Dating: Mingle online dating sites

I highly recommend the well-designed Mingle online dating sites: Prime Singles (for those over 40), Single Parents Mingle, Catholic Mingle, Christian Mingle, Jewish Mingle and other flavors. The convenient dashboard interface lets you send free prewritten smiles or attractive e-cards and (during a trial period or after you pay) send email or instant message with anyone you like. They have Favorites and Friends lists, and you can Hide anyone from future match lists or Block anyone from communication. Multiple-choice questions are intelligently designed and essays allow no limits. (I saw one person's profile run on for several pages.) On the home page and each profile, a status bar shows which activities have been shared with others. (You can see who has put you on their Favorites list.)

The design is excellent and the operation smooth, but what gives these sites their "value added" is a color-coded temperament test of 45 questions that explains your core motivations, personality type and compatibility cues. How does a White (serenity and organization) interact with a Blue (emotional and verbal intimacy) or a Red (power and strategy) or a Yellow (fun and adventure)? (Customized analyses are available.) All these elements put the Mingle sites up in the same league as Match.com, Eharmony and anemic Yahoo Personals.