Club Leader Guide
Club Leaders!
So, you've applied to lead a club and got it. What now?
Read through this Club Leader Guide and it will help you get started and familiarize you with many of the tasks and procedures involved in running a club. New Club Leaders must sign this post indicating they have read it within one week of being selected as a Club Leader. Updates to this guide will be posted in hh_clubsmods by the Clubs Mods as needed.
1) Make Sure You're Set
Accept your invitation to hh_clubsmods and verify you have posting access to hh_clubs. If you don't have the latter, contact the Clubs Mods as soon as possible and we will remedy that right away.
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2) Roster/Application Post
Every club is required to have a Roster/Application Post, so creating one is pretty much the first thing you should do.
This post should contain:
* any important information about your club
* a list of the club's bonus items
* a list of all your current members
* an application to join the club
* an indication of the current term
* the date of the last Roster update
The Roster/Application Post should be tagged with "roster", "active roster" and your club's tag.
Your roster should be updated at least once every two weeks. When you update your roster, please edit the date to show when it was last updated--so the Mods know you're keeping up on it.
Members are required to be signed up to your Roster in order to receive bonus points in your club's activities. Individuals who have not applied to your club by the closing date for an activity should not be awarded bonus points. (This means they need to comment with an application before the deadline, not necessarily be placed on the Roster, depending on when you update the roster.)
The FAQ lists only the default standard that is expected of Club Leaders: members who don't sign before the deadline don't get bonus points. "You will not be responsible for any backlash for this as it is a member's job to check your roster."
The Mods recommend following this standard.
The Mods also recommend cleaning your roster of those who have not participated in several months at least once per term. You should make a post to hh_clubs when you do this, giving cut members a chance to ask to stay on the roster. It is recommended that you do not do a roster cleanup in the middle of a club activity.
Once you've made your Roster/Application Post (or if you ever make a new one) please let the Clubs Mods know the URL so that we can update the userinfo. You can reply to this post with this information and we'll get it updated.
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3) Warning System
Club Leaders get three warnings.
First Warning
This warning can only be read in the weekly reminders at hh_clubsmods. It would be nice if you could comment on the post so we know you have read it. You must fix your mistake in 48h or otherwise provide a reasonable date by which you will fix your mistake.
Second Warning
You will be warned a second time if you do not fix your mistake by the following week or haven't given a reasonable date after the first warning. You have again 48h to fix it or set another date by which you will have fixed your mistake.
If you have fixed your mistake, please comment to the weekly reminder post in which the most recent warning was given.
Third Warning
You will be warned a third and final time if you do not fix your mistake by the window given by the first and second warnings or if you have not fixed your mistake by the date you have said you would. We will warn you by PM and in the weekly reminders. If you have not fixed your mistake by the deadline we give you, you will lose your leadership. If you have fixed your mistake, please comment to the weekly reminder post in which the most recent warning was given.
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4) Posts
Frequency
Club Leaders are required to post something related to their clubs at least once every two weeks/twice a month. You are encouraged to post more often than that as your activities and clubs require. A Club Leader that does not meet this posting requirement will be given a warning via PM. If a Club Leader has not posted something or provided the Clubs Mods with a good reason for their lack of posting by the end of the month, the Club Leader will be put on probation. Probation means the club leader must run two activities a month for the next three months or else lose their position. Please contact the clubsmods if you have any questions about this rule.
Content
Posts can be anything related to your club: your activities, results, announcements, surveys about what club members want, social discussion, news, etc. Do what you need to do to keep your club members engaged (within the HiH content standards, that is)!
Every activity-related post should contain a link back to your Roster/Application Post, and it's probably good measure to include it on every club post you make.
Ex. Want to join the club? Go here!
A reminder that signing up on the roster is obligatory to receive bonus points should also be placed somewhere where people see them.
Ex. Don't forget to sign up, otherwise you won't receive bonus points!
Format
Subjects
Subjects of your posts should always contain the title of your club followed by the topic of the post.
