Hi everyone!

This is Ted Rheingold, the guy who launched Catster all the way back in 2004. I wanted to be the one to write about what we’ve launched today because we’re very excited about it and it reflects both the ways we’ve seen usage of our sites evolve and the technologies modern browsers and internet technologies provide. I’m sure it’s a bit of a shock, even if you have been following the screen shots and updates we posted, so here’s why we did it.

Every single day, Catster attracts tens of thousands of visitors seeking information, answers, advice, recommendations, support, guidance and help. The site is bigger then ever and used by so many people for so many different reasons, so we had to separate all the informational resources people are seeking from the community features, which also attract tens of thousands of people a day.

Today’s upgrades allow the site to serve everyone better. For our members who use the site to communicate, share, laugh and learn from each other we’ve created a brand new Community Homepage that when logged in has all the the features and links that you previously found on the logged-in homepage. In fact, when logged in, you can use the Community tab as a shortcut to most of your favorite links. It’s very realistic that if paw mail, forums, groups and fun are why you come to the site regularly then you might just want to bookmark the Community Homepage and use that as your starting point.

Also upgraded is an informative new site homepage and many top-level pages dedicated to all aspects of cat companionship. Whereas new visitors used to have to dig down into the forums or groups to learn about raising kittens or picking the right food for an elderly cat, we’re organized all the articles, vet columns, news stories, photos and most important quotes from members about their experiences on each specific topic.

And there’s more big news too! We have entered into a long-term partnership with Petfinder and we could not be more excited. Our adoptable pet searches now show all pets added to our sites as well as on Petfinder, which means we are now connecting almost 200,000 pets in needs of new homes with people seeking them. We’re going to be doing a lot more with Petfinder too in the coming months. We also added an Adoptable Pet of the Day feature which appears on the homepage.

Whew! That’s quite a lot to update in one day. It’s actually been months and months in the process. And it’s very, very important to us that these updates work for you. So tell us, what do you think of the new Community Page? What do you think of getting to all your favorite places? Please know that there are a number of items we’ll be improving immediately based upon your requests so please let us know everything you would like. You can post right here in the comments, you can use the contact form, or you can post in the forums. This isn’t done until you tell us it’s done.

Thanks so much for being such amazing members! We are so lucky to have you.

Ted and all of Catster HQ