Thank you for hanging in there, and now we’re back to your regularly scheduled programming.

-the HOT or NOT team

Back to your regularly scheduled hottie hunting!

Add more photos: It’s totally FREE to add more photos to your HOT or NOT profile! You might look entirely different from one shot to the next and adding more pictures lets people see more aspects of your personality, style, and lifestyle. For example, are you outdoors a lot, or always hanging out at a pub, or constantly snapping shots of yourself while pumping iron?

Beef up your intro: There’s nothing lamer than a profile intro that says “I’ll fill this in later,” or “I have nothing to say.” These intros send a strong message that the user is not serious about meeting people on the site, or sharing things about his/her life, interests, or personality. It might also be interpreted as complacency, or laziness – probably not the message you want to broadcast if you’re actually on the site to meet people.

By popular request, we have recently extended the length of the intros. So, those users who wish to keep things short and sweet (but still captivating!), can certainly do so, while long-winded users now have the freedom to express themselves, without feeling constrained by a 500-word limit.

Poke someone you think is hot: Poking someone is fun, simple, and – best of all – FREE! Poking one of your Double-Matches is a good way to let someone know that you like their profile. If you’re a bit shy, this is a great way to get someone’s attention – even better if you can follow it up with a message.

Send a FREE note to someone: It’s totally FREE for a Basic member to contact a Star Member, since only one person needs to have a paid account to correspond through our messaging feature. But, if you’ve seen a profile of someone you just can’t resist and you’re both Basic members, you can still let them know you think they’re groovy by clicking on the “Send Note” link below their profile picture on your Double-Matches page. One of you will need to purchase a Star Membership if you want the correspondence to continue beyond the initial note (and hopefully you do!), but it’s still a great way to say something nice to someone without spending a dime.

Just Say “Yes”: You’ll increase your chances of getting more Double-Matches if you click “Yes” to lots of profiles in the Meet People section. Obviously, not everyone can be your soul mate, but you can still use HOT or NOT to make new friendships and connections. And remember, just because you said “Yes” to someone, it doesn’t necessarily mean that s/he will accept your request; so, clicking “Yes” to lots of people increases your odds, since you may only have success with a couple of them.

HoN Tip: Our new search feature makes it easier for people to meet local singles and find love. Just enter your city or zip code in the location field and select a distance (50 miles, 500 miles, etc.) from the drop-down menu. You can also mix things up and browse profiles from all around the world by entering “Everywhere” instead of a location. This way, you might see a profile from Sydney, one from Johannesburg, and one from San Francisco, all in the same search results.

Send messages to your Half-Matches: So, you’ve clicked “Yes” to a stellar hottie and your profile will now end up in his/her Half-Matches page (where it will anxiously await reciprocity). Why not stand out and send the person a Half-Match message? These are short (250 characters, max) messages that give you an opportunity to let a girl know that she’s caught your attention. But don’t cop out and send the same message to everyone: send personalized messages that let the recipient know who you are and why you are interested in his/her profile. Sure, you’ve got the looks, but people want to get a sense of someone’s personality as well, and this is your chance to let your individuality shine. Make note of her style, or his stunning eyes, or the keywords you both have in common – let that user know that you’ve noticed something unique about him/her and avoid simply pointing out the fact that she’s super-hot, or he’s got tight abs. Be genuine, not generic.

Send a virtual gift: All Star Memberships include a Star Gift Pack, rammed with a variety of e-flowers that you can send to your sweetie. The web version of a tulip might not smell as sweet as the real thing, but it’s still a nice gesture that lets someone know you think s/he’s pretty special.

Stay in touch with your Double-Matches: Once someone has accepted your meet request, you’ll become Double-Matches. Yay! From here, you can start getting to know each other by sending longer messages through our messaging feature. Unlimited messaging is included in all Star Memberships, but, again, be sure to make each message unique and point out some specifics that you liked about his or her profile or pictures. Remember that if you’re a Basic (FREE) member, you can still email your Double-Matches, as long as the other person is a Star Member.

HoN Tip: Don’t include your personal email address in the first message. This is typical spam behavior (you don’t want someone to think you’re a fake!) and people usually like to get to know their Double-Matches on our site before corresponding through their personal email accounts.

