WHAT WE FOUND: Singles come in all shapes and sizes. They also come with preset conceptions of the people they want to meet. Here, BBW Personals Plus, is a niche dating service that brings together singles that want to meet without prejudices. Friendly to use, begin by joining and using your guest membership to familiarize yourself with the service by posting your profile, and optionally, your photo. It’s quick and you only have to complete the personal information that you are comfortable with sharing. You’ll also be able to browse other member profiles and read what’s posted on the bulletin board. The big feature that’s free to you is to send and receive ‘smiles’, a preset introduction note to the members that you’d like to meet. As well, you can send and receive ecards from other members to show your interest. Become a premium member to use the Instant Chat feature, to send and receive full messages, post your comments on the club bulletin board and save your favorite searches.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND: Free to join and fun to use. Free guest membership includes sending and receiving introduction notes. No credit card required. Upgrade your membership for full member features including sending complete messages to other members.

WHAT WE FOUND: A well-designed service that fulfills a great need on the Internet, meeting people that share your faith. Start by registering yourself, answering only the questions that you want to answer. Once you receive your password, you are ready to start meeting someone like you! With your beliefs and values. Just wait a day until your profile is approved to send messages. Messages are automatically forwarded, anonymously, through the Big Church email system, so your privacy is protected until you give out personal information yourself. Members ads must be approved before being searchable and follow the guidelines that Big Church has set out. Use the Hot List to save the profiles of those you are interested in becoming friends with. You’ll like this service and the people that are waiting to meet you. This is much more than just a singles site.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND: Free basic memberships, easy contact, many religious affiliations included. Include your picture if you want.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND: Free to join, post a profile, post photos and videos, basic search, and receive mail. Must be a paid members to do advanced searches, add an additional personality profile, send and receive unlimited to messages to both free and paying members, instant messaging or chat, and receive higher rank in searches. Nicely laid out profiles. Nicely laid out account page.

WHAT WE FOUND: Black Planet Love is one part of the larger Black Planet community site. (3 distinct areas, “Community”, “Love” and “Jobs”.) At Black Planet you’ll have access to the community, jobs and love sections included with your free membership. Start your visit with the guest preview that is a 25 page self-guided tour of all the services and features available to members. Once you have seen 25 pages, or any time before, you must join as a free member. The Black Planet Love service allows you to become a free member and post your own profile. To make contact you’ll need to become a subscriber, but free members can reply to messages and send crushes (a form of anonymous short message). The search feature for a compatible match can be as quick or comprehensive as the options you select to search with. Additional features include “Instant Love” chat with other online members, weekly matches emailed to you, topical news, plenty of forums, chat rooms and contests to keep you busy. This is one of the best and comprehensive community services we’ve ever reviewed. You’ll like it too. For subscribers there is even a two week money back guarantee that you’ll like BlackPlanet, so joining is a no-risk option.

WHAT YOU'LL FIND: Large community section with a variety of public and private clubs, chat rooms, games, personal page about yourself, voice dating. Free to reply to messages, become a subscriber to initiate contact. Plenty of activities at this service.

WHAT WE FOUND: Bookofmatches is a full-featured free dating service that allows you to have fun as you search online for new friends or that special someone. Joining is fast and the profile is comprehensive and easily completed. We like the “My Picture/Rate Me” feature that allows you to include up to 3 pictures and have them rated by other members. Definitely a great way to introduce yourself is through the “Sizzle/Fizzle” feature. The “Who’s On” allows you to start browsing the profiles by current visitors, which is nice and you also have the very fast search to use on your journey in singleness. We also found the members slideshow, the horoscope compatibility checker and the music selection to play as you visit a nice change from the ordinary. Overall, Bookofmatches is easy to use and easy to navigate. You’ll have fun here!

WHAT YOU'LL FIND: Free membership includes all features including sending and replying to messages. Straight and same sex personals available.