Ex. Divination Club: Term XIV, Activity I
Ex. History of Magic: Application & Roster
Ex. Muggle Cultural Society: Activity II - Drabble Challenge - RESULTS
Readers should be able to get the club and what the post is about from the subject. If you pick a format and stick with it consistently, your club members will know what to expect.
Layout
Uniform formats are good! You have some freedom in how you structure your posts, but it's helpful if you stick with a somewhat consistent layout within your own club.
An example is:
Activity:
Details:
Points:
Deadline:
Form: (if needed. this can be a textarea)
And don't forget to put a lot of text or large graphics behind lj-cuts.
Banners
Many Club Leaders find they like to have a banner for their clubs. That's fine and encouraged. You can make one yourself or you can order one from any Flourish shop that does custom orders. If you tell them it's for your club, it won't count in your 10-tag limit.
The banner dimensions should not add up to more than 400px. So for example, 300x100 would be fine as would 150x250 (although it is preferred for them to be largest on their width value). They should also be no more than 150kb.
Tags
Club Tags
Each club has a tag. If you're not sure of yours take a look here. Every post you make to the community for that club should be tagged with that tag.
Additional Tags
Results/Voting/Reminder Tags
If your post is a results post please tag it with "results". If your post is a voting post please tag the post with "voting". If the post is a reminder post please tag it with "reminder".
There is no "activity" tag since it goes hand in hand with "results".
Current Tag
Your most current activity should be tagged with the "current" tag. This should be removed from your post once the deadline of the activity passes.
Roster Tag
Your Roster/Application Post should be tagged with the tag "roster" and "active roster".
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5) Activities
Important Information
Club Leaders are required to host and submit points for at least one points-earning activity for their club each month. Activities must run at least 7 days (potential voting excluded) and at least one of the two activities that can be done per month has to be posted within the first two weeks of the month. Club Leaders who fail to meet this requirement in a given month will be put on probation.
Clubs may host as many social activities in a month as their membership desires, but no more than two activities for points. The Club Mods encourage the Club Leaders to host two points-earning activities due every month which is the activity limit in hh_clubs. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Since hogsmeadewkends is a different subsidiary this rule does not include Hogsmeade. When Hogsmeade is open Club Leaders may host 3 activities for HiH when Hogsmeade is running: 2 for hh_clubs and 1 for Hogsmeade.
Types
There are many types of activities that you can do and creativity is encouraged. A number of standard activities are recycled by Club Leaders from club to club and from term to term, each with their own twist. While history has shown that club members often respond to new and creative activity types, know that you do not have to reinvent the wheel every month. Take a look back at previous activities for your club or for other clubs to get some inspiration. Have an idea that needs some polishing? You can always approach the Clubs Mods or pick the brains of your fellow Club Leaders over at hh_clubsmods.
Approval
Every points-earning activity needs to be submitted for approval by the HiH Mods. This can be done over at The System. You should get access to submit activities for your club shortly after you are approved by the Clubs Mods. If you don't have this within a day or two, let us know so we can follow up.
All points-earning activities MUST be approved in The System before they are posted to community. Violating this rule is a serious offense and will lead to you losing your leadership position at hh_clubs.
There will be a link called "Submit Activity For Approval," click that and move on to the next step.
You can check the status of your activity by selecting the "Manage Activities" link, setting appropriate dates in the filter box, and selecting the various tabs to see the status of your activity. When it is approved it will be either on the "Approved" or "Awaiting Points Submission" tab.
NOTE: Generally Clubs only award points and do not award knuts. However, there are four exceptions to that rule: Animagus, Daily Prophet, Sorted and Writer's Block also award knuts for their activities. Make sure to select the appropriate points choice. Some standard points-awarding plans are listed in The System, but if you have a way that is more appropriate for your activity, feel free to select "Other" and explain in the details.
NOTE 2: You must detail exactly how points will be awarded (including any provisions for partial credit) in your activity submission. Once an activity is posted, the process for awarding points may not be changed. If you run into a problem with this, you should contact the clubsmods right away.
NOTE 3: If selecting "Other" note that the chances of being approved to give out more points than would be possible under the standard participation or voting points is unlikely unless you supply a good reason for doing so. You've been warned.
