Hello and welcome to the Letters From Hatchlings Directory, v3.0!
Please do not edit my spreadsheet without reading the instructions at the top of it (also in the FAQ)! People who blatantly do this will be confronted as it is time-consuming to fix and frankly quite rude!
THE NEW DIRECTORY SPREADSHEET CAN BE FOUND HERE :D
I'm currently on hiatus while I go to university and move house so I'll only be checking FR sparsely. If there are any problems please send me a PM and I'll get back to you within the coming weeks. Sorry!
FAQ wrote:
What is this?
This is a directory of FR users who have said they would be happy to receive in-character letters from other players!
Tell me more about these in-character letters!
Traditionally, they're sent in the form of a PM, written from the "hatchling" (or rather the buyer of the hatchling) to its parents or home-clan. To write one, just put yourself in the mindset of the dragon you're writing as! Think of it like a letter home to Mom and Dad from summer camp. Alternatively, it could be Mom and Dad writing to their offspring, or even an unrelated dragon just keeping in touch with its former clan.
Can I see some example letters?
Of course you can! There are lots of awesome examples on the hatchling letter tag here on tumblr.
But why a directory of names?
A prevailing question that was being asked by everyone when this whole thing started was "What if I send someone a letter and they don't actually want it?" Understandably, this caused some people to hesitate to write letters at all. We decided to remedy this by creating a list of people who welcome in-character letters! If you'd be happy to receive one, please add your name to this directory; if you're looking to write one, you can search this directory for the person who you bought the dragon from, and see if they are listed here.
How do I add my name to the directory?
Click this link here to access the directory spreadsheet. Find the coloured tab at the bottom of the page that corresponds with the first letter of your username, and then add your username, user ID and clan profile page URL in the first available blank row (don't worry about trying to keep the usernames in the tab in alphabetical order; seriously, just stick it right in the first available blank row). (Hint: You can find your clan profile page URL and User ID by clicking your name in the upper right of any page on FR. That takes you to your clan profile, and your User ID is an obvious series of numbers in the URL of that page (it's also listed by User ID on the right side of that page). Please try to follow the format of the spreadsheet and make your entry neat and tidy!
Why do I have to supply my User ID?
This helps people find you if you change your username at any point!
How do I see if the person I'm wanting to write to is in the directory?
Click this link here to access the directory spreadsheet. At the bottom of the page, find and click the coloured tab that matches the first letter of the person's username. Press Ctrl+F (⌘+F for Mac users) and type in their name, and then press enter. This will search that sheet for their name. If they have signed up, this will take you to their row. If they have not, no results will be found.
How else can I ensure that other players know I'm open to receiving hatchling letters?
There are two more ways! You can put something to the effect of "I'm open to receiving hatchling letters" in your clan information, and/or you can write something similar in the descriptions of the hatchlings you sell. An example description:
My previous owner [Devildove] would welcome and reply to any hatchling letters!
Is there a Do Not Disturb list, so I know who absolutely does not want in-character letters?
Not at the moment, because I've never actually heard of anyone being opposed to receiving hatchling letters - but if it is needed in the future, I will add a DND tab to the spreadsheet. (If you'd like to be added to the DND list, please PM me.)
Eek, I messed up the spreadsheet! What do I do?
Don't panic, it's not the end of the world! First, try undoing your action by pressing Ctrl+Z. This usually undoes the damage. If this doesn't work, Google Docs keeps previous revisions, so just send me a PM and let me know you've made an oops and can't correct it, and I'll roll the document back.
Can I help with the directory somehow?
Thank you for offering! Now that it has been converted to a spreadsheet, the directory is very low-maintenance, so I don't need any assistance at this time with that. However you can always bump up the thread, or share your letters (written or received!) in the thread - and if you're an artist, we could desperately use a banner and a signature icon or two!
May I use this directory as a pinglist? Just for -
NO. I know that this is a large list of names and it can be tempting, but please do not pester the people on the directory with mass pings. If I discover anyone doing this, they will be banned from participating in the directory and in my associated annual Secret Santa exchanges.
Many thanks to @tacocat for sending the very first hatchling letter, and @Sedakari for starting the original directory thread shortly after the site opened!
