Birdguides new system (1 Viewer)

I can't work out if you no longer get push notifications on your mobile or it's not working correctly, despite emailing them!

If they still having problems then let people know what's going on, most people would understand if they still have a few glitches.

They should put a lot more info on their website. To get notifications you have to go into your account on the website and set up email alerts. You should then get notifications, but you'll also get spammed with email copies. Hopefully this is a short term solution. Who tested this stuff before it went live?

bengeo said:

They should put a lot more info on their website. To get notifications you have to go into your account on the website and set up email alerts. You should then get notifications, but you'll also get spammed with email copies. Hopefully this is a short term solution. Who tested this stuff before it went live?

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I have set up email alerts but it's not working. I did get one notification that was it, lack of information is frustrating

While trying to use it today in the field I noticed that sightings are not always in date order but in a random order and if you try and switch between filtered and all/ local sighting while trying to load (which takes longer than before even on 4g) it will crash. Also on desktop won't even log in on chrome just freezes on loading (please wait)

App, on iPhone at least, is clearer to read than website but it keeps logging me out despite my best efforts.......

Having now spent a few hours 'getting used' to it, it's still cluttered and crap. First off - despite having paid a year's subscription on 27/12/2016, I now have just 26 days left of my free trial - what happens then..? A four & a half month refund I hope. Among the most annoying things (personally) are: in the 'British & Irish Records Archive', all Irish records are now merged with British ones so for example, for Great Snipe, you now have to scroll through 845 records to find the 20 or so Irish ones, whereas before there were in a section of their own at the end of the British records (rejected records being included in the main (only) list doesn't help either -
likewise, they previously had a section of their own after the respective country). Plus when you click on the balloon all you get is the name of the county and number of records there, but no link to them; When I click on a Birdmap balloon / pin, I only want to know what the species is, not a full list of that day's sightings (the old system worked perfectly - scroll across square, find out the species and if it was of interest then click on square and all the details came up); When I checked Sherkin Island in the sites section, it came as quite a surprise to see a 2012 record of Scopoli's Shearwater listed sixth in recent sightings there - no worries though, it's just one of 1,616 listed records of Scopoli's, compared with 36 listed records of Cory's Shearwater; Type in County Cork and you get offered a selection of 26 sites, not including Ballycotton, Red Barn, Youghal, Galley Head, Timoleague, Courtmacsherry, Clonakilty Bay, Clogheen/White's Marsh, Seven Heads, Rosscarbery, Toe Head, Baltimore, Sherkin Island or Mizen Head (and many others, but it does include Cotgrave CP, Nottinghamshire, which is handy...) so if you're using that as a guide to sites in Cork, you're gonna be missing out on quite a lot (you can type those sites in separately which is all very well if you know about them in the first place - I imagine the same applies to other counties); I could go on but don't have the time to waste, etc etc, blah blah blah. Like many others have said, why mend something when it isn't broken and no, I don't and never will want to subscribe to Birdwatch magazine thank you very much. I do however want a refund when my free trial period is up.

All the best, Julian.

As I understand the current situation, the iphone app is currently unavailable with no indication from birdguides as to how long it will be down for. So, currently paying for a service I cannot access.

Claudy Banks said:

As I understand the current situation, the iphone app is currently unavailable with no indication from birdguides as to how long it will be down for. So, currently paying for a service I cannot access.

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The app is available now, but beware of the limitations listed in earlier postings in this thread:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/birdguides/id1218786227?mt=8

My greatest complaint about the new look Birdguides is that you can no longer sort the bird news by county. This was a very useful facility. For me, I used to have the news sorted by county, rather than 'time reported', then I could look to Suffolk first, then perhaps Essex and Norfolk, without having to trudge through all the news. I raised this matter with Birdguides and they informed me that the web developers have not included this facility on the new site. For a supposed 'upgrade', this is a backward step and a very basic omission - it is a usual feature of databases that you can alter the 'sort' criterion to your taste. Do the 'web developers' involved know anything about birding activity?

Stewart

Having tried it for several days I still really don't like it.

I hate having to scroll down to sightings and even then I find the text really irritating and unclear.

I have been a subscriber for around 10 years maybe longer but am really disappointed. It is their website of course.

I just want a service I can go to, log in (save my password) that then goes to a page of easy to view sightings. I don't want alerts or emails, I just want a simple page to view.

