According to the the official rules for the creation of a Group or Faction, a faction is a satellite community of TGC, founded for role players united by a common in-character goal. A faction board is used by its members to train like-minded role players so that they can successfully participate in the Star Wars Role Playing Forum, where all factions meet to do battle. With this in mind, I have put together a guide to help owners and leaders ensure that their factions are a long term success.
I: LOOKS THAT KILL
It is a proven fact that people hate ugly boards, so give your board a nice clean, low contrast, color scheme, and professional grade graphics to go with it.
II. STAFFING AND LEADERSHIP
- The best groups are governed by the cooperation between an owner and a staff of Administrators, Full Board Moderators, and Single Forum Moderators. In
other words, give your members some responsibility and a reason to post on your board every day.
- Democracy works. Involve staff members in the decision making process. But don't hold to the democratic process to a point at which it cripples the
entire group. If Staff members are inactive or disorderly replace them with people who are willing to do what it takes to make the group thrive. Progress is
the name of the game.
III. ONLY WHAT YOU NEED
- The best goup board is compact and efficient. Don't clutter you board with alot of things you don't really need. The fewer forums there are the
easier it is for members to navigate the site. Also, use images and writing that is normal sized and unobtrusive. Remember, the Star Wars Role Playing Forum is where the role plays that really matter happen, not the group
board.
- Make the joining and training process as simple and clear as possible. Confused members seldom stay. So post very clear,simple, and easy to find
instructions for joining your faction. Once the member has joined make their training fun, interesting, and helpful. Remember, the most important thing you
can teach them is the rules of the galaxy.
IV. ADVERTISING COUNTS
- It is very important that all groups advertise outside of the TGC Role Playing Galaxy in order to held introduce "new blood" to our role play.
The notoriety of TGC will bring you members, but to go above and beyond the average group you will need bring in members of your own. There are many ways to
advertise for your faction on a regular basis. Remeber, never stop advertising. TGC was founded in 1999 and yet I continue to advertise to keep it strong.
- Have your members put a simple text link to your group somewhere in their sig. For example:
- Make sure that your group is properly listed on ezboard's Forum Find search engine. To get listed
on Forum Find simply go to your contol center and enter the "Forum Find Settings" area. From there follow the instructions. You can also use Forum
Find to locate thousands of message boards where you can post your advertisement at.
- Go out and get your site listed on tens of thousands of other search engines. There are many free and easy ways to get listed. The mass-URL submission
sites that I use most often are Scrub The Web and Submit Express. There are thousands of other such sites. Google the search term "URL
Submission" to find them.
- One of the most important advertising method is the procurement of Affiliates. There are a number of ways to affilate with other websites outside of TGC.
The easiest way is by using your "Ezboard Ring" feature which can be accessed through the "Promote My Community" section of your Control
Center. Add other communities to your ring and ask them to add you in return. Another way of affiliating with other communities is by exchanging buttons. Add
a board's button link to your side bard and ask them to add your button to their's in return.
