ZooDesk Manual

✨Welcome to ZooDesk

ZooDesk is a web application for managing an animal collection – from individual animals to enclosures, breeding and the annual inventory. This guide walks you through installation and your first steps, and answers common questions.

🧰Requirements

• Web server with PHP 7.4 or higher (e.g. Apache); PHP 8.x is recommended.
• MySQL database (or compatible, e.g. MariaDB) and a database user allowed to create tables.
• Write permissions for the folders uploads/, documents/, enclosure_photos/ and backups/.
• Recommended: HTTPS (SSL certificate) – used among other things for the links in “forgot password” emails.
• For “forgot password”: an SMTP mailbox or a working PHP mail() function.
• A current browser (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari).

🚀Installation

1. Upload the files

   Upload all files and folders of ZooDesk to a directory on your web server (e.g. /var/www/zoo or public_html/zoo). Make sure the hidden .htaccess files inside the sub-folders are uploaded too.

2. Edit config.php

   Open config.php and enter your database credentials:

   $db_host = 'localhost';      // Your database host
   $db_user = 'dein_benutzer';  // Your database user name
   $db_pass = 'dein_passwort';  // Your database password
   $db_name = 'datenbank_name'; // Database name

   Optionally (for “forgot password”) the SMTP settings in the same file:

   define('SMTP_HOST', 'smtp.dein-provider.de');
   define('SMTP_PORT', 587);
   define('SMTP_USER', 'noreply@deine-domain.de');
   define('SMTP_PASS', 'dein-smtp-passwort');
   define('SMTP_ENCRYPTION', 'tls'); // 'tls', 'ssl' or ''
   define('MAIL_FROM', 'noreply@deine-domain.de');
   define('MAIL_FROM_NAME', 'ZooDesk');

   💡

   If SMTP_HOST stays at the placeholder smtp.dein-provider.de, ZooDesk sends emails via the server’s PHP mail() function.

   Make sure the web server can write to uploads/, documents/, enclosure_photos/ and backups/ (e.g. chmod 775 uploads).

3. Run the installer and choose the language

   Open install.php in your browser (e.g. https://yourserver.com/zoo/install.php). Choose the language (Deutsch or English) at the very top – the installer switches immediately and ZooDesk is set up in that language, including sample data such as event types and treatment categories.

   install.php

   

4. Set the site name and accounts

   • Site name, e.g. “Sunnyvale Zoo” (max. 100 characters).
   • Admin account and reader account: user name (max. 50 characters), email address and password for each. The two user names must differ.
   • Passwords: at least 8 characters, at least one uppercase letter and one special character.

   Click “Start installation”. The installer creates all tables (settings, users, groups/permissions, animal types, animals, notes, weights, treatments, documents, enclosures, events …), creates your two accounts and adds test data (animal types Zebra and Elephant with three animals each).

5. Delete install.php

   🔒

   Delete install.php after the installation so nobody can run the installer again.

   There are no default credentials – you set them yourself in the installer. Keep them safe, especially for the admin account: this user cannot be deleted.

👣First steps

After installation, this tour helps you get ZooDesk up and running in a few minutes. The screenshots are taken from a demo installation with sample data.

1. Log in

   Open login.php (e.g. https://yourserver.com/zoo/login.php) and sign in with your admin account. After 5 failed attempts, login is locked for 15 minutes; inactive sessions end after 2 hours.

   login.php

   

2. Settings & language

   Under Settings → General settings you change the site name, the language (applies to all users) and the animal type view (alphabetical or by enclosure), and manage backups.

   settings.php

   

3. Create an animal type

   On the home page, click New animal type under Actions. The icons next to an animal type let you edit it, open its inventory or delete it. The search for animal types or animal names is at the top right.

   index.php

   

4. Add animals

   Open an animal type and choose Add animal. The list can be sorted by name, date of birth or sex. With bulk actions you can mark several animals as deceased, transferred or fed, or delete them. Deceased, transferred and fed animals remain available in their own lists below.

   animal_type.php

   

5. Animal profile

   Clicking an animal opens its profile with photo, tag/chip, date of birth, sex, status, last weight, offspring and notes. Use Edit to change the master data and status.

   animal_profile.php

   

6. Weights, treatments & documents

   In the profile under Actions: Weights shows the history as a chart, treatments are organised in categories (e.g. dewormings, vaccinations) that apply to the whole animal type, and under Documents you upload files (PDF, images, Word, Excel, TXT, CSV; max. 50 MB).

   animal_weights.php

   

   animal_treatments.php

   

7. Manage enclosures

   Via Enclosures on the home page you create enclosures with area, description, photo and technical notes and assign animals or animal types. If you set the view to “By enclosure” in the settings, the home page is grouped accordingly.

   enclosures.php

   

8. Pedigree & inbreeding check

   In the animal profile, Pedigree shows the animal’s ancestry. There you can add offspring, view pairing suggestions and save the pedigree. When you pick father and mother, ZooDesk automatically checks for inbreeding and blocks saving until you explicitly allow it.

   family_tree.php

   

9. Plan events

   The Event calendar manages dates such as mating, pregnancy, quarantine or hibernation – for single animals or a whole animal type – with a reminder period. Due events are highlighted in red and counted on the home page. You can create your own event types.

   manage.php

   

10. Inventory, printing & CSV

    Inventory shows the opening stock, arrivals, births, departures and the current stock by sex for each animal type and year. The Total inventory combines all animal types, the chronological inventory lists every movement and offers a CSV download. Most pages have their own print view.

    inventory.php

    

11. Users & groups

    Under Settings → User management you create accounts for your colleagues and assign them to a group. Under User groups & permissions you adjust group permissions or create your own groups (see User groups & permissions).

12. Create a backup

    Click New backup under Settings → Backup management. Do this regularly and before every update (see Backups).

👥User groups & permissions

ZooDesk ships with four default groups. The installer creates one admin and one reader account; you assign further users to a group under Settings. The default permissions at a glance:

🌐Changing the language

The interface language (Deutsch or English) can be changed at any time under Settings → General settings → Language. The setting applies to all users and is stored in the database – emails, print views and CSV exports also use the selected language.

💾Backups

Under Settings → Backup management, New backup creates a full database backup as an SQL file in the backups/ folder. Use the drop-down list to restore or delete a backup.

🔒Security

• Delete install.php as soon as the installation is complete.
• Use HTTPS. ZooDesk detects HTTPS (also behind reverse proxies) and then sets secure cookies and HSTS.
• Keep the .htaccess files: backups/ is fully blocked, and executing PHP files is prevented in uploads/, documents/ and enclosure_photos/. On nginx you need to add equivalent rules yourself.
• Use strong passwords and grant permissions on a “least privilege” basis.
• Create backups regularly and keep copies off the server.

❓Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

🛠️Troubleshooting

🗂️Folder structure