Adding to Your Guild

Webbie: I think every guild should have a webbie; after all, it explains what your guild is all about. If your guild has ranks, the webbie is where you should put them. Explain the requirements for moving up in rank and if you have any council openings too. This is also a good place to put your rules; it’s best to keep the number of rules to about five because having too many rules could turn people away (even if they are all reasonable). I wouldn’t bother listing things that should be common sense, like no cheating; but if you see something is becoming a problem, make it clear in your rules that it’s not allowed. Make sure you explain just about everything your guild does on the webbie, how you do 1 NP auctions, competitions, etc. You should also link to your guild homepage and any other pages you have. Private guilds should put their requirements/application on the webbie and anything else they want non-members to know, unless you already have a separate page for that.

Yearbook: A yearbook is a great way for new members to see who they are actually talking to. I would highly recommend having a yearbook, unless you have a small private guild where everyone knows everyone or it’s just for your real life friends. When you look at an actual yearbook the first thing you see are pictures. Since you can’t put anyone’s actual picture up, let everyone choose something to represent them. It could be the avatar they use, an item they like, a picture they drew, or their favorite pet. After their info you could also show pictures of their pets. Have a form for everyone to fill out that includes questions about themselves. It could be their favorite color, food, hobby, collection, paint brush color, pet species (neo & real life). And some questions about neopets/real life. What are your goals for neopets? What is your dream pet? What is one thing you would change if you were the neopets overlord? What is your favorite subject in school? When is your birthday? What do you want to accomplish in the next ten years? These are just some ideas; get creative and think about what people actually want to know instead of what everyone else is asking.

Adoption Agency: Guild adoption agencies ensure that your pet goes to someone you know, or at least are familiar with. Before you make one for your guild, find out if there is a need for one. If you have a relatively small guild, then it might not be used at all. However, if you know there are at least a few members with pets UFA, then it would probably be worthwhile to have one. There are a few things that you should include on this page: a picture of the pet; the user to contact; if they want an application (and what goes in it); the pet’s name, species, and color; and a link to the pet’s lookup. If you want to provide more information, you can include more things like gender, petpets, Battledome stats, awards, clothing, etc. If you want, you could also advertise pets up for trade.

Activities: If you have your activities on the guild homepage, then you really don’t need a whole petpage devoted to activities. But if you have a lot, you might as well make a page for them! Having activities depends on the type of guild you have and who is in it. If you find that a lot of your members get bored fast, then provide them with puzzles, beauty contests, or gaming competitions. But if everyone enjoys chatting, then they might not be interested in doing activities. If you do decide to have activities, make sure you don’t give out any items/neopoints! But you can give out trophies you make yourself or other kinds of graphics. The point should be to have fun, not to get prizes.

Newspaper: Having your guild news on the homepage is best because that’s the first place everyone looks. However, if you want to keep your members informed about what’s going on in Neopia, create a newspaper. Everyone can submit art or writing but don’t just leave it at that; have a section for the guild news, for what’s new on neopets, and for members to make advertisements. If there is a new plot, then link to a few guides; if there is a new paint brush, then show pictures of pets painted that color; if you just had a beauty contest, display the winning pet. Members can also advertise their shop, tell everyone they are looking to buy wearables that fit a certain theme, etc. This page should give your members a summary of what’s going on, and the more you keep it updated, the more people will check it.

Teams: If you have enough members and have a lot of activities, then you might want to have a teams page. You can assign each member to a team or let them pick, then decide how long they have to earn points. If a new member wants to join a team you should probably assign them one so it stays balanced. Give out points for posting messages, doing activities, winning a competition, or advertising the guild. Whatever you award the winning team, remember that it can’t be items/neopoints.

Portal: It would be nice to have all of your links on the homepage, but if you have a lot, you may need a portal. This should be a really simple page; find/make a nice simple layout and put the links on there. Simple doesn’t mean boring, though; this is a page that people will look at a lot- so make it creative! To make it more than just a list of links, put a picture with each link, a short description of the page, or use a different color font for each link. While all pages should include all of your main links somewhere (or at least link back to the portal) this page should be updated as soon as a new page is added or removed, and make a note of that so people know. Don’t just remove a page; people will still be looking for it. If you remove a page, take down the link but mention that the page has been removed. If you move a page to a different petpage, then let people know in case they’ve bookmarked it or linked to it somewhere else.

Always remember that whatever you choose to add to your guild, keep it unique. Your members chose to join because there was something special about your guild that they liked. Whatever you add to your guild, even if it may be something common, do it your way and with your style. It may take a little extra time to make your webbie stand out, but it’s worth it to see a page that describes your guild perfectly.