HelpThis page gives you all the information you need to get started with DatingAgency.com, including detailed walkthroughs of all the most common tasks. If there's any question that you find that is not answered on this page, please feel free to contact us. PricesJoining and logging in
Profiles
Photos
Photo EditorSearchingBlocking another member
Messages
Mobile text alerts
Conversations
Friends
Membership pointsPayments and cancellationsMessenger
Phone friends
General
PricesWhat do I get for free?Most of our services are offered completely free of charge. Others are available at great-value low prices. There are two levels of membership:
Guest MembershipWhen you first join us you are given free Guest Membership. You can use your Guest Membership account for as long as you like. The idea is you can meet our members and try us out with no obligation. With Guest Membership you get:
Club MembershipWhen you upgrade your membership from Guest Membership to Club Membership, you can do everything Guest Members can, plus you get these great features:
PricesOur current prices are here. To see prices in Euros or US dollars, please log in and click "Upgrade". Always be on the lookout for special offers!
We also accept payments in Euros and US dollars - log in and click "Upgrade" to see the equivalent prices in your currency. Joining and logging inI've forgotten my account name or passwordWe can send your account name and password to the email address you used when you joined us. Sorry, we can't send account details to any other email address. To get your account details now, click here. I know my login name and password, but I still can't log in.Remember that login names and passwords are case-sensitive, which means you must type them in exactly as they are written in the email we sent you when you joined, using the same combination of upper and lower case letters. It is possible that you are unable to log in because your account has been suspended or deleted. This happens if you have broken the terms and conditions which you agreed to on joining. Unfortunately we are unable to reactivate suspended accounts and cannot enter into any correspondence with you if this should happen. I keep getting a message about cookies when I log inThis can occur if you do not have "cookies" enabled on your computer, or if your computer is set to disallow cookies from this site. A cookie is a tiny, totally harmless file that we must place on your computer in order to keep you logged in to the site. The site cannot be used without cookies enabled. To allow cookies, do this: If you are using Internet Explorer 6
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Why do I need to confirm my email address?There are several reasons. They include: to reduce the risk of people giving us non-existent email addresses, to increase your safety and security, to allow us to answer your customer service emails, to allow us to follow up complaints, to stop people opening up multiple accounts. There are also some great benefits for you if you do confirm your email address. In fact you'll be able to use all of our brilliant free Guest Membership services. How do I confirm my email address?When you joined we sent an email to the email address you provided, asking you to confirm your email address. This email contains a special link which you must click. Once you've clicked this link, we will register your email address as confirmed. I did not receive my confirmation email. What do I do?If you didn't receive your confirmation email it is probably because you entered your email address incorrectly, or because your email account is not working. If so you can enter a new email address and we'll resend your confirmation email. Click here to confirm your email address » ProfilesHow long does it take for my profile to appear?Profiles are usually reviewed within 24 hours. Do you really read every single profile?Yes, we really do read every single profile before placing it online. It takes us a tremendous amount of time and effort but we think it's worth it. How can I change my profile?Once you've created your profile you can change it as often as you like. To do this:
How do I remove my profile?There's no need to remove your profile completely, because if you want your profile to disappear from the site for a while, you can "hide" it temporarily. To do this:
I edited my profile - why has it been taken off the site?When you edit your profile we must treat it as if it was a brand new entry. Therefore it stays hidden from others until we review it. PhotosHow many photos can I upload?You can upload as many as 10 photos at any one time. Do they all have to be of me?No, only the first photo you upload has to be of you. This is your portrait photo, which will be displayed in your profile, in search results, etc. After that you can upload anything, within reason! We review all photos before they go online, and those that breach our terms and conditions are deleted. How long does it take for my photo to appear?Photos are usually reviewed within 48 hours. Can I edit my photo after uploading it?Yes, you can edit any photo before it has been reviewed. Our photo editor allows you to correct some of the more common problems with photos:
Click the edit photo link to load the photo into the photo editor. Note: Photos cannot be edited after they have been reviewed. Can I hide my photograph for a while?Yes, you can do this at any time on the My Photos page. Just clear the check box marked Show and press the save changes button. This hides the photo without deleting it. If you want to show your photo again, tick the check box and press update again. Can I give my photo a caption?Yes, you can do this at any time on the My Photos page. Type your caption text into the Caption box and press the save changes button. We review captions before they are allowed online, so your photo will not appear in your profile until this happens. Inappropriate captions are deleted. Please see our terms and conditions for more details. What formats can I upload a photo in?Digital photos can be uploaded in most popular formats, including:
We recommend the JPEG format, which generally gives the best results for most types of photos. I don't have a digital photo? Can I send you one in the post?Yes - details of how to do this are given when you click "my photos" after you've logged in. Why did you reject my photo?All photos are reviewed before they go online and we reserve the right to reject any photo that is submitted to us. Generally we reject photos for the following reasons:
This list is not exclusive, but chances are that if a photo you've uploaded is rejected, you will find it was for one of the reasons given above. Note that there are special rules for the portrait photo, so it may be that a picture we rejected as your portrait would be accepted as an additional photo. The rule to remember is always upload your portrait photo first! If your photo is rejected we will send an email to the email address that you have registered with us to notify you. Photos that we reject are deleted from our system. Some people have their photos on the home page and on the welcome page. Can I get mine there?The photos on the home page and the welcome page are randomly selected and change every hour. Keep checking back to see if you are being featured! Photo EditorUsing the photo editorAdjusting the brightness and contrastDrag the brightness and contrast slider controls to raise or lower the brightness and contrast. RotatingUse the rotate controls to tilt the photo left or right. The buttons rotate the picture by 90° clockwise or anti-clockwise, the slider rotates the picture by a variable value. SquishingDrag the squish slider control to the left to lengthen the image, to the right to widen the image. CroppingHighlight an area on the photo by dragging the mouse across it. Press the crop button. All the image outside the selection is deleted. Saving your changes
SearchingHow do I find someone I like?To find potential partners you have to do a search. Click here to start. How does postcode searching work?If you are a member living in the UK, you can search for someone in your neighbourhood. Using our postcode search page, you can easily find members who live nearest to you! Simply go to the postcode search page, enter your postcode and search. In fact if you've already registered your postcode, it's even easier because we fill in the postcode directly. To protect your privacy we do not disclose your postcode or any other details about you except those you have entered in your public profile. Note: At the moment this service only applies to members living in the UK. The distances we display give the direct, "as the crow flies", distance. It's not therefore an exact indication of how far you'll have to travel to meet your date! Blocking another memberWhat is a block?If you wish to limit your contact with another member, you can block them. Blocking has the following effects:
How do I block another member?You will see a link to block the member on their profile, and on each message you receive from them. You can remove the block at any time. Removing a block reverses all the effects above. Will they know I have blocked them?Blocking a member does not alert that member to the fact you have blocked them. You cannot get a list of who has blocked you. How do I remove a block?Did you block someone by mistake, or maybe you want someone you've been blocking to see your profile again? Go to "My Favorites" and click on the "Blocked list" link, or click on the "Blocked" link on your Home page. You will see a list containing the names of all the people you are currently blocking. To remove someone from this list, just click on the "Remove" link next to their name. MessagesHow do I send a message?Once you've found someone you like by searching you can send them a message. This service is only available to Club Members. To send a message, do this:
If you have Guest Membership and would like to upgrade to being a Club Member, click here. I have a message from someone. Why can't I find their profile on the site?Members do not need to have a profile online to send you a message. If you've received one and cannot find the sender on the site it means their profile is currently hidden or under review, or has not been accepted for publication. Alternatively, the member could be very new and not have completed their profile yet. I got an email from you telling me there is a message waiting for me. What do I do?We notify you by email when you have a message from another member. You must have Club Membership to read and reply to messages. To read your message, do this:
I got a message from you telling me there's a message waiting for me, but I can't see it when I log in. Why?This normally happens when you have blocked the person who sent you the message. To check who you have blocked and delete a block, do this:
How do I reply to a message?To reply to a message you have received, do this:
Reading and replying to messages is only available to Club Members. Upgrade your account. I have received an upsetting message - what can I do?If you receive a message from another member that you consider to be upsetting, or think breaks our terms and conditions, you can report it to us. To do this, please use our complaints form. Mobile text alertsWhat are mobile text alerts?Mobile text alerts are notifications that keep you up-to-date with interest in your profile even when you are away from your computer. Text alerts are sent to your mobile phone in the standard message format (also known as Short Messaging Service or SMS) used by all UK mobile networks. You'll know when you've received an alert because a message from "DatingAlert" will appear in your mobile phone inbox. Just open the message to see what's going on! Who can use them?Currently mobile text alerts are only available to members living in the United Kingdom. What do I get for free?You will receive 5 free mobile text alerts when you register your mobile phone. You can register your phone now (requires you to be logged in). If you change your mobile phone number you can register another number, but it won't get you any more free alerts! How do I start receiving alerts?To receive mobile text alerts, you must first register. Go to the Mobile text alerts page, enter your mobile phone number and select from the options on offer. You can receive an alert in response to any of the following events:
You can receive alerts for any member on the site or only from people on your list of favourites. When you register with us, you receive 5 free mobile text alerts. If you want to go on receiving texts after you have used your free alerts, you need to buy additional credits. How do I buy mobile text alerts?You can buy mobile text alerts on the site from this page. Payments are made through WorldPay, part of the Royal Bank of Scotland group, and are charged to your credit or debit card. For your peace of mind, we do not charge your mobile phone bill. Will other people see my phone number?No. Your phone number is kept confidential. We only use it to send you mobile alerts, it is not made available to other members. ConversationsWhat are conversations?Our conversations rooms allow members to really get to know each other by starting or participating in public discussions with each other. How do I read the conversations?To read the conversations, do this:
You can sort the conversations in a room in various ways, to make it easier to find interesting conversations.
