---
title: Template Selection Guide
description: "PetMatchPro offers multiple template styles for both search results and detail pages. Choosing the right template depends on your content, audience, and page layout. ## Search Templates | Style | Best For | Layout | | --- | --- |…"
url: "https://petmatchpro.com/docs/template-selection-guide/"
updated: "2026-10-26"
category: Best Practices
---

# Template Selection Guide

PetMatchPro offers multiple template styles for both search results and detail pages. Choosing the right template depends on your content, audience, and page layout.

## Search Templates

| Style | Best For | Layout |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Default** | Main search pages | Grid cards with photo, name, and fields. Clean and familiar. Works at any grid width (1-5 columns). |
| **Carousel** | Homepages, featured sections | Horizontal slider with auto-advance. Best for showcasing a curated set of animals. |
| **Compact** | Sidebars, footers, tight spaces | Minimal cards with photo and name only. Small footprint, fast scanning. |
| **Structured** | Data-rich search pages | Cards with accent line and organized field layout. Good for shelters showing many fields per animal. |
| **Hero** | Homepage hero/banner image zones | One animal as a single full-bleed photo with name and a "Meet Me" button. Picks one at random from the filtered pool on each page load. |

## Detail Templates

| Style | Best For | Layout |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Default** | Simple detail pages | Photo left, fields right. Straightforward and easy to scan. |
| **Profile** | Feature-rich detail pages | Full-width hero photo with fields below. Supports quick fields, stats row, and thumbnails. |
| **Profile 3-Column** | Maximum information density | Three-column layout: photo, fields, and buttons/stats side by side. |
| **Navigation** | Browse-through experience | Supports pagination between animals from search results. Visitors can browse without returning to search. |
| **CPA (Celebration)** | Adopted/alumni showcase | Celebration-focused layout for showing adopted animals with success stories. |

## Choosing a Search Template

- **Primary search page:** Default or Structured - visitors need to browse and compare
- **Homepage feature:** Carousel - eye-catching, auto-rotating, mobile-friendly
- **Homepage hero/banner image:** Hero - one large animal, rotates at random per visit
- **Sidebar/widget:** Compact - minimal space, maximum density
- **Species-specific pages:** Default with `species` filter pre-set

## Choosing a Detail Template

- **Minimal content:** Default - clean and fast
- **Rich profiles with stats/quick fields:** Profile or Profile 3-Column
- **Browsable results:** Navigation - lets visitors flip through animals
- **Alumni/success stories:** CPA - purpose-built for celebrations

## Template and License

- **Basic tier:** Default templates only (search and detail)
- **Junior+:** All templates - carousel, compact, hero, structured, profile, navigation, CPA
- Selecting a template above your tier shows a clear upgrade message instead of the page

## Mixing Templates

Different pages can use different templates. Common combinations:

- Homepage: Carousel (featured) + Compact (recent arrivals)
- Main search: Default or Structured
- Detail page: Profile or Navigation
- Sidebar: Compact

**Template names are partner-specific.** The examples below use RescueGroups names; PetPoint and AnimalsFirst use different filenames for some styles (e.g., `universal-search-structured` instead of `adopt-search-structured`, `universal-details-navigation` instead of `adopt-details-navigation`). Check the template dropdown in **General Options** for the exact names available for your active partner, or browse the [Search Templates Gallery](https://petmatchpro.com/docs/search-templates-gallery/).

```
<!-- Homepage (RescueGroups examples) -->
[pmp-search type="featured" template="featured-search-carousel"]
[pmp-search type="adopt" template="adopt-search-compact" count="6" row="3"]

<!-- Main search page -->
[pmp-search type="adopt" template="adopt-search-structured" filter="enable" pagination="enable"]

<!-- Detail page -->
[pmp-details template="adopt-details-navigation" thumbs="enable" quick_fields="Breed,Sex,Age"]
```

## Next Steps

- [Search Templates Gallery](https://petmatchpro.com/docs/search-templates-gallery/) -- Browse all search templates with previews
- [Detail Templates Gallery](https://petmatchpro.com/docs/detail-templates-gallery/) -- Browse all detail templates with previews
- [Featuring Animals on Your Homepage](https://petmatchpro.com/docs/featuring-animals-on-your-homepage/) -- Homepage-specific template guidance
- [Theme Template Overrides](https://petmatchpro.com/docs/theme-template-overrides/) -- Create custom templates in your theme

 Template Selection Guide ultima modifica:  2026-03-29T09:57:06-04:00 da PetMatchPro