PLEASE READ Animal Record Keeping Software

As I was scribbling some info on my calendar about my BP today, I realized how time consuming this was becoming and how unorganized it is.

I was thinking of creating a website or possibly a piece of software that I could use to keep myself organized so that I will have all of my records forever (because I back up everything :D).

I then got to thinking that other people could use this as well and I was curious as to how many people would be interested in using this? Because if there is enough interest, I might as well make a website for it where people can either use it or download it, depending on which option sounds more favorable. I was going to make it for all types of animals; cats, dogs, birds, fish, snakes, lizards, horses, anything. Shoot some ideas at me.

I realize there is already herping software but it's way more information than I need to keep record of. But, of course, if enough people are interested and I get to creating it, I can tweak it to people's needs.

Of course, either option would be free. It would also be backed up so that if for whatever reason, record are lost, they would be recoverable.

Please leave some input.

Oops... this is the edit. I read quickly.

If you make it SUPER DUPER simple it may fly. Some of the current software can get a bit boggy, or just hard to get the initial flow going.

Especially for keepers with only a few snakes.

An option at log in for Advanced or Lite?

Bruce

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Originally Posted by Bruce Whitehead

Oops... this is the edit. I read quickly.

If you make it SUPER DUPER simple it may fly. Some of the current software can get a bit boggy, or just hard to get the initial flow going.

Especially for keepers with only a few snakes.

An option at log in for Advanced or Lite?

Bruce

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That was my main concern. All of these programs have so many options and I just don't need that many! Lol. I was thinking of keeping it simple for people with only a few animals or small time breeders who don't need to log 100's of snakes. At least, at first anyways. If I find that people need more options, I could always add them in.

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Originally Posted by clyde frog

that was my main concern. All of these programs have so many options and i just don't need that many! Lol. I was thinking of keeping it simple for people with only a few animals or small time breeders who don't need to log 100's of snakes. At least, at first anyways. If i find that people need more options, i could always add them in.

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pm. This is EXACTLY what i'm working on, the reason i've posted here in this forum about breeds, husbandry cards, etc...

This is why i'm up so late right now. Actually have dreamweaver CS3 open.

A few minutes ago I made a quick page to get data on species. I plan on there being a lot of options, but just like was said earlier, with and advanced/basic option at the beginning.

http://www.schoolofdan.com/herp/addspecies.php

if it was simple for minimal herps, i would be way into that. degei and iherp are so hard to get going for just a few animals, they are very good, just way too big for me.

www.iherp.com
is a free web service to keep your records.
personally I use the Degei software package - yeah you have to pay for it, but I think it does a much better job for all aspects of herp keeping.

Are all you guys trying to crush me? :rolleye2:

Did not vote because my option would be

not interested I already use another software (which is not in the poll)

I have been using the full degei version for about 2 years now and I like it better than anything else I have tried.

Now it is even free http://www.eyehit.com/degei/

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Originally Posted by Deborah

Did not vote because my option would be

not interested I already use another software (which is not in the poll)

I have been using the full degei version for about 2 years now and I like it better than anything else I have tried.

Now it is even free http://www.eyehit.com/degei/

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For now it's free. lol. It's pretty good, a little cumbersome though. It's very possible to have those options and more and make it much easier to use.

see sig. :gj:

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Originally Posted by Texas Dan

For now it's free. lol. It's pretty good, a little cumbersome though. It's very possible to have those options and more and make it much easier to use.

see sig. :gj:

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I really don't see how it is so hard to use. It took me a total of 5 mins to setup and start adding my animals. It's by far got more features than anything out there, and the support far exceeds anything out right now. Damon is really nice guy, had a problem with a 64 bit version of Windows and we spent well over an hour on the phone troubleshooting. He's giving away the full version of his current software pending a complete re-write of his new software due out later this year.

PS: You really shouldn't call anything a "industry standard" before the product even exists.

