We are glad to inform you that SkadateCS.com has now become a public resource free for anyone to join. We welcome everybody seeking or offering professional customization services for SkaDate Dating Software.

At this point we need your assistance. If you’ve ever had SkaDate modifications done by a third-party specialist, and liked the quality of the services provided – refer the developer to SkadateCS.com, and send your positive review to SkadateCS administration. We will be glad to add the contractor you’ve recommended to the Featured List, thus helping other SkadateCS customers find the right person to trust their projects to.

You can learn more about SkadateCS news at SkaDate Dating Software blog.

Best regards,
SkaDate Team

Here we are finally – the Christmas Holidays are right behind the corner. We can feel them coming with decorated trees, cozy family evenings and Christmas gifts we’ve been dreaming about during the year.

SkaDate Team have come up with two great news: the new build of SkaDate Dating Software, and a Christmas special: SkaDate Script + Mobile Edition for only $350 (regular price $500). The special offer will last until December 25, 2010, so hurry up to start your successful business with SkaDate now!

You can find more information on the new software build features and discounts at our official blog, and from our pre-sale team who are happy to answer your questions 24/7.

Happy Holidays from SkaDate Team!

We are pleased to announce releasing a new version of SkaDate Dating Software – SkaDate 8 Engage.

It has a number of stunning features for members, and a few significant improvements for site administrators.

Here is what you will find in SkaDate 8 Engage Dating Script:

• New social networking and dating templates

SkaDate 8 comes with two new themes: Bubbles (great for a dating site) and Moonlight (perfect for a business or social network).

• Games

A capturing entertaining feature for your site members that will make their online dating experience even more fun and interactive. Includes single- and multiplayer games, such as: PentHouse Pool Single Player, Domino Multiplayer, PokerStar, Learn Texas Holdem, Domino Singleplayer, Texas Hold’em Multiplayer.

The Games feature can be easily enabled/disabled via the Admin Panel. Games can be user credits- and membership-dependent.

• Speed-Dating

SkaDate 8 Engage introduces another way for your site members to get to know each other in relaxed and social atmosphere.

Speed-dating is a series of time-limited conversations the event participants go through with the members who meet the matching criteria. It allows site users to meet a lot of new people within one date in a fun and easy way.

Speed-dating feature can work with default Ajax text chat or with audio/video chat add-ons.

• Sign-up with Mobile Edition

Your potential site members now have a freedom to join right from their mobile device. A simplified (shortened) sign-up form consists of a few basic questions making the join process fast and simple.

• Password protection for photo albums

Members’ privacy comes first. Instead of protecting each and every private photo with a password, site users can now make the whole album password-protected so that only the closest friends could see its contents.

• Comments summary

Now a site user can see comments for all the content they uploaded in one place. This simplifies the process of comments overview, and helps users not to miss a thing.

• Photo tags

Now there is a possibility to tag photos with keywords, thus making photo browsing more convenient for site users.

• New secure image (captcha)

The new captcha looks more attractive while providing the same level of security.

• Sound signal on incoming IM message

This little improvement will ensure the members receive each and every single message when having a private chat. Can be turned on/off by a member.

• Categories for Virtual Gifts

The Virtual Gifts divided by categories make it easier for a user to choose the right gift for every special occasion.

• Possibility to modify the MemberHome page components via Admin Panel

A simplified component-based code customization interface is now available in SkaDate Online Dating Software for a MemberHome page. Now you can play with the MemberHome page components without accessing the software files and folders on the server.

• Simplified interface for disabling dating features

SkaDate PHP Dating Script comes with a variety of dating and social networking features, thus allowing you to create a website that would match either concept. To make it easier for you to convert your site into a purely social network, we have made it possible to disable all the major dating features in one place in the Admin Panel (no code modification required).

• Option to choose European or US date format on the site

To make it right both for our US and European customers we have added a possibility to choose the date format to display on your site that best meets the needs of your target audience.

• Delete a profile with member content

Those having to deal with spammer profiles on a daily basis will like this feature a lot. It gives you an option to delete a member’s profile along with all the content they were able to post while having access to your site. Meaning that you won’t have to surf through the forum and blog posts searching for the spam content and deleting it every time you remove an unwanted profile.

