I seem to be in a ranty sort of mood these days. Can't help it, some things just plain bother me. So today, the topic is Facebook and rabbit breeders. I think I might have talked about this before, but since it's recently annoyed me, here it is again.
First, is no one concerned that FB (and the guy who owns it) seems to be taking over the world? Or at least the internet. It's looking like most people now get their internet via their phones, and every phone company offers FB apps. Fewer and fewer use websites, forums, or even email. Are computers becoming obsolete? How sad that would be.
Yeah, I have a FB account (Spring Creek Gems if you want to look me up). I don't really use it all that much, but since everyone else does, I have it. It's mostly to socialize with friends. I recently set up a D6 FB page and that was a great idea if I do say so myself. It's seems to be something members will use. It's linked to the D6 Website and I can announce that the site has been updated.
I don't have a very fancy phone. I use it to make PHONE CALLS. If I wanted I could use it for internet, but I don't. I'd have to pay more and it's not in my budget. I don't text either. Also costs more, and to make sure people who live to text don't try to send me anything (extra for even receiving texts), that feature is blocked on both my phone and computer.
I love my desktop computer! It's fairly new, sleek and powerful, and I can do anything with it. Including seeing all the internet has to offer on a 19" widescreen. I have a full-size keyboard where I can type as I was taught in school, and I can type pretty fast. I have email accounts and that's how I prefer to communicate, especially for bunny biz. I do not need internet everywhere I go. I can wait until I get home. I do have a little Netbook that I can take with me if I'll be gone for more than a day. It's come in very handy when the power went out.
I recently used FB to get the word out about rabbits I wanted to sell. That didn't go well. I had people messaging or posting on FB even though I clearly stated more than once that inquiries be via email. One person said, "FB is easier for me." Awww, too bad. It's not easier for me. My email account keeps everything nice and organized where I can quickly read, review, and reply. If you want to do business with me, you're just going to have to learn how to use email. I won't be posting sale rabbits on FB anymore. You'll have to check my website.
BTW, the person who bought one of those rabbits is not on FB. Yep, he knows to watch my sale page, just as I know to watch his. The other buyer didn't "friend" me until after they bought the rabbit, so they also found it on my website.
I also detest inquiries in "texting" form. I write full sentences with caps (where correct), punctuation, and the grammer I learned in school. Texters are so used to abbreviations (that not everyone knows), short non-sentences without punctuation or caps, or worse...all caps, they just automatically write this way all the time. I know this has a lot to do with the tiny keyboards on phones, but that's no excuse. When I get a "texted" email, I immediately have less respect for the person writing to me. For that, they will get less from me. I won't bother going into detail about anything. I'll just answer the questions as shortly as they were given to me. I really appreciate a well-written email, and I'll respond in kind.
Ok, I'm done. What else is going on?
Had a couple litters due this week, but they're busts. I was surprised to see a Max Factor in one of them. It's been so long since I got one, I didn't know if MF was still running in my lines, but apparently it is. These things tend to show up from new rabbits. In this case, the tort buck Whiskey Mac. The MF kit had open eyes, but legs looked ok. It had an odd-shaped head, looked more like a puppy with narrow snout and high forehead. The only decent broken was a peanut. There's a few more due the 2nd week of March.
Earlier this week I saw a fox! That was very cool. I figured they were around but I'd never seen one until now. It was just after sunup and it was after the guineas that were out front under the birdfeeders. They raised a big ruckus so it was only there for a minute or so. Wish I had got to the camera quicker. I was just so surprised I didn't think until it was too late. It was a beautiful animal in full winter coat, and close enough to the window for a good shot.
Weather is still real nice. It's frosty this morning, but should get in the 50s. I can live with that in February.
24 days until Spring!
tnt
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Rabbitry Websites
Something I've wanted to talk about for a while is website design. Since this blog is mostly about rabbits, I'll focus on rabbitry websites.
I haven't had high-speed internet for that long. Until recently, dialup was my only option, and I really had issues with site design and certain hosts. I gave up on visiting many sites because it took way too long to load. I now have wireless broadband, and while not blazing fast, it's 95% improvement over dialup. I can do almost anything I want, but some things still take a bit of time to load. There are still dialup and slower connections out there, and webmasters should keep this in mind.
I'm a firm believer in designing a website so anyone can view and navigate it fairly easily. Some "webmasters" (I use that term very loosely) seem more interested in showing off fancy coding and graphics than creating an easily navigated site that loads in a reasonable time for even slower connections.
A lot of rabbitries use free hosts such as Weebly and Webs. Back in the day, there was Angelfire (I used AF until I got my current host) and Geocities. Angelfire is still around, and is affiliated with Tripod. Geocities went gone (good riddens). Angelfire/Tripod are real bad for the ads that slow the pages down, and I don't see them used much anymore. Geocities was so slow, I rarely bothered trying to see them. I think most of the AF/Tripod sites are just sitting there in cyber space, and every now and then you'll come across one on a links page.
