I need help~

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

Okay, so I'm co-mod of 500themes, as some of you may know.
I just want to know, if you were doing a challenge -any challenge in general- what kind of rewards would you like in return for writing/drawing?

There's money, but that's difficult to do. So we thought banners or badges, which would be much easier. They would be personalized, and maybe with a requested picture. Does that sound like a good idea?
This is so hard. What kind of rewards would you want if you were doing a challenge?
Except money. xD

I think I might be the worst co-mod ever. T_T

I'm not really sure if this is allowed here, but I have no where else to turn.
I count this as Naruto related.

Comments

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

A lot of people like banners and badges. I don't understand why, but maybe the ones I've seen have always been ugly. No offense to whoever's they were. I'm not really sure if the fic idea would work, but most people would like art. But who would be willing to draw?

Your enough. xD No, no. You helped a lot.

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

Hm, that's so nice of you. If we do, I'll ask you.
I was going to do badges and banners, but if I need help I'll ask you.

How do you make a badge anyway? What is it exactly? xD

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

That's okay, mine's later.

Hm, but what is badged-shaped? People keep telling me that, but i don't know. Yeah, if the badges are an eyesore or not catching, they will be so under appreciated. We will have to do the best we can, I just can't wait for someone to get all least one hundred themes done now.

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

Ew, Google images.

Hm, so that's badge shaped. It's because when I think badges I think star shaped, and I'm sure that not what we want. xD But, that's okay. I guess I can image a much better image. (Yes, go to sleep you.)

Yeah, that would be good. I guess the person would choose what shape they want so they don't dislike it if they despise, say, Sasuke or something.

[cyn-inc.livejournal.com]

I think you're doing a great job!

I like the badges/banners idea too. That's always nifty. Something else that would be cool, if possible, is art to go with one of the winner's stories (his pick out of the 500, lol). I don't know either, but surely anyone crazy enough to take on this challenge isn't doing it just for that one banner at the end. As far as I'm concerned at least, anything you decide will be fine - it's just the cherry on top of the cake. ^^

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

Well, thank you~

What are badges, I can't remember correctly. Is that a thing you paste to your profile to show off that you are getting somewhere? How are they even made? lol
There's not really a winner. People just complete it. xD Well, actually, the idea was that anyone that finishes the whole list would be given a paid account, but we're not too sure about that right now. I like rewards myself, but it's not that important. We need a hook for people though.

[cyn-inc.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what they are either, so I can't help you there. But I think they're just some sort of graphics too, right? ^^' Well, everyone who finishes is a winner, hehe.

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that's right.
I guess so. xD

[suzu.livejournal.com]

Back in the stone ages when I ran fanworkrecs, I gave out personalized badges to rec'd fics and everyone seemed to love them. They're pretty and simple and fun, so I'd go that route.

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that sounds fine.
How do you make a badge anyway?

[suzu.livejournal.com]

What I did was commissioned someone to draw pictures of some of the characters, and place them on a blank, badge-shaped background with a nice border. They kept the files as photoshop files so I could edit them as I pleased - add an author name and fic title, etc. It could just as easily be done with official art, though, no need to spend money on it.

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

Okay. So it's like an icon in a way, but for your profile? And what would you consider badge shaped? lol. I'm such an idiot.

[suzu.livejournal.com]

Lets see if I get this code right, it's been so many years since I did any kind of html I can't even remember the basics of image insertion, lol.

(http://pics.livejournal.com/kitedreams/pic/0008dz28/g22)

Not Naruto fandom, obviously, but that was one of my banners. I could change the font, as well as the white behind Wufei's head if I wanted, or keep it transparent so that it would work wherever the person I gave it to decided to place it - whether on an lj profile or a website or wherever. And don't feel stupid, we all learn somehow!

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's okay, it doesn't have to be Naruto. Anyway, all that stuff is amazing. You must be or have been really good at coding. Hm, I'm sure that I can laern to do that.

[suzu.livejournal.com]

You can learn! I was pretty good for a while and taught myself via making my fandom websites, but after years of not using the skills, they're looong gone. I'm a geek at heart and wish I could still putter around with the stuff, but I just don't have the time anymore.

If you want to learn, googling for guides is the place to start. I can't even give you good website recs, all the ones I used are at least 5 years old, probably more. That's ancient in internet years, so they probably aren't relevant anymore, if they're even around still.

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

Awesome~ I hope I can be as good as you.

I will, thank you. But, would it be 'html guide' or something else like 'coloring guide'? Something like that? Google is so helpful though, isn't it? xD

[suzu.livejournal.com]

If you're just wanting to make the badge and not worry about coding to place it, find yourself a photoshop guide. If you don't have photoshop, you can find torrents for it, but I'm afraid you'll have to look for those yourself, too. Not sure on chuunin's policy of linking to stuff to download so you don't have to pay, but I don't want to chance it and break a rule by linking anything. There are other graphics programs out there, but photoshop is the only one I'm familiar with and is what most people use.

You can also try GIMP, which is a free graphics program, but I don't know how good it is, and I suspect it won't have nearly as many guides for it.

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

That's okay. I know how to work torrents, i do it all the time. But we don't talk about that. xD But thank you, I will think about it. I tried it once and PS didn't work, so I have really given up on it.

I actually have GIMP as well.

Do you think to edit colors, I could jut use picnik? It's so much easier and that's how I did the banners before.

[suzu.livejournal.com]

I've never heard of picnik, so I couldn't tell you, but if it worked for you before and you were happy with the results, I don't see why not. If your internet speed is decent, it might be worth giving PS another try. It's always painful to download a giant file and then not have it work, though.

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

Really...? It's an editing program that is really popular. Anyway... yeah, I know. The sad part is I tried twice from different places and it still didn't work. I have fast internet, but sometimes that doesn't matter. I could not imagine having dial-up and even trying to torrent.

[suzu.livejournal.com]

Yeah, like I said, I'm really out of touch with what's out there now. Have you tried to get it from demonoid? You need to be a member to use it (it's free, someone just needs to give you a code) I've found most of their torrents are pretty reliable. If you want a code for it, send me a PM and I'll get one for you.

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

Oh well. That's okay.

Hm, no I haven't. You would do that for me? You're so nice. Okay I'll send it in a moment. :)

[didgeridoodle.livejournal.com]

Badges and banners are definitely a winner. Easy to make and less cumbersome to distribute, to boot! Plus, you could make it personalized, like using art that is preferred by the giftee, to give it a customized flair.

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

That's what I thought too. Thank you.

[ivy-tsuta.livejournal.com]

You should join. We don't have a deadline, so you don't have to worry. Just let the muses flow.