Getting Set Up on Openherd
How do I join Openherd and get my farm and alpacas listed?
Joining Openherd is easy, free, and only takes a few minutes. To watch a video on how to do this, click the "Getting started on Openherd" video to the left.
If you're ready to get started, go to our Join page >.
Getting your farm listed on your association website that is participating in Openherd's Affiliate Program is easy and only takes a few mintues:
- Create your user ID/password
- Enter your farm contact info
- Click a button to activate your farm profile
- Notify your association
To see how to do this, watch our short 2-1/2 minute Quick Start video!
To get started, go to our Join page >. When you've finished setting up your account, go to the "My Farm" tab in your account and click "Edit My Farm Page". Enter the farm owner names, then click "Create Farm Profile." Then just let your association know that you've created your Openherd account and they'll add you to your association website.
To learn more about the Openherd Affiliate Program, click here.
Yes. The Openherd Affiliate Program is designed to allow any farm that's a member of Openherd to automatically have their farm information, sales lists, and any other pages you add, displayed on your association website.
There is no cost to the association or member for this program and it does not require you to have a paid membership with Openherd. Learn more >
My Account
I've reset my password but I still can't log in?
When you try to log in, do you see an error message displayed? If so, please make sure you are entering your Username or Password correctly. If you continue to get an error message, your account may have become locked out because of too many unsuccessful login attempts. Please contact Openherd Support for help.
If you do not see an error message after clicking the "Sign In" button and the Username and Password boxes go blank, this is usually because your browser has saved old login information as a "cookie" that is interfering with the new login information you are entering. Follow the instructions below for clearing your browser's cookies:
Internet Explorer
- Click Tools > Internet Options.
- Under the Browsing History section, click Delete.
- Uncheck "Preserve Favorites website data" and check "Cookies". Leave other options unchecked.
- Click Delete.
- Close down Internet Explorer, restart, and then try logging into Openherd again.
Firefox
- Click Tools > Clear Recent History...
- Check Cookies.
- Click "Clear Now".
- Close down Firefox, restart, and then try logging into Openherd again.
If this does not work, repeat the procedure above and restart your computer. If this does not resolve your issue, please contact Openherd Support.
How do I change my email address for my account?
Go to the "My Account" tab in your account and click My Account Settings. This is where auction and forum notifications, payment receipts, and member communications are sent.
How do I update my billing info?
Go to the "My Account" tab in your account and click My Account Settings. This contact information is only used for billing purposes. To update your farm contact info, go to your "My Farm" tab and click Edit My Farm Page. For your security, Openherd does not store credit card information.
The hits on My Account page don't seem to match those on the Click Statistics page.
The statistics on your My Account page are to give you a "snapshot" of how your farm is doing overall. These numbers are for your farm pages and all of your sales pages combined. The statistics on your Click Statistics page are broken down by individual page.
Photos and Images
How do I change my farm logo image in the top left corner of my farm pages?
Go to the "My Farm" tab in your account and click Edit My Farm Page. Click "Change" below the top photo spot and upload your logo image.
I uploaded a photo but it doesn't show up. What's going on?
If you successfully uploaded an image but you can't see it when you preview the page, it may be that your image is in an unsupported file format (supported formats are JPG, GIF, or PNG). It could be that your image is saved in CMYK mode. This can happen when a file that was prepared for professional printing is used for the web. All web images need to be in RGB mode. If you don't know how to convert a CMYK image to RGB, send us an email with the image attached, indicating exactly where you want the photo to go.
I uploaded a photo but it looks blurry. What can be done?
If your photo looks blurry, it is most likely because the image you uploaded was very small and was stretched to fit the standard images sizes that Openherd uses. It is also possible that your original photo was out of focus. Try to find a larger or sharper original photo and re-upload it. Enlarging digital photos generally produces very poor results and there is not much that can be done to improve the quality.
Editing Sales Lists
How do I upload my animals to my sales lists?
Your sales lists are called "My Herd" and can be found by going to the "My Farm" tab in your account. My Herd is divided into 4 basic categories:
Active (Foundation, Herdsires, For Sale, Packages, Fiber/Companion),
Inactive,
Sold, and
Deleted.
Active and Sold listings are visible on your farm pages. Inactive items are hidden from sight and so are in effect taken off the market. Deleted items are ones that you no longer want (although they are kept in our system so that you can restore them if you accidentally delete them).
You move your alpacas/packages from one of these basic categories to another by clicking one of the icons to the right of the listing.
If you want to move your alpaca from one of the Active categories to another (i.e. from Foundation to For Sale), click on that alpaca name and select the categories using the checkboxes at the top of the editing page.
Go to the "My Farm" tab in your accont and click My Herd. Then click either "Add New Alpaca +" or "Add New Package +".
How do I move or copy an alpaca to another category?
