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Frequently Asked Questions

goCougar Main Site FAQ

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What to do if the NEW website is NOT working for you?

Forum FAQ

 

goCougar Main Site FAQ

 

Tips on staying safe when dating on-line

  • Don't post personal information. Wait until you feel comfortable with an individual before telling them things like your phone number or place of work or address.
  • Never give out your bank account details or any other financial information. If you are approached by any member then report them immediately.
  • Don't let anyone pressure you into giving away more information than you want to.
  • Beware of solicitation – watch out for anyone offering financial advice or asking for charitable contributions. NEVER send money to anyone regardless of what story they spin you! Report them immediately.
  • Even if you're arranging to meet someone, do not give out any unnecessary personal details such as your home address.
  • If you feel unsure or threatened by someone's behaviour, stop contact with them immediately. Visit their profile and use the Block button to prevent any further contact. It is against goCougar.com terms and conditions to harrass any member and violation of this policy can lead to account suspension.

Twitter

We have created a dedicated page about Twitter integration with goCougar. If you want to help us attract new members to the site then this is the simplest way you can help.

Why can't I find someone?

The number one reason people fail for find someone on this site is down to lack of information in their member profile. Far too many people leave profile fields with their default settings and upload no pictures of themselves. Then they wonder why no one is interested in communicating with them! Members who are reluctant to reveal any details about themselves are viewed with extreme suspicion and ultimately have an unfulling experience on goCougar.

To modify your profile click the MY PROFILE menu option in the blue menu bar at the top of each page. Complete the fields and try to describe yourself as creatively as possible. Humour goes a long way... When you are finished don't forget to click the "Submit" button to save your changes.

Spend 5 minutes updating your profile today and watch your popularity explode!!!

What to do if the NEW website is NOT working for you?

Try refreshing/reloading the home page as your browser may have parts of the old site cached (stored) locally on your computer. The problem could also be related to using an old browser, if this is the case then please download a self updating browser like Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. We are using these browsers without problem.

If you have problems deleting messages, click in the check box next to each message and then select "delete" from the "with selected" drop down list at the bottom of the message list. When you view an individual message, there is also a delete link displayed.

How can I change the members menu so it uses a cut down menu with a fly out window?

Click "Account" under the "Settings" menu option. The following option is available:

Use fly-out navigation (Yes / No)

Click the Submit button to save changes.

Display member profile information using a smaller tabbed display?

Click "Account" under the "Settings" menu option. The following option is available:

Use tabs in profiles (Yes / No)

Click the Submit button to save changes.

How do I update my profile?

Click "Edit profile" under the "Profile" menu option. Make changes as required and then click the Submit button to save. There are a number of tabs on the profile page where you can enter everything about yourself that you want to be made public to other members of the site.

How do I cancel my account?

First of all don't cancel your account because we are the best site out there. You can also take a break from goCougar by using our Hide my profile feature.

Ok, if you have to cancel then click "Privacy" under the "Settings" menu. Lastly, select "Cancel account" from the "Who can view my profile" drop down list and click the "Submit" button.

IMPORTANT: If you pay for a Pro Account then please cancel your subscription to goCougar.com via your PayPal account. Otherwise, payment will be automatically sent to us at the beginning of each new subscription period.

As you can see we don't make it difficult to cancel! You have the ability to cancel your own account and cancel your PayPal subscription if you are a Pro account member.

PayPal Subscription Cancellation Procedure:

Log in to your PayPal account and go to the "History" subtab of the "My Account" tab. Choose "Subscriptions" from the pull-down "Show" menu and press the "Submit" button. Choose the goCougar subscription, and click on its "Details" link. You will be taken to a Transaction Details page from which you may cancel your subscription. Cancelling your subscription will immediately stop all future scheduled payments for this subscription.

How do I take a break from goCougar and take my profile offline?

You can now control the online status of your account, which is useful if you want to take a break from goCougar. Click "Account" under the "Settings" menu option. Then select an option from the " Hide my profile" dropdown list which controls your visibility on the site. Finally, click the Submit button to save your changes.

How do I appear offline to prevent instant chats?

There is a home page menu option that lets you decide whether you appear on or offline. Appear offline when you don't want to chat to anyone.

How do I switch on/off new message notifications?

  • Click "Notifications" under the "Settings" menu;
  • Change the value of "Private messages" to either Yes or No;
  • Click the Submit button to save changes.

Once switched off you will not receive any further notifications. Please note that messages are queued for delivery so it may take up to 1 hour before the changes take effect.

There are a host of other alerts on this page and you can choose which ones you want to receive an e-mail about.

I can't see all my messages

The message counter displays all the messages you have sent and received. When you view your messages you will notice there is an "Inbox" and "Sent" option under the "Messages" menu. The combination of messages in these two folders makes up your total message count.

When someone replies to a message, the original contents is NOT appended to the end of a message. As the vast majority of goCougar users have free accounts we have to keep our costs as low as possible. For this purpose the messaging system has been designed to keep messages as lean as possible and avoid unnecessary bloat.

