Guides

[center][b]This is a BBCode conversion of a guide I originally wrote on my [url=http://banasaboat.tumblr.com/post/61447788602/making-a-fr-hatchery-thread]Tumblr[/url]. You can view it there if you like, but honestly I am not too great at Tumblr formatting and I think this one is an easier read. Additionally, this version has some corrections and updates. Enjoy! [/b] [img]http://i.imgur.com/wUC6SjM.png[/img][/center] [b]Here is a 9-million-word guide to making a hatchery thread on Flight Rising’s forums.[/b] I wanted to wait till I actually had some hatchlings for sale before I posted this, and hopefully they won’t sell so fast you can’t see the examples of how to organize their information ( er…or hopefully they will sell fast? :c ). [b]Why Am I Qualified To Talk About This?[/b] I have sold most of my hatchlings through my hatchery thread on FR’s “Dragons for Sale” forum. Additionally, a total of three people have complimented me on my hatchery’s organization. [i]Wow![/i] So let’s get to it! [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/LEzIUZm.png[/img][/center] [b]Banasa Boat Hatchery[/b]: [url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat[/url] ( I’ll repost the link to my hatchery in every header of this guide, so you can quickly reference it for examples. ) [u][size=5][b][url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]1. The Most Important Rule[/url][/b][/size][/u] First thing I recommend is hopping over to [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=baz]Dragons For Sale[/url] and checking out some of the hatcheries there as if you were going to buy a dragon. Take note of the features you like and the ones you don’t like. But there is one cardinal rule of hatchery organization that you should take very seriously: [size=4][b]Put your hatchlings for sale as close to the top as possible.[/b][/size] [i]Do not[/i] put your breeding pairs / ping lists / any other show-offy sections ahead of your hatchlings. Remember: the customer is here to buy dragons, not look at your trophy case. The more difficult you make it for them to find the information they need, the more likely they are to give up on buying anything from you. I have actually visited several hatcheries where [i]I could not find what was for sale[/i], or there were multi-post lines of breeding pairs set ahead of the FOR SALE section. [quote][b][u]Limit your pre-hatchling content to:[/u][/b] [LIST] [*][b]A welcome message[/b] (your hatchery banner goes at the start of this section) [*][b]Your rules section[/b] (more on this in a moment) [/LIST][/quote] Another way to look at it is to maximize your hatchery’s “scrollability.” When you are done building it, go to your frontpage and see how many times you have to roll the middle mouse wheel to get to your hatchlings. More than once is probably unacceptable. A well-organized hatchery does not require a Table of Contents. With that one really important concept out of the way, let’s get into the individual sections. [u][size=5][b][url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]2. SECTION: Welcome Message[/u][/size][/b][/url] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/KTlHjhB.png[/img][/center] [b]Center a banner for the hatchery above the text of your message.[/b] The banner need not be fancy/drawn, and you can make it with a glitter text website (don’t add excessive glitter) if you’re lacking a decent paint program. It’s ideal to keep the banner as thin height-wise as possible, and don’t go over 500-520px in width. ([url=http://i.imgur.com/3aKQp6o.png]My original banner was nearly 600px tall[/url], yikes!) [b]The text of your welcome message[/b] should include any special breeds or genes you focus on, or what your goals are for the hatchery. You can add a link to your tumblr or any other on-site productions you work on either here or in the optional ABOUT section. [b]If you include any updates here[/b], try and limit it to no more than three lines of updates. I prefer to simply delete a previous update before I post a new one. [b]- resources for text banners[/b]: [LIST=1] [*]http://fontmeme.com/ [*]http://www.flamingtext.com/ [*]http://www.textspace.net/ [*]http://picasion.com/glitter-maker/ [/LIST] [u][size=5][b][url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]3. SECTION: Rules[/u][/size][/b][/url] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/0wTfrvA.png[/img][/center] [b]Keep your rules as short as possible.[/b] I recommend reserving no more than 15 lines for rules, and the closer to 10 you are the better. Use the bullet list function in FR’s forum text editor to keep this section neat. This section doubles as your FAQ, so in addition to literal rules you can put details you find important here (ex. one of my lines in this section is “I provide adult previews for your reference, but you are buying hatchlings unless otherwise listed.”) [b]Use typestyles (bold, underline) to break up lines. [/b] This is a theme you should follow throughout your hatchery, but it’s especially important here since you have a block of similarly styled lines of similar lengths. [u]Bold/Underline critical information[/u] and let the rest of the line stand bare. Your customer’s eye will be able to parse the whole block more easily, and they can quickly find the information they want. Minimize the variety of typestyles you use (ex. varying font sizes, colors and italics should not factor in too much - it is more important to be consistent). [quote][u][b]Recommended minimum information to include under RULES[/b]:[/u] [LIST] [*][b]Your Gem:treasure exchange ratio[/b] (if you don’t know what to set it at, check the item sales forum to see what gems are currently going for - always set it a little under that value in case you want to resell any gems you get for treasure, or set it higher than that value if you need gems for the gem marketplace) [*][b]Instructions on how to bid[/b] and minimum bid increases if you are running any auctions [*][b]End date/time for any auctions[/b] [*][b]Information regarding your reservations or ping lists[/b] if you have them (do your best to standardize these for all your breeding pairs - I don’t recommend using a reservation system for anything besides imperials, wildclaws or especially desirable skydancers) [/LIST][/quote] If you find your reservation information is very detailed, skip it here and place it in your UPCOMING section instead.

[u][size=5][b][url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]4. SECTION: For Sale[/u][/size][/b][/url] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/UtIvX43.png[/img][/center] This section should not require any preamble. After your separator from the previous section, jump right in with your hatchlings. [b]Center all hatchling content.[/b] [b]Use a quote box to separate each hatchling’s entry.[/b] This is pretty simple: just use *quote* */quote* tags around each hatchling’s info (change * to brackets). It helps your customer distinguish one hatchling’s information from the next. [quote][u][b]Recommended minimum information to include per hatchling:[/b][/u] [LIST] [*][b]Reference Name[/b] (this gives your buyers something to refer to instead of “the blue/green/pineapple spiral with circuit” - recommend two descriptive words with a space between - DO NOT ACTUALLY NAME YOUR HATCHLING) [*][b]Gender[/b] [*][b]Genes[/b] [*][b]Colors[/b] (all three, even if you aren’t using the tert) [*][b]If purchase only:[/b] price on AH and “or best offer (OBO)” if you are open to negotiations [*][b]If auctioning:[/b] starting bid, current high bidder, and autobuy price [/LIST][/quote] [b]Any AH listing you make should be slightly off-number.[/b] For example, if you want to put a dragon up for 100k, list it at 100,009 and make a note of that for your customers. They will be able to go straight from your thread and find your dragon on the AH just by entering its special listing price! [quote][u][b]The Scroll of Maturity Trick:[/b][/u] [LIST=1] [*]Buy a scroll of maturity from the gem marketplace or AH. [*]Preview your hatchling’s adult mode with it. [*]Right-click to save the image or drag it to your desktop. [*]Upload it to [url=http://imgur.com/]imgur[/url] or another image-hosting service. [*]Now you have an adult preview pic you can include under the hatchling pic in your listing! [/LIST][/quote] [b]When you bump the hatchery thread to announce new hatchlings, include them in your bump. [/b] The minimum hatchling details should be intact on the bump, but cut out extra pictures such as adult previews. When a hatchling is sold, delete its entry off your front page, and change its information on the bump to (SOLD!) If you want, you can only include colors/genes/gender on the bump info and refer people to your front page for pricing details. [b]- resources for hosting adult image previews[/b]: [LIST=1] [*][url=http://imgur.com/]imgur[/url] [/LIST] [u][size=5][b][url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]5. SECTION: Upcoming[/u][/size][/b][/url] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/08S8Z6l.png[/img][/center] [Start a new post for this section!] This is the section where you put all your breeding pairs, their breeding dates, color spreads, and ping lists. I recommend offering a ping list for every single pair you own that is DG or a non-starter breed. One very important point for this section: [size=4][b]condense your breeding pair images[/b][/size]. Do not post one default FR image code after another for every single dragon involved. What you want is: [b]a max 520 x 500px image with both dragons and the color spread on it[/b] (mine are 521 - how naughty). You can get your color spread @ [url=http://trollslum.net/fr/]http://trollslum.net/fr/[/url]. Do not link it! It is very important that you provide the color spread to the customer rather than requiring them to click through to find it, because if you do that they generally won’t put in the effort. You can construct this type of image in MSPaint if you have to, but [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=art]check the artists’ forum on FR[/url] to see if someone won’t build one for you if you are concerned with polish and can’t do it yourself. You can also try to put something together with an online photo editor such as [url=http://pixlr.com/]Pixlr[/url]. Be aware that copying and pasting transparent PNGs (the file format for FR images) can result in a black background. To retain the transparent background, save the image to your desktop and open it in your picture editor. [b]- resources for constructing breeding pair images with color spreads:[/b] [LIST=1] [*][url=http://trollslum.net/fr/]Flight Rising Color Predictor [/url] [*][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=art]FR - Art Sales Forum [/url] [*][url=http://pixlr.com/]Pixlr Online Photo Editor[/url] [/LIST] [u][size=5][b][url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]6. [OPTIONAL] SECTION: About and Sold[/u][/size][/b][/url] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/MYpm5M4.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/Vv55CeA.png[/img][/center] [Start new post(s) for these sections if you choose to include them!] These sections are completely optional. What order you put them in, or if you include them at all, is up to you. I like them as records of how far I have come, especially the SOLD section. My only comments are that these should go after all your other sections, and your sold images should be very small (not exceeding 100x100 for each image). I prefer to use the adult previews as the basis for my sold icons. All of my SOLD section images link to the dragon’s page, but it’s up to you if you want to put the work in for that (do it).

[u][size=5][b][url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]7. Giving Your Thread a Title[/u][/size][/b][/url] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/6Y4M2cu.png[/img][/center] Look at the image above. When you read down the list of titles, does your eye jump to anything? Do you find yourself passing over certain areas of text more than others? Getting noticed in the rough-and-tough environs of the Dragons for Sale forum isn’t just about staying on the front page as much as possible. It’s also about having a stand-out title. I’ll talk a little about branding in the Advertising part of this guide, but your first objective in titling your thread should be communicating as much unique information about your hatchery as possible. In my case, if I have a hatchling I think will catch particular attention (ex. a white/white DG skydancer) I will prioritize that hatchling in my title. [b]You don’t really need to worry about including your hatchery’s name in the title at first[/b] (again, see Advertising). Worry more about getting the customer as much information as possible. Check your title after you type it because it may be cut off. One other handy thing to use are [b]ASCII symbols[/b] (like the arrows I use above). Solid symbols are best, and will draw eyes to your title. Try not to mix too many unrelated symbols together. [b]Keep your hatchery’s name short[/b], or with the possibility of abbreviation, so that it doesn’t take over your thread title and prevent you from telling customers what you actually have to offer. [code][S] = for sale [R] = reserve/raffle (annoying isn’t it?) [Res] = reserve [A] = auction [T] = trade DG / 2G = dual-gene (2 genes) OBS = obsidian OBO = or best offer Imp = imperial PC = pearlcatcher RB = ridgeback SD = skydancer WC = wildclaw Starter / Plentiful = fae, mirror, guardian or tundra Common = spiral, pearlcatcher, snapper or ridgeback[/code] [u][size=5][b][url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]8. BUMPING a.k.a. The Other Most Important Rule[/u][/size][/b][/url] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/ipcADOr.png[/img][/center] You followed all the rules for organizing your hatchery, you are now rolling in the mad monies right? No? Well as it turns out, the [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=baz]Dragons For Sale forum[/url] moves at the speed of light, and your hatchery was probably already off the front page by the time you finished checking it for embarrassing spelling errors. The Other Most Important Rule is not about how often you should bump, though I recommend not bumping more often than once every 10 minutes because otherwise [i]you may trigger the spam filter and be unable to send mail/messages[/i] because messages and posts are connected because ??? I don’t know I’m not a programmer lolz. This is more important for item and gem sales threads, but if you send a lot of mail be wary of the spam filter. The Other Most Important Rule is actually this: [size=4][b]DELETE A PREVIOUS BUMP BEFORE YOU POST A NEW ONE.[/b][/size] Go ahead. I promise [b]it won’t delete your entire thread[/b] despite the wording of the confirmation message. The one thing you absolutely do not want is a thread full of nothing but posts from you saying “bump.” The 112 replies on my thread are all announcements or conversations between me and customers, i.e. content. The endless thread of “bump” is evil and must be stopped. The end. [u][size=5][b][url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]9. Talking with Customers[/u][/size][/b][/url] Being polite is the main thing here. I have yet to meet a rude customer on FR, but just like in any RL retail situation you need to retain a professional demeanor (if someone is harassing you, [url=http://flightrising.com/index.php?p=contact]contact the admins[/url]). This is not so much for that customer’s sake, but for the sake of other potential customers who may be looking on. Also [b]make informative replies[/b]: if someone bids on your auction, don’t just reply with “ok,” say something like “you now have the high bid on X” and make sure to ping previous customers who may have bid on the same dragon. Always keep all your hatchling info up-to-date. [u][size=5][b][url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]10. Advertising[/u][/size][/b][/url] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/BLLJhfF.png[/img] [img]http://i.imgur.com/NgxH4tm.png[/img][/center] [LIST] [*][b]Your signature[/b] (center a 500x90 banner and link it to your hatchery - you can have different designs when you have nothing up for sale and when you have new hatchlings - if you don’t have an image program [and even if you do!] I strongly recommend utilizing [*][b]Directories[/b] (certain breed types like “neonwings” occasionally have an informal directory going on, or you can try a general directory like [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?board=drs&id=966207&p=mb]Divinity’s Official Hatchery List[/url]) [*][url=http://banasaboat.tumblr.com/]Tumblr[/url] (make a tumblr…I am not good with tumblr…but one of my friend’s friends sells all her dragons here, so yeah, make one - PS do your best to remain cordial) [*][b]Tumblr Directories[/b] ([1] [url=http://dragonbrokers.tumblr.com/]Dragon Brokers[/url] / [2] [url=http://www.parentlessdragons.tumblr.com/]Parentless Dragons[/url] [gen 1] / [3] [url=http://flightrisingclassifieds.tumblr.com/]Flight Rising Classifieds[/url] [non-sales]) [*][b]Community[/b] (participate in FR’s community on the forums and on tumblr - make quality posts - write timely hatchery guides - if you give to the community, the community will give back!) [/LIST] [b]A little bit about branding[/b]: branding, basically, is getting customers to associate particular images and ideas with the experience provided by your hatchery. If you provide a consistently good experience, branding is something you should experiment with. [b]How to brand[/b]: it’s mostly in the little touches. For example, I use a similar style of banner for [url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]my hatchery[/url], [url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaacs]my acquisitions thread[/url], and [url=http://tinyurl.com/banasashop]my discount item shop[/url]. Even the tinyURLs for all 3 begin with the same word (banasa). I feature bananas and light tropical colors wherever I can, cuz I lika the banana and also to keep the brand consistent. All of my threads also use the arrows surrounding the brand title (BanasaBoat). [b]- resources for advertising on FR: [/b] [LIST=1] [*][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?board=drs&id=966207&p=mb]Official Hatchery List[/url] [/LIST] [b]- resources for advertising on tumblr: [/b] [LIST=1] [*][url=http://banasaboat.tumblr.com/]Tumblr[/url] (:B) [*][url=http://dragonbrokers.tumblr.com/]Dragon Brokers [/url] [*][url=http://www.parentlessdragons.tumblr.com/]Parentless Dragons[/url] (G1 only) [*][url=http://flightrisingclassifieds.tumblr.com/]Flight Rising Classifieds[/url] (non-sales) [/LIST]

