Help

General

What is Smatchy?

Smatchy is a network that allows you to ask and answer questions. Based on these answers, we can show you who has similar tastes, recommend products and services, and give you a platform for finding information and interacting with others.

Who are People Like Me?

People Like You are your top Smatches. We take all your responses and determine how everyone matches up to you. Then, the very best Smatches are designated as People Like You, users who share your ideas and opinions. These vary by category, so check out your Smatches (and recommendations) along every Smatchy dimension.

How do you come up with Recommendations and Smatches for me?

We take all your responses and run them through a series of complicated algorithms and calculations. This math geekiness allows us to deliver all of our fun components - everything from Smatches to Recommendations to Did You Knows.

How do I invite someone to join Smatchy?

We like how you're thinking! Just click on the email icon next to a question and fill in an email address in the top box. Your invitation will be sent out automatically.

How do I search for people?

There are lots of ways to search for people on Smatchy. You can search directly by username, you can search for people most or least like you, and you can apply several filters on top of these. Play with all of these searches on the Smatches page.

How do I add someone to my friends list?

You can add someone to your friends list anytime you see their picture or profile by clicking on the icon (beside their picture) or the link (within their profile). Your friend will now appear in your friends list and you'll have quick access to viewing their updated profile information, sending them messages, and seeing how they Smatch up to you!

How do I find one of my friends on Smatchy?

The easiest way is to go your Smatches page and perform a search there. Just click on Filter By Username OR Filter by First Name and enter the person you want to find. Not showing up? Go up and unclick People Like Me (they might not be like you or have answered enough questions). Still no luck? You can also search for part of a word, so try shortening the word you're looking for. In the future, we'll enable people to perform more advanced searches to expand their network.

Does someone have to agree to be in my friends list?

No. You manage who is in your friends list. Your friends list allows you to have quick access to the people you want to send messages or mini questions.

How do I become an Expert?

You may have noticed that some profiles are stamped 'Expert'. That's because these users have answered lots of questions in our recommendation categories. Want to be an expert? Share your ratings with us to prove you know your stuff!

Safety

What should I be concerned about?

There are lots of things in life to be worried about - we're trying to keep your online security off that list. However, some general precautions are wise. You should be aware of your account activity and the personal information you post. Never post information on your profile page that allows an unwanted party to contact or locate you and don't give out your password to anyone.

What info should I never post?

You shouldn't ever post your Social Security Number, your date of birth, or contact information (email, address, telephone, etc.). These things are trouble. We ask for some of these as part of our security information, but these are not available to the public, even if you want them to be.

Who can see my profile information?

Anyone on Smatchy can see your Profile. However, they only have access to your General Info, Favorites, and Image Gallery. If you have something you don't want someone to see, don't post it.

What does Smatchy do to protect my info?

Smatchy is committed to keeping your online information safe. We don't distribute user information to marketers or spammers, and we have systems in place to prevent security breaches. Privacy is important to us, and we're working to keep yours intact.

What do I do if someone is harassing me?

If someone is harassing you, notify us. We're currently working on systems to help you manage this process yourself, but for now, email us at support@smatchy.com.

Where can I view the terms of service?

Smatchy's Terms of Use can be linked to from the bottom of any page.

Registration and Passwords

How do I register?

Simply click Sign Up on the homepage, pick out a username, and get started.

Why do I need to register for the site?

Registering allows us to save your responses and show you how people like you think anytime you visit the site. It also allows us to give you recommendations based on what people like you like. And... well... you have to register in order to access all the features and profiles.

What do I do if my password keeps getting rejected?

If your password keeps getting rejected, make sure that it satisfies the requirements. It must be at least 5 characters long. We recommend choosing a combination of numbers and letter, some upper- and some lower-case, that you can remember. Still having issues? Send us an email at support@smatchy.com.

What do I do if I forgot my password?

If you forget your password, we're happy to send you a new one. Just follow the link on the homepage and we'll email one to the address you've given us. Then, use that password to log back on. Once you're in, you can go to My Profile and change it to something you can remember.

