Table of Contents
1. What is EasyPenpals ?
2. About us
3. Browsing and searching for ads
3.1. Organization of ads
3.2. Description of individual elements of an ad
3.3. Catalog browsing
3.4. Keyword search
4. How to reply to an ad
5. Submitting new ads (step by step)
5.1. Generally
5.2. Joining the system - FREE
5.3. Entry to the member area
5.4. Setting the personal profile (Profile editing)
5.5. Entering a new ad (Add ad)
5.6. Editing ad (My ads)
5.7. Moving an ad to another section (My ads)
5.8. Copying an ad to other sections (My ads)
5.9. Refreshing an ad (My ads)
5.10. Deleting an ad (My ads)
5.11. Authorization of email address
5.12. New email
5.13. Notes on the "My ads" listing
6. What is authorization?
7. Note for Webmasters
1. What is EasyPenpals
We would be glad if you did not use the EasyPenpals site only as a classic meeting forum or to find pen pals for writing, but also as a place where you can enter and search contacts for cooperation e.g. on Internet projects, etc.
First, EasyPenpals is an ad application serving for publication of private ads to find new friends for writing through email. Second, it is an application which will help you in searching for contacts for cooperation. This application is divided into various categories by branches of activities which will be very helpful while searching.
The advertisers have the opportunity to complete their ads with ICQ so you can consider the EasyPenpals site as a list of ICQ users.
All services offered by EasyPenpals are totally free of charge. Operation of the application is paid by our sponsors. Please remember to visit their pages by clicking on the banners in the section ”Advertising”.
Table of Contents
2. About us
We have been creating Internet applications since 1997. We are specializing on provision of services in the area of private advertising. The majority of our projects focuses on meeting of people. Our local projects aimed at the Czech Republic have been ones of the most successful during the whole period since 1997. This is despite the rapid growth of the number of competitive services in 1999. At the present time our Czech meeting forum is the third most-visited site among approximately 150 Czech servers of this type.
First server specializing on meeting of people worldwide was started at the beginning of 1998 on the address http://pyramida.hypermart.net/ with a name Richie's Penpals. The objective of this project was to prepare a background for application www.easypenpals.com you are currently using. This is above all designed for finding friends over the globe who have similar hobbies and opinions as you do and who are looking for somebody to write to, exchange experience and so on.
We believe that experience and knowledge obtained through several years of providing the meeting services will contribute to a good acceptance of our service EasyPenpals.com, and we hope you will like working with the site and that the service will be useful for you. If this will be the case we will be satisfied since we would achieve our objective.
Table of Contents
3. Browsing and searching for ads
3.1. Organization of ads
The main criterion for classification of ads in our system are hobbies, interests, preferences, professional skills and so on. Simply said, these are branches of human activities. Complete listing of all sections and sub-sections may be found <here>. You may browse the ads either through these sections or you can search the ads by various criteria. The simplest search method is the function of simple search where only one keyword is used. Advanced search with many various criteria may be accomplished using the function of advanced search.
Table of Contents
3.2. Description of individual elements of an ad
Each ad consists of several parts. The meaning of each part is mostly evident from its label. This help only includes description of less straightforward items.
- flower, if this symbol appears at the beginning of an ad it means that the email address of this ad is authorized (verified),
- ICQ is a program for communication over the Internet, each user has its unique number which is used for contacting this person. This number can be included in the IQC column.
Table of Contents
3.3. Catalog browsing
The following table is used for browsing the ads by sections
In the top part there is your current position, i.e. which section you are currently using. In the screenshot we are in the folder "Home - Computers and Internet - Computer Games", which have subcategories Actions, Adventures etc.
In the bottom (larger) part there is a list of sub-sections of current section. You can move to any sub-section by clicking on appropriate name.
If you need to move to any superior sections click on its name in the top part of the table.
Table of Contents
3.4. Keyword search
For simplest searching you can use the following table which is included at the beginning of each page.
Enter a keyword to the field, in the selection list on the right choose if you want to search ads containing the keyword only in the current section or in all sections. In addition to this you can also restrict your search to authorized ads only or only to ads including ICQ (or both of them) using checkboxes in the bottom part. Start you search by pressing "Submit" button.