Voting
If you are doing an activity that involves voting on entries to select a winner, only the following methods are approved for use. If you wish to use a different method, you must state so and explain it in the details of your activity in The System. It is recommended that you run your alternate idea by the Clubs Mods before submitting your activity in case there are any questions from the HiH Mods.
Methods
1. Let people pick a 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice, give 3 points for first, 2 points for second and 1 point for third. The entry with the most points wins.
OR
2. Create an LJ poll. Let people vote for one option and the one with the most votes wins.
Placement Points
The most common way to list placement points is, "1st/2nd/3rd/Participation Only: 50/40/30/10 points". When someone places 1st-3rd, their placement includes their participation points.
Ex. Apple of Delicious places 1st and has all the bonus items. 50 (place) + 10 (bonus items) = 60 total. They do NOT receive an additional 10 points for participation. That is already part of the placement award.
Voting Points
You may offer points for voting on entries in your activities. You are limited to offering 2 points per voter. This is on top of participation or placing points for the activity. Individuals do not need to participate or be members of your club to vote, but those who only vote on an activity should not be listed as participating in The System.
The Self-Love Rule
Under no circumstances is an individual allowed to vote for themselves. This is standard community-wide. If someone votes for their own entry, their vote should not be counted, their entry should be disqualified, and 10 points should be docked from their house. It is recommended that a reminder not to vote for yourself is included on your voting posts.
Submitting Points
Once your activity has ended, you are responsible for inputting the points into The System to ensure they are counted. The HiH Mods always announce the monthly points deadline in the main comm. Be sure to submit your points on time! Late points are penalized 1 point per minute up to one hour. After an hour, you will lose 60 total points from your House and the late points in question will not be accepted. Your club members are counting on you to make sure they get credit for all of their hard work!
Partial Bonus Points
It is up to you how many bonus points you'd like to award if a member earns less points in your activity than bonus points they could receive (ex. They have all items for 10 points on your roster but only earned 4 points in the activity). You are free to give them all their bonus points or just the amount equal to what they earned. While you don't have to state this in your activity description, it is a good idea to include it beforehand and use the same standard for all your activities.
You can submit points by going to "Manage Activities" as described above to find the activity in question. On the right side next to the activity, select "Submit Points," which is in the form of a photo of a trophy. You will then be asked to enter the number of PARTICIPANTS for each House.
NOTE: Only those who actually submit an entry or participate in the activity should be included here. If you are giving points for voting, those will be added in the overall point totals, but individuals who only voted do not count as a participant.
You should then enter the total points earned by each House in the box next to the respective House name. Below each House, you will need to select the usernames of those who participated. The input box by each member's name is only used for knuts so these should always be 0 for club activities. Although they are not being awarded knuts, The System needs to know who participated in your activity for reports that are run at the end of each month and end of term. If you have any questions about this, please contact the Clubs Mods.
Then click on Submit and you should be good to go. If you notice later that you made a mistake, you can go back in and edit points by selecting Edit Points. If you made several errors and just want to start over, you can select Re-Submit Points. Be sure errors are corrected before the points deadline as it is a pain (and often impossible) to go back and edit to give missing points after points are run for a given month. If you cannot submit the points for an activity on time for unfortunate reasons please contact theaeblackthorn ASAP; however do not make this regular behaviour.
If you encounter problems with The System (issues submitting activities or points, a user not found in the system, questions), we recommend posting to hh_clubsmods. Usually someone there (either a Clubs Mod or fellow Club Leader) has the experience to answer your question or has experienced a similar problem. Doing this ensures that you get an answer and also helps the HiH Mods to know if it is a more widespread issue.
Remember that you're not alone and while it may seem confusing at first, you'll get the hang of it quickly! (:
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6) HTML Help
Some basic HTML things for new Club Leaders.
Bold text
Italicised text
Underlined text
Centered text
A Link
A Link
This is a text area, write whatever you want in here!!!
This is a text area, write whatever you want in here!!!
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7) FAQ
Clubs does have a FAQ where questions can be asked. It can be found here.
[Guide last updated by juliahearts on January 8th, 2023.]
