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Picking Your Channels
When you’re building your server, remember to always create channels thoughtfully. If you create one for every topic, engagement will drop off and your community will feel you’re not paying attention to what they care about. As much as possible, you want every channel to address a need that your specific, unique community has.
You don’t always have to guess what those needs are. Once you’ve gotten started with a few simple channels, it might be better to look for common themes in the conversation before adding more. If people love talking about video games in #general, for example, consider adding a #videogames channel. If you notice diehard JRPG fans taking over #videogames all the time, you might want to add #jrpgs. We like to call channels like these “breakout channels.”
While there are channels you’ll probably always want to include, even these can be customized to suit your community. For example, just because you’ve got a general chat doesn’t mean you have to call it #general: a fantasy-themed server might call it the #tavern, a server for your city might have the #town-square, and a serious philosophy server might offer both #general-discussion and #just-chatting. All communicate the vibe of the server well while offering the same basic functions.
Similarly, you’ll want to make sure that any channels you have for making new members feel at home—#welcome for telling people what your server’s about, #introductions for saying hi, #FAQ for answering questions people often ask, and so on—give off the appropriate tone for your community. Putting jokes in your FAQ is a great way to let people know your server’s all about relaxing and having a good time. Putting in a glossary, on the other hand, is a good way to let people know it’s about deep-dives on niche subjects.
Customizing Your Server Profile
There are a lot of ways to make your server look and feel unique with custom assets. For example, be mindful when creating the following:
- Server Icon - Because your icon is the “face” of your server, you’ll want one that resonates with your community. You may even want to hold a contest, commission it, or otherwise source it from them!
- Custom emoji and stickers - Great for honoring in-jokes, commemorating great moments, or assisting conversations (for example, chess pieces for your board game server). As a bonus, Nitro members will be able to use these in other servers.
- Boosted assets - Servers that have been boosted by Nitro members can set custom banner images, invite splashes, and vanity urls.
- Header images - Especially in locked or pinned channels like #rules, using images as header for your channels is a great way to achieve a polished and customized look.
Roles
Roles fill a number of diverse functions in your server. Depending on what your community’s about, here are a few ways you can design them to achieve the right vibe and functionality.
- Top Fans - You might want to honor the most active, long-term, or accomplished members of your community with special roles. These might be general (“Superfan”) or specific to the person (“Grilled Cheese Expert”).
- Channel Access - You can hide channels from or reveal channels to a member based on their roles. Want to make a secret clubhouse for subscribers? A spot for moderators to plan the monthly surprise event? A discussion channel for sensitive topics not everyone wants to participate in? Roles can be a useful way to expand your server’s functionality.
- Interests and Demographic - Roles can help express what your community’s about, as well as who members are. If your server has roles to indicate members play certain video games, it tells new members that those games are popular in your community. If your server has roles for different languages, it tells international members they’re welcome.