I'll talk about Weebly and Webs for a minute. These are probably the best free hosts around right now. I got myself a Weebly account just to see how it works. I was impressed with how easy it was to create a good looking and fully functional site. It looks like Webs uses the same kind of setup. The pages load quickly and they aren't overwhelmed with ads. In fact, ads are so minimal on Weebly, you're barely aware of them. I give them 5 stars for free hosts.
One of the things every webmaster needs to understand is that every page on the site should link to every other page. A visitor shouldn't have to go back to find the full site menu, it should be available wherever they are. This was very easy to do on Weebly, and Webs sites are easily navigated as well.
Then there's Wix. I detest Wix sites! I mean I really do, and mostly I blame the webmaster's lack of knowledge about how to design a site. Wix uses Flash which is a dynamic and very heavy type of animated coding most often used for online games. Sure, it can look impressive, but it's slow for even my decent broadband. I have to look at that damn "loading" animation while it loads most of the site. Ok, once it's all loaded, it is fairly fast, but the heavier the site, the longer it takes to load.
I've yet to see a Wix rabbitry or home business site that was done well. I don't know if it's because actually setting it up isn't easy or what. I've never tried Wix. Maybe I should just to see what's going on and if I could do it better. Bet I could.
So what do I see on Wix sites? Mostly sloppy, clunky, and amateurish. Links are often animated, and flash-generated graphics aren't that great. Trying to see photos is time consuming and sloppy, and I usually have little choice about the ones I get to see. They're often loaded in a slide show and I have to wait for that whole thing to load. If I come to your site to see your sale page, I want to see the photos and info right now and all in one place. Very few Wix sites have the site menu available on every page. I have to look around or go back to find it. The webmaster might have set up each page with different graphics (takes longer to load), and different links, and I'm forced to figure it out. More than once I found myself stranded with no way to get back to a menu. My only option was to close the window and reload the site at the beginning. It shouldn't be that hard to get around a website.
When I see a Wix site, my first impression is that the webmaster is just trying to impress me. I'm not impressed. You're given software to work with, you don't need much real knowledge. And it shows. Software can only do so much, you have to understand how it works. A webmaster must understand what the visitors are coming for and give it to them as easily and quickly as possible. We didn't come to see your elaborate code, we came to see your rabbitry or product. Dialup or slow connection...forget about it...you won't be able to view a Wix site unless you have all day to wait for it to load. Why would anyone trying to sell something want to use a setup that not everyone can view?
Another thing. I see so many breeders proudly post their new rabbitry site and when I get there, I find it's still under construction. It's barely functional, and many of the page links are dead or blank. Updates are posted to forums or Facebook, but the site is still incomplete. They even ask for link exchanges. If I offer a link to my visitors, I want it to be a site they can actually use, so until the site is operational, I'm not interested in a link exchange. Finish it before you reveal it to the world. You can finesse the pages later, but don't send visitors to dead space. If a page isn't ready yet, don't add it to the menu until it is.
What impresses me? Well-thought out site design and navigation, attractive but not over-powering graphics and color theme, reasonable photo file size, and most of all....finished and fully functional for any visitor regardless of their connection speed.
tnt
I haven't had high-speed internet for that long. Until recently, dialup was my only option, and I really had issues with site design and certain hosts. I gave up on visiting many sites because it took way too long to load. I now have wireless broadband, and while not blazing fast, it's 95% improvement over dialup. I can do almost anything I want, but some things still take a bit of time to load. There are still dialup and slower connections out there, and webmasters should keep this in mind.
I'm a firm believer in designing a website so anyone can view and navigate it fairly easily. Some "webmasters" (I use that term very loosely) seem more interested in showing off fancy coding and graphics than creating an easily navigated site that loads in a reasonable time for even slower connections.
A lot of rabbitries use free hosts such as Weebly and Webs. Back in the day, there was Angelfire (I used AF until I got my current host) and Geocities. Angelfire is still around, and is affiliated with Tripod. Geocities went gone (good riddens). Angelfire/Tripod are real bad for the ads that slow the pages down, and I don't see them used much anymore. Geocities was so slow, I rarely bothered trying to see them. I think most of the AF/Tripod sites are just sitting there in cyber space, and every now and then you'll come across one on a links page.
I'll talk about Weebly and Webs for a minute. These are probably the best free hosts around right now. I got myself a Weebly account just to see how it works. I was impressed with how easy it was to create a good looking and fully functional site. It looks like Webs uses the same kind of setup. The pages load quickly and they aren't overwhelmed with ads. In fact, ads are so minimal on Weebly, you're barely aware of them. I give them 5 stars for free hosts.