So, you've applied to lead a club and got it. What now?
Read through this Club Leader Guide and it will help you get started and familiarize you with many of the tasks and procedures involved in running a club. New Club Leaders must sign this post indicating they have read it within one week of being selected as a Club Leader. Updates to this guide will be posted in hh_clubsmods by the Clubs Mods as needed.
1) Make Sure You're Set
Accept your invitation to hh_clubsmods and verify you have posting access to hh_clubs. If you don't have the latter, contact the Clubs Mods as soon as possible and we will remedy that right away.
Back to top
2) Roster/Application Post
Every club is required to have a Roster/Application Post, so creating one is pretty much the first thing you should do.
This post should contain:
* any important information about your club
* a list of the club's bonus items
* a list of all your current members
* an application to join the club
* an indication of the current term
* the date of the last Roster update
The Roster/Application Post should be tagged with "roster", "active roster" and your club's tag.
Your roster should be updated at least once every two weeks. When you update your roster, please edit the date to show when it was last updated--so the Mods know you're keeping up on it.
Members are required to be signed up to your Roster in order to receive bonus points in your club's activities. Individuals who have not applied to your club by the closing date for an activity should not be awarded bonus points. (This means they need to comment with an application before the deadline, not necessarily be placed on the Roster, depending on when you update the roster.)
The FAQ lists only the default standard that is expected of Club Leaders: members who don't sign before the deadline don't get bonus points. "You will not be responsible for any backlash for this as it is a member's job to check your roster."
The Mods recommend following this standard.
The Mods also recommend cleaning your roster of those who have not participated in several months at least once per term. You should make a post to hh_clubs when you do this, giving cut members a chance to ask to stay on the roster. It is recommended that you do not do a roster cleanup in the middle of a club activity.
Once you've made your Roster/Application Post (or if you ever make a new one) please let the Clubs Mods know the URL so that we can update the userinfo. You can reply to this post with this information and we'll get it updated.
Back to top
3) Warning System
Club Leaders get three warnings.
First Warning
This warning can only be read in the weekly reminders at hh_clubsmods. It would be nice if you could comment on the post so we know you have read it. You must fix your mistake in 48h or otherwise provide a reasonable date by which you will fix your mistake.
Second Warning
You will be warned a second time if you do not fix your mistake by the following week or haven't given a reasonable date after the first warning. You have again 48h to fix it or set another date by which you will have fixed your mistake.
If you have fixed your mistake, please comment to the weekly reminder post in which the most recent warning was given.
Third Warning
You will be warned a third and final time if you do not fix your mistake by the window given by the first and second warnings or if you have not fixed your mistake by the date you have said you would. We will warn you by PM and in the weekly reminders. If you have not fixed your mistake by the deadline we give you, you will lose your leadership. If you have fixed your mistake, please comment to the weekly reminder post in which the most recent warning was given.
Back to top
4) Posts
Frequency
Club Leaders are required to post something related to their clubs at least once every two weeks/twice a month. You are encouraged to post more often than that as your activities and clubs require. A Club Leader that does not meet this posting requirement will be given a warning via PM. If a Club Leader has not posted something or provided the Clubs Mods with a good reason for their lack of posting by the end of the month, the Club Leader will be put on probation. Probation means the club leader must run two activities a month for the next three months or else lose their position. Please contact the clubsmods if you have any questions about this rule.
Content
Posts can be anything related to your club: your activities, results, announcements, surveys about what club members want, social discussion, news, etc. Do what you need to do to keep your club members engaged (within the HiH content standards, that is)!
Every activity-related post should contain a link back to your Roster/Application Post, and it's probably good measure to include it on every club post you make.
Ex. Want to join the club? Go here!
A reminder that signing up on the roster is obligatory to receive bonus points should also be placed somewhere where people see them.
Ex. Don't forget to sign up, otherwise you won't receive bonus points!
Format
Subjects
Subjects of your posts should always contain the title of your club followed by the topic of the post.
Ex. Divination Club: Term XIV, Activity I
Ex. History of Magic: Application & Roster
Ex. Muggle Cultural Society: Activity II - Drabble Challenge - RESULTS
Readers should be able to get the club and what the post is about from the subject. If you pick a format and stick with it consistently, your club members will know what to expect.
