F.A.Q

1. I Can't Remember My Username and/or Password. How Can I Find It Again?
2. How Do I Change My Email Address or Password?
3. What Is The Status Of My Profile?
4. How Do I Edit My Profile?
5. My Profile Is Not Appearing In The Search Results. What's Wrong?
6. How can I see who has viewed my profile?
7. Why am I not receiving winks and new mail notifications in my email?
8. What do I need to use the Instant Messenger?
9. How do I appear online so that others can chat with me?
10. How can I initiate a conversation with someone I see online?
11. Why is my Who's Online list not poping up?
12. Why do I get a blank window when trying to chat with someone?
13. Are The Messages I Send To Other Members Anonymous?
14. I've found somebody I would like to meet. How can I contact them?
15. Do I Have To Pay For A Membership To Participate On The Site?
16. How do I know if I have new messages in my mailbox?
17. How Do I Read My Mail?
18. How Do I Send Mail?
19. Can I Include My Personal E-Mail Address As Part of My E-Mail To Another Member?
20. What If I Write Members And Do Not Receive Responses?
21. Why Doesn't My Instant Messenger Work?
22. What Are Winks?
23. How Do I Send Winks?
24. How Do I Know Who Has Winked At Me?
25. How Do I Block A User From Contacting Me?
26. How Do I Unblock A Person?
27. What Types Of Blocking Features Are Available To Me On This Site?
28. What Are My Friends?
29. How Do I Add A Member To My Friends?
30. How Do I Delete A Member From My Friends?
31. How Many Friends Can I Have?
32. How Long Will Members Remain In My Friends List?
33. Do I Have To Subscribe To Add Favorites?
34. Why Should I Add My Photo?
35. What Are The Guidelines For Posting A Photo?
36. How Do I Add A Photo?
37. How Many Photos Can I Add?
38. What Policies Must I Follow While Using The Site?
39. How Does The Site Handle My Personal Information?
40. How Do I Post My Free Profile?
41. How Do I Update My Profile?
42. What Are The Profile Guidelines?
43. Why Am I Not Getting Many Responses?
44. How Can I See Who Has Looked At My Profile?
45. How Should I Begin My Correspondence With A Member?
46. When Is The Right Time To Disclose My Email Address And/Or Phone Number?
47. Should I Exercise Caution?
48. Should I Request A Photo?
49. Should I Speak With A Potential Suitor On The Phone?
50. When Should I Meet Face To Face?
51. What Should Make Me Wary?
52. Where Should We First Meet?
53. How Do I Perform A Detailed Search?
54. How Do I Save A Search?
55. Why Am I Not Getting Many Search Results From My Detailed Search?

• I Can't Remember My Username and/or Password. How Can I Find It Again?
  
  
  Click on the Forgot Password link the homepage of the site or enter your email address in the Forgot Your Password box on the login page. An email will automatically be sent to that email address with the information you need to log into your profile.


• How Do I Change My Email Address or Password?
  
  
  Click on My Profile on the navigation bar then My Profile Content. From there you will be able to change your personal information.


• What Is The Status Of My Profile?
  
  
  Your profile membership is free and goes in effect as soon as your profile is approved by a Big Girls Network Customer Care Representative. You can see its status by clicking on My Account on the navigation.
  


• How Do I Edit My Profile?
  
  
  To edit your profile simply click on the My Settings link and make your changes then click uodate. To delete your account or profile, please contact us and we can delete your profile or account for you.
  


• My Profile Is Not Appearing In The Search Results. What's Wrong?
  
  
  Assuming you have already created your profile, it needs to be approved before appearing to other searchers (this never takes longer than 24 hours)
  


• How can I see who has viewed my profile?
  
  
  To see who has viewed your profile, click on My Account in the navigation bar, then click Whos Visited Me.
  


• Why am I not receiving winks and new mail notifications in my email?
  
  
  In all likelihood your Junk Filter(s) only allows you to receive e-mail from addresses appearing in your Contacts, service announcements from your email service provider, and messages you have consented to receive. By relaxing your filters, or by explicitly allowing messages coming from Big Girls Network.com to be delivered to your account, you should be able to receive your notification alerts for new messages and Winks.
  


• What do I need to use the Instant Messenger?
  
  
  3 things are necessary to use the Instant Messenger: 1. You must have Flash installed on your computer, 2. You must have your pop-up blocker disabled, 3. You must have javascript enabled on your browser.