[u][size=5][b][url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]11. Extras[/u][/size][/b][/url] [size=5][b]Auction Messages[/b][/size] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/Zrf5cfC.png[/img][/center] This would fall under [i]Talking With Customers[/i], and specifically deals with communications for auctions. Now typically, when someone pings with a bid for your auction, you ping them back to confirm. Additionally, if someone else previously held the high bid on the auction, you ping them as well. Inform them that they no longer have the high bid, and I recommend telling them what the high bid is in your post even if the new bidder posted just above you. [b]You always want to give your customers as much information as possible.[/b] One other thing I do with my auctions is [b]roughly 12-9 hours before the auction ends, I send a message to anyone who has ever bid in the auction[/b]. The ping system can fail you, but messages pretty much always go through. Furthermore, this gives you an opportunity to pitch a dragon that you already know your customer is interested in. I generally do not include the current high bid on this message just because it can change quite rapidly in the final hours of an auction. Not knowing also gives your customer additional incentive to click on the hatchery link (“oh I’ll just take a peek” becomes “oh it hasn’t gone up that much, maybe just one more bid…”). These final hours messages have reliably brought back customers for me, even those who were outbid one or two days earlier and hadn’t been back since. As always, be polite and friendly, and make a nice clean presentation. Use whichever you think is the more attractive of your hatchling’s pictures (either the hatchling picture or the adult preview). [code]Extra tip: the BBCode for increasing font size would be [size=4] or [size=5], I would stick with [size=4]. The headers for this guide use [size=5][/code] [code]Extra tip: using the [center] code sometimes draws blocks of text or images up to the next highest item in your post (examine the images right after the section titles in this guide - there's no space!). You can insert a hyphen or another unnoticeable mark to break up centered and non-centered sections. Just hitting return an extra time can also work for certain things (ex. quote blocks).[/code] [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/wUC6SjM.png[/img][/center] That's all for now. Hope this helps. :o [i]Last update:[/i] 2013-9-22 [b]icyfuzz [/b]/[b] [url=http://tinyurl.com/banasaboat]Banasa Boat Hatchery[/url][/b]

