I recently found out about a company called Webscribble, which has a private-label dating site software solution called webDate. The only other major offering I’ve come across that approached the same feature set is from AE Webworks. Since I get asked about private-lable sites all the time, and being an inquisitive guy, I emailed Webscribble to find out more about the company and it’s offering for the dating industry.
ODI: General Webscribble background
Web Scribble has been in business for over four years. We initially started with some small PHP based products that we sold on our web site. Our first major product, and one of our most successful products to date, was webDate. The first version of webDate was released in 2002 and we have since been constantly adding new features and improvements to it.
ODI: WebDate, 10 versions in 2 years, a mature product?
WebDate is one of the oldest and most mature dating software packages currently on the market. Since its debut in 2002 we have released 10 versions, each having enhancements and new features. Many of the features we implement for webDate are from customers requests and we are constantly adding new features to the software. Through the years, we have made stability, scalability, and feature set our highest priority. The software has matured to a point where it is very stable, with very few bugs and problems. We strive to help our customers succeed; whether they’re looking to start a small hobby site, or run a large site with tens, or even hundreds of thousands of members, webDate was built to handle it. Many of our clients have had some huge successes with their sites, and some have been published in newspapers, radio, and even on TV shows.
ODI: How is it competing with AE Webworks?
It’s difficult to say exactly how well we are competing, since we obviously don’t have AE Webworks’ sales data. We feel that webDate is very competitive with AE Webworks in terms of features and price. We actually have many customers who have converted from aeDating to webDate. Many of those customers cited a lack of support or communication problems with overseas techs as reasons for switching. webDate’s feature list is also very comprehensive, well planned, and implemented. We do not add new features to the software just to say we have them. Instead, we carefully plan each new addition, and get customer input on anything that we might be missing.
ODI: Where are you based?
Our offices are located in upstate New York, just outside of Albany.
ODI: I didn’t know cowboydate ran on webdate. I love that site.
Yes, they are one of our clients! They’ve done a great job with their site and are a real success story. CowboyDate has been running webDate for over three years now and is one of our older clients.
ODI: How many customers, how many sites hosted?
Unfortunately, we don’t disclose that information to the public.
ODI: What about Free installation?
Our customers vary in technical ability, which is why we offer a free installation with every purchase. We will install the software on any server as long as meets the system requirements for the software. The installations take a maximum of three business days to complete after we receive the request, but we often finish them in under a day.
ODI: Custom work
We realize that many companies and individuals may need assistance in customizing their site and adding new features to make it more competitive and unique. For this reason, we make our talented programmers available for custom work. In most cases, we can provide a price quote up front so the customer has an idea of the costs involved in the customization being requested.
ODI: Why is Zend Optimizer Required?
There are two reasons we use Zend Optimizer. The first is to protect against software piracy. We had some major piracy problems with our earlier products and we made a business decision to use Zend Optimizer and implemented a licensing system to help curb piracy.
The second reason we use Zend Optimizer is to optimize certain PHP code (they don’t call it Zend Optimizer for nothing!). The code that’s encrypted is core backend code that never needs to be modified by the customer. At the same time, since it’s an important part of the system, the code benefits from being encrypted because it runs faster.
ODI: Why so inexpensive as opposed to competitors such as aewebworks?
Our pricing structure varies quite a bit from AE Webworks. Rather than forcing customers to pay a large amount up front, we let our customers purchase just what they need.
The basic software package is $199, but we also have some optional plug-ins that can be purchased. Plug-ins are enhancements to the web site that may be great additions to some site, but not to others.
For example, we have a U.S. zip code plug-in that allows members to find others a certain number of miles away from their zip code. While this is a great addition for sites targeting U.S. members, it may not be a good fit for those targeting a country with no postal codes.
What makes our pricing structure so great is that you only buy what you need. You don’t have to pay extra for features you’ll never use.
ODI: What is average ticket price $199 + ?
