#admin guide

How To Choose A Prompt/Task

So this is really the most basic part and will factor into how to write your prompt/task as an admin. When you have a plot-driven rp, I feel strongly that you should make your tasks/prompts for members something you can use to further the plot and gauge how characters are internally reacting to their surroundings. Prompts and tasks during a plot-driven roleplay are super important for admins to engage with because they can shape your next plot drops, your world-building, and directing your ideas. For plotless roleplays, prompts and tasks are great for world-building and character development. These can be dropped any time and require less work from the admin team to follow up on, in my opinion.

How To Write a Plot-Affected Prompt/Task

When you’re writing a prompt or task that is in response to a plot drop/event, I highly encourage you to encourage it in your plot drop/event post. (Not sure how to write one of those? Click here for a guide.) For this example, I’ll be using a plot drop of a New Chain Store being opened in the neighborhood.

You should mention pre-cut that you have a prompt/task that accompanies the event/drop, and then put it under your cut with your OOC explanation. Some basics that you should include about the prompt/task:

Why is this part of the plot/event? Answer the question before folks ask. Start by prefacing why you are adding this prompt/task, an example would be: “With the new business opening, many folks are concerned about gentrification.” This gives your prompt/task context and hints the relevance of the plot/event, and adds some mood to the event if you haven’t already established it. (Great for uncanny valley style event writing imo!)

What is the task/prompt itself? Provide what you’re looking for immediately after the why. We’ve got short attention spans, this is social media even though it’s roleplay, so just immediately give your prompt. An example would be: “Provide your character’s response to the business opening” and then listing some common reponses in question form, like “Are they concerned about losing business for their own shop? Are they excited for the new job opportunities?”  

How can they answer the task/prompt? After giving them the task/prompt, let your group know what’s an acceptable response! I prefer to give people a wide range of opportunities for answering so each mun is comfortable and able to work with the prompt. Here’s an example: “The prompt can be answered in any form you’d like, here are some ideas: An op-ed written by your character, a diary entry from your character, a collage of their outfit for the opening, or a moodboard of their response. There is no right or wrong way to engage!”

So then your prompt looks like this:

With the new business opening, many folks are concerned about gentrification.  Provide your character’s response to the business opening.  Are they concerned about losing business for their own shop? Are they excited for the new job opportunities?  The prompt can be answered in any form you’d like, here are some ideas: An op-ed written by your character, a diary entry from your character, a collage of their outfit for the opening, or a moodboard of their response. There is no right or wrong way to engage!

How To Write a Plot Agnostic Prompt/Task

For plotless roleplays, prompts/tasks are great for ensuring character growth and checking in with your writers. Plot agnostic prompts and tasks are perfect for keeping your writers engaged with the main and even with characters they may not necessarily work with.

For plot-agnostic prompts/tasks, you’ll create its own separate post for the prompt/task. Most of the time these will be completely OOC unless every single character is involved in an organization that would lead them to canonically engage with it. 

Here’s how to announce these:

Why are we doing this prompt/task? Right off the bat, tell writers what to expect from this prompt/task. Is it for character exploration (history, headcanons, etc), character development (AUs, journal entries, etc), or something else? This will set expectations for the writers and prepare them for some ideas before you disclose what exactly the prompt/task is. This can be as simple as announcing that it’s a holiday to do a holiday-themed task, honestly. (See below example)

What is the prompt/task? This is self-explanatory. Provide your prompt/task.

How can they answer the task/prompt? After giving them the task/prompt, let your group know what’s an acceptable response! I prefer to give people a wide range of opportunities for answering so each mun is comfortable and able to work with the prompt. 

Here’s an example prompt:

1. Make POC, trans, nonbinary, plus-sized, and disabled FCs mandatory, especially to the animated characters who fit this description.

Repeat it several times on multiple pages to make everyone understand, and be firm in your response to anyone who tries to say why they don’t want to follow such a simple rule. The people of the world are not all skinny, white, and in the 18-25 demographic, so why is roleplay like this?

Always make sure to double check the ethnicity of FC an applicant wants to use for a character who is a known POC (this includes animal characters such as The Lion King cast, Mulan cast, The Jungle Book cast, and so on) with a simple Google search. Just type in:

[face claim name] ethnicity

Then you’ll see several links to back up this information. For some celebrities, Google will place this information in a box right above the search results. Don’t depend on Wikipedia, but check the FC’s Wiki page then click the link where the reference was found on. Also be sure to check their profiles IMDB and ethnicelebs.