Thread is now open for questions/comments/blank staring. :)

Hey @icyfuzz you posted on my hatchery questions thread last week and I took some of it on board. Was wondering if you could give me some feedback on mine, it's here: http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=baz&id=967638 Anything would be appreciated :3 *hearts*

@Lita Sure. :)

• I like your banner except for the black border. Maybe try a version without it?
• The gif, while unnecessary, is amusing and helps people remember your hatchery among a sea of others. :)
• Try some of the formatting tips I posted above for the RULES section.
• Obey The Most Important Rule! Move that empty hatchling section to the top and move the pings down.
• Breeding pair images are very conservative - that means very good. :)
• Nice clean section dividers that are easy to read.
• I love your hatchery's theme - and now that I have seen them all I love all your gifs. xD

@automatronic I don't do reservations myself so I have limited experience in the area. Here are a few thoughts though:

• The general outline is the same. I am feeling waffly about the cardinal rule in this case: if you want to do reservations but you are not well-established, I say put the hatchlings you weren't able to sell as reserves above your UPCOMING section. If you are well-established and have never really sold anything but reserves, then feel free to put your UPCOMING first.
• Your UPCOMING section may benefit from a little more elaboration - for example, if your pair can breed all red shades on the primary, you may want to point that out (ex. "ALL RED SHADES, NO PINKS"). The cleanliness and consistency of your UPCOMING section images is much more important than in a regular hatchery.
• The reason I advise against reserves for anything but imperials/WCs/especially fancy SDs in the guide above is that:
  a) from what I have seen on the Dragons for Sale forum, people don't bite much for reserves outside those breeds,
  b) anything common and under breeds quick enough that a ping list will bring in people that like the pair regularly enough anyway,
  c) if you do reservations-only you are stuck promoting that hatchery -all- the time if you have open slots, whereas a normal hatchery you only have to promote whenever you have hatchlings.

If you do reserves I think you would also benefit from maintaining a nice tumblr for it, if you don't have one already. You can advertise reserves on Flight Rising Classifieds.

@icyfuzz thank you for the feedback, I tried making the first post feel more centered on the customer, but my hatchy gif looks way cute up there at the top now! :) My customers can now sit in my last official post cause cute gif is greater than life basically :P

I'm glad you like my theme and my gifs ^-^ Again, thank you very much. :)