Archive for the ‘News’ Category

SkaDate Dating Software Update – 7.5.1550

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

SkaDate dating and community software has come up with another update – 7.5.1550. It includes new features, minor bug fixes, performance and usability enhancements.

We keep improving SkaDate dating script to meet our customers demands and online dating industry trends. Your feedback is especially important to us, and we give it a strong consideration for releasing new software builds. That is why SkaDate 7.5.1550, just like the previous revision, has a number of features implemented thanks to our customers suggestions (they are marked with a ‘User Choice’ icon).

Below is the list of new features, fixes and improvements available in SkaDate dating software build 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:
* Required fields are now marked with a red asterisk
* Slight reorganization of some Admin Panel menu items
* User Points purchase option added to Subscribe page
* ‘Check All’ option added to Profile Message Filter page in the Admin Panel
  • Bug fixes:
* Tag cloud bug fixed; tags are no longer case-sensitive
* ‘Time’ field bug in the Events feature fixed
* Private Profile feature bug fixed

We suggest that you take a look at a brief description of the most eye-catching features and changes.

Improved User Points system:

Site members have significantly more opportunities for spending user points now. The User Points system has become a complete replacement for Credits membership type with even more opportunities and greater flexibility.

We have also added a possibility for users to earn points by taking certain site actions, such as:
- profile picture upload
- daily login
- points on member’s Birthday
- first profile registration
- voting in polls
- friend invitation

Site Administrator can give points to users manually via the Admin Panel.

Members receive email notifications every time they get more user points to their credit balance.

User Points system settings can be easily configured in the Admin Panel, which makes it a powerful tool for your dating site monetization.

New Latest Activity items:

We have added more items to the Latest Activity feature. The list has been extended to include updates on:
- new group creation
- new video upload
- new comments for Video, Photo, Blog Post, Group, Profile, Event

Official safari support

We have optimized SkaDate PHP dating script for Safari Internet browser. At the moment SkaDate script supports Internet Explorer 7 and 8, Mozilla Firefox 3 and higher, Google Chrome and Safari. Now your site members can enjoy their online dating experience in all the popular Internet browsers.

Integration of Honesty Online background check service

Honesty Online is a widely-recognized identity verification service that has proved itself to be a great tool for fighting against Internet fraud and scamming. It works for your site trustworthiness and credible reputation.

Honesty Online provides background check services for your dating site members willing to prove their identity. By paying a certain amount and going through a verification process, they get a verified identity Credential that can be used at any online transactions and interaction.

By integrating Honesty Online with SkaDate dating script we have taken one more step towards making online dating experience safer both for site owners and users.

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

A very useful option for the site owners holding up to traditional dating site conception.

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

Now your site members have even more ways to express themselves: they can post textual updates to the status line accompanied by a great set of emoticons.

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

Site Administrator can now control the number of friends displayed in a ‘Friends List’ profile component so that it would look best anywhere on the Profile View page.

Check the new features of SkaDate dating and community software at the Live Demo, and ask your questions from our pre-sales team 24/7. We are always glad to assist.

Best regards,
SkaDate Team

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Posted in Misc, News, Release | 2 Comments »

SkaDate at iDate 2010 conference in Miami, recap

Monday, February 15th, 2010

iDate conference was held in Miami FL, on January 28-29.

SkaDate was invited to be a speaker. iDate is the biggest online dating industry conference in the USA, and probably in the world. Very few or our direct prospects attend it every year but it makes sense for us to attend because we face some of our customers and existing and potential partners like Honesty Online, Iovation, Flashcoms, and others.

General conclusion drawn from this 2 day event (including pre- and after-parties) is that online dating industry is currently at a crossroads deciding where to go and what to be. Andrey Malygin from DatingAdNetwork highlights some aspects of that. That’s good news for startups since there’s no better time to try out new ideas and innovate with next-to-zero costs. Consumer spending rates in the current economy contribute to the urge to change.

I’ve spoken about small business approach to starting a dating site and provided some statistics and insight from the existing SkaDate dating software customers.

Here are some photos:

Excerpts from video coverage:

Presentation keynote:

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Posted in Misc, News | No Comments »

SkaDate 7.5 – Major Upgrade from SkaDate Community and Dating Software

Wednesday, January 6th, 2010

Skalfa Team is glad to announce launching a new version of SkaDate Dating Software – SkaDate 7.5 combining a powerful platform, a great set of essential and entertaining features and professional templates.

First of all, we would like to thank the members of our great SkaDate community who contributed to making SkaDate 7.5 what it is. The software improvement suggestions you made at suggest.skadate have formed the basis of this release bringing SkaDate dating script closer to perfection.

