PurrView User’s Manual

1. Welcome

PurrView helps colony caretakers keep track of community cats without drowning in sticky notes or shared spreadsheets that go stale by Tuesday.

With PurrView you can:

• Maintain a living registry of cats in each colony (photos, TNR, health notes, body score)
• Run trap-night TNR Ops (trapped / secured / notes / photos) and share prep/trap CSVs with coordinators
• Plan multi-day treatments and field chores with Do (Make-A-Do)—checklists, due dates, and a calm “what’s due soon” badge
• Run a daily “who did I see?” roll call and save visit notes
• Review colony visit days or one cat’s attendance and body-score trail in History
• Keep inactive cats out of the way without losing history
• Export cat lists and visit history as CSV for reports or backups
• On Full, work with teammates under one organization—with clear owner vs member roles. Free is owner-only
• Keep going when signal is weak; sync when you reconnect

Open the app at /purrview/ (or install it as a progressive web app from your browser when that option is available).

2. System requirements

PurrView is a progressive web app (PWA)—it runs in your browser, not as a separate App Store / Play Store install. That keeps requirements simple: a capable browser, enough free storage, and a network when you need to sign in or sync.

Devices & hardware

• Phones and tablets are first-class. Field use is the design target. Older hardware is usually fine if the browser still runs well—we are not limited by minimum OS versions from an app-store binary.
• iPad or Android tablet (recommended when you can). A larger screen gives more room for cat lists, History, and export controls. Toolbars and forms that stack into tall columns on a small phone often sit side-by-side on a tablet, so you scroll less and see more of the colony at once. Handy at the kitchen table, in the truck, or when training a new teammate.
• Laptops and desktops work for office review, exports, and multi-device testing (same signed-in account).
• Phone screen: any modern phone is enough for day-to-day field use. You can zoom in the browser if text feels small outdoors.

Storage (the real limit)

Most “this phone is too old” problems in the field are really full storage, not weak CPUs. Leave room for:

• Cat photos and notes stored for offline use
• Visit history cached on the device
• Browser updates and phone OS updates when they become available

Practical rule of thumb: keep at least 3 GB free—not a nearly full device. If storage is always on the thin edge, free space or upgrade; photos, offline data, and OS updates will struggle long before PurrView’s code does.

Browsers (recommended)

Early development and field testing focused on Brave and Firefox. We recommend those for caretakers when possible.

Keep the browser itself updated when you can. JavaScript and site data (for sign-in and the local offline cache) must be allowed for PurrView’s site.

Network

• Cellular is fine. You do not need Wi‑Fi for normal use. Solid LTE/5G is enough for Sync Now, live team updates, and exports.
• Offline work is intentional. Cat edits and today’s visit can save locally when signal drops, then catch up with Sync Now when you are connected again.
• First open of the app, sign-in, CSV export, invites, and adding/renaming colonies need a working connection.

Optional: install to home screen

Where the browser offers Add to Home Screen / Install, you can open PurrView more like a standalone app. That is optional—the same /purrview/ URL in the browser is fully supported.

3. Core ideas

A few words used throughout the app:

4. Plans (Free & Full)

Plan is an organization setting, not a personal one. If you own a Free organization and are also invited into a Full rescue, you are limited in the Free org and have Full features while you are working in the rescue.

Notices and the 8-cat cap

• Around 6 cats, Free shows a persistent reminder that Full is available. That is a notice only—you can keep adding until 8.
• At 8, adding a brand-new cat is blocked (Active Cats and TNR Ops share the same cap). You will see a meter such as “8 of 8” and an Upgrade to Full control.
• Deactivating a cat does not free a slot. History stays; the record still counts.

Upgrade to Full

In the app, tap Upgrade to Full. That opens an email to [email protected] asking to pay. Frontier Felines turns Full on for that organization after the conversation. Upgrading does not delete cats, photos, colonies, or history—it only unlocks the limits above. Price is arranged by email; this manual does not list a dollar amount.

5. Getting access

There are two common ways in:

A. Create an organization (owner)

1. Request a registration code Email [email protected] and ask for a Free code (or Full, if you are already arranging to pay). Owner registration always needs a code from Frontier Felines—there is no public open signup. See Free vs Full and the Terms.
2. Receive an access code or registration link Links may look like /purrview/?code=….
3. Register Email, password (at least 8 characters), organization name, and optional first colony name. Tap Register to create the account. By continuing you agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy.
4. You become the owner — on Free PurrView creates your organization and a default colony on the Free plan. Team invites wait until Full. Email us when you are ready to upgrade.

