How to Be a Cracking Guild Leader

In a sense, the members of your guild become your Neopian family. You simply have to look around a good working guild to see it - for instance:

The Leader/Owner - The Wise One... A wise grandparent or older parent! All the nagging and moaning, keeping the members active - but underneath it all, they love the members dearly and would never give them up for all of Adam's Neopoints!

The Guild "Joker" - Now, this character is the humorous little person who inserts the funny jokes into a serious topic - A little brother or sister! Sometimes slightly irritating, but very cute and lovable!

The Fashionable Member - They change their fonts practically all the time, they dazzle you with their blinding font colors and always stand out in the crowd - this character may be compared with an older sibling or friend - the member that sets out to be unique!

The Creative Cookie - The member always making an effort - suggesting guild activities, arranging their own, helping out as much as possible - this person is a real asset to the guild, virtually the nanny - kind and caring!

All the members of a guild create the atmosphere of the guild - if the members are determined and committed, the guild will do well, but if the members are lazy and are inactive, then the guild will do poorly. Perhaps a better way to describe this relationship would be to regard the atmosphere as a "Guild Ethos".

However, a guild would be nothing without its strong-willed leader - the member that provides motivation, shows great communication skills and leads the guild to respect. If you are perhaps thinking about creating and leading your own guild, it is important you think over the following questions and answer them honestly and truthfully:

Would you be able to handle the demands of being leader?

Are you willing to sacrifice your own time on Neopets to resolve issues that may arise in the guild?

What is the likelihood of you deleting the guild after nobody joins in the first week?

When running a guild, it is important that you have a good, solid foundation knowledge of HTML, but not necessarily CSS. Guildless Neopians are attracted to original looking guilds, with plenty graphics, an easy layout to understand and plenty color. Additionally, when members apply for guild council positions, only take the best of the best and state that the position requires a knowledge of HTML/CSS and an example of this work. Should you be in the position of running a guild without a knowledge of HTML, do not despair! There are plenty guildless Neopians with a knowledge of HTML who would most likely be willing to help. Using this initiative as a leader shows responsibility and concern for your guild.

When posting in the message boards of your guild, make sure that when you are speaking to members, you do not use chatspeak as it will show a sense of informality and sloppiness. While you may want to be informal and friendly with members, excessive spamming or unreadable text will only create confusion and "literate" members will become annoyed at the lack of sincerity. Should the message boards within the guild become silent or "dead", then it is up to you to revitalize them - never rely on other members to do your work. Perhaps create a debate topic on the theme of the guild or a fun quiz for members to complete - not only will this be fun for members, but it will also indicate to you about the level of activity within a guild.

Theme within a guild is a big factor. When working and updating a guild, it is vital to remain close to the guild's topic. Should the guild be about Kaus - stick to a Kau(ish) theme. It is important to maintain the theme; after all, it seems likely that it was the main reason they joined your guild! Remember, it is no use making a guild about a topic that will "go out of fashion" or embarrass you in the future.

Dealing with member inactivity is also a major responsibility of a guild leader. Over time it is inevitable that members will become inactive, stop posting and become a nuisance to the guild. Advertising that your guild has fifty members, when at the end of the day you only have five active ones, gives a false image, giving your guild a bad reputation. I suggest setting up guild rules regarding activity within a guild, giving a reasonable amount of time for the member to post in the guild, changing the status to "active" and perhaps sending a final neomail if the member still has not replied. ALWAYS stick to your own deadlines and never say "well... I'll give that member another day..." - at the end of the day, five active members are better than forty-five inactive ones. Delete them from the guild if they have not met the deadline.

Perhaps if you are thinking of creating a guild, it would be wise to begin one with a friend. This way, you both share similar interests and the hefty guild work can be shared between you at the beginning. Bear in mind to choose a theme that is original - for instance, a guild themed about "Fantastic Fly Pies" or something unusual.

These are the cracking and key ingredients to a great guild and a great guild leader.