Table of Contents
4. How to reply to an ad
You have two options depending on the type of an ad. From this viewpoint the ads may be classified as ads with email address and anonymous ads. For ads with email address you simply send an email to included address.
As for anonymous ads you have to click on the link "reply" which is on the same place which normally includes an email address. This will open a special reply form. Here you can type the text of your reply. Remember to include your email address, otherwise the other person will not be able to reply to you since he/she does not have any other chance to obtain your email address.
Table of Contents
5. Submitting and editing ads
5.1. Generally
Applications similar to ours mostly operate as a member applications, i.e. you have to choose you login name and password and register as a system member. This is in most cases free. EasyPenpals is based on the same principle. The advantage of this attitude it that you can modify or delete your ads any time after their submission to the system. You can even move or copy you ads to other sections in our systems.
Another advantage of member-type applications is also the fact that you do not have to re-enter your personal data, such as age, sign of the zodiac, city where you live, etc. These data can be saved to your personal profile and they will be automatically placed to editing fields when creating a new ad.
This part of help includes descriptions of individual system function in the same order you will be using them while submitting, administration and deleting of ads.
Table of Contents
5.2. Joining the system – FREE
Click on ”Join” button included in the top section of each page. This will open the system member sign-up page with five editing fields. Fill this form out and submit information by clicking on the ”Sign-up” button.
- email – enter email address you are willing to use. Later, as a system member, you will be able to use also other email addresses.
- username – choose your login name
- password – choose your password
- password – re-enter you password (protection against typing errors)
- Check box that you have read the term and conditions and that you agree with them.
- Click on ”Sign-Up” button.
Now you are a member of EasyPenpals application and you can enter the member area.
Note: Username and password are case sensitive.
Warning: Use only your own email addresses otherwise you account will be suspended.
Table of Contents
5.3. Entry to the member area
You can enter the member area by clicking on the ”Members” button which is in the top section of each page. This will open page where you enter your username and password and click on ”Log-in” button. You will enter the member area.
After entering the member area a table of the member area will be displayed in the top section of the page including the following items:
- My ads – this is the opening page of the member area with a listing of all your ads you have currently saved in the system. A button allowing subsequent modifications is located next to each ad (see 5.6. – 5.10 and 5.13.).
- New ad – you can create new ads here (see 5.5.).
- Profile editing– here you can modify your personal setup (see 5.4.).
- New email – here you can add a new email address to your profile (see 5.12.).
- Authorization – you can authorize your email address here (see 5.11.).
In addition to the above the member area entry screen also includes listing of your ads with buttons for their editing (see 5.6. – 5.10 and 5.13.)
Table of Contents
5.4. Setting the personal profile (Profile editing)
In the member area click on the button ”Profile editing”.
This does not have be done, especially in case that you do not intend to enter more ads. The personal profile is a list of data that do not frequently change. These are for example the city where you live, your sign of the zodiac, education, and so on. These data will be saved to our server and they will be always filled out automatically into appropriate fields when creating a new ad (you can make modifications). The data saved in the personal profile are optional and you may submit an ad without them.
Table of Contents
5.5. Entering a new ad (Add ad)
Click on the ”Add ad” button in the member area.
This will open a page including two tables as illustrated on the following screenshot.
In the upper section you have to fill out all data, while the lower table is optional. However, we recommend to enter at least an age and gender in the lower table. If you already saved your personal profile the lower table include data from the personal profile – these can be changed.
As soon as all required fields are filed out as well as optional fields that you choose to enter click on the ”Submit” button. This will save the ad(s) to sections you have chosen. Your browser will then load the starting page, i.e. listing of your ads.
Tip: You can select more sections simultaneously in the section selection field by pressing CTRL + clicking the left mouse button.
Note: You may enter only one ad to each section. Therefore submitting a new ad to section already including your ad will at the same time delete your old ad.
Table of Contents
5.6. Editing ad (My ads)
The starting page of the member system includes the listing of your ads. Each ad is provided with several buttons. After clicking on the ”Edit” button you can make modifications to your ad.
Table of Contents
5.7. Moving an ad to another section (My ads)
The starting page of the member system includes the listing of your ads. Each ad is provided with several buttons. After clicking on the ”Move” button you can move your add to another section.
