Dogster

[K9soul]

I've noticed lately Dogster has had a lot of new additions and cool little features added. Now you can keep a pet diary, send messages to other Dogster members, and they recently introduced a way to rate other people's Dogster pages though for now I think you have to just randomly browse the pages in order to vote on them. I've really enjoyed this, it's addicting to browse and vote ratings on the pages. So far none of my own or PT dogs have come up for voting. You click "who's a cutie?" on the menu and you can start browsing/rating pages.

As for mine, I try to update the pictures periodically and today Tommy and Tasha started their diary entries .

www.dogster.com

[Amber]

Thats cool!

I'm gonna updaye the dogs pages, Katies picture are old, and Elvis's picture are him when he was 8wks...really need to update!

[K9soul]

Cool Amber, I just looked at your pages earlier and noticed it has been awhile since you put new pics up .

I should note that the ratings are not supposed to be for your favorite dog but for how well the page is done. I give higher ratings to pages where people put some thought and effort into them, but I'm sure some people just give high votes to the breeds they like. Anyway I think it's a fun feature, it's easy to get caught up for a long time looking at the pages

[dogs_4_me]

Yay, I love the dogster updates-- although i am not a big fan of the 'whose a cutie' I think all the dogs are adorable, and everyones page i have seen look great, except some people have only one paw I dont get it, i think everyone on this website (that i have seen) put in effort towards there pet page, and only some people get good votes Just my thouhgs on it though, I cant complain to much, Im on dogster a lot!

[tatsxxx11]

Thanks for the update Jess! Haven't checked Tommy and Tasha's page in a while I really should make one for Star and Cody

[K9soul]

Originally posted by dogs_4_me
Yay, I love the dogster updates-- although i am not a big fan of the 'whose a cutie' I think all the dogs are adorable, and everyones page i have seen look great, except some people have only one paw

The ratings thing is supposed to be for the page, not the dog. It's supposed to be based on whether the page is fun, interesting, full of love, etc... I have definitely seen some pages that have a lot more to them than others. I only gave a 1 paw rating to one person's page. It had 1 picture, and in the very brief bio the person said the dog was stupid, and that its best trick was jumping so high that it broke its own leg. That page made me kinda upset and I gave it a low rating, for the PAGE not for the dog.

I'm sure some will just rate the breeds they like or the dogs they find attractive, but I bet a lot will rate the way it is intended as well, and I think it is a nice way to feedback the people who put a lot into making their doggie's page

[aly]

Hehe, Reecie just has a 3 paw rating Granted I didn't put a lot of time into the page, but eep. I'm going to work on one for Lolly and just ignore those ratings.

Thanks for reminding me about the site though. I made Reece's page a long time ago and then just sort of forgot about it.

[dogs_4_me]

Originally posted by K9soul
The ratings thing is supposed to be for the page, not the dog. It's supposed to be based on whether the page is fun, interesting, full of love, etc... I have definitely seen some pages that have a lot more to them than others. I only gave a 1 paw rating to one person's page. It had 1 picture, and in the very brief bio the person said the dog was stupid, and that its best trick was jumping so high that it broke its own leg. That page made me kinda upset and I gave it a low rating, for the PAGE not for the dog.

I'm sure some will just rate the breeds they like or the dogs they find attractive, but I bet a lot will rate the way it is intended as well, and I think it is a nice way to feedback the people who put a lot into making their doggie's page

Yes I know it is just about the page not the dogs, still, moco has 1 paw, and i am not to creative bbut i put in alot of effot to his page, its just upsetting, but oh well just a website

[K9soul]

Hmm I didn't realize that about Moco, maybe it was just 1 vote? Tasha only had 3 paws yesterday but someone voted today and bumped her up to 4 paws with their vote. They also changed the labels on the ratings, yesterday 3 meant "good page" and today it says 3 means "good page, but leaves me wanting more." It's still in beta and they are still changing it around some. I wouldn't take it personally, I didn't really take it personally when Tasha had 3 paws and Tommy had 4, I figure there are probably more golden owners out there and they are letting breed bias influence their vote, but not everyone will.

