Managing Wishlist Items

Creating and maintaining your wishlist is straightforward. This guide walks you through adding items, organizing them effectively, and keeping your wishlist up to date.

Adding a New Item

To add an item to your wishlist:

1. Click Add Wishlist Item from the wishlist page.
2. A form dialog opens with sections for item details, wishlist basics, product links, and public support.

The form includes:

• Name (required): a clear, specific name for the item (e.g., "Purina Puppy Chow 20lb bags" or "Heavy-duty dog leashes")
• Priority: choose Low, Medium, or High based on urgency. Defaults to Medium.
• Category: choose from Supplies, Food, Medical, Equipment, or Other. Defaults to Supplies.
• Quantity Needed: how many units your organization needs. Defaults to 1.
• Price: the per-unit price. This is optional, but helpful for tracking total cost.
• Product URL: a link to the product on a retailer's website. When donors or team members want to purchase the item, they can follow this link directly.
• Details: a longer text area for additional information, specifications, or notes about the item
• Image URL: a direct link to a product image. See the section below for tips on getting this right.
• Public Visible: show this item on your public shelter wishlist when public wishlist visibility is enabled.
• Accepts Monetary Donations: allow supporters to fund this item through public Stripe checkout or a tracked external payment method.

Click Save to add the item to your wishlist. After the item is created, PawPlacer opens the new item profile.

Product Images

Adding an image makes items easier to identify at a glance. There are two ways to add images:

For Amazon products: if you've entered an Amazon URL in the Product URL field, the form will show a Fetch Image button instead of the Image URL text field. Click it and the system will automatically pull the product image, name, and price from the Amazon listing.

For other products: you'll need to provide the image URL manually. To get the right link, right-click the product image on the retailer's website and select "Copy image address" (not "Copy link"). Paste that URL into the Image URL field. A preview of the image will appear below the field so you can confirm it loaded correctly.

Editing Items

There are two ways to edit a wishlist item:

Quick Editing on the Item Profile

Click any item in the wishlist table to open its item profile. Several fields can be edited directly from the profile:

• Price, Quantity Needed, and Received on Hand appear as editable number fields. Change a value and click or tab away to save immediately; no need to open a form.
• Received on Hand tracks items your team has manually counted outside the donation and pledge workflow. Donation-linked received quantities are added separately from contribution history.
• Priority can be changed from a dropdown in the item header.

These quick-edit fields are ideal for day-to-day updates like counting untracked deliveries or adjusting quantities.

Full Edit Form

For more comprehensive changes, click the Edit button in the profile action bar to open the full edit form in a dialog. This form includes all the same sections as the add form, plus the ability to update the image, URL, and details.

The Item Profile

Clicking an item in the wishlist table takes you to a compact item profile with several sections:

Header: Shows the item name, priority badge, category tag, public/private tag, created date, price, quantity needed, and contribution count.

Product image: Displayed in the left column. If no image URL is set, a placeholder icon appears.

Details sidebar: Shows category, priority, public/private status, product link, item details, inventory snapshot, and recent activity.

Quick-edit fields: Price, Quantity Needed, and Received on Hand are shown as inline-editable number inputs in the main details section. Changes save immediately when you leave the field.

Summary cards: The main column shows cards for available quantity, contribution count, and inventory value.

Product link: If a URL is set, a "View Product" button links out to the retailer's site in a new tab.

Progress section: A progress bar shows the percentage of the total quantity that is covered, along with the exact count (e.g., "3/10 covered") and a status badge showing either "Needed" or "Fulfilled."

Contribution history: Shows linked wishlist donations and item pledges with amount or pledge type, status, donor, message, quantity, and a Reconcile action when a pending contribution can be marked received.

Details section: Displays the item's description text. If no details have been added, a placeholder message appears.

Deleting Items

To delete an item, open the item's profile, open the action menu, and choose Delete. A confirmation dialog will ask you to verify before the item is permanently removed.

Search and Filtering

From the main wishlist table, you can find items quickly:

• Search: Type any part of an item name, details, or URL to filter results.
• Status filter: Show all items, or narrow to a specific status (Needed, Partially Received, Fulfilled, or Archived).
• Sorting: Sort by any of the available fields, including progress percentage and priority. By default, items are sorted by priority (highest first).

Best Practices

Writing Effective Item Descriptions

Be specific about brands, sizes, or types when it matters. Include important specifications like "grain-free," "unscented," or "size medium." If substitutions are acceptable, mention that so donors or purchasers know they have flexibility.

Managing Quantities

Update Received on Hand promptly when items arrive outside a tracked pledge or donation. If a supporter submitted a public pledge or started an external payment, reconcile the pending donation instead so donor history and contribution history stay connected. Consider breaking large needs into smaller, more achievable quantities; asking for 5 bags of food at a time rather than 50 can feel more approachable and lets you track progress in smaller increments.

Keeping Your Wishlist Current

Review your wishlist regularly to make sure it reflects what your organization actually needs right now. Archive or remove items that are no longer relevant. Add seasonal items in advance (e.g., cooling mats for summer, heating pads for winter) so they're on the radar before the need becomes urgent. Rotate priority levels to draw attention to whatever matters most this week.

Using Categories Effectively

Consistent categorization makes it easy to answer questions like "What medical supplies do we need?" or "Are there any equipment requests outstanding?" Take a moment when adding items to assign the right category.

Mobile Use

The wishlist works on mobile devices with the same feature set. The table adapts to smaller screens, and all editing features remain accessible through the item profile. Editable fields are touch-friendly, so you can update quantities received directly from your phone when processing deliveries.

Public Wishlist

To publish an item for supporters, turn on Public Visible for the item and enable Wishlist in Settings > Profile Visibility. If you also want supporters to fund the item with money, keep Accepts Monetary Donations on and make sure public Donations and Payments are enabled.

Public wishlist items are shown only while at least one unit is still available after received, funded, and pledged quantities are reserved. Supporters can still submit physical item pledges for available public items even if Accepts Monetary Donations is turned off.

See Public Wishlist for the full public-facing workflow.