Petfinder V2 Access Token Error, Shortcode Not Working

Hi – I am getting the same error. I tried a few things, but was not able to get an access token through Petfinder’s API. I contacted Petfinder’s support to see if anything changed with their API. If anyone with curl expertise reads this and can help – I am able to successfully get back an access token when executing Petfinder’s curl command through a terminal, but not through PHP’s curl_init() or WP’s wp_safe_remote_post() passing the same post data. WP’s wp_safe_remote_post() used to work.

Thanks so much for your reply Bridget @bridgetwes! Really appreciate you taking the time to reply about this and for reaching out to Petfinder’s support. I’m not great with PHP/Curl personally but I will reach out to friends who may be able to help narrow down the problem based on what you posted. If I’m able to find anything out that may help, I will reply here.

• This reply was modified 2 weeks, 4 days ago by Jessica J.. Reason: revising wording

Same issue here. If/when there is an easy fix please let me know!

@jessicajjohnston I like how your dog page is styled. Is that custom styling or is that possible within PetFinder?

@unsungwilliam Thanks! Oh I should’ve mentioned, until the plugin is back to working, I found a page on Petfinder’s website where I could generate a widget to embed on the website temporarily. The link is here. Once we’re able to get the plugin up and running again, I’ll likely remove these widgets and go back to using the plugin. ??

@jessicajjohnston Thanks for the link to the widget. I was going to put in a plain old link.

@bridgetwes
Thank you for looking into it. I will be following.

@bridgetwes Any update? Still getting these error messages:

“Could not get access token from Petfinder: cURL error 56: OpenSSL SSL_read: Connection reset by peer, errno 104“

and

“Not able to create a Petfinder V2 access token. Please make sure your API Key and Secret are set correctly on the plugin’s settings page.”

Thank you.

Here’s our website: https://petprojectfoundation.org/dogs-puppies/

I’m not getting the same error output on my rescue’s website, instead I’m getting a 504 Gateway Timeout Error, but I can only assume it’s related to the keys not being able to be refreshed using the PHP_curl routine. When I disable the plugin, the page works again.

https://catcove.org/adopt/

I’m getting a timeout too. I’d suggest disabling the petfinder plugin for now. Petfinder’s support said I should hear back in two working days, which is today. Hopefully, Petfinder’s support will reply with a resolution soon.

I got a response from Petfinder Support:

“The API is currently unavailable for new key requests.? I don’t have an estimated time as to when it will return, but you’re welcome to view that page again in the near future.

For existing Petfinder shelters and members, please consider instead using our preconfigured pet list scroller:
https://www.petfinder.com/tools-widgets/custom-pet-list/getting-started/

It does not require an API key, although it does require that your group enable API in your account at https://pro.petfinder.com/ under “organization settings”, “account”, “Share public pet data with Petfinder API”.”

That’s not very helpful. My plugin may not have a viable future given Petfinder’s response. ??

With some outside help with curl, thanks Jeffrey!, I was able to work around Petfinder’s issue and get pets displaying again. Hopefully, this patch will hold. Update to 1.1.3 to see your pets again and fix the timeout errors.

Brent from Petfinder support said “This is an issue with our API that is being repaired and is not intentional. I’m hopeful that it can be fixed in the coming days.” ????

Thank you so much for all your work to fix the plugin! I have switched back to the plugin and do have one formatting issue. The name of the animal is in very small text. Maybe there’s some CSS I can add to fix this but I’m not all that proficient in it. Our web page for cats is

https://jcapl.org/blog/available-cats-and-kittens/

I do have some CSS for thumbnails, thanks to another user, but I’m thinking that shouldn’t affect the title.

@deannemott – I made some changes to help pets display better by default in the latest version, 1.1.5. I switched the pet name to an H2 tag so it will pick up whatever styling you have for H2s (Headings level 2). Update and let me know if your adoptable pets look better.

That looks good! Thanks so much for your quick response!

Petfinder API status page states API requests are failing: https://help.petfinder.com/s/article/API-requests-are-failing-11-2024

November 12 2024 at 6:00PM EST:

For existing API keyholders, we’re looking into an issue where the Petfinder API is not properly returning results.

API requests are failing 11 2024 – INVESTIGATING: Last Modified Date11/13/2024 4:03 AM