Interview with Darren – osDate Creator
I am very glad I had a chance to take interview with Darren. He is a very nice person and I was really satisfied with his interesting and unpredictable answers.
osDate is very popular. There are many programmers, webmasters who adore this dating script and create new addons, new templates. osDate community is very big. I recommend you to start your dating site with osDate if you have limited budget.
Enjoy reading the interview!
UD: Please, introduce yourself to the readers.
Darren: I’m a 33-year-old entrepreneur from Los Angeles, California. I have an MS in computer science, and live alone. I’ve been operating www.TUFaT.com since 1999.
The first software product was a PHP-based family tree program, but since then the site has grown to about 200 titles, mostly using Flash, XML, PHP, MySQL, and Javascript technologies.
UD: Why have you created dating script?
Darren: I created osDate because I noticed that most of the free PHP dating scripts at the time were of very poor quality. The higher quality ones were very expensive, sometimes as much as $700. Also, no dating script at that time had a good zip code proximity feature, which I believe is essential.
The idea struck me that I could create and maintain an effective dating script for free by just selling "skins". Not all customers would want additional skin, which is fine, but I believed that enough would to support the project. The sale of skins has been keeping osDate going for several years now.
UD: How many people work with you?
Darren: On the osDate project, I have one full-time programmer, Vijay Nair. During development, as many as five programmers and designers worked on osDate, although only one is needed at the moment to maintain the system. Vijay helps resolve customer issues on the support forum, and provides patches and updates for bugs. He also periodically helps to develop new features.
UD: When first osDate package was released? Was it good enough?
Darren: The first osDate package was released in 2004, and was far from adequate. However, even the first iteration of osDate probably came close to meeting the feature lists of existing dating systems. Since then we have been iteratively improving osDate. Of course, every version is 100% free and open-source.
UD: Do you love osDate as much as dating webmasters do?
Darren: osDate is sort of like my "baby". Like a real baby, I nurture and take care of it. Webmasters of dating sites probably test a variety of dating systems before settling on one. Webmasters can change systems, or discontinue use of a system if they don’t like it.
I have never entertained the possibility of discontinuing osDate. It would be like killing my own baby. It will never happen. I’d like osDate to continue until the day I die (and beyond!). I’m in excellent health, so that won’t be for a long time.
UD: What’s your dream about osDate? It is really popular.
Darren: My dream is to create a system that is competitive with major commercial dating sites like Match.com. These are systems that have millions of dollars of development behind them, and really top-notch interface designs.
I think that the interface design of osDate needs to be upgraded, so that it has a sleeker and more professional finish. I’d like to fully integrate video chat by default into osDate. Currently, video chat is possible using the FlashChat add-on, but it’s not yet native to osDate. It will be at some point in 2008 or 2009, however.
UD: Have you ever been really surprised with what webmasters do to osDate in design or may be in some extra addons?
Darren: Absolutely. I’m continually amazed at the add-ons that other programmers introduce. Some other webmasters sell their add-ons and skins, which I think is fantastic. I’m very supportive of other programmers who wish to make money from osDate.
In fact, it is completely legal to re-sell osDate. You could tweak it with your add-on, re-name it, and then re-sell it for a lot of $. I have no problem with that.
UD: Some people say online dating is almost dead. What do you think?
Darren: I think that a few dating websites, like Match.com, have dominated the online dating market, and effectively "squeezed out" the little guys. They do this not because their dating systems are better, but because they’ve marketed their websites better. I live in the United States, and see Match.com advertisements all the time on television. eHarmony.com is another such site.
Online dating as a concept is very much alive. I’m always meeting people who have dated online, and even married those they met online. If you want to start a successful dating website, you need to think about clever /marketing/ strategies.
UD: What do you think lead dating sites to success?
Darren: There is success in numbers. No one want to join a dating website when there are only 100 members. People want to join dating websites that have millions of members. The key is to attract a large user base quickly, perhaps by offering free memberships for the first X users. Finding a good "niche" is also important.
I have a friend who started a dating website for salsa dancers in the Southern California area. It’s incredibly popular, even with only a thousand members. It’s successful because people feel that they’re connecting to a very special community. JDate is a better-known example of this. The Jewish dating scene is not extremely large, but JDate is very successful.
UD: Your favorite dating site if any?
Darren: Probably Match.com (I hate to admit it, though!). Their interface design is very simple and easy to navigate. Sometimes it’s better to have fewer features, not more features. There are a lot of people who are new to the Internet who are overwhelmed by a lot of options on their screen.
I sometimes advise osDate users to /deactivate/ features, rather than add more features, to simplify the user interface.
UD: Some words for the readers, some advices or just thoughts))
Darren: My advice: if you want to start a dating site, do it! It’s essentially free. osDate is free, of course… and you can get a domain and web hosting for less than $30/year.
So there really is little to no start-up capital. If you have a good marketing angle, you can really make some money. Think about it: you’re selling /access/, not a tangible product. There is no shipping to deal with, and there are no product returns. There is no inventory to keep track of either. A successful dating website practically mints its own money.
Well, I hope you get some ideas))
Best Wishes
19 Responses to “Interview with Darren – osDate Creator”
Nice interview, i like it…
Daren, you’re on the right way
you know what people need.
I’m not a programmer, but i think osDate is very easy to customize, at least the appearance
If i have enough time, i’m happy to contribute to create oSdate template too.
Then, I agree with your voice, “finding a good niche”. I started a dating for my district contains at least 2 million people, i think it is a good starting point, right?