These and other features added to SkaDate 8 Engage bring it to the new level of interactivity, making the software even more competitive and user-friendly.

Good news for the existing SkaDate customers is that having enhanced the script with new features, we didn’t change the core. This makes SkaDate 8 Engage fully compatible with versions 7 and 7,5 meaning there is no need to restore site modifications from scratch after upgrading.

Check the Live Demo of SkaDate 8 Engage, learn more about the new SkaDate Dating Software features, and ask your questions from our pre-sale team 24/7.

We are glad to announce launching a new build of SkaDate Dating Script – 7.5.1877

SkaDate Dating Software now features even more colorful community templates, popular user features and site administration improvements.

Below is what you will find in SkaDate 7.5.1877:

USER FEATURES

Three new templates: Avatar, Dream Date, Guys

Facebook contacts import

Your members have a great opportunity to invite their Facbook friends to join your site. A perfect promotional tool for your online dating business!

Possibility to add RSS feeds from third-party resources

Your site members can make their profile page more interesting and attractive by adding RSS feeds from their favorite resources

Categories for video

Categories for video will make it easier for your site members to browse the uploaded clips.

Possibility to start new conversations from the Mailbox

Site users can start new conversations right from the mailbox. For their convenience, the system will offer auto-complete options from the friends list for the addressee field.

Forum improvements:

- possibility to attach files to forum posts

- possibility to insert pictures to a forum post body

- possibility to send private messages from the forum post view page

ADMIN FEATURES

Notification about new member registration

To provide faster profile review and maximum attention to the new registered users, site Admins have an option to enable new member registration notifications to email.

Classifieds items approval tool

Site Admins can choose whether new classified items will be approved automatically or manually.

SITE FEATURES

Geo-targeted advertisement

SkaDate Dating Software has come up with another tool for making your ad campaigns even more efficient. Geo-targeted ads allow you to reach the target audience with the content that depends on the visitor’s location.

PHP 5.3 support

SkaDate now supports PHP 5.3 in order to keep up with the latest coding standards.

There have been done a few fixes and usability improvements, which has made SkaDate Dating Script more stable and user-friendly.

Learn more about the new SkaDate build at our Dating Software Blog, check the Live Demo and ask your questions from our pre-sales team 24/7 at www.skadate.com.

Kind regards
SkaDate Team

Greetings to all SkaDate dating software customers, and those thinking to join our team.

We have an update on SkaDate individual ticket support service.

First of all, we have come up with a long-awaited decision to provide one month of individual ticket support for free to all new SkaDate dating script customers. We understand how difficult it may be for site owners to deal with a management system of professional dating software at the initial stage. Our support operators will be glad to assist you with mastering SkaDate dating software configuration tips, thus tailoring the site to your needs.

Another news is a slight change in SkaDate ticket support hours. From April 7, 2010 we have been providing individual ticket support from 9 am to 6 pm (GMT +6, Monday-Friday) instead of the former 10 am to 7 pm schedule.

We hope the changes in our support service will become another advantage for building a successful business with SkaDate dating script.

Best regards,
SkaDate Team

Hello all,

SkaDate Team is glad to present a new SkaDate dating software build – 7.5.1550.

It comes with new features, usability enhancements and minor bug fixes. This is what you will find in SkaDate 7.5.1550:

• Improved User Points system

• New Latest Activity items

• Official safari support

• Integration of Honesty Online background check service

• Possibility to disable the ‘Latest Activity’ feature in the Admin Panel

• Possibilitiy to add emoticons to the status line on the Memberhome page

• Possibility for Site Administrator to set the number of profiles displayed in the ‘Friends List’

• Usability improvements

Learn more about the new SkaDate dating script build, check the Live Demo and ask your questions from our pre-sales operators 24/7 at www.SkaDate.com.

Best regards,
SkaDate Team

Today we are happy to inform all SkaDate community members that SkaDate dating and community software has taken its place among iDate 2010 Awards Finalists in the ‘Best Dating Software Provider’ nomination. We wouldn’t be able to make it without your help and support. And we would like to thank each and every one of your for contributing into our success! The nomination winners will be announced at the iDate Awards ceremony on January 28, 2010 in Miami Beach during the Internet Dating Conference, where SkaDate Dating Software Company will be represented by the CEO Emil Sarnogoev.

