Scratch

Llama Style:The Guide on How to Get More Views, More Love-its, More Fame!

An often question known in Scratch is this:

How do I get more views/love-its/famous???

1.) Well, this is quite rhetorical to experienced Scratchers (well, some). One key to fame and more views is by commenting well!

........................................::::::Nice comments:::::.............................................
If you  comment, comment well. A long extensive comment containing helpful feedback along with negative critiscim is absolutely the correct road in getting famous. Not only will the user that you had just commented on probably add you as a friend (usually commenton more than one project of that person), but also, he/she might even click your username and surf through your projects.

Here is a good example to follow:

12cookie34 wrote:

Excellent Comment:"Wow, amazing game! I really like the various levels and obstacles it contains. THe graphics are yet incredibly done with effort! I love-it! Maybe, you could try adding music and fixing some of the sprites' movement, but otherwise, that was great!   "

This quality example shows great feedback, and this is what many Scratchers look for and mostly appreciate, instead of the old donkey:

Bad Comment/PointlessCool man.

See more below

Good comments may lead the user who received them to add you as a friend. Friends are great to have, for they have this extra tab on front page that indicates the latest projects of friends. You know what that means: Views!

Simple comments like this "I got 1243 as my score!!" and "Cool" are not that helpful for the scratcher. It doesn't show any improvement to let the scratcher know. And, for "cool", that is often used. Sometimes, these comments actually work though, but are usually less paid attention towards then proper feedback and great constructive crtiscism.   

You will get more views if you just be NICE. Mean comments, like "this sucks", is very hurtful to the creator, and nobody benefits from either way. Comment nicely and what to improve, and the creator will friend you and might view your projects. This is here a good example:

    " Great project, {username}! It looks awesome game. I love how <this and this>! Maybe, you could {do improvement}. Otherwise, everything else is terrific! Coolio {love-it or favorite?}



.......................................::::::Bad Comments::::::..........................................
Usually, people don't prefer these, so I advise you not to follow the formats below.

Bad Comments

"This is LAME. L-A-M-E. "

or...

"You suck, man! You don't deserve this views."

or...

...nice

Again, do not be one of those people! Comments should be optimistic, cheerful and reflective to the Scratcher who created the project. Even though "...nice" isn't bad, but it is not well put, and hardly gives any feedback for improvement. If you have noticed, the more well known Scratchers out there only usually reply back to the thoughtful comments on their projects or questions.

2.) Galleries
Galleries are pretty helpful. If you want any views, you can add a project with the comment. Simply, just press "add" on the gallery. Some galleries don't allow "add", and in their project notes, they say, "Give me a link to your project." or something similar. THen, post your link. Soon, you will be bound to have at least ten or more views. The views might accumalate slowly but that's okay, right?   

Here's a list of good galleries:
Archmage's Gallery

http://scratch.mit.edu/galleries/view/198

http://scratch.mit.edu/galleries/view/7192

http://scratch.mit.edu/galleries/view/59530

3.) Friends
  Having a ton of friends will allow them to look at your projects.    The more friends, the better.

4.) Don't spam (unless it says you can in project notes, which I hardly doubt it)
  Lots of Scratchers hate spam, but some, themselves, are hypocrites.    Just don't be one. Plus, you might get banned if too many users flag your spamming, etc.   

.::::::::::Scratch Design Studio:::::::::::::.
Scratch Design Studio is a gallery with a desginated topic for Scratchers to make projects as that topic! It's the FASTEST and EASIEST way to get views! All you have to do is make a link of your project (must be related to topic in the project notes), and then, Lightnin or one of the Scratch team members will look at it, add it to the gallery, and even select as the design studio's front page section! in order to have yours on front page in that section, you must have a pretty decent project, (the ones with more effort usually get chosen) for their creativity, excellent scripting, or etc!   

Just make your project good,and perhaps, it will be chosen to be on front page...for a while.   

Need more information? Look at this guide: http://scratch.mit.edu/forums/viewtopic.php?id=53892

Remember, create the project WELL. *

Well, there you have it.

6.) Sigs

Try aiming at audience that'll catch your attention with your super duper awesome signature, when you get one.    You can advertise your game/projects there. People can click it, and the link will lead to your stuff and projects. That's another way.

7.) Quality vs. Quantity.

Projects with a lot of effort and time put into it usually tend to receive more attention than the ones that are made in a minute. You get the point, so quality projects are way better than having a ton of projects that are pointless. Some role models you can look at are 08jackt, archmage, colkadome, kileymeister, etc, etc..

There, I hope this helps. That's my guide. Tell me if you found this useful/helpful.    Scratch on!

