[Important!!! Please Read!] Feedback, How to Get it and How to Set Up Your threads.

[Raindrop Valkyrie]

So... you know how to tag now, huh? (if not, please read this topic, here) Well, good! Now you have a basic ability to create your threads. However, you wanna get feedback now, don't you? Well, I, Hukuna Sensei, will tell you more about how to properly set up your threads to receive feedback, its importance, and a few methods with which you can structure your thread. First we'll start with the basics and move more into the complexities of how to structure these threads..

What is feedback, and what is its importance?

Feedback is a relatively simple concept. It is simply other's thoughts, opinions, criticism, praise etc of a piece that you have created. Whether it be for a drawing you've created, a story you've written, or music that you composed. Feedback is a constructive tool that people use to get a feel for how others see their work, in what they've done successfully and what they have need to improve upon. Of course, it's a very important tool for an artist's growth. One needn't use all feedback that comes at them. It's best to apply it as the artist sees fit. Either way, it's a good idea to have a clean avenue for this as it could get cluttered pretty quickly and potentially break the flow of a thread.

Visibility: How to make it clear to your viewers you are searching for feedback

I'm hoping you've gone over the tagging thread, as this is where that part comes in. While a feedback thread isn't necessarily needed for a piece (especially non-writing based ones.), it can be confusing for a user that's never been to these parts of the forums, users that have but aren't sure if it is okay to post feedback there, or if you're even looking for feedback. Using the feedback tag clearly states "I'm looking for feedback, please post it here!" It will clear up a lot of confusion for them and they will be more likely to post without feeling possibly obligated to PM you first to see if it's okay to offer feedback. The more hoops you make a user jump through to figure out if they can post, the less likely they will be willing to post. So, just be upfront about it! It saves not only the users viewing your content time, but it saves you time as well. You won't have to explain where you're taking feedback if the thread is directly saying, "Hey, feedback goes here!" While the Feedback tag is optional, it's highly recommended.

How to structure your threads for feedback

Now that you know why it's important to be looking for feedback and why it's important to make it visibly clear that you are looking... well... how about I tell you ways you can structure your threads to receive it? First, different methods are more effective for different types of medium. So, use your tools effectively! Find a medium that complements your content and really helps to highlight it.

On-Site, One Thread:

This structure would use a single thread that serves as a platform to both your content and your feedback. it would be denoted by using a tag something like this [Type of Content and Feedback] or [Type of Content/Feedback]. It's the lowest impact form as well, keeping your content and feedback all in one place so that you as a content creator don't have to juggle more than one thread. However, this can cause the space to become a bit cluttered or break flow in some situations. This type of structure is best used with artwork or pieces that stand on their own. With writing, pieces of any length that would require more and than post aren't suited well for this format, since if users post in the middle of your story it kind of breaks the flow and the pieces natural progression. With small short stories or more bite-sized pieces, this isn't an issue though. Music would also be in this category, as the typical ways of sharing it are supported by the site automatically embedding them.

On-Site, TWO Threads:

This method is used for much the same purpose as the above. Other than it utilizes two threads. One for the main content, and the other for feedback. The feedback thread should obviously be tagged with a [Feedback] tag like so. The advantages are everything is on Reborn! The disadvantage is that you've got two threads to look after (though your content thread is easy to keep track of as only you will be posting to it.) It should be easy for users to transition between these threads so I suggest linking them to each other within the threads. In your content thread, I'd recommend the top and the current bottom of the thread. This way, users looking through can find the feedback thread's link right as they finish viewing all of your content. The link at the top of your thread can be utilized if a user can't find the Feedback thread easily (like it's not been updated in awhile so it's buried a page or two back in the index). All they need to do to find it is click into the Content Thread and then click the link at the top and BAM! they are at your feedback thread no hassle.

Off-Site, One Thread:

This method is for hosting one's piece somewhere else and porting it to Reborn in some manner (usually via link). This technically has overlap with on-site in the regards of art as you typically host the image elsewhere and the site automatically embeds the image for you, in a similar manner to SoundCloud and YouTube. The only difference between this type of thread and the type above is that the content links elsewhere, such as GoogleDocs, and takes the user temporarily away from Reborn. This style is typically very useful for either doing a gallery of art (though this could be done with the first method just in the first post.) or another type of media that wishes to not have its content littered with comments in-between updates. Longer form stories especially like this method as it prevents comments from breaking the natural progression and flow of the story. Note: Please don't link to other forums. If you can just as easily host your content here, do it here or take the effort to transfer it to Reborn. It's a bit cheesy to send someone to another forum. Also, linking to malicious websites will be warned appropriately, so just don't do it.

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Anyway, that's me done! I hope this little guide proved useful for you and that it helps you receive feedback in a way you like. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions, think there is something I should add, or heck... even contribute a method of your own! Anyway, this has been Hukuna-Sensei, until next time, *points at the camera,* Create more Works!~