It’s very common for customers to purchase at least one plug-in after they purchase webDate. Plug-ins allow our customers to add enhancements to their sites and to stay on top of a highly competitive industry.
ODI: Does Userplane provides the Live video? Is this a frequent module?
No, we actually have our own live video plug-in, which is not powered by Userplane. However, we have had some customers use Userplane for live video on their sites.
ODI: What are the most common modules ordered?
We have a very diverse client base that targets different niche markets all over the globe. As a result, there is no common set of plug-ins that are purchased. I would say one of the more popular is the U.S. zip code plug-in for those targeting U.S. singles.
ODI: Future plans?
We plan to continue developing webDate and are currently working on a new version. The next version of webDate will surpass all competitors in features and usability. We are completely revamping our administrative area to make it more user friendly. We will be adding many new features including blogging support, WYSIWYG template editor, more advanced subscription support, and much more.
Thanks to Alexander at Web Scribble Solutions for the information.
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{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
They are horrible at customer support. I have tried to contact somebody by email, phone and their online support with NO SUCCESS. DO NOT BUY FROM THEM. You will end up with a software they will not support.
I bought the software.
So far no complaints.
They installed the script for me within one day.
Webscribble support is very patient with me, they already helped me out a couple of times.
Theo
A beta version (3.0) has been released.
It looks very promising. Lots of new features.
I bought this software a few years ago and can’t get any support whatsoever, even though I offer to pay for what I ask for. The admin area is a little user friendly and the software is great but don’t expect any good support from this company.
I have used webdate for 2 years. I have had some issues but I was able to figure them out for the most part. I would NOT recommend this script to anyone that is not knowledgeable in PHP programming. If you need to depend on support to walk you through customizing it you will be wasting your time.
The way support works is you send them a question to ask for help. No matter how much information you give them in your first message they will give you a boxed response of “to help you further can you please send us your login information” or something of the sort. You will respond then after a day or so you will get an answer but, it is 50 50 whether it will be helpful or not. You will of course respond in an irritated fashion and you may or may not get the help you need when all is said and done.
Once they have your money your are at their mercy. They do a great job of promoting the script but there is little follow through after the sale has been made.
ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS THE TECH SUPPORT IS HORRIBLE!!!!! and thats an understatement. I have been using their softwhere for alomst a year and honestly I do not think they are in the US. The communication is horrible. I like the software and would recommend it but YOU BETTER ALREADY KNOW HOW TO MANAGE AND DO THINGS YOURSELF!!
I bought their software and so far have no complaints. It was installed withing a couple of days. i have only had a couple of questions for tech support and they were able to solve them.
great price, free installation and a working product. I am a happy customer so far…
I purchased some software from this company. What a huge mistake that was. The software was not installed correctly. I tried to get someone on the phone, but I could not get any live help. There online help was useless because I could never get an answer from anyone. If I had some advice to give someone thinking about buying this software I would say stay a mile away from this company!.
Run as fast as you can!
HORRIBLE HORRIBLE!!!
They have many fraud claims and are in many lawsuits with the Attorney General!!!!
SAVE YOUR MONEY AND DO NOT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY!!!
ALEXEY GUTIN your a crook!!! And we are going after you too!
If you have problems with this company go to the link below and file a complaint.
http://search.bbb.org/Results.aspx?n=webscribble+solutions&add=&c=&st=&z=
They have a seeminly good product but when you buy and explore you find that there are hundereds of bugs and incomplete things. A lot of things they promise aren’t there.
Except for a couple of guys, their support is pathetic. Alexy is the rudest and most insensitive person I have interacted with. I bought a paypal plugin for classifieds two months ago. It doesn’t work till date. I have written several emails about this. But nope. No response. All they have been saying for two months now is that my ticket is open and “they are looking into it”.
Finally, they say it’s because of the changes i made to the system. Alexy says:
————————————–
“The code changes you made are causing this problem, as we have many customers using these files successfully to process PayPal payments. We do not support modifications, you will need to troubleshoot this on your own”
Sincerely,
Alexander
Web Scribble Solutions, Inc.