Congratulation and Good Luck Darren, you’re being popular.
pity the intergration with forums doesnt work. e.g. installtion with phpbb. the actual ‘forum management link’ doesnt link up with any installedm forum… always says: forum/login_osdate not found. driving me insane, and no help on phpbb forum or osdates forum…. developers can make something, but as usual cant provide help to solve the problems:(
Darren, great interview. We share the same vision. Vijay is fab although I do worry that perhaps you have too many eggs in one basket (god forbid if something were to happen to your developer).
Keep up the great work and (sort out Nochex or at least post some documentation about it
@me,
i have successfully integrate my osdate with phpbb, if you need some help, please contact me in my blog. thanks
osdate is great, but you really do need to find the right niche. I used to use aedating but abandoned it because of bugs and they were always trying to stick me with hidden costs. never had that experience with osdate – always is free!
thanks Darren you’re a pro
I’m a big fan! Only wish I had found out about osdate before I wasted multiple hundreds of dollars on other software packages.
ps: my forum integration works fine
I’m a big fan!
Only wish I hadn’t wasted so much money before finding osdate! lol
ps: my forum integration works fine
Darren I love your work. Too generous for this. It worths a lot. Good luck.
In December of 2007 after what I thought was extensive research I decided on PG Dating. I felt so confident about my niche that together with marketing and web development, I invested my retirement of over $40,000. Today I am finding myself coming to OSDate because the current site that I purchased is still not working properly. I would get it to were it was working, run an advertising campaign, only to find that during the campaign some new bug popped up.
I still feel confident about my niche. I am hoping that OS Date will help me recoup my loses. At this point I have nothing else to loose, but everything to gain. I really wish I would have found out about OSDate back in November 2007. But I guess better late than never.
Darren, cool beans bro! Nice interview! osDate is awesome! I still need to re-set up mine. Thanks!
Trim the fat!
osDate needs to go on a diet! it grew from 30MB to 80MB in just a few releases – and don’t get me started on the bugs… what a waste of code! I also don’t want to forget to mention the forum moderators – they have no clue, they are ban happy and one is a complete racist!
Hi Darren
I developed a video interactive online dating site in my novel, Tribe Of Blondes.
Now I will bring this site to life using your osDate platform along with a video chat program. Think match.com plus video chats, expert interviews, social activities and travel adventures for singles.
I let you know when we launch!
Hadley Finch
http://www.tribeofblondes.com/tribeofsingles
Great interview, i this os date is great although i still think it has a along way togo before it beats some of the other products on the marketing like emeeting (http://www.datingscripts.co.uk) and webscribble (http://www.webscribble.com)
Wow! It’s so nice to see somebody doing something for free. Selling the skins as an addon was a great idea. I would like to know if you’re still updating this script, or if it’s the same as a couple of years ago. Does anybody know?
Its always being updated.
Last update was less than a month ago.
But i do agree it needs to be trimmed down a bit. Main package should be a lot smaller and have the plugins separate, like joomla does it.
The forums are GREAT, Just take a look before you listen to others and decide yourself.
osDate looks like a good dating software especially when it’s free. It may work for users who start dating business as a side job or part time, but when it comes to real business or enterprise level, is it still good enough? and how about support level for a free software? There are many competitive dating software like skadate, datingpro, or http://www.datingsitebuilder.com who provides dating profiles.
Nevertheless, this is a great forum that provides tons of useful information. Thank you.
Hi Darren, take a look at my website. I manage to tweak the site to my personal preference. There are a few critical pages missing when ftping the site, even thought they are all there on my localhost. I don’t know how they disappear because I changed everything in the config files and glbl table. I have all the osdate files I can upload to you. I don’t know what makes certain pages disappear in the main page panel (side menu still shows), but you will see when you register and login as a user, and click “Compatibility Questionnaire”. Same thing with many admin links such as “Global Settings” and I have a hard time tweaking in a flash logo for my site. I’ve done whatever is necessary. Darren, I am willing to “PAY” you money to finish it off to my liking for your final tweaking touch up. I will upload you all the files, and we will negotiate a price even if it is $100-$500 or more. (Will provide you my credit number)That will fit my budget. I need to make togetherweclick.ca look original and appeal to a niche. I am getting into serious business. If I am really happy, I will be happy to advertise osdate and tufat and include you in my compliments. I’ve been investing money on godaddy to keep the site running, and nothing much as changed. I’ve been going in circles for over a year to fill in the bugs that keep appearing, rendering it incomplete and obsolete. I also cant find a way to make payed memberships permanent. If you could customize it so that I could from my admin have the option of having members sign up free for permanent, and upgrade to chargeable when they automatically renew, just like hotmail, that would be great! And also let me know how I can link a merchant account to the pay modules. I am totally lost with this.
Thank you.
A big thank you to Darren for going out of his way to create such a wonderful dating software. I use it for my dating site and love it…. Thanks again Tamara
Hi Darren
nice interview but I tought i was going to get more info about when osdate will be able to compete with other script like vld personals, any way I am about to bring a brand new dating website online
the best news paper & magazines in montreal, quebec are already calling it the best new site for 2011.
The website is being put by my company ABM Entertainment Empire that I am president, chairman, ceo & founder, and belive me or not I will be using OsDate and if everything goes well, you will get not only a contribution of me but a partnership as well.
The website is due for december 31 2010
and I will post the complete address and info one week before the grand online launch so fallow me Prez32 on twitter or facebook to learn more, people who wants more info can write me at abm-entertainment-empire@gmail.com, I have already responded to 1.7 million e-mail from people saying that they can’t wait to join in as paying members in order to have full controle of the website.
Lets say i am bless with god’s midas touch.