The following improvements and new features have been added within the release:

  • Internet Explorer 8 support
  • Virtual Gift Shop
  • User Points System
  • Music upload
  • Photo authentication tool
  • 123 Web Messenger
  • Mass-mailing to internal site mailboxes
  • Private and Public profile status
  • Uploaded photo rotate
  • Possibility to set the date for membership expiration notification
  • Limited search results
  • Possibility for members to delete a thumbnail
  • Enhanced search results navigation
  • Access to Private groups for a site moderator
  • Required fields on the Join form marked with an asterisk
  • New template
  • Improved existing templates

Internet Explorer 8 support:

SkaDate software optimization for IE8 has long been awated, as this browser is becoming more and more popular. We have worked on every possible detail to make SkaDate and IE8 perfectly compatible. Now you can enjoy flawless script performance in Enternet Explorer 7, 8 and Mozilla Firefox.

Virtual Gift Shop:

Now your site members have more fun ways to interact. A Virtual Gift Shop feature allows them to exchange graphic virtual gifts to express sympathy for each other. A member will be able to choose whether to display the virtual gifts he received on the Profile View page, or hide them. A site Administrator will be able to make this service free or available to paying members only. Site members will be able to buy gifst from the Virtual Shop with user points (credits).

User Points System:

Makes it a lot more comfortable for members to use such site services as Virtual Gift Shop. User points (or, credits) can be purchased from a site Administrator regardless of the membership type, and then spent on favorite site features and services. We are planning to continue improving this feature to make it a complete and user-friendly replacement for a Credits membership type.

Music Upload:

Here is another entertaining feature for your site members to enjoy their online dating experience – we have added a possibility to upload music files in MP3 format to a member’s profile. Site users can also rate their favorite music tracks, and comment on them.

Photo Verification Tool:

To take another step towards safe online dating we have added a photo verification tool into SkaDate. It is intended to help site Administrators to identify authentic user photos, and prevent scammers from registration. Here is how it works: A system generates a unique code for every newly-registered site member. During the photo upload process a member will see a note suggesting him to take a picture of oneself holding a piece of paper with the unique verification code written on it. The site Administrator will then use this photo as a reference for comparing with the rest of this member’s photos. When the verification process is completed – the site Administrator can set a ‘Verified’ status to the member’s profile photos, which will be visible to all the site members. We believe this feature will be a contribution to any dating web site’s reputation and trustworthiness.

Note: The photo verification tool is optional – it can be enabled or disabled in the Admin Panel.

123 Web Messenger:

Expanding the integration of 123FlashChat addons with SkaDate dating and community software we have added one more entertaining communication tool for your site members – 123 Web Messenger. This addon features an advanced flash Instant Messenger with a possibility of live communication through webcam, and a Windows Desktop Client.

Mass-mailing to internal site mailboxes:

A significant drawback of mass-mailing is that Administrator’s messages quite often go to Spam folders thus affecting mass-mailing efficiency. We have made it possible for site Administrators to choose either to send bulk messages to personal members’ emails, or to their internal site mailboxes. In case with on-site mailbox mailing you can be 100% sure that the message will reach the recipient once he logs in.

Private and Public profile status:

Internet users are getting more and more concerned about their privacy online. To meet their demands we have added a possibility to make a profile Private (visible to friends only), or Public (accessible for everybody). A site Administrator can make this service available to paying members only.

Uploaded photo rotate:

Site members have a possibility to rotate an uploaded photo left or right without leaving their profile page to use a third-party photo editor.

Possibility to set the date for membership expiration notification:

Site Administrators can set up Activity Scheduler in a way that a notification about membership expiration will be sent out prior to the expiration date. The number of days before the membership end date when the notification is sent can be easily edited in the Admin Panel along with the mail template.

Limited search results:

The feature allows site Administrators to limit search results view for certain membership types (ex.: Guest, Free) to one page. If a member tries to browse further – the system will suggest him upgrading his membership.

New dating template:

To give our customers more freedom for choosing a web site design we have added a new dating template and made some improvements to the existing templates design. Make your site look professional and attractive with colorful SkaDate community and dating templates.

This was the basic overview of new SkaDate software features. Take a minute to check our Live Demo and experience all the improvements we were able to make with your help and support. Thank you for being a part of our success.

If you have any questions or thoughts to share – feel free to leave the post comments, and talk to our pre-sales operators 24/7 at SkaDate official web site.

Best regards,

SkaDate Team

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Posted in News, Release | 31 Comments »