Keep your fingers crossed for us, and thank you for being a great support!

Best regards,
SkaDate Team

Greetings to all the blog readers and Skalfa news followers!

We have something new for you today. From now on you will be able to read about SkaDate Dating Software news and updates at the new SkaDate blog.

We will continue informing you about all important events, provide useful information on site promotion and maintenance, and keep you updated on SkaDate dating and community software news.

Feel free to check out the new blog, read about the latest SkaDate software release, post comments and share your opinion, which has always been important to us.

Kind regards,

SkaDate Team

Greetings everybody!

SkaDate Team is glad to express the warmest congratulations on Christmas and New Year Holidays! We wish you best luck in all your endeavours, and may your life be filled with love and happiness!

We would also like to inform you that we will be out of office for New Year Holidays from December 30, 2009 to January 4, 2010.

So, see you in the New Year which will hopefully bring even more positive events and achievements!

Best Regards and Happy New Year,
SkaDate Team

Image source: thedigeratilife.com

Those of you having a community website inevitably have to deal with processing users information such as name, e-mail, telephone number, sometimes residential address and even billing details. It’s not that everone is happy to share it with a site owner, but almost any registration form requires a user’s private details. In order to gain trust of your existing and potential members from the very start you have to explain (clearly and honestly) what kind of personal information you keep track of, why you need it and how you use it. That’s what a Privacy Policy is needed for: to reassure users that their private data is safe in your hands. Nothing sophisticated of course, but requiring serious attention.

If we speak about a ‘king-size’ business attracting special attention of law-keepers – it is better to hire a professional lawyer for writing a Privacy Policy, as an incorrect privacy statement may seriously affect your business. Otherwise, you can perfectly handle writing a Privacy Policy by yourself. As an option, you can take one of the numerous Privacy Policy samples on the Internet, and adjust it for your website. Just take into account the tips given below.

1) Tell what personal information you collect from your website users, and why.
Your website members have a legal right to know what types of their private data you will have access to. You have to list everything: name, e-mail address, telephone, IP address etc. Then you should explain what you need that data for, and how it is going to be shared within and probably outside your company. Your aim is to assure users that their personal information will not be used in any way abusing your privacy. Give special attention to this part to avoid any possible legal issues.

2) Give an explanation accompanied with certain examples on why members’ information is safe in your hands.
By filling up your Privacy Policy with broad security statements wrapped in technical language you make it look ’sophisticated’, which is not a synonim to ‘good’. Remember that most of your site visitors are not experienced webmasters, and reading something like ‘Security Socket Layer’ and ‘encryption’ they will most likely have a feeling that you are hiding something behind the technicalisms. So, better build your explanation on plain English clearly indicating what measures you take to protect their private correspondence and billing details, and what makes your servers secure. You should also give a try to explaining special terms, but don’t go too deep though. Being brief and clear is a key point.

3) Give the site members access to viewing and editing their private details.
Having an option to access and change the personal information at any moment site users feel more confident about sharing their personal details with you. So you should tell where and how they can do this, and how editing profile info might influence their membership status and profile page availability.

4) Show your members a ‘way out’.
In other words, specify how they will be able to terminate their site membership in case of being dissatisfied with your services, or due to any other reason. It is always sad to lose customers, no doubts. But if you give users an option to leave whenever they want, and with no headache – they will definitely feel more relaxed about subscribing for your service. From your part it is required to indicate where and how they can delete a profile or unsubscribe from mass-mailing, and what will happen to their private data after they are no longer on your team. Remember that most site visitors would read your Privacy Policy just for finding that out.

5) Keep your site member aware of possible Privacy Policy updates.
Some companies practice periodical Privacy Policy revising that results in minor or global changes. If you have plans for such occasional or regular updates – let your members know by including a notification that would sound like: ‘Our Privacy Policy is revised on a regular basis, so please check for updates’.

My final advice is – make your Privacy Policy honest and easy to understand. This will help you gain trust of your site users, and will give them a good feeling about your business.

I hope this information will be helpful for SkaDate community and dating script customers, and for those only thinking to start their own online dating business.

Best wishes,
Irene

Image sources:  destateparks.com, mistera.co.uk, elitewebmail.com