————————————–
However, when their support team installed a fresh version, the problem I reported still persists with the exact description I had mentioned. When i mentioned this to them, all alex says (for two months is): “don’t ask for updates. We are looking into it”. It’s all at their mercy when they choose to look into yoru issue. They expect that if you have questions all you must do is raise a ticket. You can’t ask them when them for an update. You can’t ask for a closing date.
I AM TAKING A LEGAL ACTION AGAINST THEM.
TO ANYONE WHO IS READING THIS, DON’T EVER MAKE THE MISTAKE OF BUYING ANYTHING FROM WEBSCRIBBLE.
A great new online dating product, the Personnel Security Standards Psychological Questionnaire (PSSPQ). What condoms are to sex, the PSSPQ is to online dating! This is not just a
cute parallel comparison, it is absolutely true, unfortunately so —–! Condoms are a safety tool, you really would not want to use them without being motivated for safety. The PSSPQ
is also, just a safety tool and no one would purchase its utilization unless one was appropriately concerned regarding safety. One has to be aware that just about all people, who make
use of any of the online dating sites, or who are contemplating use of these sites, are aware of the great number of dangers that one opens him/herself to when starting to use these
online dating sites, hopefully to meet their Mr. or Miss Wonderful. Only a VERY few of the available online dating sites (and these few are a couple of those that charge fairly steep
fees to make use of the sites) offer customers any safety features at all. eHarmony.com does make use of a built-in lie scale, which is a small part of its advertised 400+ item
personality testing battery, however, this particular lie scale only consists of only 20 True/False type items (i.e., not very sensitive) that are fairly ‘transparent’ as they stand out rather
prominently in contrast to the other couple hundred personality testing items. In other words, this eHarmony.com lie scale is rather obvious to those ‘taking’ the whole test as the
scale looks like it serves a different purpose than does the rest of the testing battery. A good lie scale should not be able to be ‘spotted’ as a lie or anti-truth-telling type scale; rather,
it should faultlessly blend in with all of the other items that comprise the overall test. An other popular (and expensive) online dating site, that offers some rather real safety to its
customers is the True.com site. Its safety mechanism offering is to do a criminal background check, as well as a current marital check, on those who apply for membership. This
really sound better than it actually is. Apparently, their background checking database really does no cover the entire USA, only done at an individual state level, or for some
combination of a few states. In other words, their data bases, which are used to accomplish criminal background checks, is frequently questioned as being fragmented and incomplete.
Another very major problem arises when a candidate for True.com membership makes use of a name that is not his/her own, or even worse – uses someone else’s name. Using an
incorrect name can defeat the whole criminal background checking. So what safety device or tool can be employed by a safety-oriented potential customer of any of the online dating
services? Fortunately, one is available that really works. It is the PSSPQ, a psychological test that was originally developed and constructed by a very senior psychologist, who at the
time of its construction was the Chief Research Psychologist in the USA’s then largest intelligence agency. It was developed using the most scientifically sound test construction
procedures and was designed to predict whether individuals, very early-on in the investigation/adjudication process the Government has set up to evaluate individuals for unusually
high-level security clearance status, would eventually be successful or not in being granted such a clearance status. The PSSPQ, which in reality is a very advanced test for personal
honesty/integrity, was found, based upon lots of repeated research, to accomplish exactly what it was designed to do. It successfully predicts the success or nonsuccess in eventually
being granted high-level security clearance status at about a 95% accuracy level. For the past several years the PSSPQ has been sold for individuals use on the Internet (see:
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~lastone2/psspq.html). During the latter part of 2006, it was discovered, by user customers of online dating sites that the PSSPQ was an idea tool for use
in evaluating the personal honesty/integrity of persons who they had come into contact with through online dating sites services. At about that time, research was conducted regarding
use of the PSSPQ in the online dating prospect situation. The results have been almost completely strongly supportive of such a usage. By the way, the PSSPQ contains what is
believed to be the very best lie scale ever placed in a real-world psychological test. It contains none of the lie scale problems that does the scale in the eHarmony.com lie scale. The
PSSPQ’s LIE Scale is much larger, stronger, and less visible [as a lie scale] than any other lie scale in use now or in the past. The PSSPQ also provides comparative information,
regarding the prospective dating partner, on 11 different human frailty or problem areas that are highly correlated with favorable levels of personal honesty/integrity. Finally, an
overall score for generalized personal honesty/integrity is provided; it is this scoring that very accurately predicts success/failure to be eventually granted high level security clearance
status in the PSSPQ’s original purpose situation. Information regarding use of the PSSPQ for evauating prospective dating partners, that one might meet through the services of
I have been using webdate for over a year with
tens of thousands of members on my site.