Go to the "My Farm" tab in your accont and click My Herd. Click the alpaca name you want to move/copy. On the Alpaca Edit page, under "List As", check the appropriate checkboxes for the categories you want the alpaca listed under. Click Update to save and return to My Herd.
I tried to add an alpaca but I keep getting an error message. What's the problem?
Usually this problem happens when you're trying to add an alpaca with the exact same name as one already in your sales list. You may have already added this animal and then deleted it. Click on each of the category tabs under My Herd (including the Deleted tab) to see if this animal already exists in one of your lists. If it is deleted and you want to "undelete" it, refer to the question "I deleted an animal/package..."
I'm not done adding information for an alpaca - can I save it as a draft so it won't be listed until it's ready?
Yes. As long as you've entered the minimum required information, click Update. This will save your information. Then, if you're not yet ready for this animal to be listed on your sales pages, find that animal in your My Herd list and click the green (-) 'Unlist' icon. You can still edit the animal in this unlisted state.
When you're ready to list your animal, go to the Unlisted/Deleted tab and click the green (+) 'Relist' icon. It'll then be live on your sales pages under the sales categories that you checked on its edit page.
Go to the "My Farm" tab in your account and click My Herd. Click the green (-) Unlist icon to the right of the alpaca you want to temporarily remove from the market. This will prevent that alpaca from being displayed in your sales lists.
To put the alpaca back on the market, locate it in the "Unlisted/Deleted" category and click the green (+) Relist icon. The alpaca will be placed back into the category it was originally in.
Go to the "My Farm" tab in your account and click My Herd. Click the Unlisted/Deleted tab. To the right of the animal name you want to restore, click the green "x" icon. This will restore the animal to the categories it was originally listed under. Click the appropriate tab to find your "restored" animal (it my be under "Unlisted/Deleted").
On My Herd, what do all those icons mean?
Move your mouse over each of the icons for a tooltip of what that icon represents.
Why can I only list 5 alpacas as promotional?
We have restricted the use of the Price Promotion icon to maintain it's value and meaning in identifying those animals that stand out for their attractive pricing. You may still note promotional details in the price caption box for other animals.
When I'm typing a name or caption, I can't type any further. What's happening?
Some textboxes only allow you to enter a limited number of characters. This ensures that things display properly on Openherd.
Messages
How do I check my messages?
At the very top of the page, next to your username and My Account link, you'll see a message icon. Click this icon to view My Messages. You can also access My Messages by going to the My Account tab in your account.
What do the green dots next to my messages mean?
The green dots indicate which messages are new/unread.
Advertising
Do I have to be a farm or a paid member to advertise on Openherd?
I purchased an ad - now what do I do?
Once you have purchased an ad, go to the "Advertise" tab in your account and click My Ads. There you'll see your purchased ads in the "Upcoming Ads" section. Click on the edit (pencil) icon and you'll be taken through a few simple steps to uploading your ad graphic.
When everything looks good in your ad proof, click "Approve & Update" and your ad will be ready to run!
Go to the "My Account" tab in your account and click on My Receipts. You can view receipt details by clicking on the magnifying glass icon.
Why can't I edit some of my currently running ads?
Uploaded ad graphics can not be changed by members once their run cycle starts. If you have a correction to make, please contact Support and we'll help you with this.
I uploaded my ad graphic but it looks blurry or cut off. What's happening?
More than likely this is because you uploaded ad graphic was not the correct pixel dimensions and was therefore automatically resized and cropped to fit the correct dimensions. Try sizing your graphic to the dimensions specified in Step 2 on the Manage Ad page. If you need help, ask your graphic designer or click on Support and get in touch with us. We'll be happy to help.
Printing Sales Lists, etc.
Is there a way to print my sales lists or individual alpaca sales pages?
Yes. Openherd sales pages are designed to be nicely formatted for printing without the need of a separate "printer friendly" page. Just browse to the page in your farm/store site that you want to print and go to your browser's Print menu and click Print. We recommend printing from the latest verions of either
Firefox or
Internet Explorer for the best output.
Web browsers (software that you view web pages with, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc.) were originally designed for viewing web pages and little attention was given to printing from them. So printing from browsers has always been notoriously difficult to control - even with today's newest browsers, so this issue is generally out of our control.
However, there are ways to get better output. The best recommendation is to update your browser software to the latest version. We generally find that Firefox is the best browser for printing. You can download the latest version from the Firefox website. If you prefer to use Internet Explorer, you can get the latest version from the Microsoft website.
You can print the Click Statistics web page by going to your browser's File > Print command.
Troubleshooting
What browser and version number am I using?
If you're having difficulty with using Openherd, it may be because you're using an outdated internet browser. To help us identify if this is the case, click the link below to determine what browser and version number you are currently using: