How To: Forum Documents & Quality Posts.

[RogueSynapse]

Spoiler: Reading-Music

Before-Word​

I'd like to begin this particular guide with a statement of sincerity. This document is not to insult nor discourage any pre-existing documents that may not have followed this particular guide. Up until now, I and many others have witnessed several posts being made that lack specific qualities that are necessary for the establishment of quality and consistency. Many post I have witness doing so come with a great deal of content and say plenty about a particular topic or concept being discussed or emphasized, but lack of appropriate effort as far as the visual appeal is concerned. I want to give a couple of examples of what not to do and what should be considered before hitting submit on your latest roleplay document or IC forum post.

What Not to do​

For this first section, I want to address what to avoid when you're making your role play document as far as style is concerned (or therefore lack of). It's a shame to get excited about a document to do a title only to click on it and reveal something akin to this.

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Title

Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content.

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What's wrong with this post?​

• Besides the title, no formatting has been added.​
• Default font.​
• Generic/common Google search result image.​
• One single large bulk of text without paragraph breaks.​
• No music or additional resources.​

Does this mean that the post fails with what it tries to do? No. But the appeal of the post could easily be made four times as better with a simple amount of effort made to text/position/image edits. You don't have to be an artisan in order to make a decent looking RP document or forum post. Below is an example of the same type of forum post but made with simple edits to improve the overall quality and appeal.

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Spoiler: Reading-Music

Title
Words and Content.

Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content.

Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content.

Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content. Words and content.

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The smallest of changes make all the different for quality.
Different font & sizes utilized.
Alternative font colors.
Text spacing and paragraph structure.
Rocking tunes to listen while you read.
Unique/Uncommon choice of images.​

 

[Cloudbucket]

Thank you

 

[Wrench#5648]

Thank you

 

[Shirumic]

stop shoving music in my face I'll have my own music if I want to, I read the forums to READ

have the courtesy of keeping music in spoilers and thank you for this post.

 

[Aspect™]

stop shoving music in my face I'll have my own music if I want to, I read the forums to READ

have the courtesy of keeping music in spoilers and thank you for this post.

It doesn't autoplay, though.

 

[Equinox]

The only bit I disagree with is the music part. Adding music to anything meant to be read can be cool and alright, but the problem arises where one readers perception of literature could evoke different feelings than what the music is trying to convey, or vice versa. This means you now have conflicting atmospheres.

Like Niick said, it's okay if it's in a spoiler, but I've found that if the reader wants to listen to music while they read, they'll likely already have their own music to listen too.

 

[Aspect™]

Guys, it doesn't autoplay. You can just, not click it.