How do I participate in conversations?To participate in the conversations, do this:
If you want to start your own conversation, click the "Start a new conversation" link. New conversations are always pre-reviewed before publication, so they do not go online straight away. Why does my reply not appear where I thought it would in the conversation?Where your reply appears depends on which message you replied to. If you replied to the very first message in the thread, it would appear under that message, but after all the previous replies to that message. If you replied to a message in the middle of the thread, your reply will appear after that message and after and previous replies. This technique is called threading. How can I see all the conversations I have contributed to?You can get a list of all the conversations you've taken part in. To do this:
How can I see only conversations I am interested in?You can bookmark a conversation so you can easily get back to it later, even if you haven't taken part in the conversation. To do this:
To see a list of your bookmarked conversations, click "My conversations" on your left-hand menu when logged in. To remove a bookmark from a conversation, do this:
What do some of the terms people use in the conversations rooms mean?Sometimes it can be hard to understand what people are saying in the conversations rooms, because they may use acronyms or jargon. Here is a short list of very common jargon you might see:
Can I remove something I said in the conversations?Because your contribution forms a part of the conversation, it does not make sense to remove individual contributions to the conversations after publication. So we regret we are unable to remove messages unless they go against our conversations guidelines. I just found something I wrote in the conversations on a search engine! Why is this?Anything you publish on the Internet in a public web site (such as this) can be picked up by search engines, and kept for all to see, pretty much forever. You should never commit anything to writing on the Internet, including this site, if you don't want your friends, your neighbours, your employer, your employees, your husbands/wives/girlfriends/boyfriends, ex-lovers, parents, grandparents, children or anybody else to see. This applies to both forum contributions, profile details, photographs and everything else you publish online. If you don't want others to see it on the Internet, please don't publish it on the Internet. If it does appear in a search engine, please don't write in asking us to remove it because we do not own the search engines and we cannot control what they index and republish. We ask all members to take responsibility for what they publish to this public web site. What are the rules for conversations?We don't have any rules over the subject matter of what can be discussed. However, we do have firm rules over how subjects can be discussed. In short, all conversations must be friendly and must obey our terms and conditions. Additionally we have the following guidelines:
Please note that if you say anything unfriendly in the conversations your account may be removed without notice and you would not be entitled to any refunds. How are the conversations moderated?Conversations are moderated by members with backup from staff. All new messages are scanned for obviously offensive content, and those which contain such material are held back for review prior to publication. Messages which receive a high number of "Inappropriate" ratings from other members will be manually reviewed by the moderators and compared with the guidelines. If they break the guidelines they may be removed. Why has my contribution not been posted?If your contribution has not been immediately posted it has been held back for reviewing by our staff. It probably contains words or phrases which are frequently used in an unfriendly context. Please wait whilst we review your contribution. Why do I see 'Cannot display conversation' when I click on a conversation?There are three main reasons why you may see this message:
How do I report an unfriendly message?If you find a message which offends you or you think breaks our guidelines, you must tell us straight away. Click the "Rate: Inappopriate" link by each message to make your report. If a particular message receives a large number of inappropriate report we will manually review it and take the necessary action. You can only rate each message once, and you cannot rate your own messages. This system works well because it is a distributed system - no one person can get your postings removed, so the potential for bullying or one on one grudges is minimised. How do I report an excellent message?If you find a message which is particularly insightful, informative, interesting or just extremely well written, we encourage you to rate it "Excellent". Click the "Rate: Excellent" link by the message to make your report. This will enable us to flag up particularly brilliant messages and give membership points to those who write them. You can only rate each message once, and you cannot rate your own messages. FriendsWhat are friends?You can make a friendship link to any other member - male or female. The link shows you consider them to be a friend. If you have a two-way friendship link (known as Mutual Friends) then you will appear on that person's profile page, and they will appear on yours. It is a way of discovering new people, and growing your social network. Why friends on an online dating site?Why introduce the concept of friends on an online dating site? What have friends got to do with dating? The main reason is that our research has shown that up to 75% of all new couples meet through mutual friends. When we are dating we want to meet trustworthy people, and as we already trust our friends, we know they will introduce us to trustworthy people. The trust we have in our existing friends is extended to their friends. It's a fantastic way of bridging the gap between strangers on the Internet. Also, the more friends you have, the more visible you are on-site, because you will appear in more places, and on