B. Join a team (member) — Full organizations

Free organizations cannot send invites. You will only see this path when a Full owner invites you.

1. Get an invite link Only the organization owner can create invites. They copy a link and send it to you (text, email, etc.).
2. Open the link It opens PurrView with the invite attached (for example ?invite=…).
3. Sign in with the invited email The email must match the invite. Members do not need an owner registration code.
4. Accept and work You join the shared organization and can care for cats and visits according to member permissions.

6. Sign in & sign out

• Tap Sign In in the top navigation (when you are signed out).
• Enter the email and password for your account.
• Toggle Need an account? Register only when creating an organization with a registration code (not for normal day-to-day login). The button on the form is Register (not “Sign up”), so it’s easier to tell from Sign In.
• Sign out from the footer with Sign Out when you are done—especially on shared devices.

After sign-in, PurrView restores your last organization and colony context when it can. If the colony name shows oddly or data looks empty, try Sync Now or a hard refresh (see Troubleshooting).

7. Screen layout

Top bar

• Title — Frontier Felines PurrView (shortens to “PurrView” on small screens)
• Sync Now — pushes pending changes and refreshes; may show a badge count when work is waiting
• Connection status — Online, Connecting…, or Offline

Main navigation

Footer — Organization & Colony

• Shows the active organization and colony context
• My Organization switcher — if you belong to more than one organization
• Role badge (owner / member)
• Rename organization, add organization, or leave an organization (with safeguards). A second organization you own is a Full add-on
• Add New Colony (requires connection; extra active colonies are Full)
• Sign Out

8. Organizations & colonies

Switch organization

If you are a member of more than one organization, use the My Organization dropdown in the footer. Switching reloads the context for that program’s colonies and cats. Creating a second organization you own is a Full add-on: upgrade the first org you own (or ask Frontier Felines if you already paid for another). Membership in someone else’s Full org does not by itself unlock a second org of your own.

Colonies

• Use the Colony dropdown on the Active Cats screen to switch colonies.
• Tap the pencil (✎) next to the colony name to rename the current colony (online).
• Tap Add New Colony in the footer to create another colony under the active organization (online). Free allows one active colony; archive the current one first if you need to start a replacement. Extra colonies are a Full feature.

Spots (where cats hang out)

A spot is a small landmark inside a colony—not a big “zone” of the property. Think “behind the broken wall,” “blue dumpster,” or “porch feeder,” not “north half of the lot.”

• On Active Cats, the Spot dropdown sits beside Colony. Choose + Spot to add one; pick a spot then ✎ to rename or archive (requires connection).
• On a cat’s edit form, set an optional Usual spot so the team knows where that cat usually hangs out.
• Usual spot shows on the cat card as Spot. Moving a cat to another colony clears usual spot (spots belong to one colony).

Cats, visits, and roll call always belong to the colony you have selected. Team membership is at the organization level—invited members share the whole account’s colonies they can access through normal use of the app.

Leave an organization

Use Leave in the footer when you should no longer participate in that program. You may be prevented from leaving if it would leave the organization without a workable owner situation—ask the owner or Frontier Felines if you are stuck.

Legacy data (older single-colony installs)

If you see a banner about previous colony data ready to claim, tap Claim Colony Data while signed in so older records attach to your organization. Most new beta users will never see this.

9. Active cats

This is your working roster for the selected colony.

Add a cat

1. Open Active Cats Confirm the correct colony is selected.
2. Tap Add New Cat Fill in the form and save. On Free, the organization shares one roster of 8 cats (TNR included, inactive included). A meter such as “n of 8” shows how many records you have. At 8, adding a new cat is blocked until you upgrade to Full.

Cat fields

Edit a cat

Open the cat from the list, change fields, and save. Teammates who are online may see updates in near real time after sync.

Move to another colony

If a cat relocates to a different colony under the same organization, use Move colony on the cat card (requires a connection). That keeps one record—photos, Chip #, notes—so you do not create a duplicate. Past visit days under the old colony stay in that colony’s History; the cat leaves the old active list and appears under the destination colony. Each move appends a short line to Notes (e.g. move to Paradise Point, then move back to 8 Mile → two lines of history).