there are alot of bugs in the scripts but not that prevent the script from running on your site.
I have done alot of fixes of the bugs over the year and is running pretty smooth now…
for the price you really are getting a good start but expect bugs and expect to repair PHP bugs.
I tried getting help with bugs and found it was easier for me to learn the language PHP and fix them myself then to ask for help.
If anyone needs help with a particular problem.
send me an email at:
kqnz3@yahoo.com
I will let you know if it’s something I can help you with…
Have fixed almost all webdate bugs
Beelz
Webscribble is the worst company I have ever dealt with. I bought their webdate program for my site, which helps people with HIV to meet others with HIV. They do not respond to emails, their tech support is terrible. I was at my wits end with them. It was so frustrating! Even when I wanted to purchase more items/plug ins from them, they would not respond to me. Worst customer service ever. They also would not respond to my web designer. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY!! I also had so many problems with their webdate software–to which I could get no help on. For instance, when the site was all set-up, and you would click man seeking woman–it would give you men. If you clicked woman seeking man–it would give you woman. I had so many complaints from people. I wouldn’t recommend their software even if it was free. If you’re looking for dating software–use Able Dating. They are great.
Brought the site Jan 07 and it has taken me over 10months to get it what it is i have spend a lot of money into the development and launch of the soical networking site which is date 1st Novermber. I was due to buy the webstore to build it into the site before the launch date but i am really not sure. Have a look at the site http://www.christiansontheweb.co.uk . like i said i had spent a greal deal of money for it to look like this, with tones of phone calls, hours of hours of late nights and more emails than i should of sent. it has been a very long 10 months, There demo look great BUT be aware of them!!!!!!!!
Webscribble is one of the WORST companys I have ever dealt with online. The list is so longgggggggggg that I don’t feel like writing about it all…. plus, I also do not believe they are actually based in New York. I think they are overseas somewhere. I have been dealing with them for three years – I keep thinking things will improve… I am still very unhappy.
They have a lot of marks on the BBB website filed.
Article on the two owners of webscribble –
“A Great Siberian Success Story Flourishes at Rensselaer Immigrants ride Internet business to the American Dream”
http://www.eng.rpi.edu/magazine/img/sp07/pdf/sp07_pdf_gutin.pdf
- Twin brothers from Novosibirsk, Siberia – Alexander and Alexey Gutin.
There pictures are on that page and here is their school they go to http://www.rpi.edu/
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
110 8th St.
Troy, NY 12180-3590
Institute Phones: 518-276-6000
if you want to make sure you get them a hand notified supeona to go to court since it seems almost impossible to get them to respond any other way.
I looked around at a lot of software, bought two different ones offered on the Internet and their customer support was awful. Got Dolphin which was good, but had to hire a full time programmer to get the bugs out and customize it. Check out http://www.makemydate.ca the software is fantastic, the customer support is better than you will ever see. You can also have an adult script too
I just filed with the BBB over this company!!
TECHNICAL SUPPORT!!!! After buying it, you are alone. Nobody will help you! They dont care about the customers, as long as they paid. You cannot claim a refund! After 5 months with this script, it still doesnt work, and they claim my hosting has all the trouble.