• How do I appear online so that others can chat with me?
  
  
  In order for someone to initiate an Instant Messenger conversation with you, they must see that you are online. When you are online, your nickname is listed in the Whos Online list, and a "Chat Now" icon appears on your profile. When you login to your profile, you automatically appear online.


• How can I initiate a conversation with someone I see online?
  
  
  To inititate a conversation you must be a Silver or Platinum Member. From the Whos Online list, you can click on someones nickname to bring up a chat window. You can also click on the "Chat Now" icon on someones profile.


• Why is my Who's Online list not poping up?
  
  
  The most common reason for this is that it is being blocked by your pop-up blocker. You should disable your pop-up blocker for this site, as well as for biggirlsnetwork.com.
  
  If you have installed a toolbar from Yahoo! (help), MSN (help), or Google (help), the pop-up blocker is probably in there.
  
  If you are using Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) with Internet Explorer follow these instructions to disable the pop-up blocker:
  
  1. Open Internet Explorer
  
  2. In the Tools menu, go to Pop-up Blocker and click Pop-up Blocker Settings.
  
  3. Type the following address: http://biggirlsnetwork.com in the box called Address of Web site to allow.
  
  4. Click Add.
  
  Another possible reason is that you have disabled javascript on your browser. In Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Internet Options > Security and click on the "Default Setting" button to reset to the correct settings.
  


• Why do I get a blank window when trying to chat with someone?
  
  
  This is most likely due to the fact that Flash is not installed on your system. To get a free copy of Flash, please visit macromedia.com


• Are The Messages I Send To Other Members Anonymous?
  
  
  Yes. We preserve your privacy by delivering your messages through our system. None of your personal information (real name, email address, date of birth) is divulged to other members. You may choose to do so at your own discretion.
  


• I've found somebody I would like to meet. How can I contact them?
  
  
  You must be a Member to send messages to other members.
  


• Do I Have To Pay For A Membership To Participate On The Site?
  
  
  Membership is totally 100% FREE! No payment required! Browse, send messages, and receive messages on Big Girls Network for FREE!


• How do I know if I have new messages in my mailbox?
  
  
  Each time a member sends you mail, you will be notified by email - this is only applicable if the e-mail address supplied to us at the time of registration is valid and available to you. Upon receipt of the "New Mail" notification, simply log on to the website using your "nickname" and "password" and click on " My Mail".


• How Do I Read My Mail?
  
  
  Go to "My Mail". New mail will appear in your In Box along with the date and time it was sent.


• How Do I Send Mail?
  
  
  First, you need to create a free profile. Secondly, search profiles at your leisure and contact a member by clicking the link on their profile titled "Send A Message".


• Can I Include My Personal E-Mail Address As Part of My E-Mail To Another Member?
  
  
  Yes, but you do not have to do so. The person you are writing to will be able to reply once to the message you sent.


• What If I Write Members And Do Not Receive Responses?
  
  
  While there is no certain answer to this question, there could be any number of reasons for this. A member may not be responding because they have not been active on the site for a while; perhaps they found someone or have been too busy. Another possibility is that the member may not think that the match will work and has not replied. Its not worth stressing about. There are plenty of other great people to meet on the site!


• Why Doesn't My Instant Messenger Work?
  
  
  3 things are necessary to use the Instant Messenger: 1. You must have Flash installed on your computer, 2. You must have your pop-up blocker disabled, 3. You must have javascript enabled on your browser


• What Are Winks?
  
  
  Winks are a way for members to "break the ice" and let you know that they liked your profile. You do not need to be a Platinum member to send Winks.
  


• How Do I Send Winks?
  
  
  To wink at someone click on Send A Wink on that persons profile . Chose one or more of the sentences provided to create your message. Once complete, click Send Wink. Its that easy.
  


• How Do I Know Who Has Winked At Me?
  
  
  When a member sends you a Wink, you will be notified by email - this is only applicable if the e-mail address supplied to us at the time of registration is valid and available to you. Upon receipt of the "You Have A Wink" notification, simply log on to the website using your "nickname" and "password" and click on the "My Winks" link. Scroll over the arrow button and you will be able to read the Wink that was sent to you.
  


• How Do I Block A User From Contacting Me?
  
