FAQ

How do I administer my database?
What computer platforms does ASM Online support?
Can I give users access to my data without giving them my sheltermanager.com username and password?
Our internet connection is slow, how can we improve performance?
What bandwidth/space/CPU limits/quotas exist?
Is there a refund policy?
Is there a privacy policy?
How do disaster recovery backups get made?
Can I import data from my existing, local ASM database to my sheltermanager.com database?

How do I administer my database?

You can now administer your database directly through ASM - there is an SQL console available under System->Database Tools and in the same place you can find tools to import data from your remote database to a local database on your computer. You can also directly download database backups from the My Account page.

What computer platforms does ASM Online support?

ASM Online only requires a web browser with a Java plugin. It runs on any version of Windows, Linux, Mac OSX or Unix.

Can I give users access to my data without giving them my sheltermanager.com username and password?

Yes, under the My Account page, you can create more usernames and passwords. These usernames and passwords allow access to ASM Online without having to give out your sheltermanager.com username and password.

New users you create generally have most permissions to your database, however you can customise them by logging into ASM Online with your sheltermanager.com username and password and altering user access under System->Edit System Users

Our internet connection is slow, how can we improve performance?

Once ASM Online has downloaded the first time, it is cached in your browser and will only be downloaded again when a new version of ASM is released. This means that while ASM Online may be slow to start on a new computer for the first time, it will be almost instant after that.

ASM also has a number of tricks it can use to improve things on slower connections. All of these options can be found under the System->Options menu item, under the "Database and System" heading (note, these options only need to be set once and they apply to all users of your database).

"Cache active animals to speed up opening the details screen" - checking this box will cause ASM to load information about all animals on shelter at startup and cache it in RAM. This means that when you open the record of an on-shelter animal, no calls to the database need to be made. The cache is updated at 10 minute intervals, so if another user changes animal details, you may not see it for upto 10 minutes (NOTE: This ONLY applies to the animal details, entry, vet and death tabs, NOT any of the external tabs including media, vaccinations, movements, etc).
"Lazily load animal satellite data" - checking this box will have ASM not load any additional tab contents when opening animal screens. Instead, the data will be loaded when you click on the tab. This is a tradeoff - the animal screen will open much more quickly, but there will be a small delay when switching between tabs for the first time. If you have active animal caching enabled, this option means that no database calls at all are needed to view an animal record.
"Don't show media thumbnails on animal or owner screens" - checking this box will improve performance if you have images with your animals/owners. It prevents the main image being read and displayed as a thumbnail on the details tab. This allows the animal/owner screens to open faster.

What bandwidth/space/CPU limits/quotas exist?

No hard limits. Although disk space is a limiting factor (it will be monitored), at least 1GB per shelter will be set aside initially and this amount will increase for each year of subscription.

Is there a refund policy?

If you decide that ASM hosting is not for you, you can cancel your subscription at any time. If you cancel within 30 days of payment, you can obtain a full refund for that payment.

This means you can try out ASM hosting for free for 30 days to see if it works for your shelter.

Is there a privacy policy?

sheltermanager.com is supported entirely by your hosting fees, this means that (unlike other services):

We don't force advertising on you or market to you.
We aren't reliant on sponsorship money from companies, nor do we have any obligations to anyone but you.
We absolutely do not and will never use or sell your data for any purpose.
Our only influences are the shelters who use our services, and we strive to ensure that you're happy with the service. This includes adding features, maintenance, data conversions and anything else you need.

How do disaster recovery backups get made?

A nightly batch process will take a snapshot of your database whilst it's running (using a special dump utility) at 4am GMT. This snapshot will be backed up to separate storage. The snapshot is replaced each day, so if you need to revert, make sure you let us know before 4am GMT the next day.

In addition to this, a snapshot is taken every Monday morning at 4:30am GMT. If necessary you can revert back to the beginning of each week on request.

Can I import data from my existing, local ASM database to my sheltermanager.com database?

Yes. First, make sure you are using your sheltermanager.com database with a locally installed ASM. Now, login to ASM and go to System->Database Tools->Database Import. You can choose your local database (or other database type to import from). ASM will copy all the data from your old database into your sheltermanager.com database.