Layout
Uniform formats are good! You have some freedom in how you structure your posts, but it's helpful if you stick with a somewhat consistent layout within your own club.
An example is:
Activity:
Details:
Points:
Deadline:
Form: (if needed. this can be a textarea)
And don't forget to put a lot of text or large graphics behind lj-cuts.
Banners
Many Club Leaders find they like to have a banner for their clubs. That's fine and encouraged. You can make one yourself or you can order one from any Flourish shop that does custom orders. If you tell them it's for your club, it won't count in your 10-tag limit.
The banner dimensions should not add up to more than 400px. So for example, 300x100 would be fine as would 150x250 (although it is preferred for them to be largest on their width value). They should also be no more than 150kb.
Tags
Club Tags
Each club has a tag. If you're not sure of yours take a look here. Every post you make to the community for that club should be tagged with that tag.
Additional Tags
Results/Voting/Reminder Tags
If your post is a results post please tag it with "results". If your post is a voting post please tag the post with "voting". If the post is a reminder post please tag it with "reminder".
There is no "activity" tag since it goes hand in hand with "results".
Current Tag
Your most current activity should be tagged with the "current" tag. This should be removed from your post once the deadline of the activity passes.
Roster Tag
Your Roster/Application Post should be tagged with the tag "roster" and "active roster".
Back to top
5) Activities
Important Information
Club Leaders are required to host and submit points for at least one points-earning activity for their club each month. Activities must run at least 7 days (potential voting excluded) and at least one of the two activities that can be done per month has to be posted within the first two weeks of the month. Club Leaders who fail to meet this requirement in a given month will be put on probation.
Clubs may host as many social activities in a month as their membership desires, but no more than two activities for points. The Club Mods encourage the Club Leaders to host two points-earning activities due every month which is the activity limit in hh_clubs. There are no exceptions to this rule.
Since hogsmeadewkends is a different subsidiary this rule does not include Hogsmeade. When Hogsmeade is open Club Leaders may host 3 activities for HiH when Hogsmeade is running: 2 for hh_clubs and 1 for Hogsmeade.
Types
There are many types of activities that you can do and creativity is encouraged. A number of standard activities are recycled by Club Leaders from club to club and from term to term, each with their own twist. While history has shown that club members often respond to new and creative activity types, know that you do not have to reinvent the wheel every month. Take a look back at previous activities for your club or for other clubs to get some inspiration. Have an idea that needs some polishing? You can always approach the Clubs Mods or pick the brains of your fellow Club Leaders over at hh_clubsmods.
Approval
Every points-earning activity needs to be submitted for approval by the HiH Mods. This can be done over at The System. You should get access to submit activities for your club shortly after you are approved by the Clubs Mods. If you don't have this within a day or two, let us know so we can follow up.
All points-earning activities MUST be approved in The System before they are posted to community. Violating this rule is a serious offense and will lead to you losing your leadership position at hh_clubs.
There will be a link called "Submit Activity For Approval," click that and move on to the next step.
You can check the status of your activity by selecting the "Manage Activities" link, setting appropriate dates in the filter box, and selecting the various tabs to see the status of your activity. When it is approved it will be either on the "Approved" or "Awaiting Points Submission" tab.
NOTE: Generally Clubs only award points and do not award knuts. However, there are four exceptions to that rule: Animagus, Daily Prophet, Sorted and Writer's Block also award knuts for their activities. Make sure to select the appropriate points choice. Some standard points-awarding plans are listed in The System, but if you have a way that is more appropriate for your activity, feel free to select "Other" and explain in the details.
NOTE 2: You must detail exactly how points will be awarded (including any provisions for partial credit) in your activity submission. Once an activity is posted, the process for awarding points may not be changed. If you run into a problem with this, you should contact the clubsmods right away.
NOTE 3: If selecting "Other" note that the chances of being approved to give out more points than would be possible under the standard participation or voting points is unlikely unless you supply a good reason for doing so. You've been warned.