Which service would be best for me? I presume Rare Bird Alert - I've just asked them for a free trial, and might swap over if I like their system.

Also extremely disappointed with new service. I roll out new applications as part of my IT role and if I'd been responsible for delivering this I'd now be looking for a new job; no consulting customers, no adequate testing, no gearing up for the release with increased staff and a big step back in functionality. I am also waiting on a response as to what happens when the 'free' trial expires. I did get one email response that was initially polite but ended up being patronising and dismissive. Not heard back since. I can only assume the change to ''free' google maps and addition of advertising is profit driven - it's going to backfire with a large number of people migrating away. A shame.

wolfbirder said:

I hate having to scroll down to sightings and even then I find the text really irritating and unclear.

I have been a subscriber for around 10 years maybe longer but am really disappointed. It is their website of course.

I just want a service I can go to, log in (save my password) that then goes to a page of easy to view sightings. I don't want alerts or emails, I just want a simple page to view.

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As another 10+ year subscriber, I couldn't agree more.
The sightings on a PC are only 8 to the page (and still only 12 if you shrink the text). There are only two sightings per page on my phone! Too much scrolling is required to review the records now - imagine what will it be like in autumn. The bird name is in the same weight and size of type as the location, so it's also very hard to focus on the critical information first.

Fair enough, the old design may have needed a bit of a makeover but did anyone consult the main stakeholder - the customer?

Cicada said:

Fair enough, the old design may have needed a bit of a makeover but did anyone consult the main stakeholder - the customer?

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One has to assume that the "new look" has been driven by the "new owners" the Birdwatch team? I'd have thought that "consultation" with the customer albeit perhaps a little time consuming, would have negated to an extent, the currrent backlash. If as reported, BF brings out a free up to the minute "sightings" facility....I for one, wouldn't like to be a shareholder in the former.
I'm afraid (for some) long gone are the Henry Ford diktat days when...."you can have any colour...as long as it's black ruled the market place. However that said, I'm sure the powers that be, are burning the midnight oil as I speak.....:eek!:

The new format seems entirely set up to drive advertising revenue through the side bars (eg Mail Online) rather than deliver a pre-paid subscriber service. It seems incredible that Bird Guides have greatly reduced the utility and functionality of a pre-paid subscription service. If it was a free-service supported by the ad revenues, then fine, but to change the model mid subscription seems unwise and potentially contrary to various trading standards and legal requirements.

cheers, alan

As another who is distinctly unimpressed with the new 'service' but previously very happy with the old, I will be looking at alternatives. Interesting timing of the upgrade too...hope there are plenty of staff available at the Rutland Bird Fair ready to discuss issues and solutions with their customers

My Phone app is still not behaving itself!!!! Pants!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can currently view the free content without the need to actually log-in whereas if I want to submit a sighting I have to log-in. Bizarre. They obviously don't want free information.

Also I see there are records today of Western Osprey - has there been a split from an Eastern Osprey?

According to the blurb the website 'has been designed specifically for birders like you' so I'm sorry if I've messed it up for all you others 3

Rich

lewis20126 said:

The new format seems entirely set up to drive advertising revenue through the side bars (eg Mail Online) rather than deliver a pre-paid subscriber service. It seems incredible that Bird Guides have greatly reduced the utility and functionality of a pre-paid subscription service. If it was a free-service supported by the ad revenues, then fine, but to change the model mid subscription seems unwise and potentially contrary to various trading standards and legal requirements.

cheers, alan

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Probably why it's still a lot cheaper than the rival service. Personally I don't mind seeing a few ads if it saves me paying an extra £70 a year for exactly the same bird news. I'm seeing the bird news ok and getting alerts, that's all I want, not really bothered about the layout....perhaps I'm just easily pleased !

Having panned the website in my earlier post (#69), I've been using the new Birdguides app on my phone and it seems OK: uncluttered, lists bird species first; and - by allowing it to use my location - I can view the list of local birds quite straightforwardly. So, I give the website thumbs down, and the app (which replaces the old 'Bird News Anywhere') a thumbs up, so far.

Stewart

seems very mean not to give a location any more, just a county - makes the site almost useless

I recall they tried this a few years ago and dropped it after myriad complaints - after all the news they get from birders is free

Paz