more members' profiles. This will in turn bring you more approaches from new members who will see you are popular, well-liked, and trusted by our members. But it's not all about dating anyway - you simply can't have enough friends and you don't need a reason to add a few more! What does Mutual Friends mean?It means two members have a friendship link to each other. They have both acknowledged that they are friends of each other. Only mutual friends will appear on each other's profile pages. Adding friends to your circleTo add a friend to your friendship circle, browse to their profile page, where you will see a "make friend" link. Click the link and that person will be instantly added to your friendship circle. In addition, we will send them an email with a special link so they can come straight back to the site and return the friendship link, making you Mutual Friends. Seeing who has made me a friendYou will receive an email telling you when another member has made you a friend. But you can also, at any time, see the list of friends you have made and those who have made a friendship link to you, by clicking the "Friends" link in the top menu. Removing a friendship linkTo remove a friendship link, click the "Friends" link in the top menu, then click "My circle of friends". Then click the "Remove" link next to their name. They will now be removed from your list of friends. Can I delete somebody's friendship link to me?Whilst you can delete your friendship links to other members (see above) you cannot delete their friendship links to you. This is because the link is owned by that member, not by you. If they consider you a friend, there's nothing you can do about it! Can I remove myself from somebody else's profile?Yes. There are two ways to do this. If you no longer consider that person a friend, remove the friendship link (see above) completely, and you will no longer appear on their profile. A less drastic option, for when you want to maintain a friendship link to another member but simply don't want to appear on their profile page, is to click the "Hide" link in the "Whose circle am I in page?" in the "Friends" area. You will then continue to have a friendship link but will not appear on their profile page. Membership pointsWhat are membership points?Membership points indicate how well known a member is and how much they participate in the site. It is very important for you to gain membership points to increase other members' confidence in you. Points are given for a lot of different reasons, some of which include: The more points you have, the more other members will trust you and have confidence in you. This will result in more messages and better online relationships. What are membership levels?The more points a member has the higher their membership level. This is simply an at-a-glance way to tell how well known and site-active the member is. Payments and cancellationsAre payments secure?Yes, all payments are taken either through our partners WorldPay (part of the Royal Bank of Scotland), or PayPal (which is owned by eBay). So you can be confident that your payment information is fully encrypted and protected. How do I cancel my subscription?You can cancel your payments at any time. You'll still be able to enjoy your full Club Membership services up until the last day of your current subscription period. WorldPay users only: If you pay by WorldPay you can cancel online via this web site. To cancel now, please go to the cancellation page. PayPal users only: If you pay by PayPal we cannot stop your PayPal subscription for you - you must cancel your PayPal subscription yourself. This is because we do not have the username and password required to break into your PayPal account and start or stop subscriptions on your behalf, and PayPal provides no automatic way for us to cancel your subscription. Here is the information taken from PayPal's help pages to help you stop your PayPal subscription:
Please note that closing your account with us does not stop your PayPal subscription - for the reasons stated above. No refunds will be given on PayPal overpayments that occur due to your failure to stop your own PayPal subscription. MessengerWhat is the chat Messenger?Our chat Messenger enables you to chat in real time directly with other members. It's like an online date! It's great fun to use, and really helps you to get to know people quickly. What do I need to chat online?Online chat is available to Club Members and you need to be logged on. You must also have the Adobe Flash Player version 6.0 or above installed, which you can get from the Adobe web site at http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer You can find more information about our Club Membership here. I have a pop-up window blocker installed on my machine and cannot receive messages from other members. How can I see who has sent me a message?You must configure your pop-up blocker to allow popups from our site. Please consult the blocker instructions on how to do this. If this option is unavailable, you must disable the pop-up window blocker. If it is not disabled, you will not be able to receive incoming messages from other members. How do I start a conversation with someone?You start a conversation by clicking on Fancy a chat? It's important to remember that the conversation does not start until you send a message (see below for how). If you don't send the first message, the other person won't know you're there. How do I send a message?Type your message in the light blue box in the Messenger window. Express yourself with smileys, bold, underline or italics, then either press the Enter or Return key, or click the Send button to send the message. If you are typing a long message, you can make the text area bigger by dragging the resize button in the left hand column just above the light blue box. How do I know when someone is trying to chat to me?A small browser window will open on your screen. This is the Messenger: it shows the name of the person who is chatting and what they are saying. If they have a photo, that also displays. If you click on the caller's name then their profile