Remove from colony (deactivate)

Removing a cat from the colony archives them—they move to Inactive Cats and drop out of today’s roll call. History is not thrown away; you can reactivate later. On Free, an inactive cat still counts toward the 8-cat cap—archiving does not make room for a new name.

Export cats (CSV)

On Active Cats, tap Export to download a spreadsheet file (CSV) of cats in the current colony. A short dialog lets you choose:

• Active cats only
• Inactive cats only
• Active and inactive (default)

Columns include colony, name, active flag, TNR, sex, age, body score, needs pull, notes, and timestamps. Photos are not included in the CSV. Export requires an internet connection. The file name looks like Organization_Colony_cats_YYYY-MM-DD.csv.

10. Inactive cats

Use this list for cats that left, are missing long-term, transferred, or should not appear on daily visits—without deleting their story.

• Open Inactive Cats in the main navigation.
• Review archived cats for the active colony.
• Reactivate when a cat returns to regular care; they reappear on Active Cats and roll call.

11. Today’s Visit

Today’s Visit is the daily roll call for the active colony—who you saw, when you visited, and what you want the team to know.

1. Select the right colony Switch colonies on Active Cats first if needed. The heading should read Today’s Visit — {colony name} — {date}.
2. Open Today’s Visit You will see active cats only (inactive cats are excluded).
3. Set visit time Optional time field for when the visit happened.
4. Check cats you observed Use the roll call list to mark who was present or accounted for.
5. Add general notes Colony-level notes for the day (weather, food status, concerns, etc.).
6. Save Today’s Visit If you are offline, the visit is stored locally and syncs when you reconnect (you may see a toast confirming offline save).

Visits keep a snapshot of cat details at save time so history stays meaningful even if a cat’s profile changes later.

12. Visit history

Open History to review past visits for the active colony—dates, who was marked present, and notes. Use it to answer “when did we last see Patches?” or to brief a teammate covering your route. The title shows Visit History — {colony name}.

Two modes

At the top of History, switch between:

• Colony — the classic list of visit days (general notes + cats present with snapshot fields).
• By cat — pick one cat and see that cat’s attendance trail (Present / Not seen), body score, and notes on the dates they were recorded.

Body score and cat notes on History rows are snapshots from when the visit was saved, not a separate medical chart. Editing a cat’s profile does not rewrite past History until the next visit where they are marked present.

On-screen History shows about the last 100 colony visits. Use export Range for a longer cloud trail. Offline, you may see pending local visits plus whatever was already loaded this session—not a full offline archive of every past day.

In By cat mode, leave Show days not seen checked to see attendance gaps; uncheck it to focus on days the cat was present.

Export history (CSV)

At the top of History, use the export controls. Exports need an internet connection and use cloud history (sync pending visits first if you just saved offline).

File names look like Organization_Colony_visits_summary_YYYY-MM-DD.csv or …_visits_detail_…. Very large histories may be capped (thousands of visits) so the download stays practical.

13. TNR Ops (trap night)

TNR Ops is for the trap portion of trap–neuter–return: a focused roster of cats not yet marked TNR complete, field checkboxes for trapped / secured for transport, notes, optional trap photos, and exports for clinic handoff. It is not a vet chart or foster/adoption system.

Before you start

1. Pick the colony where you are trapping On Active Cats, set the Colony dropdown. If you work 4–5 sites in one night, switch the colony before each site. Wrong colony = wrong cats and wrong exports for the coordinator at home.
2. Confirm the name in the title Open TNR Ops. The heading and green banner show Working colony: …. If it is wrong, go back to Active Cats and switch.
3. Optional: Plan tonight Expand the prep panel for ceiling, traps, cages, kit checklist, mission crew (people on the ground—not app Team seats), clinic drop-off, and safety notes. Use Export prep plan CSV to share with someone preparing clinic paperwork while the field team is still out.

During the trap night

• The list shows active cats that are not TNR complete for this colony only.
• For each cat: Trapped, Secured for transport, optional notes and camera (photo of cat in trap when there is time).
• Add New Cat for unexpected arrivals; they appear on the list immediately (TNR not complete by default). On Free this uses the same 8-cat organization cap as Active Cats.
• Tap Trapping Complete to save the night’s log (you can re-open and edit the same night).
• Export trap CSV for the Team / clinic handoff (English column headers).