Here are some other guides from other Scratchers, for Scratchers. I hope this helps everyone! 

TVFlea's Guide

tvflea wrote:

Step 1:setting a goal

The first step for advertising is setting a goal for your project. If the goal is too high, your project won't reach it. If it's too low, your project will reach it too quickly. To find the goal that is right for you, add all your projects views together add divide by the amount of projects you have and multiply by 3.


Step 2:signatures(if you are a new scratcher, skip this step)

Now, go to profile. Then click personality. you will notice that there is a box for you to type in your signature. Type in the URL of your project and click submit.

example:
I can usually understand my sister. Can you? Find out here

when it says "I can usually understand my sister", that puts curiosity in the speech. why wouldn't he understand his sister?
when it says"Can you?", that makes it a challenge so the reader is interested.
when it says"Find out here ",the reader is already excited and is more likely to click here.

Step 3:Show and tell
now, put a thread in the show and tell forum. Just like the signature only more descriptive.  do NOT talk about the glitches in the project or the reader is less likely to click the link.

step 4:patience
now, wait for the project to get the amount of views you want. this may take 1-2 weeks.

RatSheep's Tips

BlahBlahRatSheep wrote:

1. be random-yet on topic and relevant. C:
2. When criticizing projects, give about two good things about it, the bad things, then another good thing and a concluding sentence on how you think it is.
3. Post around, interact with people. show you're personality if tip 1 not followed.
4. Don't overeact to anything, pls. C:

Chatter's Guide

Hi!    This topic is for getting more views on your projects.

1. Add your projects to as many galleries as possible.

Adding your projects to galleries sometimes makes people want to view your projects. It isn't the most effiecent way though. Please remember to not spam and don't add projects that don't have anything to do with the gallery name/point of the gallery (e.g. Don't add a simulator of a bouncy ball to a tutorial gallery/a gallery called "Tutorials".).

2. Don't spam.

Spamming is really annoying. In fact, some people add spammers to their ignore list which means they don't hear about you!

3. Add popular tags to your projects.

Some people go on the popular tags page or click on tags. If they do so, they will end up on the popular tags page and click on a tag name, so if you added that tag to your project then they'll probably see it and say to themselves "Looks interesting." and click on it.

4. Be nice!

Mean people get reported and if you got reported many times, you will be banned from Scratch and, in some cases, people can't view your projects anymore!

5. Add lots of people as friends.

When people add me as a friend, I look at their projects. Don't you?    Please don't say no, it won't have a good effect   

6. Introduce yourself @ http://scratch.mit.edu/forums/viewtopic.php?id=8957.

It's a topic for people to introduce themselves to the Scratch community. P.S. - Don't introduce yourself if you've been here for a while! It might be kind of weird, like if I introduced myself after 6 months.

7. (The most important of all) Make good projects!

Everyone likes to see a well done project. When I look for good projects, I see many projects that really weren't given any effort.

This is just a forum to tell you new Scratchers about comments, to tell you what to post and what not to post. So we all know that not all projects are good but that doesn't mean that we make fun of them, we think that it's our project and wonder how the person will feel because you would never say that your project is bad, right? So when you are about to post a bad comment, think about it, "Should i hurt this persons feelings by making fun of their project or make them happy by encouraging them?". You should encourage them. If there is nothing very good about somebody's project, tell them what they should improve instead of calling their stuff garbage. This is very important to remember because you don't want anybody to quit because of you, right? This is why you should always remember this.

Now, spam comments, what is the problem with them? Well i know this Scratcher who created a new account called MIT-edu. He posted comments on his second account to try to trick people into looking at his projects. It didn't trick anyone. We all knew what he was up to and we all called him a spammer. So don't get tricked because some people post dumb comments to make their projects more viewed, more loved, more favorited, etc. Then they realise that everyone looked at their projects, but everyone hates them. You don't want to become a spammer, really.

About good comments, there is no problem with those because that encourages the person to make more projects, which will entertain you. You will really enjoy posting good comments. Trust me.

I posted this here because new Scratch members should know this first thing before everything when they join to avoid being called a spammer or a cyberbully.

TheBrickster's Help

thebrickster wrote:

1. Make a variety of stuff, don't just use one idea over and over again, to the point of it wearing out. TheExplodingCheez doesen't use MHM to the point where it wears out. 2. People are idiots. People will give you bad feedback. DON'T REMOVE YOUR CREATION BECAUSE OF THIS! 3. Be friendly. Branch out into the web community. This is one of the best ways to get famous. 4. Use the spell check. Please. It helps a lot.

