Dating site PlentyofFish has made some recent changes outlined in this blog post.
Spent some time this weekend and rewrote parts of the site…
1. Ditched the paid virtual gifts on the weekend not really core to what we are doing.
2. Instead of allowing you to remove people from searches I added a new search that removes any profile you have ever viewed from the search..
3. Added a thumbnail cropping tool built in Ajax…
4. Revamped the profile system forcing better quality profiles…
5. Semi new design and cleanup of a lot of pages..
5. A whole bunch of tiny changes all over the place.
With so many different free sites all over the world the only way forward is to offer better features than paid sites and more of them. But only if it actually helps users.
#1 I wonder what it means that “virtual goods are not core to our business?” Does that mean nobody was using them or they couldn’t get people to pay for them.
#2 doesn’t make sense unless I still have the option to see people I have searched for. Do I? It’s difficult to tell.
#3 I saw the photo-fixer link, but now it’s gone. Where did it go? Why promote a feature that isn’t there? You would think that I would see the option on the photo upload page.
I uploaded a somewhat risque photo, which was deleted and I received a warning email but it didn’t tell me that my image was removed. Plus, I had it set to private. Bizarre.
Deleting an image doesn’t have a confirmation alert, oops there goes my fantastic vacation photo.
When I click “edit image”, I’m asked to log in even though I’m already logged in.
#4 What does “Revamped the profile system” mean? How does it force better quality photos?
#5 I see a new header graphic, thats about it. What else changed?
#5 again: Ok, so what are they? Why announce changes and not explain them?
When you log out, there is no option to log back in.
This was not meant to be a site review, but I have spent an hour or two on PlentyofFish this week, in my ongoing attempt to understand the draw of the site besides being free.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
David,
There is no draw to that site. It’s a horrible design layout and the only reason thay have so many members is because the media has hyped the site up. There are many sites that are 100% better!
Tony
Yeah, i don’t get it either. The site is pretty much awful, and the people i see on there are pretty much awful as well. okcupid has much higher quality in my experience.
This is the best site for dating. I’m a very attractive woman and very successful, independent and smart. So smart that I swithced from spending money on paid dating sites to this site. The same people that are on Yahoo, Match, True, Eharmony are now on POF and have been or there on both sites LMAO…To the men above.. a dating site mostly consists of people in your community..just cause there on a paid site doesnt mean there not everyday joes in our churches, schools, and grocery stores, unemployed or laid off…most cons criminals will go to a paid site to hide and pretend to be someone there not.Its funny I have seen at least 15 men come over to POF from Match …and let me tell ya there not all that oohh yeah they pretended to be. You can look attractive have a great job…but it doesnt mean you are stable or not crazy. My girlfriends roommate was on Match he looked good he was a con had no money trying to meet woman to move in with. Blah Blah thats the dating world. There everywhere all kinds of people living in are community. I’m not waisting my money I’m SMART…I’m not paying for another site ever. Its just stupid and a waiste of money.
POF…
Its user friendly. Its so plain but once you get into it and play around its incredible. I was on Match and EHarmony for 4 months at the same time. I went on 5 dates between the both of them it was horrible. Both those sites charge and they dont compare to POF. POF has a full page of whos viewed you the last I think 20 to 30 people it lets you know whos online then. And everytime your either going to inbox, changing images, sending msgs, viewing your favorites its got pictures up at the top of people on line in your area..Allowing you to communicate with individuals of interest faster and more frequently then any other dating site out there. Also you have a full page of 20 to 30 men/woman who match your profile which is based off a test you take before you join. (And then it also shows if those people are online. Again opening the door for communication. And the inbox keeps a history of all your emails between someone, you just have to keep one in your inbox from that person..then there is a feature down at the bottom you scroll and highlight their user name and not only does it show you there messages it shows yours too in the order they were sent to each other. There is also a hidden word at the top of sent messages well if you read its really not hidden but it says “HERE” you can actally see who contacted who 1st, like I have had men contact me twice and so I know I said no tyou to this gentleman b4 but you can check to see if they have contacted you before. Just because its a paid site doesnt mean they are better people to date. All three men I met on Match were lying and not true to what there profile said. That can happen on any site. I do wish we had the option to add more pictures, there is a test you can take or you can use some points to upgrade to serious status…and the added bonus you get to add I think like 3 more pictures. I have met more men on this site, and I mean really good quality men. That Im still friends with today. Unfortunately there was no chemistry to lead to longterm but Im picky. You have to manage the site and not allow it to manage you. You have to be selective and weed out the people that are not your type or as I like to call it in a different place then me at this time. It has a favorite feature which is cool but I’m not into having hundreds of people favorite me…so recently I went thru and removed about 80 people who favorited me and I go thru every other week and remove people who are not my type because I learned in the past from being contacted by men and having no interest and telling them nicely they would continue to email me daily or weekly bugging me because when someone has you on their favorites it does show them everytime your online. Which is good if your trying to date someone of interest to you. But bad if someone is obssessed with you. I recommend this site. Its very user friendly. It has everything you need ..pictures, email, history and from what I heard jangle is coming soon (Phone talk w/out giving your real number out) And like I said I can communicate easier and more frequently then other site. AND ITS FREE!!! Why pay? Half the people that are on paid sites are on several other sites at the same time. This site will keep you so busy. You might have to hide for awhile it can be overwhelming at times. But youll have fun and meet great people. CHEERS!!!
If plentyoffish were so plentiful, the server would not be so busy. What is the use of a free dating site if you cannot acsess it?! Maybe if we all threw in the “bait” and bailed out to join an online dating site for a minimal fee…..it would be worth all the “plenty of fish in the sea”!!
site is fine, but now indicates ‘rejected, server not responding’. Whats up and who do I call. thanks
The site was down the other day for half a day since 10 am. I believe the database was overloaded. It shows MS Server error message.