Advice & warnings

• Multiple colonies: Always verify colony name before trapping or exporting. The footer alone is easy to miss in the dark—use the page title / TNR banner.
• Feeding visits stay separate: Today’s Visit (roll call) is not overwritten by TNR Ops. You can feed and trap on the same calendar day.
• Do not mark TNR complete just because a cat was trapped or secured. That stamp is for finished return.
• Shared live data: Teammates online can use exports and shared org data so a coordinator can prep clinic paperwork without waiting for midnight text dumps.
• Offline / sleep: Prefer Sync Now when signal returns; after device sleep the app should refresh lists when you return—if a list looks empty, Sync Now or reopen the screen.
• Photos optional: Never block the night waiting for perfect photos; add when safe.

14. Do (Make-A-Do)

Do is committed work—multi-day treatments, supply runs, landlord notes, transport plans—that is neither a feeding visit, a Needs Pull flag, nor a Team broadcast. You create a plan with a due date, optional cat and custom checklists, and notes. The create action is called Make-A-Do. Do is included on both Free and Full.

Open Do

• Tap Do on the main PurrView screen (near Team).
• When work is overdue or due within the next 8 local days, the Do control shows a count badge and the same orange glow style as Team.
• Completed Dos do not keep the badge lit.

Master list

• Filter: This colony · All · General (General = not tied to one colony).
• Default filter is All so organization-wide and General work stay visible.
• Rows sort by soonest due date first.
• Each row shows title, due date, and a light status cue when due soon or overdue.
• Make-A-Do creates a new plan. Archive browses finished work that has left the main list.

Make-A-Do (owners)

1. Do name Short title for the plan (required).
2. Colony Pick a real colony or General for work that is not colony-specific.
3. Due date Defaults to today on your device; change as needed.
4. Cats (optional) When a real colony is selected, check the active cats to include. Labels are snapshotted at create time so the checklist still makes sense if a name changes later.
5. Custom checklist (optional) Turn on Make this a checklist and put one item per line (up to 30). Leave the toggle off to use the multi-line field as plain notes only.
6. Notes Always available. Use them for “who’s handling this,” clinic details, or field observations.
7. Save This Do Returns you to the master list with the new row visible.

Working a Do

• Open a row to see title, colony or General, due date, checklist, and notes.
• Check items as you go (item checks can save immediately for field speed).
• Title, due date, notes, and add/remove items need an explicit Save.
• A Do finishes only when someone taps Mark Do done—checking every item never silently closes the plan. You can mark done with some items still open when the work is “good enough.”
• When the last open item is checked, PurrView may offer to mark the Do done.
• Owners can reopen a recently completed Do if the work was closed early.

Done and archive

• Completed Dos stay on the main list for about 7 local days (review window), then move to Archive.
• Owners can archive sooner from the detail screen if a mistaken plan should leave the list immediately.
• Archive keeps a reviewable history; reopen from Archive when needed. There is no hard-delete path in v1.

Who can do what

• Owners create, edit, mark done, archive, and reopen Dos for the organization.
• Members can view open Dos and check off checklist items so field crews stay useful; creating and closing plans stays with the owner in v1.
• Dos are account-wide within the active organization (all colonies you can access plus General).

Offline

After you have loaded Dos while online, you can open the list and work from the device cache. Create and edit queue like other field work; use Sync Now when signal returns so teammates see the same plans.

15. Team & invites

Open the Team tab to see who is on the organization and, if you are the owner on Full, to invite or remove people. Coverage (who is feeding) lives here on both plans.

Seats

On Full, the team panel shows seats used versus the seat limit (for example 2 / 3). Active members and pending invites both count. If the limit is reached, invite creation is blocked until someone is removed, an invite is revoked, or Frontier Felines raises the limit. Raising seats does not unlock invites on Free— the organization still needs Full.

Owner: invite a teammate

1. Enter their email Must be the address they will use to sign in.
2. Create Invite Link Copy the link and send it yourself. Email delivery from the app is planned later.
3. Manage pending invites Copy again if needed, or Revoke if the link should no longer work.

Owner: remove a member

From the members list, remove people who should no longer have access (you cannot remove the owner role through ordinary member removal).

Members

Members see the roster but cannot create invites. They can still use cats, visits, and broadcasts according to normal app permissions.

16. Team broadcasts

On the Team screen (Full), Team Broadcast is for short account-wide messages— “Feeding late tonight,” “Vet clinic Thursday,” “Watch for injured tortie near the dumpster.” Broadcasts are not available on Free; Coverage still is.