  
  To prevent an offensive or annoying person from contacting you, click the Block Sender button when reading that persons email. The next time they attempt to send you a message they will be notified that you have blocked them and no longer wish to receive correspondence from them.
  


• How Do I Unblock A Person?
  
  
  To start accepting messages from someone you have blocked, click the Blocked Senders List link displayed in your Mailbox. You can see who you have blocked and unblock whomever you wish.
  


• What Types Of Blocking Features Are Available To Me On This Site?
  
  
  You can prevent members from sending you email, flirts and instant messages.


• What Are My Friends?
  
  
  My Friends are profiles you have saved because they were of interest to you.


• How Do I Add A Member To My Friends?
  
  
  Visit your account area and click on My Friends


• How Do I Delete A Member From My Friends?
  
  
  Visit the members profile and click on Remove from Favorites
  


• How Many Friends Can I Have?
  
  
  You may save as many favorites as you would like.
  


• How Long Will Members Remain In My Friends List?
  
  
  Members will remain in your favorites list until you decide to delete them.
  


• Do I Have To Subscribe To Add Favorites?
  
  
  No, but you do have to be a profile member.


• Why Should I Add My Photo?
  
  
  Other singles are much more likely to look at a profile if it includes your photo. Its a no brainer!


• What Are The Guidelines For Posting A Photo?
  
  
  We want to create a safe, fun and relaxed environment. Having said this, we reserve the right to reject or modify any photo at our discretion. Photos will only appear on the site after they have been approved by a Big Girls Network Customer Care Representative. Please follow these photo guidelines:
  
  · image files must be received in an approved format
  · the image type must be jpig
  · image size should be 300 pixels wide or smaller
  · black and white photos are often smaller in size and more flattering;
  · you must appear in each photo;
  · nude, obscene, sexual or otherwise offensive photos will not be posted;
  · image file can be no larger than 200k;
  · copyrighted material will not be posted.
  


• How Do I Add A Photo?
  
  
  To upload a photo click My Picture from the navigation bar and find the file on your computer. If you are using Netscape, make sure you are able to see "All Files" not just "HTML Files". Then click "Upload Photos". The time it takes you to upload your photo will depend on its size. If you set your photo as the primary photo, this will set your photo as the primary image for your profile so that is appears in both your profile and in search results. If you click "Delete" this will permanently remove your photo from your profile. In the event you do not have your photo in digital format, write your nickname and the email address used to register for the site on the back of your photo and mail it to: VRL Productions, P.O. Box 38248, Hollywood, CA 90038, USA. Photos will not be returned so please do not send family heirlooms.


• How Many Photos Can I Add?
  
  
  Depends on your membership level. Basic users are allowed a maximum of 5 photos.


• What Policies Must I Follow While Using The Site?
  
  
  Please review the policies described in our Terms of Use.


• How Does The Site Handle My Personal Information?
  
  
  We respect your privacy and do what we can to protect it.


• How Do I Post My Free Profile?
  
  
  Click on the registration link on the home page and fill out the requested information. Answer as many questions as you can. This will give other members more information about you and will also allow you to show up higher on search results.
  


• How Do I Update My Profile?
  
  
  Edit your profile as often as you like. To edit your profile, go to your "My Profile" page.


• What Are The Profile Guidelines?
  
  
  Our Customer Care team reviews every profile to increase your chances of meeting quality matches. We also rank our member profiles to ensure the most complete and thorough profiles place highest in search results. We also periodically revise our guidelines, so please refer to the Help pages for updates. We may reject profiles that contain any of the following:
  · abusive language of any kind, including vulgarity, racism, illegal activity, etc;
  · any direct contact information, including email addresses, URLs, ICQ/instant messenger IDs, phone numbers, full names, addresses, etc (such contact information can result in a termination of a membership and/or subscription with no refund);
  · unauthorized use of copyrighted or trademarked material;
  · business or political advertisements or solicitations;
  · material that exploits or solicits personal information from individuals under the age of 18; and
  · overt solicitation for sex or descriptions of sexual activity, anatomy, etc; solicitation of multiple or additional partners.
  We do not not knowingly accept content from incarcerated individuals or individuals under the age of 18.
  


• Why Am I Not Getting Many Responses?
  
  
  If you dont already have a photo, add one today. Our statistics show that profiles with photos are more likely to receive responses. Also be sure youre checking for responses at the email address you gave us when you registered for the site. If youre not receiving any responses, you may have a "Spamguard" in place that is preventing email from reaching you. Check with your service provider.
  


