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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Anyone used "Wildlife lister" (1 Viewer)

G

ghostrider

Well-known member
Has anyone used the wildlife lister software?
I've just bought and installed it.
It seems to do everything i've beeing trying to do in word and excell for ages. Not done much with it yet, a lot of records to input.
 
I have used both this program as well as its predecessor, and am very happy with it. Takes a little effort to really use it to its potential, but should cover most birder's needs.
 
ghostrider said:
Has anyone used the wildlife lister software?
I've just bought and installed it.
It seems to do everything i've beeing trying to do in word and excell for ages. Not done much with it yet, a lot of records to input.
Click to expand...

I bought this two years ago and have very mixed feelings about it. I found the program very difficult to get to grips with and the "help" files and documentation were very poor and incomplete. The verbal instructions sound like someone who is just about to be put in front of a firing squad - shaky, inaudible voice with the charisma of a black widow spider.

I made several contacts with their support service and found them arrogant and not at all helpful (a view expressed by others who I know and have had similar experiences). They do not like to be told that their product might have defects - FULL STOP.

At the same time I have had emails thanking me for bringing shortcomings in their software to their attention!!!

I have had a lot of problems in getting the "add media" function to work. I have attempted to add photographs but the media bar will only appear for a second and then disappears. I think that there is a problem with the edition I have but they will "not hear of this" and I am stuck with something which does not work.

The program has potential but this is the least intuitive of the listing programs that I have tried. The interface is dire (use of fonts and styles is "neolithic") and for non-techies the whole package is a non-starter.

If you stick at it you can make something of it, but IT IS NOT EASY OR USER-FRIENDLY.

Colin
 
I bought Wildlife Recorder (more expensive version?) and wished I hadn't, for many of the reasons Colin has listed. I wanted something intuitive to use and user-friendly; it isn't. Buy it if you enjoy a technical challenge.....

Sean
 
dogfish said:
I bought Wildlife Recorder (more expensive version?) and wished I hadn't, for many of the reasons Colin has listed. I wanted something intuitive to use and user-friendly; it isn't. Buy it if you enjoy a technical challenge.....


Over many years I've sent several hundred pounds purchasing and upgrading to new versions of Jack Levine's listing programs.

In retrospect I wish I'd never got involved with Jack who has so little regard for his customers.

Basically Lister and it's predecessors were difficult to use and didn't work very well. Recorder is a little easier to use and more of the functions work, but Jack now requires an annual subscription to keep it updated.

Forget it.

:scribe:
Click to expand...
 
Agreed!

I have exactly the same experience with this programme and also pocket bird recorder. Mr Levine is indeed arrogant and unhelpful. My PDA recently lost all power and lost the pocket bird recorder programme, I was unable to re-instal. I'd had problems putting it on in the first place and he supplied a link to fix it which he removed. When I asked for help I was told I had to buy an upgrade when I should've been able to re-install the older programme I had paid for. Also when I upgraded for free just before he started charging it wouldn't read my historical databases so I had to send them to Mr Levine to make them readable. He then asked me how I entered records with no geographical limit! He wrote the programme!!!!!
I would avoid this but as others have said once your trapped it's hard to get out.
 
Montagu said:
Also when I upgraded for free just before he started charging
Click to expand...
At least you managed to upgrade. When I received the email about the change in upgrade policy I tried to upgrade, only to find that the correct page was down for maintenence :storm:
 
Pleased to see that it isn't just me! When he started charging for updates I just gave up. I have never spoken to Jack Levine, just had contact via email, but I know two people (neither are idiots, but neither are really computer literate) who tried to get telephone support and were talked down to in such a way that they were made to feel as though they had the intelligence of an amoeba.

I know we will never get it, but it would be nice to see what Mac or Microsoft would come up with if they were to produce a birding software package. Several friends of mine are using the Swarovski listing facility. I believe it is free (and pretty basic) but I found out that they are using Jack Levine's database!!

I'm with notebook and pencil again for the time being.

Colin
 
I've got Wildlife Recorder and have never really had a problem with it. But I have not tried the media functionality.
It basically does what I want, although there are times when I can't figure out how to get it to output some data that I want.
However, I've never used any other listing programs, so I really can't compare.
 
I started birding just over a year ago. I used my PDA to enter sightings and later uploaded them to a PC. I used a data base program and although it worked - it was very limited. I realized that I would have to do some major work on it or buy a better program.

My requirements were the normal ones with 2 additions. I still wanted the ability to enter my sightings via a PDA and later upload to a PC. I also wanted to link my sightings to my photos as I was beginning to get involved with this part of the hobby.

I could only find one program that met all my requirements - Wildlife Recorder with Pocket Recorder. Therefore I didn't do a detailed comparison of all the other programs.

I'm in Canada so I ordered the programs from Bruce Webb in California. I couldn't ask for better support. He has been very helpful and responsive. I found the programs easy to install and use. The documentation is excellent and the video tutorials on the CD were helpful. I'm not sure why others have had problems - maybe an older version?

So far I've converted my old data - only 160 lifelist - and got the prepackaged reports and played with a few custom reports without any problems. I've been on one short local trip where I entered my sightings in my PDA and later loaded them to my PC - again without problems. It will get a much better test when I go to Costa Rica next week. I haven't tried any links to my photos yet so can't comment on that aspect.

You get a free year of updates and I've already updated both the program and the species list. Most programs do not give you free updates forever, so I can understand them charging after a year. However, I'm not sure if I will find that necessary as I'm satisfied with what I have now.

I currently have the program on my PC and laptop with pocket recorder on my PDA. If I ever have a hard drive crash or when I buy a new PC or laptop I would expect to be able to install the current programs that I have paid for on my new system. In other words Montagu should have been able to reinstall the software on his PDA. I don't know why he couldn't.

As I said initially, I'm a fairly new birder and this is my first post here. I just felt in reading some of the previous comments that they certainly didn't reflect my experience. I have found the software easy to use and the support very good. It may be because I have the newest version and I'm getting support from California.
 
ghostrider said:
Has anyone used the wildlife lister software?
I've just bought and installed it.
It seems to do everything i've beeing trying to do in word and excell for ages. Not done much with it yet, a lot of records to input.
Click to expand...

I have used Wildlife Recorder and its predecessors for years. If I remember correctly the first version Jack produced was DOS based! I also use Pocket Bird Recorder

It does take a bit of learning to use but given its wide range of features this is not that surprising. My only real criticism would be the Report Design facility which is mostly beyond me. I wish it was possible to simply export the report into MS Word for editing, in earlier versions this was possible.

The only problems I have had with the programme is the occasional glitch associated with installing of upgrades. These have all been resolved quickly by email/phone call to Jack.

The annual fee for upgrades being introduced was a bit disappointing but given the work in maintaining species lists/distributions etc. is not unreasonable. Although we should not have to pay where it is simply for an upgrade to correct some software bug.

Overall, I would class myself as I satisfied customer

David
 
Colin Key said:
Pleased to see that it isn't just me! When he started charging for updates I just gave up. I have never spoken to Jack Levine, just had contact via email, but I know two people (neither are idiots, but neither are really computer literate) who tried to get telephone support and were talked down to in such a way that they were made to feel as though they had the intelligence of an amoeba.

Colin
Click to expand...

You can make it 3 people now. It is a shame because I think it is a really great program and I would like to support him for what he is doing. But the guy must have had a charisma bypass some time in his life. Must stop writing now because just thinking about him is getting me upset.

Mark
 
Hanno said:
I have used both this program as well as its predecessor, and am very happy with it. Takes a little effort to really use it to its potential, but should cover most birder's needs.
Click to expand...

Hanno,
I fully share your favorable opinion of Wildlife Lister. I started out with Bird Recorder at least six and maybe seven years ago. About a year ago, I upgraded to Wildlife Lister. I guess this makes me a really long-time user of this software.