One of the things every webmaster needs to understand is that every page on the site should link to every other page. A visitor shouldn't have to go back to find the full site menu, it should be available wherever they are. This was very easy to do on Weebly, and Webs sites are easily navigated as well.
Then there's Wix. I detest Wix sites! I mean I really do, and mostly I blame the webmaster's lack of knowledge about how to design a site. Wix uses Flash which is a dynamic and very heavy type of animated coding most often used for online games. Sure, it can look impressive, but it's slow for even my decent broadband. I have to look at that damn "loading" animation while it loads most of the site. Ok, once it's all loaded, it is fairly fast, but the heavier the site, the longer it takes to load.
I've yet to see a Wix rabbitry or home business site that was done well. I don't know if it's because actually setting it up isn't easy or what. I've never tried Wix. Maybe I should just to see what's going on and if I could do it better. Bet I could.
So what do I see on Wix sites? Mostly sloppy, clunky, and amateurish. Links are often animated, and flash-generated graphics aren't that great. Trying to see photos is time consuming and sloppy, and I usually have little choice about the ones I get to see. They're often loaded in a slide show and I have to wait for that whole thing to load. If I come to your site to see your sale page, I want to see the photos and info right now and all in one place. Very few Wix sites have the site menu available on every page. I have to look around or go back to find it. The webmaster might have set up each page with different graphics (takes longer to load), and different links, and I'm forced to figure it out. More than once I found myself stranded with no way to get back to a menu. My only option was to close the window and reload the site at the beginning. It shouldn't be that hard to get around a website.
When I see a Wix site, my first impression is that the webmaster is just trying to impress me. I'm not impressed. You're given software to work with, you don't need much real knowledge. And it shows. Software can only do so much, you have to understand how it works. A webmaster must understand what the visitors are coming for and give it to them as easily and quickly as possible. We didn't come to see your elaborate code, we came to see your rabbitry or product. Dialup or slow connection...forget about it...you won't be able to view a Wix site unless you have all day to wait for it to load. Why would anyone trying to sell something want to use a setup that not everyone can view?
Another thing. I see so many breeders proudly post their new rabbitry site and when I get there, I find it's still under construction. It's barely functional, and many of the page links are dead or blank. Updates are posted to forums or Facebook, but the site is still incomplete. They even ask for link exchanges. If I offer a link to my visitors, I want it to be a site they can actually use, so until the site is operational, I'm not interested in a link exchange. Finish it before you reveal it to the world. You can finesse the pages later, but don't send visitors to dead space. If a page isn't ready yet, don't add it to the menu until it is.
What impresses me? Well-thought out site design and navigation, attractive but not over-powering graphics and color theme, reasonable photo file size, and most of all....finished and fully functional for any visitor regardless of their connection speed.
tnt
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Nestbox News - 2.5.11
There's 2 new litters and I'm very pleased with the results.
Chevelle (himi) x Whiskey Mac (tort) has 5! 3 Blacks, 2 Torts. Cool, she carries non-extension. I thought she might but couldn't say so until she tossed it. All fat and sassy. Yeah, they really are sassy...noisy, bouncy. This also proves Mac. I wasn't sure he was old enough. She kindled during the terrible wind storm we had 2/2 and I worried it would affect the success of kindles. She's a pro!
Dreamcatcher (broken black) x Whiskey Mac had 4 on 2/4. 1 was near cold death at the front of the box with 2 DOAs, and 1 was tucked in the fur at the back of the box, warm and viable. I revived the cold one in the heat wrap. Both are nicely broken blacks. No sign of tort in this litter so I guess Dreamcatcher doesn't carry. Oh well. These kits will get me to broken tort.
I had a decision to make. How to rearrange the litters to ensure the survival of the ones most important to me. Chevelle is a very calm doe and taking fine care of her 5. Dreamcatcher is a good doe, too, but because she can't be counted on for the kindle, I don't trust her as much. For a minute I thought about giving them all to Chevelle so I could rebreed Dreamcatcher to the new black buck. Then realized that's 7 kits. No, that's asking too much. So I gave Chevelle's 2 biggest blacks to Dreamcatcher. The brokens are with Chevelle's warm wiggly torts and smaller black. I thought about giving all the blacks to Dreamcatcher, but they carry himi and I can use the small black that way.
Teat-sexed and it looks like not as many does as I would have liked. I think a tort and a black are does for sure. The others were ? so I'll see how that goes. I'll look again today to see if I can make a better prediction.
