About the Advanced Search

The advanced search is a way you can narrow down the list of pen pals you receive. Rather than looking through a huge list of pen pals for just the right one, you can specify the type of pen pal you are looking for, and also search for words they have written in their interests and comments. When filled out properly, this advanced search form can help you to find precisely the pen pal you are looking for.

How to use the Advanced Search properly

In order to realize the full potential of this search engine, you must use it properly. It is very easy to use, and here is a detailed description of how to use each field.

Min. age: Enter a number into this field to limit the lowest age returned to you from the search. No pen pal users of an age lower than this number will be returned from the search. If you leave this field blank, it defaults to 0 during the search.

Max. age: Enter a number into this field to limit the highest age returned to you from the search. No pen pal users of an age higher than this number will be returned from the search. If you leave this field blank, it defaults to 999 during the search.

Sex of pen pal: Select from either Female, Male, or All. Selecting Female will return only female pen pal users. Selected Male will return only male pen pal users. Selecting All will return both female and male pen pal users. All is the default choice.

Pen pal who prefers writing to: Select from Female, Male, Either, or All. Selecting Female will return only users who have chosen 'Female' in their preference of who to write to. Selecting Male will return only users who have chosen 'Male' in their preference of who to write to. Selecting Either will return only users who have chosen 'Either' in their preference of who to write to. Selecting All will return the list without regards to that field. All is the default choice.

Pen pal who prefers writing by: Select from E-mail, Regular Mail, Either, or All. Selecting E-mail will return only users who have chosen 'E-mail' as their preferred method of communication. Selecting Regular Mail will return only users who have chosen 'Regular Mail' as their preferred method of communication. Selecting Either will return only users who have chosen 'Either' as their preferred method of communication. Selecting All will return the list without regards to that field. All is the default choice.

List of comma separated words: Enter a list of words you would like to search for through either the users interests, comments, or both. Separate each word with a comma, not a space. For example, entering: "music, ice cream, mad cow disease", you will actually be searching for 3 separate words, which will be: 1. music 2. ice cream 3. mad cow disease. However, if you entered: "music ice cream mad cow disease", you would be searching for just 1 string, consisiting of 1. music ice cream mad cow disease, and it is highly unlikely you will ever encounter anyone using those words in that order. If you want to search for all those words, then separate all of them with commas, like: "music, ice, cream, mad, cow, disease".
Tip: It is usually best to search for words in singular form rather than plural. A match will occur whenever all the letters of the search string occur in order in the comments and/or interest of the user. For this reason, suppose you entered: "alpenhorns" in your search string. If a user put in their interests: "I like to play the alpenhorn", you would not get a match. For this reason, it is always best to put as few letters as possible to make a match. For example, entering "tos" in the search string will return users who have entered words such as toss, mentos, and photosynthesis.

Search for words in comments or interests: Select from Comments, Interests, or Either. Selecting Comments will scan the users Comments field only for matches. Selecting Interests will scan the users Interests field only for matches. Selecting Either will scan both the users Comments and Interests fields for matches. Either is the default choice.

Search for Any/All of the words: Select from Any or All. Selecting Any means you will get a match if any of the words in your word list are found in the users comments or interests field. Selecting All means you will only get a match if all of the words in your word list are found in the users comments or interests field. Any is the default choice.