Guide to a Great Petpage!

Ever wanted to create a petpage so fantastic, you spend all of your time writing for it and reading it over and over again? Looking for an easy step-to-step guide to creating a great looking page, without spending a year in the process? To make an awesome petpage for an awesome pet, just follow these great tips!

#1. Design a character. Make sure he/she has an interesting personality, and maybe a unique design if you would like. Choose the colours of your pet’s fur, and if they have wings, special powers, anything. And what about accessories? A collar, charm bracelet or bell around your pet’s neck? Use your imagination, and it will most likely turn out great.

#2. Give the character a story. This may be the longest step to complete. But, it may also be the most enjoyable one. Maybe include a family and write notes about their past and perhaps future. Was your pet rejected in any way? When you write your story, add lots of detail and information so that it becomes something that you can’t stop reading until it’s finished. If so, just make it longer! ^_^

Here’s an example I’ve written:

‘I was born as a handsome blue Gelert, with eyes as clear as the sky on summer days and a heart as big as the ocean. For the first few days, I began my life exploring the world around me with my siblings. It was a big world, full of surprises. But we enjoyed it all the same. Swimming in the river, catching Koi, leaping through high green grass, climbing rocks as big as our den and living life to the fullest.

But... little did we know that our days were numbered.’

Try building up suspense to keep your readers entertained until the end. If they really feel involved, they’ll enjoy it from the heart unlike a book a teacher gives you and forces you to read. You could even try organising your story by putting in chapters in a larger text or bolder font which stands out if you would like. You decide what you think looks better.

#3. Include what your pet likes and doesn’t like. Include about 5 in each (or just however many you want), and if you like to draw then you could include pictures of them. Food, hobbies, toys, absolutely anything. People (well, I do) sometimes enjoy looking at what pets like – it gives more idea of what their personality is. And plus, it’s fun writing them.

#4. Does your pet have any friends? Write about friends and/or family, with links and interesting facts. You could write if your pets still likes them or not, how old they are and how long your pet’s known then for. Draw pictures of them, write poems about them, describe their appearance or anything that takes your fancy. Let your imagination run wild!

#5. How about including the stats of your pet? Intelligence, speed, strength, age, etc. Instead of just writing it again every time the level of something’s gone up, there is that shortcut of everything you need for stats listed above the text box you type it in. So you could have a section about the facts, and if they like to fight in the Battledome or not. Then if people challenge you, your pet’s levels may go up.

#6. Design the shape you want to use for the layout. Will you have a picture on the left, right, top or bottom? Or are you just going to have a scroll box? If you would like, try drawing it out on paper so that you don’t forget. I have my own notebook of different layouts for each of my pets. Each has a different theme, and I colour some stuff in to get the basic look. Have a go yourself if you have time.

#7. What colours are you going to use? I mean, what colours go well together? If it’s a... ‘sinister’ pet, try using a red, green or black for scroll boxes, backgrounds, pictures, anything you want. If it’s a ‘happy’ pet, you could use yellows, reds, blues, greens and oranges. Rather than just using the words of the colours itself, there are ‘hexadecimal colour codes’. You can get any colour with these!

#8. Music? If you want to put music on the page, choose a song and visit the Neopets HTML Guide. To choose a song to fit your pet, listen to lots of varieties and decide on the one with a catchy tune that suits the personality best. This choice, like many others, is optional, so don’t feel bad if you can’t find one.

#9. To bring more people to your page, you could make button links. A popular size for them is 50x50, but any size would do. And if you’re not fond of drawing, you could just write the name of your pet and add some colour. And to link back, either put the pet’s full name or use a hyperlink to the page. Now people can use these nifty buttons on their own pages!

#10. Finally, put the page together. If you don’t like writing HTML or can’t do it, then, again, check out the Neopets guide to easy HTML. Eventually, you’ll probably learn the easy HTML stuff off by heart. Like how to link to different petpages, how to show images and other cool stuff which you can add to your pet’s page. *cheesy grin* You’ll get the hang of it.

Remember, you can always add something more than these steps to your petpage, it’s up to you. This is just a rough... ‘outline’ as you may call it.

Put it together and what does it spell – GREAT PETPAGE!

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading and... uh... doing this guide. If you need any more help on making a petpage, check out The Neopets HTML Guide or neomail me. Enjoy!