Web Kennel System

Web Kennel System version 2 is here

Jacques Philip2008-11-15 17:43:14

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• Mark and Elizabeth Levitskiabout 12 hours later

  A sad day for us to see this new "improved" format. Such a big step down in polished presentation and utility. What have you done! Is this easier for you as administrator? Some of the new features are nice, but the old presentation was by far better. For instance, the kennel image is now a tiny thumbnail! I don't know what other feedback you get, but we will not be renewing our subscription in December.

• Joann and Larry Fortierabout 20 hours later

  Wow, I am so disapointed in this new site. What was wrong with the simplicity of the old one? I was gone for a couple of days and couldn't wait to go on dogtec and see who updated their kennel sites while I was gone. Well, I was in for a shock and everything is so scrambled and confusing I just gave up. That is what was great about the old site, it was EASY to use. We also will not be keeping a subscription if it stays like this. Sure, update a few things, but keep with the old format. Mushers are not fancy people by nature. I don't want to have to figure out how to do all this over again. Please change it back! I think many will be disapointed with this. Why mess with a great thing???!!! Joann Fortier

• Gregor Gumppenberg1 day later

  I like the new page. I like the idea behind the new version and the adiquate stepping with the time. Thanks for all the work and please don´t change the side back again.

• Jess Allen4 days later

  i have to say the navigation of the new site is very difficult

  i like some of the new features but i really dont like the navigation, i liked the way it was setup with the map and then with all the kennels listed. Now it is much more difficult to find kennels that are close to you, everyone is all mixed together.

  I also dont like changing the subscription to 100 articles rather then 100 dogs, that makes me not want to add new things to my site.

• Angela Voldarski4 days later

  This new format will be a little confusing until people get used to it, but it was definitely time for an update. I especially like adding the blog feature and being able to add additional pictures. I am sure this took an enormous amount of work...good job! That being said... I hope we dont lose a lot of people due to the confusion and the fact that now most people will not want to pay for this convenience that we have enjoyed for free for so long! Thanks and keep up the good work! Angela Voldarski

• Jacques Philip4 days later

  The main thing I see as an inconvenience is that the thumbnails are now square instead of proportional to the original picture's dimensions.
  This was necessary to have better layouts including thumbnails, like pedigrees for example where the size of the cells where unpredictable depending on the proportion of the thumbnails.
  Sorry about that as it means that people will have to upload new pictures in some cases.
  It does not mean that all your pictures have to square though, the proportions are kept in the original picture and if you leave some space around the main subject when you crop the picture, only unimportant stuff will be cut in the thumbnail.

  @Jess: I don't understand you point about finding the Kennels close to your place.
  There are now more regions so when you filter the list by region, the results are more precise, also you can filter by multiple criteria, like State, Country...

  @Complainers: Realize I went to a lot of trouble to import the old data into a whole new system.
  I could just as well have started from an empty database and let people re-enter their data, it would have been a lot simpler for me.
  I will do my best to listen to and implement constructive requests, but if your main complaint is that you don't like having to learn something new, you are out of luck as the world is not going to stop for you.

• Jacques Philip4 days later

  @Angela: Thanks for the support.
  The system is still free for less than 100 items and there will be some time for people to decide if they want to delete extra items they may have.

• Mark and Elizabeth Levitski5 days later

  We are one of "the complainers". Paying complainers. Yes, you put a lot of work into this, but you must not have thought much of us payers because you didn't even bother to e-mail us when the changes were put into place. We had to stumble upon it ourselves. Just compare the noatak home page to the new WKS kennel pages. There is no comparison. Your homepage and the old WKS is a more professional kennel presentation , due mostly to simple things like the color background, the size of the photos, font diversity, even the link layout,. You took all that away from us, from all of the browsing newcomers, and from the people who regularly check in. Just check and see our statistic numbers to realize why we are concerned. We had a lot of traffic--the numbers are not just us checking in on our own site. It is all uniformity now, without the ability to be very unique and customized. Even the free blogspots have a much more professional look. We would have paid a bigger subscription price to have the more polished look. What good are the bells and whistles if the basics are not there. For those of you who call us complainers or not willing to learn something new, you are missing the point. I guess we can vote on this with our wallet if our voices won't be heard. And by the way, Jacques, thanks for returning our e-mail (not)!

• Joann and Larry Fortier7 days later

  I am all about learning something new and updating new things. But, this site just isn't user friendly anymore. I like the fact that when clicking my region, there was the entire list of kennels and then in BOLD where someone has recently updated. That is not that big of a deal, it was just easier, that is all. I can deal with that. But, I liked that I could keep my site more organized also. I too also like that we could have different back grounds, fonts etc., making each site different and unique. It was nice also when going on someone's page, that all their info was on ONE page. No clicking to the right hand column and then getting to view items. Such things as dogs for sale, dogs in kennel, comments underneath, etc. all showed up on ONE page, making it easier to read. Browsing dogtec used to take me just a few minutes in the morning and that was it. Now, if I want to browse, it takes forever. I appreciate that you went to all the trouble of updating and that you care about the site. But, you took away the great things of the old site. Everyone's site is the exact same also. It has no eye appeal. Just my 2 cents anyway. I hope some of the good things come back.

• MacKay/Mahoney8 days later

  My apologies, but I must whine. I am one of the free users of this wonderful resource called dogtec so my opinion can be tossed aside. However, here it is. Don't fix it if it ain't broke. I preferred the old site, immensely. It was really great. Can anyone tell me how to adjust photos now and where that neat little KB picture adjuster thingee has gone to? Does anyone remember when they came out with the new Coke and did away with the original Coca-Cola? What were they thinking?!? kathy

• Joanna Oberg10 days later

  First of all, congradulations on your new baby boy!

  If I may put in my two cents... While I appreciate all the time and work put into updating everything, I prefer the old format for its simplicity and eye appeal. Funny, just days before I saw the new format, I was thinking to myself how much I liked the dogtec format and would be happy if it stayed like that:) I realize it is unlikely you will change things back, but if we could put in some ideas for improvments on the current format...

  For one, I find it hard to look at for too long... it is not easy on the eyes with nothing but a white background and a bunch of lines and words. LIke they say, eye appeal is half the meal. I liked that we could personalize things with background/font color as well. The layout of the old style was so nice - to see everything on one page, and only scroll down as needed. IMO it is not as fun to look at anymore.

  I really liked that the old format would have the updated date in BOLD so you could tell at a glance who updated, instead of trying to read all the dates... we would be able to browse much faster without going cross-eyed!

  I prefer having it stay as 100 dogs, rather then 100 items since the items only discourages me from using all the new updates like the blog, and photos...

  I do not find the new format very user friendly.

  I have to agree with the other "complainers", I immensly prefer the old, outdated format to the new one, even with all the new bells and whistles. BUT, if a few small changes were made to give it more eye appeal and make it more user friendly, it would greatly help. As it is, I would not pay for a subscribtion.

  My opinion for what its worth. Respectfully, Joanna

• Joanna Oberg10 days later

  oh and one more thing! I couldn't find where to see my site's statistics?? Is that still available? I sure enjoyed being able to see how many hits my site or dogs recieved. Joanna