Note:
- You may enter only one ad to each section. Therefore moving an ad to section already including your ad will at the same time delete your old ad.
- Moving of an ad means its deletion in the original section and saving in the new one.
Table of Contents
5.8. Copying an ad to other sections (My ads)
The starting page of the member system includes listing of your ads. Each ad is provided with several buttons. After clicking on the ”Copy” button you can copy your add to another sections.
Tip: You can select more sections simultaneously in the section selection field by pressing CTRL + clicking the left mouse button. This will copy the ad to more sections at once.
Note:
- You may enter only one ad to each section. Therefore copying an ad to section already including your ad will at the same time delete your old ad.
Copying does not delete the old ad as is the case with moving the ad.
Table of Contents
5.9. Refreshing an ad (My ads)
The starting page of the member system includes the listing of your ads. Each ad is provided with several buttons. After clicking on the ”Refresh” button you can refresh your add.
When browsing the ad their listing is sorted by the data so the most recent ad is located at the top while the oldest at the bottom. Using this function you can change the data and time of entry of your ad to the actual value, which will cause its placement at the beginning of the page.
Table of Contents
5.10. Deleting an ad (My ads)
The starting page of the member system includes the listing of your ads. Each ad is provided with several buttons. The ad will be erased after clicking the ”Delete” button.
Table of Contents
5.11. Authorization of email address
Explanation of authorization and its purpose are described in chapter 6. This is very useful and we strongly recommend to perform authorization.
Authorization is a very easy process. The principle is that the application sends randomly generated code to the email address entered when logging into the system (respectively when adding a new email address to the personal profile). This will ensure that the authorization code will be known to the email account owner only.
Click on authorization button located in the member area options. A form with two fields will appear. In the upper field you will select email address, while in the lower field you will enter the authorization code sent to you. Press "Submit" button.
Now you email address is authorized. The system will automatically add authorization signs to all ads you have entered in the past. Similarly all new ads you will enter will be added with this authorization sign 
.
Table of Contents
You can add further email addresses to your personal profile by clicking on the ”New email” button in the member area options.
Warning: Use only your own email addresses otherwise you account will be suspended.
Table of Contents
5.13. Notes on the ”My ads” listing
The starting page includes listing of all your ads.
This listing will also be displayed after clicking on ”My ads” button in the system member area.
Length of the ad is limited to 150 characters in order to save space. If you want to display the whole text of the ad move the mouse cursor over the underlined label ”More”. Whole text of an ad will be displayed in the yellow box in a few moments.
In order to save space the column ”Section” includes only name of the lowest section, e.g. football. This can be cause confusion. If you want to display the whole path to the sub-section move the mouse cursor over the section name. Whole path, e.g. Home – Sport – Football, will be displayed in the yellow box in a few moments.
Table of Contents
6. What is authorization?
You will certainly admit that it would be possible to use the email address of your beloved boss and enter an ad using this address. Of course the contents of this ad could be such that a large number of people would respond to its which could bother or even offend your boss.
This can be avoided by authorization. If you respond to an ad including the authorization sign you can be sure that the person whose email address is included with an ad as a contact one is really the person who submitted an ad. Other ads do not provide this kind of certainty and you are kindly asked not to respond to suspicious non-authorized ads (especially in sexually oriented sections).
We generally advise serious users to authorize their ads.
Description of authorization process is included in chapter 5.11.
Table of Contents
7. Note for Webmasters
We offer the possibility of exchange advertising in a form of reciprocal links to all webmasters with similarly oriented sites. In the upper and lower part of each page there is a reference to “Penpals links”. Clicking on this link will open a list of other penpal sites.
The position of a link is determined using the following rule: Always when you send us unique visitor your link will be moved to the top position. This means that the more visitors comes from you the more times your link will be displayed in the top positions. In this system the unique visitor is considered to be a person who did not visit our page in previous 6 hours. Only hits of index page or page with penpals links are registered.
It is possible to agree on the placement of your icon in a format 88 x 31 in the left column of our page. Here we proceed on case-by-case basis and we monitor the ratio between the number of people who clicked your icon on our page and number of visitors coming from your site to ours. Should you be interested in this form of cooperation please contact us via email.
