Suggestions

[Tanua]

Alot of people ahve suggested things I thought of, though I was wondering if maybe there could be a place, maybe added with the helpful links section about maybe useful physical books that people might have picked up over the years for various things? Like names and authors. So you could like go and look and find a book on something you might be needing. Yes, internet is nice, but sometimes it's really good to just have the physical book on hand to go through and have in front of you.

I myself could have a Looooooooong list to add. XD  

[milkbun]

About contests/events:

What I have found on most forums to work well (including ones I've owned) is to pick a monthly theme, as broad as a color or as specific as a watermelon, and let the members interpret the theme in whatever is their favorite medium. Have a thread where they can post their month's theme (and only posts with the item is allowed), and give each member like 100g for participating (or whatever amount doesnt' break the bank). You can even pick a "winner" or two, who get a bonus prize by doing a random draw or picking "most creative" (so that skill level doesn't count)  

[Chisa]

Tanua

Alot of people ahve suggested things I thought of, though I was wondering if maybe there could be a place, maybe added with the helpful links section about maybe useful physical books that people might have picked up over the years for various things? Like names and authors. So you could like go and look and find a book on something you might be needing. Yes, internet is nice, but sometimes it's really good to just have the physical book on hand to go through and have in front of you.

I myself could have a Looooooooong list to add. XD

Maimy's book thread is here if you'd like to add your favourite books to it smile I'll get around to adding the ones listed so far in the Resources sticky eventually.

milkbun

About contests/events:

What I have found on most forums to work well (including ones I've owned) is to pick a monthly theme, as broad as a color or as specific as a watermelon, and let the members interpret the theme in whatever is their favorite medium. Have a thread where they can post their month's theme (and only posts with the item is allowed), and give each member like 100g for participating (or whatever amount doesnt' break the bank). You can even pick a "winner" or two, who get a bonus prize by doing a random draw or picking "most creative" (so that skill level doesn't count)

We've run one of those so far, although with everyone being so busy it didn't get a huge response sweatdrop I've ressurected it for a new theme though, so hopefully this will work out better!  

[strawberry monochrome]

I think you should create a seperate sub forum type thing where others can post tutorials, it would probably help with organization.

another suggestion is to seperate different craft things in different 'rooms'. That would mean that sewing would be in one 'room' cooking in another. . and so on.  

[Cosmic Sushi]

I would like the different subforums for each craft (even though there are quite a few). But then you might not get as much activity in the guild because there might be too many. Maybe just the main ones? I also like the idea to make a randomness subforum so it's not all just one post, but maybe not because this is a craft guild. And I do like the monthly theme; it gives me ideas! Great job so far! :3  

[Chisa]

I think that the way Gaia guilds are set up, subforums tend to get really neglected and then it makes the guild as a whole look inactive sweatdrop I also want to keep things fairly open so everyone is exposed to lots of different media rather than clustering in groups of their own.Although now that we're getting so many members it might make sense, because there are a lot of new posts. I'll ponder how I can get it to work 3nodding

I'm not sure I want a subforum for randomness, but if the Random Chat thread starts overflowing with posts I'll think about it. I guess it would be good in the sense of getting to know each other (outside of directly craft related things) and get more of a sense of community.  

[Chisa]

Hokay, thought about it and changed my mind about subforms =3 I think it's a good idea to go ahead with, seeing as there are now so many members. I'll just be dividing into fairly broad categories for now, and will divide again later if it actually gets that busy. Here's what I'm thinking:

Main forum - for general things that apply to all crafters
Clay, Ceramics & Pottery - for all that lovely sticky gooey sculpture
Fabrics and Threads - for sewing, plushies, knitting, amigurimi etc.
Painting & Customising - for DIY toys, sneakers etc.
Origami and Papercrafts - all things paper
Promotions and Market - for promoting your online shop, newest creation for sale or requesting something

Sound cool? I'm leaving off the chatty section for the moment, but might get to that later.  

[Nefidean]

I had an idea that could be used for a contest as well. We have alot of new types of crafters, so how about some diffrent banners? I suggested makeing sub banner in the Other Craft Subforum to help Promote Jewlery, but I think the idea could be used well with the rest of the crafters as well.

I believe there's a contest suggestion thread some where so for the sake of not repeating my self over and over again. I'll post my idea there ^-^ (no one likes clutters of repeats)  

[pokeymom]

there's too many old posts and not enough new ones. maybe you can do something about those? I hate clicking on something only to see that nobody has posted in a year or a few months.  

[Chisa]

Nefidean

I had an idea that could be used for a contest as well. We have alot of new types of crafters, so how about some diffrent banners? I suggested makeing sub banner in the Other Craft Subforum to help Promote Jewlery, but I think the idea could be used well with the rest of the crafters as well.

I believe there's a contest suggestion thread some where so for the sake of not repeating my self over and over again. I'll post my idea there ^-^ (no one likes clutters of repeats)

The only issue I have with that is I'm really fussy with my graphics sweatdrop While I know that we have a lot of very talented crafters in this guild, I want to stick with the branding that I have for the guild currently. I agree that we really need banners that reflect other aspects of the guild than clay sculpture though - maybe if people could post photos they wouldn't mind me using in banners, and I'll pick a few of the best from a range of media to make them from?

pokeymom

there's too many old posts and not enough new ones. maybe you can do something about those? I hate clicking on something only to see that nobody has posted in a year or a few months.

A lot of older posts are resurfacing since I started shifting threads into subforums. I'm done with that now, so hopefully it shouldn't be too bad... I'd prefer not to delete any old threads, in case someone wants to read the information in them. It shouldn't take too long for new posts to push them down ^_^  

[Chisa]

I've had a few people suggest to me that I put in a Tutorials subforum, for people to post tutorials that they've found or made. At first I said no, my main reasoning being similar to why I was against subforums to begin with - more subforums makes the guild more diluted and appear less active, especially as I'm expecting posting to decrease quite a bit once the spotlight is over. I also thought that tutorials would fit fine into the new media subforums, with links to them posted in the stickies so they don't get lost.

On the other hand it might be a good idea to have a nice central place someone looking for something new to make, regardless of media with only tutorials, rather than relying on them stumbling across it.

So I'm undecided and set up a poll biggrin I'll be doing this with future suggestions to get more opinions before making big changes. This poll will run for a week, so if you have an opinion be sure to vote before the time is up.  

[Nefidean]

I never could find that thread I though exsisted XD and it's quite understandable you being fussy with graphics, This is like your baby and you need to be protective of it.

That's one of the reasons I like the second part of your coment as a contest theme, that every one posts a pitcure of what they'd like to see in a banner.

I think Tourtial Subforum is a great idea. 3nodding Expecially since I normally go in to other forums in detail (I still go and check the other froums to) A united Toutrial subfourm is great for those who want to try something new but don't know where to look.  

[Chisa]

Alrighty, Tutorials subforum is up and ready to use! Just need to make some graphics for all these new stickies.  

[Jasmine1029]

Ok, so in July, I'm going to Japan and staying with a host family. The delegation says that we should bring a gift for our host families. I started making a cross-stiching thing for them but I may not be able to finish... I would like some suggestions on what I could make. I want it to be something that I made. smile  

[Chisa]

This is more for suggestions for the guild, not personal suggestions sweatdrop You can make your own thread to ask for help - if you want things more along the lines of cross-stitching and other fibre/textile arts you can try that subforum, or if it's general advice your after then feel free to post in the main forum smile