• Messages are limited to 500 characters.
• You can send up to 10 broadcasts per minute (rate limit to prevent spam).
• Online: messages deliver live to teammates.
• Offline: messages queue and send when you reconnect.
• The Team nav control may glow when you have unread broadcasts; opening Team marks them viewed.

17. Online, offline & Sync Now

PurrView is built for dirt roads and weak signal. Not every action needs a perfect connection— but colony management (add/rename colony) does require being online. Cellular data is fully supported—you do not need Wi‑Fi for Sync Now or day-to-day team use.

What “offline-first” means here

• Per browser / device. Offline work uses data last synced on this phone or laptop, not a shared offline cloud.
• Before the field: Online, open the colonies you need, wait for cat lists (and photos if you care about them offline), then tap Sync Now.
• While offline: View and edit cached cats, save Today’s Visit, switch among colonies already cached on this device. Pending work shows a badge and uploads when you reconnect and Sync Now.
• Sign out clears sign-in tokens only—local colony cache stays for faster return (useful if you signed out by mistake). Use the browser’s Clear site data only on shared phones when you truly want a wipe.

Sync Now

• Available when you are signed in and the device reports online (Wi‑Fi or cellular).
• Offline: the control stays disabled; a toast explains you are working from this device until you reconnect.
• Refreshes your sign-in session when needed, flushes pending cats/visits/broadcasts, and pulls the latest server state—including today’s visit.
• A badge may show how many pending items need attention.
• After reconnecting, the app may wait briefly for a stable connection before auto-flushing.
• Success may say Everything is up to date or report how many items were sent. The Sync button remembers last synced time on this device.

Phone + laptop (or two browsers)

When both devices are online and signed into the same organization and colony, saving Today’s Visit on one device can update the other in near real time. If a second device opened Today with an empty roll call, it will not wipe a real visit that already has cats checked—attendance content wins over a blank placeholder.

If one device still looks empty after the other saved, confirm the same Organization & Colony, tap Sync Now on the device that has the correct visit, then Sync Now on the other. History can also confirm what the cloud has for that day.

Conflicts

If two people change the same record close together, PurrView uses a last-write-wins approach with conflict notices. You may see an amber toast and the server’s copy loaded—re-apply your change if it still matters.

What needs a connection

• Adding or renaming colonies
• Creating invites and most team administration
• CSV export of cats or visit history
• Reliable real-time updates from teammates
• Completing Sync Now

Visits and many field edits are designed to survive offline periods and catch up later. When in doubt, save your visit, restore connection, then tap Sync Now.

18. Roles & permissions

19. Field tips

• Start with the colony switcher (Active Cats) before adding cats, saving a visit, or opening TNR Ops.
• Read the colony name in the page title on Visit, History, Inactive, and TNR Ops—not only the footer.
• Multi-site nights: switch colony when you change locations; export trap/prep CSV so a coordinator can prep clinic while you stay in the field.
• Use Do for multi-day plans—antibiotics, recheck visits, supply runs—not for “who did I feed today?” (that’s Today’s Visit).
• Write who’s handling it in Do notes so the next caretaker does not have to guess.
• Check Organization & Colony in the footer so you are not writing into the wrong program.
• Name cats for recognition—markings, “ear tip + white blaze,” or stable nicknames beat vague labels.
• Use Needs Pull as a shared triage flag when a cat should be trapped or removed from the colony route—for TNR, relocation, or medical reasons (injury, illness, scheduled vet care). Put the reason in notes so the next person knows whether it’s a trap plan or a health pull. Pair Needs Pull with a Do when the work needs a date and checklist.
• Body score + notes give the next caretaker a head start without a phone call.
• Save the visit before you drive off; sync when signal returns (cellular is fine).
• Use History → By cat when you need one cat’s attendance or body-score trail instead of scanning every visit day.
• Two-browser practice is great for training on Full: owner invites a second email and watches live visit updates. Free cannot send invites.
• Keep seats tidy (Full)—revoke unused invites so they do not consume seats.
• Leave at least 3 GB free on field devices so photos and OS updates still fit (see System requirements). A tablet helps when you want less stacking and more on screen.

20. Troubleshooting

21. Legal & contact

• Terms of Service (includes software license)
• Privacy Policy
• PurrView product overview
• Questions, access codes, or upgrades to Full: [email protected]

This manual describes product behavior for caretakers. It is not a legal document; Terms and Privacy control rights and obligations. Features evolve—if the app and this page disagree after an update, trust the live app and ask us to refresh the manual.

Back to top