Dogster
| Catster/Dogster | |
| |
| |
| URL | http://dogster.com |
| Status | Online! Community is not closing! |
| Archiving status | Saved! |
| Archiving type | Unknown |
| Project source | https://github.com/ArchiveTeam/dogster-grab |
| Project tracker | http://tracker.archiveteam.org/dogster/ |
| IRC channel | #archiveteam-bs (on hackint) (formerly #rawdogster (on EFnet)) |
| Data? | archiveteam_dogster |
Dogster.com and Catster.com are social networks for pets.
Users of the site create a pet page which is a customizable web page for which they can give treats or purchase virtual items using what are called zealies. This virtual currency can be given to the users after engaging in some of the website activities, using PayPal or by purchasing a Plus subscription.
Dogster won the 2005 Webby category for best community site. It was acquired by SAY Media in 2011. On January 16, 2014, SAY Media declared that all the social networking and forums would be removed from Dogster and Catster.[1]
Shut down
Community Areas of Dogster and Catster to Close March 3
It is with a heavy heart that we announce that we will be closing the Community areas of Dogster and Catster in March.
John Vars | Jan 16th 2014
Dear Dogsters,
Today we are announcing some changes at Dogster and Catster. While the Dogster and Catster sites will continue to exist as daily magazines that serve the worldwide community of dog and cat families, it is with a heavy heart that we announce that we will be closing the Community areas of the sites effective March 3. This means that members of the Dogster Community will no longer be able to see Pet Profiles, Forums, Groups, Answers, Local Listings, Photo Galleries, Games, Quizzes, Adoption, Dog of the Day, Diary Central, the Gift store, and the Community homepage past that date. [2]
Dear Catsters,
Today we are announcing some changes at Catster and Dogster. While the Catster and Dogster sites will continue to exist as daily magazines that serve the worldwide community of dog and cat families, it is with a heavy heart that we announce that we will be closing the Community areas of the sites effective March 3. This means that members of the Catster Community will no longer be able to see Pet Profiles, Forums, Groups, Answers, Local Listings, Photo Galleries, Games, Quizzes, Adoption, Cat of the Day, Diary Central, the Gift store, and the Community homepage past that date.[3]
Big News: Dogster's Community Features Will Not Be Shutting Down
As soon as we know what the final plan is, you will know it too. Here's what we can tell you about what's happening for now.
Team Dogster | Feb 12th 2014
Hi Dogsters and Catsters,
A little over two weeks ago, we were sad to announce that we were being forced to shut down our community areas. But then something incredible happened. You rallied, and refused to give up on us. You voiced your dismay to anyone who would listen. And you know what? It worked.
Today we can tell you that we are no longer shutting down the community areas of Dogster and Catster on March 3rd as was initially planned. We are developing a new plan with a new partner to keep all your favorite features running, but it may take a month to get everything finalized so thanks in advance for your patience. We will share the details with you as soon as we have them figured out.[4]
Site structure
- sitemap not useful. also it's malformed because its gzip within gzip.
- profile ids are unique within the dogster/catster universe. eg: /dogs/562072 = /cats/562072
- ids appear incremental : /cats/1213153
- gallery is javascript powered, but it seems like its the same photos to the profiles
- videos are flash: eg harley_play_with_trixie_at_the_dog_park
- <embed name="player" src="http://content.fliqz.com/components/5d248aaf154d4fa7aae86ad370a85e69.swf" width="450" height="392" allowfullscreen="true" wmode="transparent" flashvars="file=a50121b89a3c36cabd705dc08eaad843&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer">
- 5d248aaf154d4fa7aae86ad370a85e69.swf
- loads another flash scene
- videp
- use https://code.google.com/p/get-flash-videos
chris@kaiju13:~/Desktop$ get_flash_videos http://www.dogster.com/video/982893/harley_play_with_trixie_at_the_dog_park Downloading http://www.dogster.com/video/982893/harley_play_with_trixie_at_the_dog_park Using method 'fliqz' for http://content.fliqz.com/components/5d248aaf154d4fa7aae86ad370a85e69.swf Downloading http://cdn9.fliqz.com/9ee4cc098f42424a83fc1cfb996761b4.flv... Harley_play_with_Trixie_at_the_dog_park.flv: 100% (5624.05 / 5624.05 KiB) Done. Saved 5759032 bytes to Harley_play_with_Trixie_at_the_dog_park.flv
- forums appear to be separate: /forums/Cat_Health vs /forums/Cat_Health
- all (breed specific forums in option picker)
- thread: When_its_Time_to_Say_Goodbye/thread/799482
- thread: thread_url.php?thread_id=799482
- canonical trick?
- groups:
- all
- a group: /group/Rainbow_bridge_angel_babies-8835
- redirect to canonical: /group/grp_page.php?g=8835
- forums
- thread (forums appears to be not specific /forums/RAWDOGSTER/thread/759708)
- messages
- events
- links
- members
- diary: http://www.dogster.com/diary/dcentral.php
- same thing as gallery, they are from the profiles
- answers: http://www.dogster.com/answers/
- games: http://www.dogster.com/games/
- not really games, more like html forms
- local: http://www.dogster.com/local/
- by region: local/TX/Austin
- family: http://www.dogster.com/family/2
How can I help?
You can help us by downloading the Warrior. It's working when it says it's running the 
Dogster and Catster project.
Alternatively, you can run the scripts manually.
If you have questions or problems, ask us on IRC.
Archives
The profiles, group pages (and the members, links, etc), forum threads, and questions are saved in the archiveteam_dogster collection.
ArchiveBot is grabbing the local listings.
The list of forum threads and list of questions may still need to be downloaded.
External links
- "Dogster" at Wikipedia
- "The Death of Dogster"
- Ted Rheingold @tedr: *HUGE* thanks to @textfiles & ArchiveTeam Warriors …
