Card themes change how a report card looks, never what it shows. Your notes, photos and the rest of the card stay the same, and Internal Notes (private) never appear on it. Themes are off until you turn them on, so nothing changes for your customers until you choose a setting.
Turn on card themes
- Open Settings, Card Themes.
- Under Card themes, choose one:
- Off: every report card stays plain.
- Auto: Petboost picks a theme for each card.
- Auto with my house style: Petboost picks the theme, laid out in the style you choose under House style. Surprise me rotates the styles.
- Select Save card themes.
How Petboost picks a theme
Petboost uses the date of the visit, not the date you send the card. A card sent on 3 January for a visit on 24 December is still a Christmas card. For a stay, any day of the stay can match.
Each card has a background (where the visit happened, such as the grooming studio, the daycare yard or a hotel suite, picked from the service and the room) and, when the day is special, an occasion on top. Petboost checks the occasions in this order and uses the first one that matches:
- A theme you pinned for that date range under Campaign pins.
- A pet milestone, such as the pet's birthday (within 3 days either side), a first visit, a first sleepover, or a 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th or 100th visit.
- A holiday, such as Christmas, Easter, Halloween or New Year.
- A cultural, religious or civic day you ticked.
- A fun pet day that matches the pet, such as International Dog Day for a dog or a breed day for that breed.
- The season.
When two occasions match the same day, the one with the shorter window wins. The same occasion goes to the same owner at most once in 7 days, so a daycare dog that visits every day gets the Halloween card on the first visit of the week and the plain background for the rest.
On 25 April and 11 November cards stay quiet: no confetti, no puns and muted colours.
An incident report is always plain.
Choose what gets a theme
Under What gets a theme, each family has its own switch:
| Switch | What it covers | Starts |
|---|---|---|
| Holidays | Christmas, Easter, Halloween, New Year and more | On |
| Pet milestones | Birthdays, a first visit, a first sleepover, visit milestones | On |
| Seasons | A light seasonal look when nothing else applies | On |
| Fun pet days | International Dog Day, Cat Day, breed days | Off |
Cultural and religious days, civic days and a few optional milestones are a checklist. Every item starts unticked. Petboost never guesses which days your customers celebrate.
To use the neutral Christmas wording, choose Season's greetings instead of Merry Christmas.
Pin a theme for a campaign
- Under Campaign pins, choose a Theme.
- Choose the Dates it runs for.
- Add the pin, then select Save card themes.
A pinned theme wins over every other occasion on those dates.
Use your own colours and fonts
- Under Colours and fonts, choose a Theme, or All themes to change every theme at once.
- Change Text, Buttons, Background, Lines and Highlights with the colour pickers or a hex value. Use my brand colour puts your brand colour on the buttons. Button text is picked for you so the button stays readable.
- Optional: Choose a title font. The fonts suggested for the theme come first, then the full Google Fonts list. The title font is used for the big title only.
- Optional: Choose a Body font for the notes.
- Check the Preview in light and dark, and the email header.
- Select Save for the theme, or Save for all themes.
Petboost checks the contrast as you go. While text, button text or highlights are too hard to read, you cannot save, and Petboost offers the nearest readable shade with a Use button. Reset to suggested puts the theme's own colours and fonts back.
A theme you customise for itself wins over All themes.
Preview a report card and choose its theme
- Open the appointment and go to Notes & Attachments.
- Under the customer-facing photos, select Preview report card to see the card as the pet owner will. Play the card opens the full card, and Still shows it without movement.
- Optional: choose a theme from Choose theme. The preview changes to that theme.
Petboost remembers the theme you choose on this browser and uses it for every report card you send until you choose another, from Send Report Card on the appointment and from Bulk Send in Mission Control, even when card themes are off in these settings. Automatic (Card themes settings) goes back to your card themes settings. A card that has already been sent keeps its theme.
See and switch off upcoming themes
Turn on card themes first. The Card themes, next 60 days lane on the Key Dates Calendar in Customers & Pets lists the occasions coming up. Use the switch beside one to turn that theme off.
A sent card never changes
Petboost saves the theme with the card the first time you send it, by text or by the notes and photos email. An owner who opens the card months later still sees the theme it was sent with, even after you change your card themes.
The theme locks when you select Send Report Card, or when the notes and photos email goes:
What the pet owner sees
The themed report card opens as a scrolling scene. The title and the pet's photo sit at the top, then the services, the photos, your notes and the visit facts, with Book Again and the review prompt at the bottom. Animation stops when the owner taps Pause or when their phone is set to reduce motion, and the card looks the same without it.
The report card email shows the theme's header, title and colours. Invoices, receipts and payment links are never themed.
Owners can choose Plain report cards in their communication preferences. They then get plain cards from your business, by text and by email.
Related articles
- Report Cards: preview, print and send report cards
- Branding: your logo, brand colours and font
