Shining Raichu
Expect me like you expect Jesus.
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Three Steps To A
Successful Club
Successful Club
Making a club is a very different exercise from making a normal discussion thread. A club is a place you can go and talk about your favourite things with like-minded people. Unlike most threads, they're built to ideally last for a very long time and as such are meant to have a slightly more 'official' feel to them. A club is a place to which people should want to come back, so you should make sure you've put a lot of thought into a club before you submit it for approval.
If you've made a club and it hasn't appeared in the Other Clubs forum within 24 hours, that likely means it hasn't been approved because not enough effort has gone into its execution. You're more than welcome to come to me and ask any questions about why your club wasn't approved (I don't bite! :P) but for some handy tips on how to get your club approved the first time, just follow this easy three-step guide!
I'll be using the example of a Sailor Moon fan club to illustrate my points. You don't have to follow this structure exactly; this is just a general guideline.
1. Creating the Components
Title
Every club needs a title. The most obvious title for a club is a simple statement of what the club is about. Cryptic clues will only confuse people and drive them away, so it's best you keep your club titles short and sweet. You can add an extra phrase for flair or creativity, but the subject matter should appear in the title somewhere.
Information
Your club needs to have some background information so that people can fully understand what your club is about! It doesn't matter if you take information from another website or make it up yourself, but it's crucial for people to understand what they're signing up for.
Rules
Every club in the world has rules that its members need to follow, so why wouldn't the clubs on PokeCommunity be the same? The rules don't need to be that creative, they just need to set out the boundaries for behavior within your club.
Member List
A major difference between a discussion thread and a club is that a club is a safe place for you to speak to like-minded people without fear of excessive repercussion. Instead of anybody on the entire forum replying, it will only be other members of the club who likely support the same things you do! To maintain this feeling of community within the club, each member who has decided to join the club should have their name on the front page! This is why we have the member list. There's nothing much to say here, a member list is just that – a list of the club's members, which should be updated whenever somebody new joins. You can order the members alphabetically, by the order in which they joined, or whatever way you please.
Every club needs a title. The most obvious title for a club is a simple statement of what the club is about. Cryptic clues will only confuse people and drive them away, so it's best you keep your club titles short and sweet. You can add an extra phrase for flair or creativity, but the subject matter should appear in the title somewhere.
Examples:
The Sailor Moon Fan Club
[Moon Prism Power!] – The Sailor Moon Fan Club
Meatball Heads – a club for Sailor Moon fans
The Sailor Moon Fan Club
[Moon Prism Power!] – The Sailor Moon Fan Club
Meatball Heads – a club for Sailor Moon fans
Information
Your club needs to have some background information so that people can fully understand what your club is about! It doesn't matter if you take information from another website or make it up yourself, but it's crucial for people to understand what they're signing up for.
Example:
Sailor Moon is a famous anime series that has aired all over the world. It follows the adventures of Serena (or Usagi, for you die-hard fans out there!) aka "Sailor Moon" and her friends, the Sailor Scouts, as they protect the world from being conquered by the evil Negaverse. It originally had a very successful run in the 1990s, and the series is soon to be revived!
Sailor Moon is a famous anime series that has aired all over the world. It follows the adventures of Serena (or Usagi, for you die-hard fans out there!) aka "Sailor Moon" and her friends, the Sailor Scouts, as they protect the world from being conquered by the evil Negaverse. It originally had a very successful run in the 1990s, and the series is soon to be revived!
Rules
Every club in the world has rules that its members need to follow, so why wouldn't the clubs on PokeCommunity be the same? The rules don't need to be that creative, they just need to set out the boundaries for behavior within your club.
Example:
- Follow all global PokeCommunity rules
- Always be respectful of others' opinions in club discussions
- Remain on-topic at all times
- Have fun!
- Follow all global PokeCommunity rules
- Always be respectful of others' opinions in club discussions
- Remain on-topic at all times
- Have fun!
Member List
A major difference between a discussion thread and a club is that a club is a safe place for you to speak to like-minded people without fear of excessive repercussion. Instead of anybody on the entire forum replying, it will only be other members of the club who likely support the same things you do! To maintain this feeling of community within the club, each member who has decided to join the club should have their name on the front page! This is why we have the member list. There's nothing much to say here, a member list is just that – a list of the club's members, which should be updated whenever somebody new joins. You can order the members alphabetically, by the order in which they joined, or whatever way you please.
Example:
- Alternative
- Hikari10
- Leaf Storm
- Lightning
- Minzy
- Shining Raichu
- Signomi
- Alternative
- Hikari10
- Leaf Storm
- Lightning
- Minzy
- Shining Raichu
- Signomi
2. Piecing It Together: Layout and Presentation
The layout is how you format your club post. It's the step where you put all the components together. Your club doesn't need to have a lot of fancy and pretty CSS (though if you want to go to the extra effort, that's always fantastic!) to be accepted or successful, it just has to be formatted clearly so that everybody can understand it. If you want to add some creative touches like pictures or fonts to get into the club spirit then that is always appreciated, but it's not mandatory.
So, now that we have everything in place, lets see what the finished result should look like!
So, now that we have everything in place, lets see what the finished result should look like!
Spoiler:
3. It's Your Baby: Maintaining The Club
Before you create a club, you should understand that it's your responsibility to take care of it. How well you do so will dictate whether your club prospers or fails. You'll notice that I added a discussion question to the end of my example club. This is because it is your responsibility to generate discussion. The members of your club are able to do this as well, but you are the primary carer and when the discussion falters, it's your job to pick it back up again.
To be a good club owner, your responsibilities include:
- Generating and maintaining discussion
- Actively participating in the discussion
- Welcoming any new members into the club
- Updating the member list when new members join the club
If you wish, you can select a 'co-owner' to help you run your club (and you may wish to give them a special place on the member list!), however they can only contribute through new posts and will not be able to edit the first post of the thread. All responsibilities that involve editing the original post still fall to you.
To be a good club owner, your responsibilities include:
- Generating and maintaining discussion
- Actively participating in the discussion
- Welcoming any new members into the club
- Updating the member list when new members join the club
If you wish, you can select a 'co-owner' to help you run your club (and you may wish to give them a special place on the member list!), however they can only contribute through new posts and will not be able to edit the first post of the thread. All responsibilities that involve editing the original post still fall to you.
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So, that's it! That's all there is to it! If you have any questions, you can feel free to send me a PM :).
Written by Shining Raichu. Based on the original by Alternative.
The rustling wind echoed out a series of notes, a melodic song bouncing off the cold stone walls. Musical chords rang out throughout the tomb, a playlist led by an invisible DJ - it was the kind of music you would hear, just before death.
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