Bird Journal Blog

Bird Journal 1.3 Released

27 May 2009 Justin (2)

Version 1.3 of Bird Journal has just been released. As you can see we've been quite busy. The custom properties feature in particular was requested a number of times, so we hope this update will satisfy a lot of users.

With this release we're pleased to be able to welcome birders in Australia to enjoy Bird Journal too, thanks to a taxonomy update.

We've also made the installer download size smaller, so it's now even easier to download the trial version.

What's new? 

  • Added: New Taxonomy, Australia - Christidis, L. and W.E. Boles.
  • Added: Custom Entry and Sighting Properties. Record whatever information you wish with CheckBox, DropDownList and TextBox types.
  • Added: CSV Export of a range of entries.
  • Added: Dedicated fields to store eBird required data. This makes exporting to eBird much easier.
  • Improved: Export action selection is now made easier, via a drop down menu.
  • Improved: Help actions are now clearer, via a drop down menu, and a link has been added to the Online Support page.
  • Improved: Validation no longer prevents you from leaving a field, and additional information is available via tooltips.
  • Improved: Partial time values can now be entered. Eg, 12 will enter 12:00.
  • Improved: AOU range now correctly specified as "North & Central America".
  • Improved: Manual now has more detail for a number of features.
  • Fixed: Print preview would just show lots of blank pages, for some printers.
  • Fixed: Crash when trying to print, and no printers are installed.
  • Fixed: Crash when using the mousewheel over the species box, and the selection popup is not visible.
  • Fixed: Edit Locations screen created visual artefacts when scrolling.
  • Fixed: A select few minor issues.

 

Bird Journal Import

22 April 2009 Justin (1)

One of the next new features for Bird Journal is Import.

As always we want to make it really easy, and we want to make it capable of importing almost any birding records you may have.

In the Americas, eBird has made great progress in standardising birding data formats.  This has lead to AviSys, Birdbase and Birder's Diary all supporting export to the eBird CSV format.  We'll provide import from eBird Record format, and perhaps also eBird Checklist format.

But a lot of birders have records in Excel spreadsheets, and we'd like to be able to import from these too.

  • Do you record sightings in Excel? How do you lay out your records? If possible please send us a sample, so we can try to make the import process as easy as possible.
  • Would it be easy for you to convert your spreadsheets into a standard Bird Journal layout? Or would it be preferable to have a tool to auto-detect the layout of your spreadsheets?

 

Bird Journal 1.2 Released

19 April 2009 Justin (1)

Version 1.2 of Bird Journal is now live.  In this update we've added a complete new edition - the Continent Edition.  This edition includes all taxonomies available in a given continent, excluding world taxonomies, and is priced at £39 / €45 / $59.  The Local Edition has been reduced in price to £29 / €35 / $45.

Our website now accepts payments via PayPal, instead of SWReg.  This makes the order process much clearer and easier.  I also think most people are more comfortable with PayPal.

What else is new in Bird Journal 1.2?

  • Calendar date picker.
  • Species entry improvements. Improves clarity, discoverability and speed of entry.
  • New Taxonomies: Ireland - IRBC and Spain - SEO.  The Spanish list includes English, Spanish and Catalan names.
  • Support for our new continent edition.
  • The installation process now automatically installs the .Net Framework if needed.

We hope you will enjoy using this new version.

Version 1.2 Almost Ready

09 April 2009 Justin (2)
Bird Journal version 1.2 is almost ready now. The new calendar date picker is in, and the two extra taxonomies for Spain (Sociedad Española de Ornitología) and Ireland (Irish Rare Birds Committee) have been added. The Spanish list includes bird names in Spanish, English and Catalan.

The improved sighting entry is moving more slowly, as we're being very particular about what we want. The improvements will be especially apparent in the Americas, where many birds are prefixed "American". For example, instead of having to type out "american ro" for American Robin, you'll be able to type just "robin" or "a ro". Much quicker.

This change will also allow us to add support for the BTO 2-letter species codes, in the near future. If anyone knows of any similar codes for America, please let us know.

We're being very careful to ensure the changes to the inputting do not make it more difficult for anyone. Two steps forward and one step back would not be good. As such we'll be rolling these changes out to testers before the official release.

Welcome to Our Blog

08 April 2009 Justin (3)
Welcome to the new Bird Journal blog.  If you're not familiar with 'blogs' then they are a more informal and interactive way of sharing news, information and ideas via the internet.
 
We wanted to start a blog for Bluebird to open more of a dialogue with our users.  We'd like to share more about what we are thinking and doing, rather than just issuing release updates.  And we're very keen to hear what you think about Bird Journal, the direction in which it's headed, and birding software in general.
 
It's easy to comment on our posts, so please join in the conversation.