Use the Dashboard

When To Use This#

Use Home as the staff triage screen for public status, schedule pressure, bookings, billing, messages, and document review.

Before You Start#

• Sign in to the internal app and confirm you are in the correct business account.
• Use the dashboard to decide where to go next; use the linked workflow pages for detailed work.
• If an action is missing, first check that you have access to that page — it may not be a product problem.

Home Page Overview#

The Home page is the staff dashboard. Use it to spot public notice attention, schedule pressure, booking work, onboarding reviews, billing follow-up, messages, and documents that need you today.

The dashboard is a starting point. Complete the detailed workflow on the linked page that owns the work.

Status And Operational Cards#

The page header shows your current operating status as a dynamic, hours-based badge (for example, "Open until 6:00 PM" or "Opens at 8:00 AM"), along with the public message families see. That badge follows you on every staff page, and it is separate from the notices below.

Under the page title, start at the "Public notices" card. It lists the notices your customers can currently see, and its "Manage in Status & Notices" link takes you to Website Status and Notices when you need to post, edit, or clear one. When you have no notices posted, you see a short line saying so with the same link.

Below that you get four tiles: "dogs on the field" opens the Schedule, "upcoming bookings" opens Bookings, "reviews pending" opens Onboarding, and "balance to collect" opens Billing. Under the tiles you get two widgets, Messages and Documents. Open the tile or widget that matches the work you need to do.

If your account is still showing example data, you see a banner above the page telling you the records are sample data. The banner includes an "Open customer portal" link that opens your customer portal sign-in page in a new tab. When a demo sign-in is available for your account, the banner shows it there so you can see the portal the way a family would. If the banner instead tells you to contact Hello Sniff support for a demo login, reach out and support can help you get in. Owners and managers also get a "Remove example data" button on the banner, and can do the same from Settings. The banner appears on every staff page, not only Home.

While sample data is being set up or cleared, the same banner tells you what is happening instead: "Preparing your sample business" while the demo records are being added, "Removing example data" while they are being cleared, and "Sample business needs attention" if the setup could not finish. If you see that last one, try again or contact Hello Sniff support.

Messages Widget#

Use the Messages widget to see how many conversations are open and to skim recent previews. Open a message preview when you need the dashboard message drawer.

Reply from the drawer only when the thread is active and the reply controls are visible. Use the Messages page when the conversation needs fuller context or a new message thread.

Documents Widget#

Use the Documents widget to move into pending document review when review work is waiting. Use the Documents page for the actual review workflow and dog or family context.

What Happens Next#

• Dashboard cards take you to the dedicated page where you finish the work.
• Opening a message preview loads the thread in a drawer on Home so you can read it without leaving the page.
• Whether you can reply depends on your messaging access, and other linked pages may have their own access limits.
• Empty message or document widgets mean there may be no current items in that widget, not that all downstream work is complete.

When Dashboard Widgets Or Actions Are Missing#

• If dashboard data looks stale, refresh the page and check the numbers again.
• If a card opens a page with missing actions, check whether the action applies to the record you selected and whether you have access to that page.
• If the Messages drawer opens without a reply form, confirm the thread is active and that you have messaging access.
• If the "Public notices" card shows something customers should no longer see, use Website Status and Notices to update or clear it.
• If a destination page should be available but is missing, ask an owner or manager to review access on the Access page. See Manage Access and Invites.