There are more than enough masterlists here for face claims on tumblr but if there are any you need but cannot find or have been deleted because the RPH deactivated, please tell me and I will make one of my own.

With disabled characters, make sure to look for the appropriate FC for the character. Research and find out which actors are truly disabled and which ones are able-bodied and playing a disabled character on screen. With nonbinary characters, if you feel your RP has used up all possible nonbinary FC choices, then feel free to use someone who isn’t nonbinary.

2. Make an actual page of wanted and suggested face claims that applicants can easily find in the navigation complete with links to their gif hunts.

Most appless RPs think more in terms of faces they want to see on the dash since these roleplays are incredibly gif chat heavy. That’s fine and dandy, but when people think of ‘lots of gifs’, they limit themselves to FCs who have 500+ gifs available. This is not the case for every FC, obviously, but a FC with around 200 or less (some only have 80-100) gifs are being completely looked over.

To combat this misconception, admins need to make ‘wanted FCs’ lists that emphasize the desire for these FCs. If anyone comes to you and complains about their ‘lack of gifs’, give a demonstration of a gif starter with one or two of them. Go that extra mile to open up a roleplayer’s eyes to the prejudice and bias they have.

3. Add a rule that second, third, etc, characters must be POC, trans, nonbinary, plus-sized, or disabled, especially if their first character is white, thin, cisgender, and able-bodied.

Each roleplay is different, but I imagine that having multiple characters in appless RPs is even more popular than in bio RPs. To keep your masterlist of characters from being over 90% white, I believe making a rule like this will allow an increase of diversity.

Again, I’m sure anons will come to the main complaining so kindly and thoroughly explain to them that your admin team wants to make your roleplay a safe-space for all roleplayers and that the admins will not tolerate incorrect castings of any sort.

4. Automatically deny anyone who uses an incorrect FC for a character.

If they apply through an account, privately reply to their app/ask and give them links to the FCs you have listed as the correct choices for that character. Also add the explanation of why their initial FC choice is wrong.

If the app/ask is an anon, then make a public post asking the applicant to come off anon so you can explain why their FC choice is wrong and the correct alternatives.

If a current member isn’t following this rule with their second or third character, then re-explain the rules and give them a strike of some kind if they try to argue with you. There is no reason for players not to listen and learn.

5. The admins should honestly play diverse characters as well.

It’s fine if you have a white, thin, cisgender, and able-bodied character, but members follow by example so you should really consider making your second or third characters diverse. Meaning, follow your own rule promoting diversity!

Personally, I believe taking it a step further and making your first character diverse (especially if the character is disabled, transgender, plus-sized, or nonbinary since those characters are incredibly under-played) is an even more welcoming message to potential members.

This feels like a good place to stop because I think I’ve made my case. Every day when I look at appless RPs popping up in the tags, I see the admins allowing whitewashing or incorrect castings and when they get called out, they either ignore the message or give an incredibly ignorant reply defending themselves and the player for making these choices.

1. Believe in your rp. 

I think the dumbest thing I'd ever done as an admin was lose faith in an idea, and the roleplay itself. Yes, it may seem cheesy but most cheesy things are true. Most likely roleplayers won't flock to your rp when it first 'hits the tags', so have a little faith.

I remember one time I had the queue filled with exactly 301 posts. I was so discouraged because we had hardly gotten any apps (I want to say three around the time span of five days) and the other admin excused herself from admining the rp further. The main admin and I were talking about closing over a few days so I stopped logging into the main completely forgetting that the promo posts were still going. I came back to tell everyone that we were closing and at least three more apps were in the inbox. Don't lose faith.

2. Communicate. 

When administrating with others it is highly important to communicate. If you don't like something don't be afraid to say it, albeit in a considerate way. If you don't love the decisions you are making together about the rp you won't love the rp period which will make it a drag to get on the main so don't be afraid to voice your opinion.

3. Don't be afraid to ask for help. 

I've heard from a few talk blogs about the rph stereotype of being snooty, but seriously the majority, if not all of us, would be delighted to help with your rp. Don't be afraid to ask an rph for graphic or admin help. Roleplay helpers are also great for advice when you need a tie-breaking opinion or just a simple outside view on a problem going on with your rp.

4. Take your time. 

Don't beg.

Your rp is killer, so have some self confidence. You can't expect someone to take pride in being in your rp if you act like you aren't proud of it. Confidence goes along way when it comes to getting interest in your rp.

Don't advertise certain faceclaims requested by a rper in the group.

