What's your opinion on breeders websites?

[JonD]

Web sites are good. The only problem I have is, that Jeff hasn't been using his fancy papertowels in his pictures lately ......

[BoidKeeper]

I was simply telling people the url, and they could see each snake and stuff.

That is a good point and probably the most convincing argument for why I may want to get one. What you're describing makes life so much easier.

I think a big breeder is someone who has knoledge and experience in breeding many different species.

Exactly. Roy Stockwell is not selling super pastel balls but he is probably the most accomplished breeder in Canada and he doesn't have a website.
A lot of good points have been raised here, more pros than cons that's for sure.
So far this is what I'm picking up on that I like,
A site is a nice compact place to post info about your self and your animals that may help to eliminate email answers to people questions.
All your breeding stock can be posted there along with the individual offspring you have for sale, including price and details.
I like how Henry's site is layed out like that a bit.
The terms of sale can be posted etc.
So I'd have to say that the majority of members feel that sites are good and if you want to sell animals more often they're a must.
Cheers,
Trevor

[BoidKeeper]

Its like people chastizing us for keeping snakes as pets.

I did say though that for some people no matter how small having a website is just as much a part of the hobby for them as the herps themselves. I never said anyone shouldn't have a site, I was just sharing my opinion about how I feel about some of them and I was wondering what other peoples perceptions/opinions where of all sites big and small.
Cheers,
Trevor

[BoidKeeper]

Is gramer not spelled wrong???LOL!!!

AHAHHA, I didn't wanna be the one to point out the irony.

I'm sorry is this my website? Am I worried about typos and spelling mistakes here? Uh, no.
You want irony I'm a schoolteacher making good money to spend on snakes and I can't spell, there's your irony. I'm doing better then most members who can spell so I'm not too concerned about making spelling mistakes because in the end I'm still coming out a head with my fair salary wonderful benefits and excellent pension spelling mistakes and all. A stupid person doesn't know he can't spell, a smart person does and pays someone to do it for him when the time comes because he can.
Spelling has never been used to gage a persons intellegence. A person's ability to spell is like their ability to play sports, some have it, some don't. In my case I have neither.lol
Cheers,
Trevor
*edited* for spelling.lol

[Matt_K]

Trevor, go back and read the comment.. You're the one that said that you don't like seeing websites that have spelling errors.. Yet your posts are overflowing with them.. THAT is ironic.. No harm was meant, as you know, I bust your ba.. chops about it all the time..

[BoidKeeper]

I know you do Matt and no offence was taken but this isn't my website where I'm trying to sell anything. That's why I don't see the Irony. If I made a statement like that on my own personal website then yeah I'd see the Irony but since this is a forum, I guess you could say it's lost on me.
Cheers ball breaker!
Trevor

[Matt_K]

Hey, I said CHOPS!!! Anyway, Stay on topic..

-Matt

[BoidKeeper]

Fine. How do I get a name? You know www.boidkeeper.com or www.justsnakes.com?
Cheers,
Trevor

[hhw]

You need to register the domain. Then you need to have DNS servers that point the domain name to the IP address of the website you're running off. Finally, you need to host the site somewhere.

A lot of web hosts will do all 3 for you, which is probably what you should look for if you're not into running your own servers.

By the way, it's never good for someone to make themselves look like something they're not. A website itself doesn't necessarily do that, but if the content on a website misleads the browser as to what the breeder is really like it is definitely a bad thing. In other words, don't blame the medium, blame the person abusing it.

[CamHanna]

I don't mind the small breeders, or even non-breeders, with websites.

There are really only two things I want to see on these pages though, the 'About Me' section and the 'My Collection' section. If you don't have anything available then you don't need an 'Available' section; especially one that is subdivided into Pythons, Boas, Milks, Corns and Rats when all sections are empty. Clicking and loading all these empty sections is a waste of my time. I'd much rather look at your collection and contact you if you work with anything that I'm interested in.

Edit: Trevor, I'd go with boidkeeper.com. I associate 'Boidkeeper' with you much more strongly than I do 'Just Snakes'

[Asian Jon]

Hey hhw, how is the security on using your own pc as a webserver using PHP and MySQL on a windows system? I have done it before, but wasn't really quite sure about how safe it was. I used www.no-ip.com. I found it a great way of puting up a site for free without all the banners and such like geocities.

[Slannesh]

just did a quick check.

Boidkeeper.com is available... as is .net .us .org .ca You get the picture.

justsnakes.com is already registered to some guy in Georgia but .net .ca .us and .org are free.


As to the topic at hand.

I like seeing a website for someone i'm dealing with. But i've been a net geek for many years now so it's a medium that I understand and like dealing with.

I definitely agree with Marisa's statements about it making selling even a single clutch very easy. You can put up all sorts of information that would take a long time to explain in person or on the phone. Not to mention the old adage "A picture is worth a thousand words" Especially when dealing with morphs... If we'd never seen what they look like no one would care about all the Leo, BP and Dragon morphs out there.

I do have to agree with Trevor as well, I would hesitate to deal with someone who had a website riddled with spelling errors or was just too 'casual'. That's not to say I expect the full meal deal of a professionally done site complete with Java and PHP goodies but if I were to see "Yo, i's gots 3 corn snakes fer sale. only $29 dolers each" I personally would look elsewhere.

A website can be a great advertising tool but it can easily do as much harm as good when done poorly. All depends on what you're trying to accomplish I guess.

[spidergecko]

Aside from poor spelling and grammar, misuse of frames can make even the best site look really bad. Blurry pics I can usually deal with but scroll bars everywhere bugs me.

[marisa]

Agree with Spidergecko here! I HATE frames, especially tacky old HTML ones. There is no place on the internet for those type of frames these days. LOL

Marisa

[greenman1867]

How about the Boa owner who happens to have a breeding pair and by fate is also a total computor geek? Building websites can be as much a passion as Herps. So why not combine the two?
To be honest, I am kinda dissapointed with some of the people here who seem to be reasonably established breeders and still do not have websites. I was totally stoked to check out Tony's website, or Pauls.............guess what, there isn't one.

No offense meant of course, I just thought for sure guys like that would have a site. A place to show off all your work and patience.

Just my thoughts, sorry to Tony and Paul for using your names in vain.

***edit***

The thing that really ticks me off are "professionals" who's websites have not been updated for 2 years!!

"New 2003 litter available!! e-mail for prices and shipping!!"

Umm okay what about 2004 and 05? I know these people are still around and breeding because they are still posting.

***end edit***

Shawn