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Originally Posted by JKExotics

I really don't see how it is so hard to use. It took me a total of 5 mins to setup and start adding my animals. It's by far got more features than anything out there, and the support far exceeds anything out right now. Damon is really nice guy, had a problem with a 64 bit version of Windows and we spent well over an hour on the phone troubleshooting. He's giving away the full version of his current software pending a complete re-write of his new software due out later this year.

PS: You really shouldn't call anything a "industry standard" before the product even exists.

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Lol, you're right. I was kinda joking around with that. Yeah Degei is nice software, but it doesn't do what I think it should do, and it's not as user friendly as I think it COULD be.

This is just my opinion.

I like the idea of a user friendly, home oriented pet tracking software. I've been using degei for a few weeks and it's just more than what I need.
I have 2 snakes, I don't NEED the racking feature, but it might be nice as a download package coupled with the cage cards for the tubs.
I don't NEED the breeding portion, I have 2 males....no clutches for me this year! Also, might be a nice option to be able to download and install all the breeding portion if it's needed.
I don't NEED to the financial reports section either, I'm not a business, I really don't wanna know how costly my little guys are at this point! Again download able add on.....


What I'd like is a software (maybe skin-able, to suit my mood) with a nice GUI, that will let me track these items: spot clean, cage maintenance, defecate/urate, food/water, weight, length, maybe average temp/humidity and have printable records to take to the vet if need be. Also, a photo id would be nice. Again, if you NEED the other portions, just make them add on packages so you can get only what you need/want.....degei is the "windows" of herp tracking software, I hope Vegas is more like linux....only what you want and only when you want it.

For now I have my records in Excel...

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Originally Posted by kneepoles

I like the idea of a user friendly, home oriented pet tracking software. I've been using degei for a few weeks and it's just more than what I need.
I have 2 snakes, I don't NEED the racking feature, but it might be nice as a download package coupled with the cage cards for the tubs.
I don't NEED the breeding portion, I have 2 males....no clutches for me this year! Also, might be a nice option to be able to download and install all the breeding portion if it's needed.
I don't NEED to the financial reports section either, I'm not a business, I really don't wanna know how costly my little guys are at this point! Again download able add on.....


What I'd like is a software (maybe skin-able, to suit my mood) with a nice GUI, that will let me track these items: spot clean, cage maintenance, defecate/urate, food/water, weight, length, maybe average temp/humidity and have printable records to take to the vet if need be. Also, a photo id would be nice. Again, if you NEED the other portions, just make them add on packages so you can get only what you need/want.....degei is the "windows" of herp tracking software, I hope Vegas is more like linux....only what you want and only when you want it.

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Those are all pretty good ideas and I'd like to utilize. I'm actually working on a website, not a downloadable program. I didn't make the poll here, it was actually something I started before this poll was made last night.

Seems like more say a program is more like what they would want. In reality, a safe, secure website is the way to go. It will eventually be scaled to work on an iPhone, Blackberry, etc.. so you can input animals as you go, with minimal typing.

A website is always there.

A downloadable program has it's advantages and disadvantages, here are a few disadvantages. If your hard drive crashes and you forgot to backup your data on a DVD or CD, you're toast. If you go to another breeder's house, or a friend's house, and would like to pull up some data on a particular animal, you can't do it.

With a website, the data is backed up constantly. Data is accessible from all other the world. And since I'm making this for mostly people who frequent this site, and whoever they share it with, I am assuming they will have internet access.

Also a website can be updated on the fly. Something Wrong? Something out of place? Generally these issues can be fixed within hours, not days. Not only that, nothing to download! Websites can also be customizable, skins and what-not can be added.

I'm not saying a downloadable program isn't nice to have. But a website can offer so much more. That's where most programs are going these days.

After all of this, sorry for any misspellings or grammar errors. Clyde Frog has shown some interest in making a downloadable program that will directly interact with the site. So, stay tuned for lots to come!

