Blog
New social media features
by ferretpapa
I've noticed some people have multiple Instagram/Facebook profiles that they want to share, so I made some improvements. Previously you were limited to one of each type, and you could not control what order they were in.
Well, now you can add as many social media profiles as you want! And you can drag and drop to rearrange them just like you can with your profile links. Just head over to your Edit Profile page to update your social links.
I also added Twitch as a new option. Any other social media platforms I should add?
Global search is here!
by ferretpapa
Previously, the search feature was very limited. You could only search for one type of information at a time. So on the main page, you could search for foods, but if you wanted to look for articles or marketplace items, you'd have to go to a separate page. It made finding information here very difficult.
Finally, you can search "Marshall" and see results for:
- Marshall the company
- All of their foods and treats
- And any articles that I've written about why Marshall Farms sucks :)
Check out the search at the top of the page and let me know what you think!
This is also a step forward in fixing the "advanced search" feature, e.g. letting you search for foods and filter by raw/kibble/canned, filter by ingredients, and more. The advanced search was in beta previously, currently I've taken it down, but it will be back and better than ever very soon.
New feature: your own ferret calendar!
by ferretpapa
If you go to your profile, you'll see a "My Calendar" link in the top right. This will link to your very own calendar which has all of your ferrets' birthdays and anniversaries on it! (If you need to update them, just go to your My Ferrets page.)
Click the "Copy" button to add the link to your clipboard. Then just follow the instructions for adding an external calendar to your calendar:
- Google Calendar - scroll down to "Use a link to add a public calendar"
- macOS Calendar
Now you'll see all of these special days on your calendar. The best part is, you can share this URL with your friends and family too!
Notes:
- You can download the "My Calendar" file too, but then it won't sync any updates. It's best to subscribe to the URL from your calendar application.
- If you add new birthdays/anniversaries, it may take a few days for your calendar to sync the changes. Unfortunately Google has an issue where you will have to remove and re-add the calendar.
More profile customizations!
by ferretpapa
The number one feature requested on my feedback form so far has been more profile customizations!
I've added several new fonts and you can now preview the fonts in the dropdown. You can also choose bold or normal font weight. If you have a specific font you'd like me to add, just comment on this post or submit the feedback form and I'll try to add it (specifically anything from Adobe Fonts).
I also added a couple more settings like setting a separate font for your custom links, and customizing the text color for your ferrets (previously you could only set the background color and the text color would always be white, which didn't work well for light colored backgrounds). And finally I fixed a few bugs so that your bio will use the "body font", and fixed bugs where the shapes wouldn't preview correctly.
What else would you like to be able to customize? Link button size, shadow? Let me know in the comments!
Similar foods
by ferretpapa
I'm working on mapping which foods are most similar to each other. You can see this by clicking on any food and scrolling to the bottom of the page. The intended purpose for this is if you're feeding something that has gone out of stock and need to find a replacement. As we all know, ferrets are extremely picky, and getting them to try something new is difficult!
It will only show foods that are the same type (kibble, canned, etc.) and have the same primary protein source (chicken, duck, lamb, etc.).
From there it looks at all of the foods that match those 2 criteria and compares the meat, protein, and fat percentages, and the protein-to-fat ratio. So really, it's just comparing similar analysis but not ingredients.
For raw and canned foods, this is probably enough. These are usually 90+% meat-based anyways, so as long as they share the same primary animal protein, they should taste similar. For kibbles though, those filler ingredients like corn, potatoes, and so on have a huge effect on the flavor of the food.
So this is still a work in progress, the next version will also look at all the individual ingredients and see which ones they have in common.
Just remember though, ferrets will always be picky. Even if two foods are almost identical, they may turn their nose up at them. An example I've witnessed among my own ferrets is feeding the Ziwipeak chicken cat food vs. Ziwipeak chicken dog food. You couldn't possibly find two foods that are more similar. Literally the only differences are in the size of the pieces and the vitamin and mineral additives. But they'll refuse to eat one or the other.
So if your go-to kibble is out of stock and you're being forced to try something new, you might as well go for a healthier option.