How do I delete private messages from my Inbox or Sent folder?

  • Select either the Inbox or Sent folder by clicking on their respective tabs in the Messages display.
  • Click in the check box on the right of each message you want to delete. A tick will appear in the check box next to each message.
  • Select "Delete" from the dropdown list at the bottom right of the Messages display.

Can deleted messages be recovered?

Unfortunately, deleted messages cannot be recovered. As goCougar is mostly a free resource, we use a proprietry messaging system that is designed to conserve space. Messages are deleted in real time, they are not stored in a trash folder.

The system won't let me send any more messages

With a free account you can:

1) Store up to 50 messages in total, including sent messages;
2) Send up to 10 messages per day.

If you exceed any combination of these limits then you will not be able to send any further messages.

You will need to delete some of your old messages if you have exceeded your storage limit.

Sign up for Pro account membership and these limitations will be reomoved from your account!

I get an upgrade message when trying to send a message to another member

With a free account you can send up to 10 messages per day. To send up to 200 messages per day you need to upgrade to a Pro account.

Is it possible to remove the 300 character message limit?

Yes, the 300 character limit can be upgraded to 2000 if you sign up for Pro Account membership.

I forgot my password, what do I do?

Don't worry. Just click on the "Forgot password" link under the login box on the left hand side of each page.

How do I change my password?

Click "Account" under the "Settings" menu. Enter your new password, enter it again for confirmation and then click the Submit button.

How do I change the time setting for my profile?

  • Click "Account" under the "Settings" menu option;
  • Change "Your time zone" as desired;
  • Click Submit button to save changes .

When viewing profiles, NOTHING is displayed when I click on the various tabs!

If the tabs are not working then you must have Javascript disabled in your web browser. goCougar, like most other sites, uses Javascript to enable certain functions. Also, try refreshing the home page in case your browser is cacheing an old page.

Searching returns no results!

1) Make sure you are logged into the site.

2) There are thousands of men and women registered on goCougar. If no results are being returned by the search function then it is because there are no profiles that meet your specific search criteria. Try searching again with less specific criteria. To test the search function select "man" for the "I am" field and then "woman" for the "Seeking a" fields. Then click the "Submit" button. This will result in many pages of results.

Why am I restricted to 1 search every 5 seconds?

Members with free accounts are limited to a maximum of 1 search every 5 seconds. Pro Account members have unlimited search capabilities. To conduct a search on our site you must be logged into your account!

How do I upload a picture?

A lot of people seem to have difficulty uploading a picture of themselves. However, it is a relatively easy process when you know how. The following assumes you have taken a picture with a digital camera and transferred it to your computer.

There are two types of pictures on goCougar, a main profile picture and album pictures. You can add multiple pictures to each album you create. Albums can also be password protected.

  1. Click on "View albums" under the "Media" menu option;
  2. Click "Create Album" tab button or "Edit Album" to add a picture to an existing picture album;
  3. Click "Add picture" tab button;
  4. Enter a short description in the "Description" text box;
  5. Click the "Browse" button and locate the picture you want to upload. Use your mouse to navigate the folders on your computer until you reach the folder that contains the picture;
  6. Click on the picture you want to upload and then click the "Open" button to select it;
  7. If the picture contains adult material then mark it as such by selecting "Yes" in the "Is this an adult picture" drop down box;
  8. Click the "Submit" button.

All pictures must now be approved by goCougar before they are displayed on the site and you should allow up to 2 working days. If your picture does not appear after this time then it has been rejected. We have changed our policy on nudity and are now only accept mildly pornographic pictures, this is mostly to allow nudity that is artistically displayed. We do not accept anything we would consider to be hard core pornography like a straight forward close up of genitalia, etc.

How do I reduce the size of a picture?

You can upload pictures that are no larger than 300kb.

To reduce the size of a picture you need to use an image editing application. Large pictures are scorned upon on the web as they are slow to download and take up unnecessary bandwidth. People with slow internet connections will not wait for a large picture to download and will avoid viewing such pictures.

A picture with excellent resolution suitable for the web should be no larger than 75Kb. People generally don't want to see gigantic pictures!

You can download a FREE image editing application like GIMP

How do I make a picture my main picture?

You have to upload a profile picture by clicking "Change photo" under the "Profile" menu option.

How to I enable viewing of adult images?

By default your account is set to warn you when you are about to view an image that is adult rated. You can change this by clicking "Account" under the "Settings" menu option and changing the setting for "Allow adult pictures".

Can I upload adult pictures of myself?

Your main profile picture CANNOT contain nudity! All pictures must now be approved by goCougar before they are displayed on the site. Any unacceptable pictures will be deleted without notice.

We have changed our policy on nudity and are now only accept mildly pornographic pictures, this is mostly to allow nudity that is artistically displayed. We do not accept anything we would consider to be hard core pornography like a straight forward close up of genitalia, etc.

How do I block another member from contacting me?

We cannot take action against members who contact you and are polite, even if you believe their intentions are not genuine. Either ignore the messages and delete them or block them from contacting you.