Degei is the best hands down, I've had it for 3 years and it ROCKS!!!

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Originally Posted by Wild Bill

Degei is the best hands down, I've had it for 3 years and it ROCKS!!!

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Compared to.... :)

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I'm actually working on a website, not a downloadable program. I didn't make the poll here, it was actually something I started before this poll was made last night.

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What happen if your server goes down? What if in a few years you change your mind and no longer care about paying for the site, people loose all their data?

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A website is always there.

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Not true a website can be there one day gone the next.

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Originally Posted by Texas Dan

Compared to.... :)

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Compared to a software like metzcal, compare to a website like Iherp

i will continue to use the handy cage cards i just had made up to much info to loose if you decide one day you no longer want the site like what happen with the repti shipping website, and for the degie and such they are nice i have it on my computer right now the full free version and all my records are on there but i still go right back to my cage cards it has everything on there also and if my computer ever crashes or something dumb happens i still have everything in righting

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Originally Posted by Deborah

What happen if your server goes down? What if in a few years you change your mind and no longer care about paying for the site, people loose all their data?
Not true a website can be there one day gone the next.
Compared to a software like metzcal, compare to a website like Iherp

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When I say a website is always there, I mean, if you go somewhere else. Bam, still have web access. I'm assuming everyone here has access to the internet? No?

Lol, lose interest in a few years? I've ran a website on the same server for 7+ years. I dont' think i'll ever quit paying for it, been the best host I've ever had.

yeah, metzcal, never used before. But iHerp is more like a myspace for herpers with some tracking involved.

And what happens when the server goes down? It's backed up all the time.. ALL The time. And then there's always the option to back it up and download it to your pc.

The world is moving to the web, there's nothing to get around it. Mark my words, one day EVERYTHING you have on your computer will be run from the web. It's inevitable.

I'm not saying Degei is bad, or trying to take away from it. A website is a more reliable way to go about it. No doubts about it.

Also, can you get Degei for your phone? No matter what phone you use? Where you are in the world? AAhhhh, the magic of the internet.

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Originally Posted by Texas Dan

Compared to.... :)

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Everything else.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

What happen if your server goes down? What if in a few years you change your mind and no longer care about paying for the site, people loose all their data?
Not true a website can be there one day gone the next.
Compared to a software like metzcal, compare to a website like Iherp

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True, there are a lot fewer variables involved.

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Originally Posted by Wild Bill

True, there are a lot fewer variables involved.

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A lot fewer variables? I disagree, if anybody knows anything about the internet/computers.. it is ALWAYS safer to have data backed up off site than on site. Web Servers (Especially the good ones) are generally backed up in at least 3 different locations in different states.

So lemme know, which is safer..

Having your data backed up on your computer (which can crash way easier than a server) or having your data backed up all over the country and accessible from all over the world?

And if you say you're information is safer from hackers on your computer than it is on a professional web server, you're insane or very ignorant.

Those of you that use Degei, send me a link to one of your snakes so I can see the records you've kept.

Or send me a link to your snake so I can set it up as a breeder to this snake I have here. Oh yeah, and I don't want to have to put all the information on your snake in my computer, I'd rather just click a button.

Ouch... you can't. Because it's only stored on one computer.

Oops, one of my kids spilled coke on my PC.. all my records are on there? What am I going to do now? Shell out hundreds, if not thousands to get the data back? And at that, you can't really get the data back if a hard drive is shot, just several bits and pieces that you will have to put back together. And it'll probably be a bunch of numbers and IDs that you've never seen before because it happens behind closed doors.

I'm sorry I'm being argumentative here, and again, this is NOT a knock on Degei, because I've downloaded it, and it's some pretty good software.

The arguments that you guys are presenting about software vs a website can be shot down by the fact that the web is THE BEST place to store information. No ifs, ands or buts about it.

Also, what's to say the maker of Degei isn't going to get board and stop working on it? I mean, you already payed him for the software, he doesn't have to do anything extra.

