The changes are minor in terms of visibility, but major in terms of usability.

Please note the new sub-menu in the right-hand sidebar (just above the “Latest Posts” / “Popular Posts” / “Recent Comments” sub-menu) on the site (as shown in the image below):

The new sub-menu contains the following:

• Translate
  • A language translation facility
• Search
  • A site-wide search facility
• Archives
  • Find previously published material
• Tags
  • Find articles that include a specific keyword, term or phrase

To use these new features, simply click on a menu item. To close the menu, simply click on the “X” on the right of the sub-menu.

Here is what each menu item provides:

Translate

The translate facility enables our readers to view Budgerigar.co.uk in one or more different languages. It is powered by Google and offers a choice of over 50 languages!

The tool will dynamically translate all text on Budgerigar.co.uk including: menus, article headings and content – thereby making it easier to read for those of you for whom English is not your first language. Please note: advertisements will NOT be translated as they appear as images and not text.

Please bear in mind, that translation of websites is still an immature technology and is performed by “machine” rather than professional human translators. So, on occasion, the quality of the translation may lack the accuracy that could be achieved by human intervention.

Search

The search facility makes it easy to find precisely what you are looking for on Budgerigar.co.uk .

Previously the search facility was located in the header area to the right of the main menu. However, analysis of the site showed us that it was not being used by many readers.

Hence, we have moved it to the sidebar and placed it next to similar facilities for finding “hidden treasure” on the site. We will continue to monitor its use.

The facility itself works on all site content, with the results displayed in the same format as existing article categories (e.g. Featured, Breeding, Beginners etc.). It is then simple to click on a selected result to display the article.

Regrettably, we cannot (as yet) highlight the existence of the searched for word or phrase in the search results.

Archives

When a new article is published on Budgerigar.co.uk it is very easy to find – mainly due to its appearance either as a featured article or by its presence in the “Latest Posts” or “Popular Posts” lists in the right-hand sidebar.

However, such is the value of the information contained in all articles (and their associated reader comments), that, rather than simply remove them, we keep them on the site.

The collection of these “older” articles is known as the “Archives”.

The Archives are sub-divided into the month / year in which the articles were first published – e.g. August 2010.

Just like the Search facility (see above), the Archives was an existing feature on Budgerigar.co.uk – but it was not displayed in a very prominent position. We have now corrected this and hope that it proves popular among our readers.

Tags

One of the most useful ways of finding “hidden treasure” on Budgerigar.co.uk is via the Tags facility.

When an article is posted on the site, it will contain a number of keywords, terms and phrases – such as “Budgerigar Society” or “tail loss” or “flights” etc. These are referred to as “Tags”.

We attach such Tags to each post we publish. By doing so, we can maintain a database of the Tags that have been used. This, in turn, enables us to list all of the posts that contain a specific Tag, thereby making it easy to find articles that have keywords, terms or phrases in common.

Thus articles that may have no obvious link between them may still be linked by the use of a certain keyword, term or phrase that is contained within them.

So if you want to read all articles (new and old) that mention “cod liver oil” or “Les Martin”, then the Tag facility will provide you with a simple way to find them.

It is a very powerful and useful facility – give it a try!

Feedback

We hope you will enjoy these significant changes to the site and that they make your visits more enjoyable and frequent!

If you have any ideas as to how we may be able to further improve the site, please let us know via our Feedback form.

This is achived by use of the Google Toolbar – FREE software from Google – that places an extra toolbar in your web browser (e.g. Internenet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome etc.).

The toolbar now features a Translate button which you can use to quickly re-display the website in a language of your choice!

To find out more about viewing Budgerigar.co.uk in a language of YOUR choice, please visit our Help! page.