If you receive an unsolicited message requesting contact via an off site e-mail address and/or phone number then use the "Report" feature of this website to report the violator. In this instance, please copy the contents of message received into the "Report Abuse" form before submitting it to us. Messages of this nature should be treated with suspicion and we advise you to ignore them and make no attempt to communicate with the sender.

How to block a member:

1) Search for the screen name of the member you want to block and then view their profile.
2) Click the "Block member" icon on the right hand side of the page and confirm you want to block the member by clicking the "OK" button.

Once blocked, a member will be unable to contact you through the goCougar website.

You can view a list of all blocked members by clicking on the "Blocked" option under the "Network" menu.

My Profile Badge will not update

The badge uses your primary picture. To change the picture click on "Change picture" under the "Profile menu.

Most web browsers cache images to make pages load faster. When an image is updated a browser may not display the new version instantly. Complete the following steps to fix this issue:

1) View your badge by clicking the "Badge" under the "Profile" menu option;
2) Check or uncheck the details you want to appear on your badge;
3) Click on the "Generate" button;
4) Click on the "Refresh" button. If your image has not updated then click your browsers refresh button to reload the images cached by your browser. The badge will update after this.

Instant chat is not working!

Make sure you have Javascript enabled in your browser as this is required for instant chat.

If no errors are displayed and the only problem is that no one is replying then the person you are trying to chat to may be off-line or not responding.

Do I need to logout when leaving goCougar.com?

The need to logout is dependent on a number of factors:

  • If your browser supports it, usernames and passwords can be remembered and website sessions restored automatically. Sites like Amazon for example use cookies stored on your computer to remember you and automatically log you in.
  • If your computer is shared by more than one person and privacy is a concern then it is prudent to logout when you exit the site. The Logout option can be found in the Member's menu on the left hand side of the home page.

How do I block blog posts from a member I dislike?

When viewing all blogs, you can now block all posts from a specific member by clicking on the "Block" button. The blocked member will be added to your "Blocked" list under the "Network" menu.

What is a fan?

Fans are members who like your blog threads/comments, etc. You can view a list of them by clicking the "Favourites" option under the "Network" menu. On this page you will find a "Fans" tab. You cannot delete fans and can simply ignore this list if you are not interested in knowing who is a fan.

Why are there ads on the site?

goCougar.com is completely free to use and enjoy. Unfortunately, great websites cost money to build and maintain so we support our free members by displaying adverts. When members visit the advertised sites everybody wins! However, if you really don't want to view any ads you can always just upgrade to a Pro account.

How do I help promote this site?

Well thank you for asking! The best way is to tell your friends. You can use the links on your personal homepage to tell your friends by e-mail or by posting the link in blogs or in your online profiles like MySpace or Facebook. You can also help us by bookmarking us using the "Spread the Word" links on the left side of the site.

 

Forum FAQ

 

Overview

goCougar already has integrated blogs where members can post their personal thoughts. The home page contains a recent blog entries section where other members post comments to your personal blog posts.

We have just launched a full featured forum, which we hope will bring a whole new dimension to inter-member communications! Unlike personal blogs, the forum is an open area for public discussions and has a variety of powerful features. There is also a forum dedicated to those members who would like to arrange group meetings in the physical world. This is a very significant new service for the site and we hope it will draw the community closer together.

vBulletin was used to implement the forum on goCougar because it is used to run some of the largest forums on the internet. If you have used other forums before then you will be instantly familiar with it.

Forum Etiquette

Please be respectful of other member's feelings when posting comments in forum threads. Abusive or extreme rudeness will not be tolerated and could lead to a permanent ban from the forum (YES, we have that ability).

How do I access the forum?

The main menu at the top of the home page contains a link named FORUM.

Do I need to register again?

No, the forum is only for goCougar.com members and you use the same login details as the main site.

NOTE: The forum login is your goCougar username NOT your screen name. goCougar screen names can be as little as one character long and this is incompatible with the forum application. If you want to change your username then send a message to Webmaster or use the Contact us form. However, as we have thousands of members there may be a delay in accomplishing this task. Also, we cannot support duplicate usernames so try to think of something unique to yourself like lastname and year of birth. Once posts have been made in the forum it is impossible to change your username.

I cannot login!

If you cannot login to the forum there may be a problem with your browser and/or its settings. We have tested the forum with FireFox 2 and Internet Explorer 6 with cookies and Javascript enabled and everything works without problem.

You can download FireFox for free from www.firefox.com if you would like to test it.

If you continue to have problems, send a message to Webmaster or use the Contact Us form (make sure you enter the anti-spam verification code).

How do I create a new thread?

Select the forum which best suits your question, General Chat for example, and then click the "New Thread" button.

Please refer to the "Forum FAQ" section of the forum itself. The forum has an extensive help system and it is worth spending some time familiarising yourself with the forum.

How do I modify my profile?

Once logged into the forum with your goCougar login, click on the "User CP" link in the blue menu bar. You will find a series of menu options on the left hand side of the page which allow you to modify various elements of your profile.

Please refer to the "Forum FAQ" section of the forum itself for more information.