Voting
If you are doing an activity that involves voting on entries to select a winner, only the following methods are approved for use. If you wish to use a different method, you must state so and explain it in the details of your activity in The System. It is recommended that you run your alternate idea by the Clubs Mods before submitting your activity in case there are any questions from the HiH Mods.
Methods
1. Let people pick a 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice, give 3 points for first, 2 points for second and 1 point for third. The entry with the most points wins.
OR
2. Create an LJ poll. Let people vote for one option and the one with the most votes wins.
Placement Points
The most common way to list placement points is, "1st/2nd/3rd/Participation Only: 50/40/30/10 points". When someone places 1st-3rd, their placement includes their participation points.
Ex. Apple of Delicious places 1st and has all the bonus items. 50 (place) + 10 (bonus items) = 60 total. They do NOT receive an additional 10 points for participation. That is already part of the placement award.
Voting Points
You may offer points for voting on entries in your activities. You are limited to offering 2 points per voter. This is on top of participation or placing points for the activity. Individuals do not need to participate or be members of your club to vote, but those who only vote on an activity should not be listed as participating in The System.
The Self-Love Rule
Under no circumstances is an individual allowed to vote for themselves. This is standard community-wide. If someone votes for their own entry, their vote should not be counted, their entry should be disqualified, and 10 points should be docked from their house. It is recommended that a reminder not to vote for yourself is included on your voting posts.
Submitting Points
Once your activity has ended, you are responsible for inputting the points into The System to ensure they are counted. The HiH Mods always announce the monthly points deadline in the main comm. Be sure to submit your points on time! Late points are penalized 1 point per minute up to one hour. After an hour, you will lose 60 total points from your House and the late points in question will not be accepted. Your club members are counting on you to make sure they get credit for all of their hard work!
Partial Bonus Points
It is up to you how many bonus points you'd like to award if a member earns less points in your activity than bonus points they could receive (ex. They have all items for 10 points on your roster but only earned 4 points in the activity). You are free to give them all their bonus points or just the amount equal to what they earned. While you don't have to state this in your activity description, it is a good idea to include it beforehand and use the same standard for all your activities.
You can submit points by going to "Manage Activities" as described above to find the activity in question. On the right side next to the activity, select "Submit Points," which is in the form of a photo of a trophy. You will then be asked to enter the number of PARTICIPANTS for each House.
NOTE: Only those who actually submit an entry or participate in the activity should be included here. If you are giving points for voting, those will be added in the overall point totals, but individuals who only voted do not count as a participant.
You should then enter the total points earned by each House in the box next to the respective House name. Below each House, you will need to select the usernames of those who participated. The input box by each member's name is only used for knuts so these should always be 0 for club activities. Although they are not being awarded knuts, The System needs to know who participated in your activity for reports that are run at the end of each month and end of term. If you have any questions about this, please contact the Clubs Mods.
Then click on Submit and you should be good to go. If you notice later that you made a mistake, you can go back in and edit points by selecting Edit Points. If you made several errors and just want to start over, you can select Re-Submit Points. Be sure errors are corrected before the points deadline as it is a pain (and often impossible) to go back and edit to give missing points after points are run for a given month. If you cannot submit the points for an activity on time for unfortunate reasons please contact theaeblackthorn ASAP; however do not make this regular behaviour.
If you encounter problems with The System (issues submitting activities or points, a user not found in the system, questions), we recommend posting to hh_clubsmods. Usually someone there (either a Clubs Mod or fellow Club Leader) has the experience to answer your question or has experienced a similar problem. Doing this ensures that you get an answer and also helps the HiH Mods to know if it is a more widespread issue.
Remember that you're not alone and while it may seem confusing at first, you'll get the hang of it quickly! (:
Back to top
6) HTML Help
Some basic HTML things for new Club Leaders.
Bold text
Italicised text
Underlined text
Centered text
A Link
A Link
This is a text area, write whatever you want in here!!!
This is a text area, write whatever you want in here!!!
Back to top
7) FAQ
Clubs does have a FAQ where questions can be asked. It can be found here.
[Guide last updated by juliahearts on January 8th, 2023.]