Dogster and Catster just celebrated our 6-year anniversary as a company and an online community, and we could not be more grateful and proud of what we have all done together. For those of you that have been with us for a while, we extend our deepest thanks. And to everyone from long-time members to brand new members, get ready for some exciting changes ahead!
Here at Dogster/Catster HQ, we’ve been spending a lot of time lately looking for ways to improve the experience for all types of users. We have been doing a lot of research into who exactly our audience is. It’s become clear that our users are really divided into two big groups:
– We have our amazing, active, passionate members like all of you – who come to the sites regularly and make our community features like Groups and Forums great. You like to hang out, have fun, make friends, and support great causes.
– Then there is also a large group of information seekers, coming mainly from search engines, who arrive with a specific (and sometimes urgent) question they need answered, then they leave until their next question arises.
We are currently working on a big initiative with the goal of making sure that both types of users get what they need on our site, and have a great experience while they are here.
We are shooting to launch these changes in a few months. So far, the project involves:
- Changes to the organization and navigation of the site’s content and features
- Revamping the home page
- Adding some new topic-focused pages and content
Rest assured that none of our core community features will change – the functionality of our Forums, Groups, Answers, and pet pages will remain as is.
We welcome any thoughts or ideas you have – please add comments and ideas below, or post in the New to Dogster/Tips & Tricks Forums or the Plus Experts & Help Corner (Plus members only).
We will continue to keep you updated as more specifics of the changes develop – we will include regular updates in the new monthly Community Newsletters, in the site updates, and in Forums listed above.
Woofs and Meows,
HQ
