 Introduction
Throughout the previous months we have been busy on various fronts. Aside from the usual ZooEasy business a new employee has been hired, we have conducted a customer satisfaction survey and are busy with the preparation for an online version of ZooEasy. In this newsletter we will inform you of these issues as well as much more. We hope you will once again enjoy your reading!
Development of online version
As from May we have started with the development of an online version of ZooEasy. In order to now what the potential clients exactly need, we have contacted a number of them. Amongst them are Petting Zoos, Stud/Herdbooks and various pet clubs. The idea of ZooEasy Online is rather simple. It’s going to be a central database which is accessible with an entry code through the Internet. Users are able to share their part of the database and make changes on it simultaneously. Each client can individually determine what their members can change, see or remove by means of an authorization tool. Example 1: At this time we are speaking with a big Belgium bird association. Their goal is to let the members enter and control the details of their birds. By doing so the association can look into the data and even conduct population inquiries, but doesn’t need to register all details themselves. Members can only modify the details of birds owned by themselves and if needed they can also look into the details of birds owned by other breeders within the association. Example 2: Most dog clubs have several committees. A lot of clubs want the committee members to be able to enter data for which they are responsible. For instance show results, medical information or ancestry details. Also normal members of the club can also get access to the database, but only to this part which has been approved and set by the clubs administrator. According to the plans we expect the first release to be presented during the summer of 2008. We will keep you posted through our Newsletter.
Helpdesk
A change in personnel for the helpdesk can be announced. Jan Vissinga will succeed Karst Reudink. The past years Karst has brought, and maintained, the service of the helpdesk to a high level, with high ratings on the customer survey as a result. We would like to thank him for this and wish him success with his study. In the upcoming months he will take care of the transfer to Jan and together they will redesign the FAQ list on the website. Of course we also wish Jan success in his new position.
Most Frequently Asked Questions
Why can’t I open the database outside of ZooEasy?
For security reasons the ZooEasy database has been blocked for use in Microsoft Access. In the past, users frequently modified the database outside of ZooEasy. This would, at times, result in a corrupt database. To avoid such problems the database is password protected. How can I send out pedigrees from ZooEasy?
From within ZooEasy it is possible to send the Index card and Pedigree to your colleague breeders or customers via email. In order to do this, you first of all need to know the SMTP address of your mail provider. This may sound complicated but in fact isn’t. You can find this information in your mail program. We will explain the procedure for Outlook, since most customers use this program.
1. Open Outlook and go to the menu option “Extra”
2. Choose the option “Email Accounts”
3. Select the option “Display or modify existing email accounts”
4. Click “Next”.
5. You will now be shown a list of all email accounts that are used on your pc. Select the email address you wish to use for sending the messages and click “Modify”
6. In the next screen under the heading “Servers” you will see a field called “Server for outgoing mail (SMTP).” The content of this field is needed for ZooEasy.
7. In ZooEasy open “System Settings” via the “File” menu option.
8. The last tab in this window is called “E-mail”. Here you will find the field “SMTP Server Address” where you can enter the data from Outlook.
Market Research US
Throughout the previous months Rosemary Landeweerd has been busy conducting a market research for the United States. This was a graduation project for her study International Business and Management Studies at the Hanze University in Groningen. It became a valuable report for which she received an 8.4 as a final grade. Congratulations on behalf of the entire ZooEasy team!
Results Customer Satisfaction Survey
In April we have conducted a customer satisfaction survey. In this survey various questions were asked with regard to the software and our company. Hereby we would like to present you with the most important points that were brought forth. In general our customers are positive about both the software and the company, average ratings amounting to 7.92 for ZooEasy and 8.13 for the company (on a scale from 1 to 10). Of course we are more than satisfied with these results, but this does not mean there are no points for attention. 1. Too complicated.
Not everyone is charmed by all the new functionality that has been added over the past years. Because of this ZooEasy has become less easy to use. This signal is a reason for us to examine the user friendliness, in order to ensure the operating of the package remains/becomes simple without loss of functionality. 2. Mandatory new version every year?
Many people indicated that they do not appreciate having to purchase a new version each year. Apparently we have not communicated this very well because this is certainly not an obligation. If a user is satisfied with the functioning of the program and does not require new options and/or user support, they are not obligated to purchase the new version. They can continue working with the version purchased by them unlimitedly.
Every year we carry out product improvements based on customer wishes. Of course the costs made by us for this have to be re-earned.
To provide customers with extra service we also provide those who order the new program with a year of support. 3. FAQ list
Many people require a well filled FAQ list (frequently asked questions list) on the website. We completely understand this wish and have ordered the expansion and redesigning of this part of the ZooEasy website. The goal is to have this placed on the website by the end of August 2007. In addition, many wishes have been expressed which will all be evaluated and, where possible, will be taken into account in the new version 7.0 which will be released at the end of this year. Hereby we would like to thank all participants of the customer survey for their cooperation. The winners of the one-year subscription have been notified.
Modifications version 6.04, 6.05, 6.06
Aside from a few mistakes that have been fixed in version 6.04, 6.05 and 6.05, new features have been added in the latest versions. You can download the latest changes from the website. Below we have included a summary of the latest features per version. Version 6.04
- Adding label size 63.5mm x 38.1mm for the animal types for which the current sizes are already visible.
- Displaying documents as thumbnails.
- Possibility to print multiple copies.
- Measurements can be easily removed.
- 5 Generations pedigree landscape has been added
- Improved security for importing external data.
- Trial pedigree can be printed
- Expansion of the users’ manual.
Version 6.05
- Paper size adapted for the USA.
- After ZooEasy is closed by the software, the program restarts automatically.
- Help file now also functions on Vista.
- New pedigree added for ARBA users in the United States
Version 6.06
- The layout of a pedigree can be modified.
Tips & Tricks
Entering breeds
Since version 6 the different breeds of a certain animal type are displayed per tab. The advantage of this is not only having these animals grouped together but also that you can determine the division yourself.
You can enter the desired breeds via the table “breeds” on the “maintenance” menu. If you afterwards enter an animal pertaining to that particular breed, ZooEasy will create a tab for this and will display this in the first screen of the animal data.
Especially for bird breeders a useful option, but also cat and dog breeders make good use of this. An example: A bird breeder breeds different types of canaries and wood-birds. In the past these types were mixed together. This breeder can now store a type for different canaries after which ZooEasy will display all animals of this type separately on tabs. Checking the Back-up database
As mentioned, the database cannot be opened outside of ZooEasy. Therefore, you cannot check the backup file outside of the software. You can assume the backup is correct when ZooEasy indicates that this is stored successfully.
Please note that the backup media can also be damaged or get lost. It is therefore advisable to always have a second back-up available. Database Version
Please note that a higher version of ZooEasy cannot be read into an old version of ZooEasy. If you reinstall ZooEasy from CD you always install the first release of a version. (eg 5.0 or 6.0) This is because the CDs have been produced the moment the new version is released. If, in the meantime, you have installed the latest changes, it is possible that your database is stored with, for example, version 6.04. Therefore after re-installation of ZooEasy from CD, you will first need to download and install the latest changes (go to our website) and only then open your database.
Any questions about this Newsletter? Send an e-mail to info@zooeasy.com
Hope to talk to you again in the next Newsletter!
With kind regards,
Team ZooEasy
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