From my personal experience I've found that the roleplayers of your group only request this because they are desperate for the ship. If someone sees this advertisement and joins the rp because of it, chances are they are going to only talk to one another which can cause cliquey-ness in your rp. I personally suggest posting the ask but simply not tagging it.

Don't forget to check your grammar/spelling.

It's unrealistic to expect you to get things right a hundred percent of the time, however make sure you read over every promo you post and check the spelling because this could turn off potential applicants. 

Don't over queue.

What I mean is try not to flood the tags. It turns off potential applicants if you are all they see in the tags. Try to space out promotions and limit the amount you post a day. I would say twelve times a day for your queue over twenty four hours is a good amount.

Don't lose faith.

I understand that trying to get people to apply can be tedious and boring, regardless you have to keep your faith. You just have to find the right people to apply. It can take a long time for you to gain interest but as long as you are persistent and you keep faith, as well as hope, all should pan out. 

Do follow your vision for the rp.

Tons of people have a million different ideas and they may suggest you to change things in your rp. It is good to listen to their suggestions but I'd say to take them all with a grain of salt. You'll never be able to please absolutely everyone so make sure you always get the final say, after all this is your rp.

Do advertise your greatest strengths.

Be humble but let others know that you have got a great rp to offer. Most commonly I see roleplays advertising what the admin is doing at the moment in their life or saying what faceclaims they have open. I'm not saying either of the two or wrong but I think the greatest way to gain interest is advertise what your rp is about. Do you have an interesting plot? Advertise it. I know I'm always looking for a unique rp to join. Don't be afraid to say what you have to offer.

Do utilize all the services rph blogs offer.

Shoutouts are the most common utilized source that a rp help blog offers but there are so many other great things that you can use to advertise your rp. Don't limit yourself to just shoutouts. Try asking for opinions, reviews, submitting a promo, etc.

Do use scheduled posts.

You can use scheduled posts to set a time and day for your post to, well, post itself. This is great to use for an admin or admins who are on a lot. That way when you are advertising on the main you don't have to worry about your main and your promo blog storming the tags. Set scheduled posts to when you know you won't be on so even when you aren't on you can still be gaining interest in your rp.

Do get second opinions.

There are a lot of views on what it takes to run a successful roleplay, many of which are beyond helpful in the advice they give. I'm sure you've heard it all before; how to be a great admin for your members, how to promote better, how to setup your page, etc. But, we focus so much on what makes roleplays good and how to make them good, that very rarely do we take time to reflect on what makes them awful. Or rather, how they fail. The point of this article is to take that moment to talk about it with hopes that in knowing how to fail at roleplaying, you will ultimately learn how to succeed rather easily.

Let's start off where it all begins: You want to make a roleplay. 

Firstly, I'd like to persuade you into understanding how many roleplays are on Tumblr right now. Hundreds. Literally, hundreds. There are people creating new roleplays every single day. So much so that it has gotten to a point where people would rather create a roleplay, than join the ones that are out there. While I completely understand that, I think the marketing arena is something to consider prior to making one. If tons of people are making roleplays every single day, who the fuck is joining any? No one. Not enough, anyway. The easiest way to fail, before you even begin, is to offer something people are -- in abundance -- not interested in. While your friends may say your roleplay looks amazing, and while that may be true enough, there is a large chance that others will not join it. The odds are increasingly stacked against you the more common your idea for the roleplay is. Which brings me to my next point.

Similar roleplays happen all too often. You may be sitting there thinking about creating a roleplay -- a high school one, a Hollywood one, a zombie one, a supernatural themed one Whatever it is, I'm sure there are dozens like it already. Ones that already have an established fan base, and a decent amount of roleplayers in them. Roleplayers who are already apart of a similar RP to the one you want to make, and will not be joining yours any time soon because of that. Take this into heavy consideration: If you are not offering something new and exciting, there is a higher rate of failure already stacked against you. That is simply how it is nowadays. So, rethink your idea. Perfect the idea. If you don't understand the market you are trying to sell to, you will never succeed. Point blank.

And now, moving on to something else: Can you even be an admin?

Not everyone should be an admin. Not everyone can be. Maybe to small groups that consist of their friends, but ultimately not everyone is capable of being an administrator to large groups of people. You have to consider the personality dynamics that may or may not come in; conflict happen, and if you're not going to be able to keep your cool under tons of pressure, you should not be an admin. The less able you are to deal with stress, the less successful you will be in maintaining a roleplay that people feel welcome in. Roleplays fail, and can even gain a bad reputation, when an admin is not able to be calm and assertive. When you log in to an account that is directly associated with the roleplay you run, you have to be polite, professional, and punctual. You have to be able to maintain the rules, be able to punish members who do not listen to the rules in a way that it does not drag every other member into it, and ultimately be a leader to these people. A leader, not a tyrant. 