How do I change my password?

Go to My Profile and select Change Password from the Profile Tools. Then, just enter a password that meets the criteria and you're ready to go.

Can I change my user ID?

Not at this time. If you have a unique issue or have signed up with an ID that you shouldn't have (like your Social Security Number), send us an email to support@smatchy.com and we'll see what we can do.

Features

What is the SmatchPad?

The SmatchPad is Smatchy's way of recording both your answer to the question and how much you like the question. The horizontal squares show how much you agree with the question that was asked (the response) and the vertical squares indicate how much you liked the question (the popularity). With one click, you can answer both!

How do I use the SmatchPad?

To use the SmatchPad, just roll over the squares and click on the one that corresponds to how you feel about a certain question. Still unsure of what each square means? Click on the Help icon next to the question to help guide you.

What do you use the response and popularity for?

We use the inputs for different things. We use your response (on the horizontal) to register your feeling about that particular question; this is used as the primary mechanism for determining People Like You, Recommendations, and Matches. We use the popularity (on the vertical) to register how much you liked the question, to insure that the best mix of questions continue to be asked to our users.

What does my Rank show me?

Your rank shows where you stand among all the Smatchy users in terms of number of questions answered. The percentage shown indicates what % of users have answered more questions than you. How high do you rank?

What is a Random Smatch?

A Random Smatch is a profile that we've pulled from People Like You. It's someone who matches up with you pretty well, based on your responses to date. With every answer, however, your Smatches are changing, so you never know who will pop up here.

How do I upload a profile picture?

Go to your Image Gallery on your Profile page and click on Add an Image.

How do I get to people's photos?

Image galleries are accessed from a user's Profile. Go to their profile and link to their photos from there. If you want to see them close up, click on an individual photo to access the photo viewer.

How do I use The Vault?

From the Vault, you can access all sorts of data about the Smatchy questions. Options include exploring questions you've answered, questions you've skipped, and questions you've asked. Or... take a look through some of our other options - the most and least popular, or the most and least polarizing. On top of that, filter by category or look for a specific term. Finally, view the data and distributions on the questions and even answer ones that you haven't yet seen.

What are Mini Questions?

Mini Questions work just like regular Smatchy questions except they are private. Create a list of questions and send them to your Friends. Then, see the results and compare your group - Smatchy even tells you how well your group matches up for a given Mini. Get the opinion of your Friends on whatever you want while keeping everyone's individual answers secret. That's right - Smatchy will tell you the aggregate results, but not divulge your Friends' answers. Go on and try it out.

Recommendations

How do I use recommendations?

You can either do a standard or advanced search. For a standard search, simply Choose a method - Choose a category - Search.

For an advanced search, you can specify more options.

What are the different methodologies for recommendations?

There are three basic options you can run - Normal, Obscure, and Geographic.

Normal Recs give you recommendations based on the Qs that you've answered. This is Smatchy's standard system of recommending products.

Obscure Recs pull unique favorites from the profiles of your best Smatches. Often, these are off-the-wall items that let you find non-mainstream options from people like you.

Geographic Recs show how well you match up with different parts of the US. We are just getting into some mapping features, but we plan on doing some really cool things here.

What can I control with an advanced search?

In addition to the Methodology and Category that you control with a standard search, and advanced search also lets you control matching criteria and questions to include.

By selecting match criteria, you can choose which People Like Me to get recs from. For example, if you wanted to get book recs from your political matches, you could choose Category=Books and Match Criteria=Politics. This is a fun way to look at other options!

Including your answered Qs in the results just includes items you've rated, as well as those you haven't in the returned list.

What do the stars mean? How do I get more?

The stars represent the degree of confidence Smatchy has in your predicted recommendations. In order to improve your recommendations, answer more questions. Specifically, you can click on 'Improve results' on the recommendations page to train the system to your tastes.

Help

General

Safety

Registration and Passwords

Features

Recommendations

General

Safety

Registration and Passwords

Features

Recommendations

Sign-in

Toolbox

Resources