page will open, so you can see a bit more about the person you are chatting to. Can I turn off the sound that plays when I send or receive a message?Yes. You can mute all incoming audio by clicking on the Mute audio button in the message window. Can I decide who can chat to me?Yes. By default, all current Club Members can chat to you when you are online provided that each of you is of the gender that the other is looking for, or that the other member is in your list of favourites. People you have blocked cannot chat to you. You also have the option to restrict this further by specifying that only members in your favourites list can chat to you. Lastly, you have the option to opt out of online chat altogether and specify that no-one can chat to you. Set your chat preferences now! Troubleshooting chat messenger problemsIf you are having problems using the chat messenger, please read the following guide which may help. Be active The best way to let us know when you're on the site is to use it. If you stay on one page for too long, we'll think you've gone away and then after a while we'll stop sending chat requests to your browser. So stay active when you're logged on: read your messages, check a few profiles, buy some more mobile text alerts - anything. Chat to yourself Log in and then click the Preview link on the home page under My profile. If your profile has a chat link, try clicking on it and see what happens. You should see the chat window appear and you can try it out by typing in some text in the message field and pressing the Send button. Yes you will be talking to yourself, but you'll have proved that your chat system is working. So it's not like you're going crazy or anything. Check your browser settings Browsers nowadays all come with features designed to stop unwanted windows popping up on your screen. That's great but it means you might have to tell your browser to allow the chat Messenger window to open. How you do that depends on the type of browser you're using. Internet Explorer (IE) users
Note: Different versions of IE may differ slightly in how they present these options. Mozilla Firefox users
Opera users
Check Flash is installed Just about everyone has Flash these days, but if you do see a message telling you that you need to install Flash, you can download it for free from: http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer. Just follow the installation instructions on the Adobe site. Phone friendsWhat is phone friends?The phone friends system offers a safer, confidential alternative to conventional phone calling, enabling you to talk on your phone with any of your potential partners without either of you revealing personal phone numbers. How does the phone friends system work?
What about voicemail?We understand that voicemail and answerphone systems quite often give away personal information that would be better kept confidential. For this reason we will not put calls through to your voicemail and if you are unable to take a call the caller will hear a message saying that the recipient is unavailable. How will I know who is calling?Your phone friends phone number will be displayed as caller ID when you receive a call. To make things easier you might want to enter your phone friends number into your phone's contact list when you receive the email confirming that the contact has been set up. Can someone pass my phone friends number onto anyone else to use?No. You may call or be called anytime through your unique phone friends number, but only by dialing in from the number registered by your contact. Anyone calling from another phone will hear a message that they have no contact on this number. Can I cut off the phone friends number for one connection but keep my other contacts?Yes. Simply go to My phone friends, select the contact from the list and select the delete button. Your other contacts will be unaffected. Do I need to purchase special equipment or software?No. The phone friends system will work on any normal telephone. Can I change my personal phone number and keep my existing phone friends contacts?Yes. You may change your registered telephone number at any time and all calls will begin and end at that phone with immediate effect. GeneralWhat are membership points?Membership points are our way of saying "thanks" to members who really participate. You can earn membership points in four ways:
As a reward, we'll make sure your profile stays right at the top of the search results on all the most popular searches. This way you will increase the numbers of people looking at your profile, and therefore increase your chances of somebody you like seeing your profile. Why didn't I see myself on the latest members list?The list only shows the most recent 25 profiles to be created. Yours was probably not created as recently as the ones which are showing. Do you have any dating tips or safety advice?In most circumstances it is perfectly safe to meet and date people you meet on the Internet. But there are some common sense guidelines you'll need to follow to stay safe. Read our advice page. What are favourites?Favourites are a way of storing a list of people you like so you can easily find their profiles without having to search for them again and again. To add someone to your list of favourites, find their profile and then click "add to favourites". What are kisses and winks?Kisses and winks are a great way to encourage other members to contact you. Shy of making the first move? Send a wink, or if you're feeling really brave - a kiss! I'm worried about giving you my email address.There's no need to be. Read our privacy statement. Do I have to include my email address when I send a message to anybody, or when I reply?No - this site does not rely on email addresses for you to be able to communicate, which is how it is a more anonymous means of communication than standard email. What if I want to close my account?If you no longer require our services and wish to close your account, please visit the close account page. |
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This opens the Messenger and you're ready to start chatting!