Galleries: A How To and What's What Guide

A Gallery is "a collection of items with the intention to be displayed and shown-off". In Neopian terms, this means "a place to show off all your cool stuff!" It's a place where you can safely show off your prized possessions to the rest of Neopia. They allow for you to be creative and express yourself through the thousands of items that are available in Neopia!

The History of Galleries

Now, if you've been around Neopia for a bit of time, you might remember Galleries before "Galleries" even existed! Before setting up a Gallery was an option on Neopets, users used to be able to price items in a way that they couldn't be bought out of a shop. Instead, they used this pricing method to show off their prized possessions! Shops were filled to the brims with fantastic items, which no one could buy! These make-shift Galleries were the founding fathers of the easy-to-use, easy-to-customize, and easy-to-love Galleries that we have today. :') Such a beautiful past warms the heart.

Why Should You Have One?

Now, no one is forcing you to have a Gallery (that is if you don't count the meepits that are currently having me write this article *gulp*). It's just an option if you want to show off some items! Some people have Galleries; others think it's a waste of time. Remember, this Gallery is all about you! This is your Neopia! If you think your adventure should include a Gallery, then by-Fyora get out there and make one!

Starting a Gallery

To start a Gallery, you first need to get in the mind set. Step away from Dubloon Disaster, put down the Negg, and close your eyes. YOU are about to start a Gallery. YOU are about to make it the best-dang Gallery in Neopia, and YOU are about to spend a lot of time, work, and neopoints in making your dreams happen.

What? Time? Work? NEOPOINTS? But you told me that Galleries were fun!

I know, I know; time, work, and spending neopoints typically aren't fun when you mix them all together. The payoff though, I promise, it's worth it! When you can sit back, and look at all of the items that you've collected, and all of the hard work you've put in getting them there, it's worth it.

The first thing you need to do though is pick a Gallery theme! This does not need to be set in stone, and it actually might change a few times. You just need a starting place to get yourself motivated and moving in the right direction. A theme can be anything you want it to be! Here are a few examples of Gallery themes that I've come across,

• Slorg themed
• Flotsam themed
• Ice-cream themed
• Pink themed
• Dung themed
• RAINBOW Dung themed
• Faerie themed
• Neopian Times themed
• Sloth themed
• Underwater themed
• Meepit themed (*double gulp*)

And many many more! There are also Galleries where people collect only a certain type of item, such as Faerie Dolls or Chia Pops. The possibilities to a Gallery are endless and entirely unique!

After you decided on a theme, take a pop over to Jellyneo.net's item database. There, you can search for all of the available items that you might want to put in your Gallery.

After you see what items are needed to start your masterpiece, get searching! Head to the shop wizard and start snagging up some items! If you can't find the item you're looking for on the shop wizard, try the trading post. If both of those fail, keep your chin up. Finding all of the items that you need for your Gallery may take a long time; some people have been working on completing their Gallery for years! That doesn't mean it isn't worth the wait though.

Wait, what's that? A lot of these items are really expensive? You'll never be able to afford the things you want in your Gallery? Well harrumph, not with that attitude! Like I said before, this Gallery is all about you. It's supposed to be fun, and it's supposed to be a little challenging. There are some options to grab extra neopoints, and here are a few of them...

• Play the flash games available on the site. You can make thousands of neopoints a day just by playing games.
• Save, SAVE, SAVE. At the end of the day, put all the neopoints you've made into your bank account, and don't take them out until you've reached a preset goal.
• Invest in the Stalk Market. My advice; buy low, sell high. Overtime, you can find yourself making a ton of money (if the Stalks are in your favor, that is!)
• Try your hand at restocking; who knows, you might find a rare item that fits in with your Gallery theme! If not, it's a sure-fire way to make a ton of neopoints, you just have to be fast!
• If all else fails, though... bet all that you have at the Food Club. While I don't recommend this method, who knows, you might find yourself rolling in the neopoints at the end of the day.

So, you've spent hours and hours collecting all the items you want in your Gallery? You've coded your page, arranged your items, and set themes? It's completed? Done? Finito? Then congratulations! All of your hard work is finally completed... ;) until new items that fit in with your Gallery theme are released.

If you feel good about your Gallery, though, and want to share it with the rest of Neopia, submit your Gallery to the Gallery Spotlight! If your Gallery triumphs, you win a lump sum of 10,000 neopoints (which can go back into further perfecting your Gallery) and a beautiful trophy to feature on your user-lookup. You can submit your Gallery here, and can check out past winners here. Show them some love and admire their hard work!

In the end, if you're happy with the way your gallery works, that's all that matters. A Gallery is another way to expand your creativity, and to show off your personality. The only person that needs to be happy with your Gallery is you.