Just for example, this page I'd give 5 paws to because the wonderful story about how he joined the family how much he's obviously loved: http://www.dogster.com/pet_page.php?...=42555&p=39450

Whereas others have no bio or arrival story or hardly any info at all and maybe 1 pic, those I'd vote 2 paws which is supposed to mean you'd like to see more info added.

[aly]

I finally got Lolly's page made!

I feel better about the ratings now. Only 6 people have voted on Reece anyway. Maybe it will go higher as more people vote. I've been going through giving ratings hoping to come across a PT dog, but haven't yet.

[K9soul]

I haven't come across a PT pup yet either, but there are over 37,000 pages. I rated about 45 today . I'll have to check out Lolly's page!

[Miss Meow]

Originally posted by aly
Hehe, Reecie just has a 3 paw rating Granted I didn't put a lot of time into the page, but eep. I'm going to work on one for Lolly and just ignore those ratings.

Thanks for reminding me about the site though. I made Reece's page a long time ago and then just sort of forgot about it.

I sent a grumpy e-mail to Catster/Dogster as all the meezer crew only got 3 out of 5. I'd rather not have ratings at all and asked them to switch mine off (I'm sure they can't do it, but it made me feel better ). I think every person who goes to the effort of making a page deserves a high five.

Haven't heard back from them so I have been on a 'rate every pet I see a 5' drive


ETA: Reply from Catster (I do love them, but I'm still rating EVERY pet I see a 5!):
Nicole,

The new feature utilizes a randomly generated pool of kitties each time someone
takes a Who's a Cutie stroll.

We agree that all kitties are cuties deserving of high fives and more. With
the random apsect of the new feature the ratings are just another way for
people to enjoy sharing their pets.

Thanks for your feedback.

Suggestions from cat lovers such as yourself are passed along to the Catster
Committee in charge of site development. Catster is still just a kitty, but
we're growing fast. Watch for changes and adaptations as we grow.

Thanks for loving Catster! We Love you right back!

Meow! Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

-catster-

[aly]

Originally posted by Miss Meow

Haven't heard back from them so I have been on a 'rate every pet I see a 5' drive

Hehehe, that is pretty much what I've been doing. Unless someone put one word answers on everything, I was rating everyone a 5.

I just added Shiloh's page to catster and am working on Skylar's now.

[Cincy'sMom]

I had not seen the ratings before so I went to check out my dogs' pages...Sadie and Ciny each have 3 paws and Spot has 4...but they only have 5 voters. Oh well

Here's Cincy's page The Sadie's and Spot's are linked from there

[K9soul]

I still think people are looking at it wrong if they see it as a pet rating and not a page rating as in whether someone took the time to put a bio and arrival story and add 3-4 pictures versus someone who put 1-word answers for everything and included no bio or arrival story and so on. That's just my opinion though, I guess as long as people view it as a "pet rating" there will be offense taken.

I know not every person on there will use the rating as it was intended but for me personally, I enjoy reading the stories and giving high ratings, or giving the rating that asks for a bit more to be added.

Even if it were a pet rating, I would not need rating system to know that my pets are the best!

I thought it might encourage people to elaborate and add more to their pages, I guess it's all in how you look at it. Tasha's page only had 3 paws rating yesterday, and it honestly didn't bother me. All rhose people knew of her is what they see there on the page. Previously a 5-paw rating meant you thought it was "best on the site" but I think that caused most people to rate lower since you would only want to pick one or two that would be "best on the site." They changed it to mean "I love the page!" now and I see higher ratings than I did before.

Anyway, I did not intend to start any debate on this, I just thought it was neat that they were doing "fun" things with the site.

Edit: I noticed they changed the ratings labels again. Seems like they are feeling out different ways of doing it.