What if there's a bug that wasn't caught and crashes your PC and you have to wait till there's a fix and a download for it? On a website, that bug can be fixed from just about any location and you will notice results within hours. Not days or weeks.

And also, website bugs don't crash your whole computer.

I'm not going to sit here and argue every point with you. It's obvious you want everyone to agree with you. I will just say this, good luck with your venture. I hope it turns out the way you hope it will.

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Originally Posted by Wild Bill

I'm not going to sit here and argue every point with you. It's obvious you want everyone to agree with you. I will just say this, good luck with your venture. I hope it turns out the way you hope it will.

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Thanks. And I don't want EVERYONE to agree with me. But I would like to educate the ignorant on the differences between Software and Website Security/Ease of access/Reliability/Updates etc....

And the "Compared to... :)" that I made. You guys answered it exactly. There's only 2 other semi-decent ones out there, and they don't come close to Degei. There's no one else out there, I guess for maybe a few of us that care enough to put the time and effort in to make something that's easier, more powerful and cheaper than what's already on the market.


I love you guys, I love this place, so please don't think I'm attacking anyone personally.

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Originally Posted by Texas Dan

Thanks. And I don't want EVERYONE to agree with me. But I would like to educate the ignorant on the differences between Software and Website Security/Ease of access/Reliability/Updates etc....

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If you keep saying crap like that, you are going to be called a few names yourself. I have a big problem with people that think they are smarter than everyone else. Like I said before, I'm not going to get into a tit for tat with you on everything, but don't ASSume what I do and don't know.

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Originally Posted by Texas Dan

Thanks. And I don't want EVERYONE to agree with me. But I would like to educate the ignorant on the differences between Software and Website Security/Ease of access/Reliability/Updates etc....

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You know this is the second time you are using the word ignorant, I find it to be disrespectful an uncalled for.

If you want to educate people respect will go a long way, calling people ignorant won’t.

It’s also very poor business practice to call potential customers you want to educate ignorant.

Just saying :cool:

Bill, I don't think he meant ignorant in an insulting way.

There's nothing wrong with being ignorant on a subject.

Stupid is a whole nother story :rolleyes: :D

hehe..on the contrary. Thanks Deb :oops:

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Originally Posted by Nate

Bill, I don't think he meant ignorant in an insulting way.

There's nothing wrong with being ignorant on a subject.

Stupid is a whole nother story :rolleyes: :D

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I understand what you're trying to say Nate. Ignorant is an insult to me, no matter how you say it.

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Originally Posted by Wild Bill

I understand what you're trying to say Nate. Ignorant is an insult to me, no matter how you say it.

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I understand :gj:

I really didn't mean to insult anybody here. Why would I want to do that? I love this place. If it was insulting I apologize, I didn't mean to come off that way.

I really did just want everyone to understand why, generally, a website is and always will be superior to a downloadable program.

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Originally Posted by Wild Bill

If you keep saying crap like that, you are going to be called a few names yourself. I have a big problem with people that think they are smarter than everyone else. Like I said before, I'm not going to get into a tit for tat with you on everything, but don't ASSume what I do and don't know.

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Originally Posted by Deborah

You know this is the second time you are using the word ignorant, I find it to be disrespectful an uncalled for.

If you want to educate people respect will go a long way, calling people ignorant won’t.

It’s also very poor business practice to call potential customers you want to educate ignorant.

Just saying :cool:

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I must step in and defend Dan for just a second. We are from the same area and the use of the word ignorant around here is not a negative thing so much really. It is not meant as an insult, it just means some one does not know (I know it means the same thing every were it just is not an insult)

I for one do guess I do not trust web servers....

They can crash and some one must upkeep these servers and pay for them.

I would rather have the software on my PC. I also went to best buy and bought this really cool little box you set it up plug it in push a button, then you unplug it and put it in a fire proof box.... I think they call it a back up or something like that....


Just ribbin ya dan ;)

By the way I like the idea of the software I am going to check these out!

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Originally Posted by hoax

I would rather have the software on my PC. I also went to best buy and bought this really cool little box you set it up plug it in push a button, then you unplug it and put it in a fire proof box.... I think they call it a back up or something like that....

Just ribbin ya dan ;)

By the way I like the idea of the software I am going to check these out!

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Ah Ha! You bastard! lol.

Nuclear bombs? Bad guys? Fire proof box eating monkeys?

see, i told you! :gj:

I've also begun working on a website. In the process of writing the ASP code right now (that's the server side coding). I'm trying to perfect the login feature which (ideally) will allow a user to login and access all the animals they've kept records for, as well as the feedings and activities that they've logged.

What I have is basically an Activity and Feeding feature for right now. The feeding feature is where you logged your feedings by time, date, what you fed, and quantity of the food. The activity is where you can add when something happened. So it's really more of an event logger. For example, if you took Fido for a walk, it allows you to type that in, type who performed the action, date and time of the action, and comments/notes about the action. You could also record that your snake shed on a certain date and take notes/comments such as "bad shed - no eyecaps" or something. And then, when you give a bath or do whatever other method you do to help with eyecaps, you can either create a new activity log or edit the notes/comments you already put.

The site is kind of ugly right now, but it's in testing still :P.

It's just on a free webhost right now until I perfect it, and then I will buy a domain name and get a REAL webserver, but no sense in paying for something that's not complete yet!

Anyways, here's the "Add an Animal" page. It's ugly so far. Things aren't lined up, but I don't care yet. I'm not at the graphical part, still coding lol. So, submit won't work, but clear form works. Basically this is just to display the basic features that I have thought of at this point.

http://users5.titanichost.com/blinkx928/addanimal.html

Let me know what you guys think.

P.S. - Don't mind my little notes-to-self on some of the pages :P

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Originally Posted by Clyde Frog

Let me know what you guys think.

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The background color almost blinded me.

If you stare at it for 30 seconds and then try to walk to the bathroom you will run into a wall because you will be blind.

Lol. It didn't appear that bright on my laptop, that's why I chose that color. I'll be sure to change it to another color or make it darker. Thanks for the input!

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Originally Posted by Clyde Frog

I've also begun working on a website. In the process of writing the ASP code right now (that's the server side coding). I'm trying to perfect the login feature which (ideally) will allow a user to login and access all the animals they've kept records for, as well as the feedings and activities that they've logged.

The site is kind of ugly right now, but it's in testing still :P.

It's just on a free webhost right now until I perfect it, and then I will buy a domain name and get a REAL webserver, but no sense in paying for something that's not complete yet!

http://users5.titanichost.com/blinkx928/addanimal.html

Let me know what you guys think.

P.S. - Don't mind my little notes-to-self on some of the pages :P

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I like it, it's not too bad. A few things I would change, I'd move the morph/breed part right up under the dropdown for type of animal, just because to me (im an organization freak when it comes to things like this) it makes more sense to say "reptile - spider ball python - naunet" than it does to say "reptile - naunet - spider ball python." Also, I know this is a little more scripting, but I like the idea of having the breed and morph separate. But that's just me lol.

Also for sex, some people may or may not have unsexed or unknown animals. Maybs add that in? *shrug*

I think it's a little redundant to state both the hatch date, date acquired, and then add in age at acquisition. Unless of course you just wanna be lazy and instead of doing the math in your head between the dates you just wanna glance at the age piece, which I do understand :P (also, that lazy part was not meant in any way to be offensive. Just want to put that out there so there isn't another little quarrel in this thread.)