Good luck!

Let’s face it. That card game you know and love may not be the most exciting, but the heat gets cranked up a notch (actually, several notches) when we mash it up with the endless fun of the HOT or NOT rating system. Yeah, you heard us. This is how the melding of two tried and true games works: you and your opponent (who can be your buddy, wingman-in-training, or your iPhone) are dealt five cards, each with a photo straight off of HOT or NOT. Then it’s up to you to use your eyes and fine-tuned judgment skills to pick out which of your cards has the highest rating (you haven’t spent hours scouring and rating babes on HOT or NOT for nothing, have you?) The player whose card has the highest rating scores the point, and you want to score as many points as possible within the 30 second round. Choose to play with either girl cards or guy cards, whichever tickles your fancy, and set the game to 1, 3, 5, or 7 rounds. Take a look:

HOTorNOT War is the best way to check out hotties and put your rating skills to use while you’re on the go or just looking to kill some time (what are iPhone games for, afterall?) and we’ve found it curiously addictive. You should definitely check it out, and let us know what you think of the game in the comments. Enjoy!

Click here to download HOTorNOT War straight from the App Store for free.

Keep coming back to the blog because our job is to cheer you on from the sidelines as you enjoy what HOTorNOT has to offer, whether you’re here to rate hotties, make a new friend, or search for your soulmate. Our other job is to dish on anything and everything related to dating, both online and offline. We’ll get back to basics, covering topics like first date dos and don’ts, how to kick an online relationship to the next level, how to make yourself stand out amongst the hordes of other eligible bachelors or bachelorettes vying for someone’s attention. And of course, we’ll keep you posted on any new features and changes taking place on HOTorNOT. There’s a little something for everyone!

So, add the HOTorNOT blog into your RSS feed if you’re so inclined by clicking here, and be sure to check back, leave comments and share your opinions, because this is the place for you to be as vocal as you like. And, who knows, maybe that guy who replied to your comment is the HOTorNOT match for you.

Update: We’ve now installed an updated security certificate.

Some of our members have written to us about a problem we’re currently experiencing with an expired security certificate on our secure site. We’ve verified this problem and are in the process of updating our certificate. Rest assured that this is a temporary warning and although we take the matter very seriously, our site remains secure.

We thank you for pointing out the problem to us and please be patient as we resolve it in the next day or so.

First, some of you might have noticed that the rating system was acting a little weird: You might not have received any votes, or you might have not received an email you expected… we are really sorry about these issues, but the good news is that we have now solved the problems for good.

The second problem happened Tuesday morning as some unsent emails from the past few months all went out at the same time! So, if you received a few unexpected emails from us please keep in mind that it was a mistake on our part and it will not happen again.

Once again, we’re really sorry, and as always, thanks for being a part of the Hot or Not community.

Mazdak,

Hottest Engineer @ HoN

FACEBOOK APP HOTTER THEN EVER!

Great news! (and it’s about time …) We’ve TOTALLY redesigned the HOT or NOT App!

Improved graphics. Improved search. Totally new look. Now, you can rate and meet hotties on Facebook as easy as 1,2,3.

Check it out now and then invite your friends to join in all the fun too.

Enjoy. Have fun.

The HOT or NOT Team

SHARE A HOTTIE IS BETTER THEN EVER!

Have you come across a hottie you just think is soooo HOT? And, you just need to share them with all your friends? Well, we’ve made it easier and better then ever to do so.

How did we do it? We added a NEW FEATURE that enables you to spread the hotness of HOT or NOT to all your friends – ADDRESS BOOK IMPORTER! (insert applause here).

Step 1: Click “Share by Email” (located under the hottie you want to share).
Step 2: Based on how you roll, click on either the “Add from my address book” button, or click on the “To” link.
Step 3: Choose the appropriate program or service you use for email.
Step 4: Add your contacts.
Step 5: Add a personalized message and hit “send”. Voila! You just shared a hottie!

Just follow those simple steps and you’ll become a hero amongst your friends. You’ll be known as “that guy” who spreads hotness to each of them everyday by sending new hotties. Psst. click “Yes” before you start sharing, as ya know your friends will be hitting that too.

So, what are you waiting for? Go share those hotties!