Eleven Tips for your Discord Server

The founders of Discord wanted to create a simple way to talk to their friends and play games together. In the process, they created something much bigger. Before Discord, gamers played video games and used TeamSpeak and Skype, among others, to talk to their friends. The possibilities of TeamSpeak and Skype were limited and not adapted to the needs of gamers, so the founders developed their own tool. For example, they wanted to talk to their friends even if they were not in a game. In addition, they did not only want to talk about games. The tool was released at the beginning of 2015. The slogan was: "It's time to get rid of Skype and TeamSpeak." It had text chat and a prominent voice chat feature. Discord currently contains 6.7 million servers and serves over 100 million monthly active users. This article describes the Most Important 10 Tips for Using Discord.

To create a Discord server, you must first download and install Discord (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS or Android) or open the Discord web interface. In both cases, a free user account must be created in order to use Discord. When Discord is opened for the first time and the registration has been successfully completed, a window is displayed. Discord first asks if you want to create a server or join a server. If Discord is already in use and this initial screen has been skipped, a new server can be created. A new Discord server can be created by clicking on the plus button in the Discord interface.

Roles are one of the basic settings for managing a Discord server. The role settings can assign a colour to the members but also a lot more. Each role has a set of permissions that control visibility. Visibility controls what members can and cannot do on the server. Roles can be used, for example, to give members and bots administrator rights. This allows members to remove or block other members, add or remove channels and ping @everyone.
This option is found by selecting the item "Roles" in the server settings.

The server verification levels can be used to control which member can send messages on the server. Setting a high verification level is an excellent way to protect the server from spammers or hijackers. This option is found by selecting the "Moderation" item in the server settings.
The following verification levels are available:

• None - Unrestricted
• Low - Must have a verified email address on the Discord account
• Medium - Must be registered on Discord for more than 5 minutes
• High - Must be a member of this server for more than 10 minutes.
• Highest - Must have a verified mobile phone on the Discord account.

A new category can be created by right-clicking on an empty space in the channel list. The design of the server is entirely up to the creator. The categories only help to keep the server clear. This makes it easier for new visitors, for example, to find their way around a clearly structured server. A voice channel can be created by right-clicking and dragging it into a category. With a right click on the channel, editing options can be displayed. The bit rate and the user limit are two basic options. Under "Permissions" there are also other useful options. There, channel-specific rights can be assigned to roles and even to individual members on the server. For example, if a member wants to manage his or her own channel, this permission can easily be assigned. However, the member can then only edit this one channel. The last option allows invitations to be sent. The fastest way to send invitations is to right-click on a channel and select the option "Instant invitation". Under the invitation link, "Edit invitation link" is written in blue. Click on it to set the expiry time and the maximum number of uses available for the invitation link. In addition, the invitation link can be allowed a temporary membership.

In order to run a successful server, users should have the opportunity to develop completely freely. This can be made possible, for example, with sufficient "fun" and "feedback" channels. Such "fun" channels can be defined in such a way that, for example, only pet pictures may be posted. Another idea is so-called "foodporn". The "foodporn" channel only allows pictures of great food. This gives members a chance to get to know each other better through small interactions and to find new topics of conversation more easily. It is also advantageous to create a meme text channel, in which only memes for common amusement may be posted. A special feedback channel should also definitely find a place on the server. In this channel, users can post suggestions for improvements to the server and general concerns. In this way, other users can also vote on them and, as a community, achieve something on the server.

As already described, roles can be defined and the permissions that the users have on the server can be distributed. It is not only important which rights the members have, but also how the rights can be obtained and how they are named. The names of the roles should be adapted to the server. For example, if a gaming community is to be built up, the role names should be adapted to the games that are primarily played. It should also be possible to set up special roles for special events. For example, for tournament winners or other awards. Through unique roles, members feel valued and thus strive for increased participation in community events.