As soon as you start thinking, "this is my roleplay and if you don't like it then fuck off", you should step down and close the motherfucker because it will only get worse before it gets better after that. 

Members should always feel welcome in your roleplay, and they should also always be having fun. No matter what kind of roleplay genre, or literacy rating (in roleplay terms) you are running, fun should be what everyone is there for. Sure, you definitely can take your writing serious and want to make it great, but without that being fun it will quickly turn into a chore. And with that, activity goes down, people start drifting off -- all sorts of things that will cause the roleplay to, you guessed it, fail. 

Which brings me to this: Members should come first, right?

Right. 

If you are not holding your members to a standard, and watching out for their best interests, you're not leading the group correctly. Your rules, and the overall attitude of each member, should be accounted for. A great set of rules can help members know what you expect of them, and members who adhere to those laws of the land will make your roleplay universe thrive! So yes, they come first. Before lurkers, before RPC/RPH reviews, before you. When you accept an audition, think about if your members will be able to write with that person. When you promote, think about what your members are looking for (certain characters, species, whatever) too. When you change the theme, think about your members and what they'd be interested in seeing! Have their best interests in mind, always, or else failure will strike. 

I believe that roleplays fail in two ways, most of all: members & admins not working together. Without a strong team of active and dedicated people, it will fail without question. But, I think that failure should not be something you be afraid of. It happens to all of us, even the best of us. We try, we fail, we get over it, and we try again somewhere down the road. Do not be afraid of the sinking ship because, honestly, nothing lasts forever. Your roleplay will eventually die down. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, or five years from now. But it will.

So embrace it when it happens, and know when to let it all go. 

TIP 001 → Answering anonymous messages.

The most notable instance of rudeness I have seen is when an RP (URL disclosed) was on female ban and received a question on whether or not their Demi Lovato FC was open or closed. Now, the proper way to answer this would be to tell them if she is or is not, but say that they are on female ban. I remember the exact words of the admin who answered, "It doesn't matter if she is or not, we're on female ban." Another message said they wanted to apply for a character and it was answered "you obviously don't pay attention because she is taken." These messages turned me off from that RP and made me decide not to apply. Also, being too nice to anonymous messages can come back and bite you in the ass. Sometimes it can be hard to find a happy medium, but the way I do this would be to act as if I were that anon and answer the question how I would want to be told. I wouldn't want to be called 3 pet names, just one is fine, and I certainly wouldn't want to be told that I didn't pay attention and it doesn't matter.

TIP 002 → Activity

Make sure that you implement a strict activity window (a week is the normal time). Make sure you do an activity check (two days before the window closes) and message those who are close to getting kicked out. If they do not get active again, message them saying that they have been let go from the RP and that if they want their character back then they must wait a certain amount of time and re-audition. Don't post activity checks and hope that they see them, don't not post activity checks.

TIP 003 → Saying No

Saying no to your roleplayers is one of the hardest things for me to do. I've seen so many admins get pushed around because they don't like saying no,  I feel horrible about it until I realize that it's what's best for them. If you have a roleplayer who wants to change their FC every 3 weeks, say no. If you have someone who wants to try something that you, or other players, feel uncomfortable with, say no.

TIP 004 → Implementing Rules

You make your rules for a reason, make sure they stand. Just because someone has been a member of the RP for a long time, does not mean that they are an exception to the rules. If you say that roleplayers cannot make any major twists, then don't let them. Give them about 3 warnings (or less, depending on what they did) if they break the rules. If you just start a new rule, don't expect everyone to follow it for about 2 days because they might not know.

TIP 005 → Messaging

When accepting or denying applications  as well as simply talking to your players, make use of the ask box, fan mail, and submit. If you hear that someone is doing something wrong or something that causes a player discomfort, do not be afraid to message them.

TIP 006 → Listening To Your Roleplayers

This goes hand-in-hand with messaging and implementing rules. Never ignore roleplayers and don't brush them off and listen when they bring up concerns or suggestions. If they give a reason why they left other than time or personal issues, pay attention to that and try and improve it. There's nothing worse than telling your admin something that makes you uncomfortable multiple times and seeing nothing done about it.