Dating websites - recommendations please!

[Onetoeinthewater]

Been separated for nearly a year and am not sure I'm ready to look for someone new but am convinced it'll get the harder the older I get. Have a horror of people I know seeing my profile, small city. No idea where to start. Which dating websites are best for single parents/people in their 40's...or is it all in how you search them? Had a quick look at the Guardian one...TIA

bump

Have you tried the dating thread on the relationships board? It has become slightly random but I am pretty sure there are some single parents on there who may point you in the right direction

Met my DP through Guardian soulmates! I found it the best if you're wanting a more educated match. I think you do need to bite the bullet and put a photo up though, which may mean that people you know (most likely other single men your own age using dating sites) may see you. I live in a fairly small town too and did see a couple of blokes I knew on there - one of them sent me a very casual email saying how was I getting on on here, just friendly and made it seem a perfectly normal place to have met.

Try to think of it just like they've seen you in a pub, or at a party. The dating website's just somewhere people go, like anywhere else.

The sites all allow you to state whether you have children, and to look for partners with/without them, so I think they're all fine in that respect - or at least the ones I used did.

Hi

My partner and I met on okcupid, good site I thought (but biased )

It is free and I found it easy to navigate and use.

Xxx

I met my BF on plenty of fish, its free and easy to use, just keep your profile friendly, and cheery. Dont be afraid to contact a man, don't just wait for them to contact you. Good luck

Hi, I met a nice guy on plenty of fish but generally speaking I didn't like the crowd there. I also like ok cupid, talked to some decent guys there but I'm taking things slowly, no double dating for me. Soul guardian is very nice however I find their subscription fees too high. I only paid for one month then dropped it.

I'm not sure, I'm just looking to see what they are like...you might like e-harmony, they only show your photo to other people that they have actually matched you too, as far as I can see you can't just go on and browse random people which would be good if you didn't want to get spotted. It is a bit long winded to get registered which would mean you would also be less likely to get seen by someone you know!

I'm trying Match Affinity at the moment...lots of older blokes describing themselves as having short hair, when they are bald...Lots of them are saying they only want slim women, and I am not! Have put my photo on there, but there are some knobs there.... oh well, gotta kiss the frogs. Or at least weed them out first!

haha! I know people have may or may not slate it but I met I had a lot of fun on POF.

Lovestruck worked for me, but depends on your location.

I paid for 6 months on Match.com. But I was brutally honest and said that as a lone parent any partner would have to accept my daughter would be there most of the time. So ideally I was looking for a dad where we could share days out.

Funnily enough I hardly got any responses, or if I did they just wanted dinner dates, no kids allowed!

dilly, I paid for 3 months there, shan't be renewing if the first month is anything to go by. blocked one already! Muppet!

Yes, really expensive. I quite like OKCupid mentioned above - and free!

hi plenty of fish is great, dont spend money! i actually find more matches on there than on match.com which is £30 a month! what a rip off.
its the best oldest and has the most members. go for it! ive chatted to some really nice ppl on there

Have recently been told that when Match say you have x no of profile views, these are not in fact people who have viewed your profile. This is dishonest of them, and I am not pleased!

Ok, have just joined pof. Have had more messages in an hour than in over a week on Match. And no willy pics. Yet.And they have seen my picture.