On the "Add Feeding" page, I personally think it's cleaner just to have 'date' and 'time' instead of 'date fed' and 'time fed.' You're at the feeding page, of course that is what the activity you're dating and timing :P Plus I personally don't record times, just dates, though I'm not saying you need to take out the time option. Maybs if you want to get all neato with it, you can add boxes that you can check if its live, f/t, or p/k :gj:. But I guess you could just write that into the 'food' part, "live medium rat" whatevers. I just feel like making things hard for you :D

On the "Add Activity" page, maybs instead of having 'performed by,' near the bottom you can have a 'notes' part, and thats where you can say 'walked by alex, fifteen minutes, 4:00-4:15, took poopie, barked at cat' blah blah. I would personally only be using this for shedding and defecating and would not need a 'performed by' area, but would possibly use a 'notes' section to write anything i find out of the ordinary or normal.

I think that's all I can think of atm since it's after 2am lawlawlz

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Originally Posted by brainman1000

If you stare at it for 30 seconds and then try to walk to the bathroom you will run into a wall because you will be blind.

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LOL

LOL! The quarrel part made me laugh. :P

I like a lot of your ideas! Thanks a lot! I've been looking to tweak it and between pulling my hair out with the coding and trying to make it as user friendly as possible, I overlook things very easily. The options definitely need to be tweaked.

I think what I'd like to do with the "Add Animal" page is that when you click it, it brings you to a dropdown menu where you can select the type of animal and depending on which you select, it'll bring you to a page with different information input. Like, when you select fish, it won't ask you for breed and will only ask you for morph for things that have morphs.

I did totally overlook unsexed animals. :D Oops!

I definitely like a lot of those suggestions. Thank you! I appreciate it.

:D No problem. I was hoping I wasn't being too nitpicky for you lol, but I knew you were here asking for feedback so I said everything that came to mind. I like the idea of it going to a different set of information depending on which type of animal you select, but it doesn't have to be too fancy. I would say, working in customer service myself, people want things fast easy and simple. As long as they can input which type of animal, the breed, and it's morph, it's fine. If it's all on the same page, it's great, cuz it's fast, they just tab between each thing and it's done. If you come up with anything else lemme know. I pretty much just went off of what I already record on my index cards, and then what I would like to see if I were to use a website.

Just as long as we're not quarreling over the details it's all good :rolleyes:

I tried to go there at work today and got this.

Your organization's Internet use policy restricts access to this web page at this time.

Reason:
The Websense category "Phishing and Other Frauds" is filtered.


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URL: http://users5.titanichost.com/blinkx928/addanimal.html

It's probably because of the server you have it on, and not anything you did to your website.

does not work with Mac!!, so yes I would use a simple way of tracking my collection

i like using my degei but if something simpler and more user friendly came along i would deff download it.

Alright guys, I may be jumping the gun here, but there might be light at the end of the tunnel for us Linux users :O I am currently doing two things right now, trying to install degei (or however you spell it), and I also ran into a linux based software for animal shelters. Here is the link: http://linux.softpedia.com/get/Infor...er-10159.shtml

Perhaps it is not exactly what we need, but, as it is for Linux, and under the GPL and thusly opensoursce, we can just modify the source to make it fit our needs better! I think that's just what I might do. I'll start a thred after I finish installying and playing around with it :gj: :::happydance:::

Yeah that would be awesome! I would want it to be very basic and simple. I've been thinking about starting a spreadsheet....

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Originally Posted by HypoPita

Alright guys, I may be jumping the gun here, but there might be light at the end of the tunnel for us Linux users :O I am currently doing two things right now, trying to install degei

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I've had no problems running Degei under WINE.

I'd like some software that's free and easy to use. I'm finding metzcal is a pain, whoever made the reference of species put pythons in boidae while they're in pythonidae, then they don't know how to write binominal names correctly, and so on and so on. I've just gone to entering everything in my phone, it's always on and with me, an app for my Blackberry would be helpful, lol but I doubt that's what you mean.

Personally, I would use a program but not a website. Want my info at my disposal regardless of hell or high water. Its almost 2013, who doesn't backup their local files?!

Wow I didn't realize this thread is old. How did it get on the new posts feed?