be used to help account for this. Services may be configured to prevent pets with a specific tag from being registered and/or require that a pet have one or more tags to register.

After you have created one or more pet tags, navigate to the settings page for the service you wish to restrict, and locate the "Access Restrictions" section.

Click the + button under the "Exclude" or "Include" section to open a list of your available pet tags. After selecting a tag, click the + button gain to add another to the same section.

To remove a tag from either section, hover your mouse over it and select the trash can icon.

When a client is self-booking a service with tag restrictions, any pet that does not meet the requirements will be listed as "Unavailable" at the pet selection step of self-booking. If the service requires pets to have a specific tag, customers will not be able to add a new pet during self-booking.

You now know everything you need to about creating, editing, assigning, and viewing custom pet and client tags. Use this feature to communicate important information with your team and help you provide better services to your clients and their pets. As always, if you have any further questions about this feature, don't hesitate to send out team a note. Happy tagging!