Flashdance x LB92 failed. 4 DOA. Darn. There was a broken in this litter, too. LB is leaving soon (he's sold) and I could repeat it before he goes, but I don't think I will. Tiny Flashdance was able to kindle his kits live the first time, but maybe that was just dumb luck. I'll give her to the new black who's a bit smaller than LB. Or maybe Mac who's even smaller than that. Yeah, that's probably the better plan.
Next round is due around the 23rd.
There's a couple open does. Lady Blaque has been waiting on this round and she'll get the new black. I was going to breed Honeycomb (tort) to Mac, but now that I have several torts in litters, I think she'll get Dot.com. Can't remember if I ever got non-extension from Dot. I should really record these things for the bucks. Dot hasn't been used in a while, and I need to preserve his clean spot pattern.
About records. I keep written breeding records for the does. It tells me when and how she kindled, how many times she's been bred, and what colors occurred. These serve as records for the bucks as well, but I don't keep old breeding records. I can't go back to see what colors a buck threw if the doe's record has been purged. I should start recording this in the pedigree program. There's a place for comments in each rabbit's data sheet. A good place to record what they carry.
It's getting close to time to move Lady Blaque and Dreamcatcher on. I don't want to hold them too much longer or they'll be up there in age for brood doe sale. But I have to wait a bit for the younger broken does before I make that decision. Probably one more litter out of each and then put them up for sale.
I really need to set up a photo shoot. It's been a long time, and I have jrs that need pix for the website. Need updated pix for others, too. Like Mac. I have to make a rabbit delivery run today, so I'll try to get on it tomorrow.
42 days until Spring
tnt
Chevelle (himi) x Whiskey Mac (tort) has 5! 3 Blacks, 2 Torts. Cool, she carries non-extension. I thought she might but couldn't say so until she tossed it. All fat and sassy. Yeah, they really are sassy...noisy, bouncy. This also proves Mac. I wasn't sure he was old enough. She kindled during the terrible wind storm we had 2/2 and I worried it would affect the success of kindles. She's a pro!
Dreamcatcher (broken black) x Whiskey Mac had 4 on 2/4. 1 was near cold death at the front of the box with 2 DOAs, and 1 was tucked in the fur at the back of the box, warm and viable. I revived the cold one in the heat wrap. Both are nicely broken blacks. No sign of tort in this litter so I guess Dreamcatcher doesn't carry. Oh well. These kits will get me to broken tort.
I had a decision to make. How to rearrange the litters to ensure the survival of the ones most important to me. Chevelle is a very calm doe and taking fine care of her 5. Dreamcatcher is a good doe, too, but because she can't be counted on for the kindle, I don't trust her as much. For a minute I thought about giving them all to Chevelle so I could rebreed Dreamcatcher to the new black buck. Then realized that's 7 kits. No, that's asking too much. So I gave Chevelle's 2 biggest blacks to Dreamcatcher. The brokens are with Chevelle's warm wiggly torts and smaller black. I thought about giving all the blacks to Dreamcatcher, but they carry himi and I can use the small black that way.
Teat-sexed and it looks like not as many does as I would have liked. I think a tort and a black are does for sure. The others were ? so I'll see how that goes. I'll look again today to see if I can make a better prediction.
Flashdance x LB92 failed. 4 DOA. Darn. There was a broken in this litter, too. LB is leaving soon (he's sold) and I could repeat it before he goes, but I don't think I will. Tiny Flashdance was able to kindle his kits live the first time, but maybe that was just dumb luck. I'll give her to the new black who's a bit smaller than LB. Or maybe Mac who's even smaller than that. Yeah, that's probably the better plan.
Next round is due around the 23rd.
There's a couple open does. Lady Blaque has been waiting on this round and she'll get the new black. I was going to breed Honeycomb (tort) to Mac, but now that I have several torts in litters, I think she'll get Dot.com. Can't remember if I ever got non-extension from Dot. I should really record these things for the bucks. Dot hasn't been used in a while, and I need to preserve his clean spot pattern.
About records. I keep written breeding records for the does. It tells me when and how she kindled, how many times she's been bred, and what colors occurred. These serve as records for the bucks as well, but I don't keep old breeding records. I can't go back to see what colors a buck threw if the doe's record has been purged. I should start recording this in the pedigree program. There's a place for comments in each rabbit's data sheet. A good place to record what they carry.
It's getting close to time to move Lady Blaque and Dreamcatcher on. I don't want to hold them too much longer or they'll be up there in age for brood doe sale. But I have to wait a bit for the younger broken does before I make that decision. Probably one more litter out of each and then put them up for sale.
I really need to set up a photo shoot. It's been a long time, and I have jrs that need pix for the website. Need updated pix for others, too. Like Mac. I have to make a rabbit delivery run today, so I'll try to get on it tomorrow.
42 days until Spring
tnt
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