Since I'm far from being anything like a "techie", I have had a steep learning curve with this and every other major computer program I have needed to use. To those who think the Wildlife Lister software is complicated, all I can say is I have found it a whole lot easier to learn than Microsoft Excel (which still baffles me!). Yes, it's taken some time and effort to learn to use it well, but whenever I got stuck I got very thorough and quick, friendly help from either Jack Levine in UK or Bruce Webb here in the U.S. And with a lifelist of over 4000 species, I want to have sophisticated listing software to manage all my data and give me all the options it does for viewing it and interpreting it.

Through my contact with Jack and Bruce, I have also come to appreciate the enormous amount of time, effort, knowledge, skill and persistence required to produce this program and then keep it updated, as the taxonomists do their thing.

What I like most about this program, and what made me switch from Thayer Birding Software to it several years ago, is that it has a PDA application. Until very recently, I used a Palm Pilot in the field to record my sightings. When my Tungsten E died while birding in Chile last month :(, I decided to take Jack's recommendation and switch to a Pocket PC. I am in the process of getting it to do all the things I want it to, and am looking forward to using it for Wildlife Recorder. I believe it will be even easier to use than the Palm. And let me tell you, there's nothing like going back to your room after 12 hours of intensive birding in the Tropics, uploading your day's list into your laptop, and in just a few minutes, figuring out how many new birds you saw today, how many species and how many of them are new that you've seen on your trip, etc. It adds a whole new dimension to birding, making it even more fun than it would otherwise be. And needless to say, I love going birding!
 
Chuck Bell said:
Hanno,
I fully share your favorable opinion of Wildlife Lister. I started out with Bird Recorder at least six and maybe seven years ago. About a year ago, I upgraded to Wildlife Lister. I guess this makes me a really long-time user of this software.

I'm also a long term user of Jack's listing software. I've stuck with him through thick and thin because I knew he would get it right in the end, and with Wildlife Lister he is close to succeeding.

Long term users will remember that Jack required his customers to purchase each of his programs as they were introduced. Subsequent repair "patches" were many and included species updates and sometimes improved useability.

("patches" are downloadable repairs to software to make the program function as intended. I know because Jack sent me lot's of them)

Users are now faced with the newly introduced additional annual charge for using Wildlife Lister in an up to date version.

I don't know of any other software producer that works this way.
Updates and "patches" to the product are usually included until the new version comes out.

Forget it.
Click to expand...
 
Share feelings similar to Colin and others, not only am I disappointed with the software but even more so with the feedback and helpdesk, they came across as unhelpful and arrogant, making myself feeling like I was the idiot.

One thing that would make me use the software again however is if anyone would be kind enough to tell me if it is possible to split the latin and english names in excel, currently they appear in the same column, with latin in brackets, completely unhelpful for those wishing to use a more 'advanced' taxomonic system.

Thanks
 
I find it rather odd that the two people who are really raving about how fantastic this software is and what great technical support they have received are both from North America and only have a total of three posts between them! 8-P

Colin
 
James Eaton said:
One thing that would make me use the software again however is if anyone would be kind enough to tell me if it is possible to split the latin and english names in excel, currently they appear in the same column, with latin in brackets, completely unhelpful for those wishing to use a more 'advanced' taxomonic system.
Click to expand...

I don't know anything about Wildlife Lister. I am from the U.S. and have been using Birder's Diary www.birdersdiary.com for 10+ years. btw, the BD tech support is excellent now, as the owner really is dedicated to providing the best product and service. I'm sure that he would be very interested in helping to convert your sightings into Birder's Diary.

But I digress. Over the years I have used Excel to manipulate lists many times using macros. A fairly common one is splitting common names and scientific names into different cells, based on the scientific binomial being italicised. I would guess that your need is similar. Since I do not know the format of your file, could you paste a few lines that you need parsed into a response?

I'd love to take a look.

And yes, I don't have many posts either.
 
Well, I shot of an e-mail to Jack Levine alerting him to this thread. I am somewhat disappointed that he aknowledges neither e-mail nor this thread:-(
 
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