• How Can I See Who Has Looked At My Profile?
  
  
  You need to be a Silver Or Platinum Member to see who has looked at your profile. On My Profile, click on the "See Who Visited Me" link in the Profile Stats. A list of the potential matches who have viewed you will be displayed, showing the latest person to view you first.
  


• How Should I Begin My Correspondence With A Member?
  
  
  Communication should begin via email. When meeting new people, we recommend you have an open mind, nevertheless, we recommend you be wary of odd behavior or inconsistencies. The person at the other end may not be who or what he or she says. Trust your instincts.


• When Is The Right Time To Disclose My Email Address And/Or Phone Number?
  
  
  All correspondence between our site members takes place through our double-blind system, ensuring your true identity is protected until you decide to reveal it. Never include your last name, email address, home address, phone number, place of work or any other identifying information in your profile or initial messages. Start slowly, develop a rapport and, when and if you feel comfortable, feel free to offer your personal email address and/or phone number.
  


• Should I Exercise Caution?
  
  
  Of course, like any other new situation we recommend you make thoughtful and informed decisions. Guard against trusting the untrustworthy . Suitors must earn your trust gradually, through consistently honorable and forthright behavior. Take all the time you need to test for a trustworthy person and pay careful attention along the way. If you suspect someone is lying, he or she probably is, so act accordingly. We advise you act responsibly about romance and not become prematurely intimate with someone, even if that intimacy only occurs online. If you mutually decide to cross the point of no return, be smart and protect yourself from sexually transmitted diseases.


• Should I Request A Photo?
  
  
  A photo will give you a good idea of the persons appearance, which may prove helpful in achieving a gut feeling. In fact, its best to view several images of someone in various settings: casual, formal, indoor and outdoors. If all you hear are excuses about why you cant see a photo, consider they have something to hide. We offer free photo scanning services to our members so there is no reason someone shouldnt be able to provide you a photo.


• Should I Speak With A Potential Suitor On The Phone?
  
  
  A phone call can tell a lot a persons communication and social skills. Consider your security and do not reveal your personal phone number to a stranger. Try a cell phone number instead or use local telephone blocking techniques to prevent your phone number from appearing in Caller ID. Only furnish your phone number when you feel completely comfortable.


• When Should I Meet Face To Face?
  
  
  The beauty of meeting and relating online is that you can collect information gradually, later choosing whether to pursue the relationship in the offline world. You never are obligated to meet anyone, regardless of your level of online intimacy. Even if you decide to arrange a meeting, you always have the right to change your mind. It is possible your decision to keep the relationship at the anonymous level is based on a hunch that you cant logically explain. Trust yourself and your instincts.


• What Should Make Me Wary?
  
  
  We recommend you be wary of the following: displays of anger; intense frustration; attempts to pressure or control you; passive-aggressive behavior; demeaning or disrespectful comments; physically inappropriate behavior; inconsistent information about age, interests, appearance, marital status, profession, employment; failure to provide direct answers to direct questions.
  


• Where Should We First Meet?
  
  
  On your first date, we advise you meet in a safe place and tell a friend where you are going and when you will return. Leave your dates name and telephone number with your friend. Provide your own transportation and meet at a familiar restaurant or coffee shop when a lot of other people are present. If you decide to move to another location, take your own car. When the timing is appropriate, thank your date for getting together and say goodbye. If you are flying in from another city, arrange for your own car and hotel room. Call your date from the hotel or meet at the location you have already agreed to. If the location seems inappropriate or unsafe, go back to your hotel. Always make sure a friend or family member knows your plans and has your contact information. And if possible, carry a cell phone.
  


• How Do I Perform A Detailed Search?
  
  
  Click on Detailed Search. Start searching with the following criteria country, state, zip code, age and gender. Then narrow your search with physical characteristics and lifestyles. You can even search for keywords in other members profiles. Play around and try a variety of searches.


• How Do I Save A Search?
  
  
  Run a Quick Search, Detailed Search or Search by Nickname. Then watch for the box that asks you to save your results. Enter a name in the Save Search box.


• Why Am I Not Getting Many Search Results From My Detailed Search?
  
  
  There are several ways to increase the number of matches you receive. Check the basic criteria in your search. Your search radius may be too narrow? Is your age range too tight?