DON’T BUY ANYTHING FROM THIS GUYS THE WORST ERROR I HAD WAS TO MET HIM , THE SUPPORT SUCKS , PLEASE SAVE YOUR MONEY DON’T BUY NOTHING FROM THIS SITE
Support is the worst! I Hired two people to get this installed. Currently there are Zend Optimizer code problems. I’ve contacted Support and no response. I tried chat, but it always says that “Technical support is not available, send e-mail” Even the I really like the software, think twice before buying. After this, still ongoing, mess, I realized that my next purchase will be based on Support.
I have repaired almost all webscribble webdate bugs. If you need help with webscribble script go to the following link and contact me.
http://wheretogetmovies.com/webscribble-webdate-help-bugs-fix-bug.html
Webscribble Bugs Fixed Website Help Click Here
There is a new support forum for webscribble webdate and other dating scripts.
this forum is not affiliate with any scripts..
it is for webdate users to help with bugs
if you need help with webdate bugs or help with webscribble or dating site scripts check it out
http://webscribble-webdate-support.com
All the positive comments are added by the robbers themselves.
All their script are unfinished, with tons of bugs, and not maintained at all (Webstore is V1.0 for 2 years and no update at all and it crash, has security issue)
Webscribble is a scam period.
I’ve found this interesting story btw
IF you buy anything from them and it does not work, you’ll NEVER see your money back…
funny I should thougth i would google them to see hey if they are any good after the couple of years I used them. and you all right there support sucks! and i pm them and told them hey your site is broke they where like really/? the download areas was broke they did not even know nor care for that matter you waste your time telling them because the support teams needs a support team to help them with there own site i offer help with my codes maybe they could fix the problem watch the online help very funny they will help you or tried and if you are way to hard for them to help they block you. dont belive me try it then look at the online help after you f5 the page it will be like this offline only to you.. which in that case leaves you right back to saying what the heck just happen i think i lost alot of money you think you can get it back well give it a try see if they answer you good luck… sorry webscribble you do suck maybe hires some people like dell does they cant speak english but they are help and maybe you could save a buck or two since they is all they care about…. two thumbs down bad bad…
Very unscrupulous people to deal with!!!!
Beware!!
Be careful, their software contains a copyright protection build-in.
They can disable your website if they want and the copyright protection is doing it’s work every month automatically so that means if you ever have a disabled website because of this protection script in webdate even when you’re a lifetime member and paid for everything, then you will have it every month untill you find a solution yourself! A nasty fact is they didn’t tell me at the moment of purchase. If your webdate script is working great on a 3th party hoster (3ix) it doesn’t mean the build in copyrightprotection will…i found out the hard way! You end up with a blank screen and downtime instead of a website even when you paid for everything. Be warned with webscribble.com
Well his licensing server went down… rendering one of my clients sites inoperable (I didn’t pick the software, I just took over from someone else) but hey look… this is probably where dude lives:
Gutin, Mikhail A
Age:50-54
307 Ridgewood Cir
Albany, NY 12203-5620
Based that on a search for anyone with the last name Gutin in Albany, NY.
Administrative Contact:
Alexey Gutin (sales@webscribble.com)
+1.15182763308
Fax: -
PO Box 38082
Albany, NY 12203
US
Its kinda funny how you can find that, but not a phone number to actually get your issue resolved. idiots.
Want a free dating site? Contact me, I can get you set up in minutes with the best customer support. I use to use these kind of programs but do not have to do it anymore. Seriously, got a dating site and it does not work and you are paying a fortune to programmers. I have the solution for you
I too publish a blog on the Blog Engine platform and I am having some trouble setting it up. Sorry to trouble you, I have a couple of quick questions for you: Is the theme you are using the theme that comes with BlogEngine or are there custom styles available online somewhere for free? Thanks and I love coming to your website.
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