And, one from our Scratch Team 

andresmh wrote:

There are a few ways to get more visibility for your projects:

1. Tags. Projects that are tagged are easily found not only from Scratch members but also I've found that other websites link to groups of projects tagged in Scratch.

2. Comment on other people's projects. If you comment and give constructive feedback to others people tend to click on your username and look at your projects and even post comments. Do not respond to mean and negative comments though, just ignore those.

3. Find people with similar interests. People with specific and similar interests tend to look at each others projects more. For example, if you like to make projects about "chocolate cookies" (just an example) then find people who make projects about the same topic or about "cookies" or "food". Then you can even create projects together. This leads sometimes to having galleries as a place to share this common interests.

3.1 Galleries are good, but only specific ones!. I have seen people creating galleries where they invite people to put "anything". These galleries are not useful because they tend to grow so much, become too crowded and without any specific direction. Smaller galleries with very specific topics are better.

4. Get your friends from real life (school or from your neighborhood) to use Scratch and participate on the Scratch website. It's very likely that if they are friends in real life they will look at your projects more often.

5. Use sprites made by others. For example, MyRedNeptune and other people have created galleries where you can ask them to draw something for you so you can use it in your projects. They are great artists and programmers who can help you create really cool projects. You can use some of their sprites or ask them for some new ones and I am sure they will go and see what you made with those sprites.

6. Be patient and don't seek fame for the sake of fame. Creating projects is first and most importantly something you should make because you like it not only because you want to be famous or to get a lot of people's attention. With time, your projects will get better and better and you'll see you'll get more attention and friends who will look at your projects.

Anyway, these are just some tips that I just thought about. I hope they are useful. Maybe you can create a project describing this tips? ;-)

Earthboundjeff's Tips:

Make something that's innovative and new! Platformer's have been done to death, so why not try a different Genre?
Make your project unique! Do something that no one else has done! And, above all else, make it good! Put all of your effort in to it! People appreciate effort!
And don't go into caves by yourself with no flashlight! Those are my tips!

Scratch on!

Advice from Kileymeister

Kileymeister wrote:

Going on the Show and Tell section of the forums is a really great place to get publicity, advertising for specific projects there is good, putting your projects in galleries (your own or other people's), adding lots of tags to your projects, and making friends are all really good ways of getting publicity.

Getting Started...by Mastercard!

mastercard wrote:

Well, here's a few pointers for people completely new to Scratch.
The Secrets of Scratch:
1. You don't get famous overnight.
2. Using the costumes and backgrounds Scratch provides is a good way to learn your way around Scratch, but not a good way to get famous.
3. If you're in this for fame, spoofing Swifty isn't a bad place to start.
4. A test account is a good plan, so you can do art trades and other stuff without the general pubic.
5. It's okay to do memes and "add yourself" projects, but don't do it to excess. It's like smoking.
6. Don't follow the fads, start them.
Good luck, New(er) Scratchers! 

Making game projects is also a good idea, people really like games a lot and will probably want to look at yours.

Greenflash's Handy Dandy Tips to make a Good Ad

greenflash wrote:

The show and tell section of the forums can be a great help, if you use it the right way. Here are some tips:

1. Give it a good title!

If you're posting an ad, people won't want to look at it if it says something like "LOOK HERE QUICK!" or "Check out my project". The key to getting more views is to be specific, for example, if you had a two player shooting game, post your topic as "Two Player Shooting Game". That way, if somebody is particularly inerested in shooting games, they'll accually look at the topic, instead of just ignoring it under a different topic name such as "My game", which could be a game about anything.

2. Post some information

Once you've come up with your topic, post some information about the project you're trying to promote. For example, don't just post a link to your project and nothing else, give a little information to get people interested. For example, you could post your project notes, with the example of the shooting game, you could write: "Here is a two player shooting game I made. It's controlled by the mouse and the arrow keys, space to shoot..." For me, that makes me interested, and I want to look at the project to see what it's all about. It also makes me think that you put a lot of work into the project.

3. What do you want?

For me, just getting views isn't enough. I like comments! So when you post your topic, post what you want people to do. Sometimes "Please Comment"  is sufficient, but if you want more detailed feedback, write what you want, forr example: "Do you think the game is to fast paced?" or "Do the sprites work with the theme?" It just depends on what you want to get out of people looking at my projects.

Always remember not to spam! When you spam a topic, nobody looks at the project anyways, and forum moderators will just delete it.

Have fun! I hope these tips help you in the future!

Here are some projects/longer guides that tell how to get views, too. 
WingsGames's Guide
Jonathanpb's Guide
OJY321's Guide

Thanks everyone for taking the time to read this! Have a Scratchin' Wonderful Day!

Last edited by kingofdallamas (2011-04-23 19:34:57)