Be In the Spotlight! by twinfairy |  |
NEOPIA CENTRAL -
Dear Fellow Neopian,
Hey! Do you remember me? I'm twinfairy, winner of the 249th site spotlight
award on Neopets with my petpage at: http://www.neopets.com/~aendie . I remember
it like it was yesterday. On Wednesday, March 25, 2003, I logged into my account,
and found to my surprise, that I was getting tons of Neomails, and dozens of
Neofriend requests. I started replying to the Neomails, and noticed that they
were all commenting on my pet's page. I started to get excited, I thought: Is
it what I think it is? I immediately went to the news page, and to my astonishment
I found this:
Today's Site Spotlight
award goes to Aendie and Twinfairy for their website - Aendie's Candie Shoppe
I immediately got up from my seat and starting jumping around the room! Literally!
I went to my user lookup, and found the Site Spotlight trophy there. I went
to my petpage stats and there were already 2000 page views that day and still
counting. The owners of the petpages that I had linked to (the other petpages'
banners were on my site) had told me that they were receiving over 100 page
views. It was so wonderful. I had a shiny new trophy, got acquainted with a
lot of people I didn't know, and received wonderful comments and questions that
were nothing but positive. A lot of the Neomails I got asked what I did to get
Site Spotlight. So, instead of retyping the same thing over 50 times, I decided
to write this article :)
Well, whether you know me or not, I wrote a guide for The Neopian Times on
petpages. Now, I come back to you again with a guide to Site Spotlight. I hope
you enjoy reading the article below this letter as much as I enjoyed writing
it.
From ~
twinfairy
PS.: The following guide will not ensure that you will win site spotlight,
but give you, my fellow Neopian, a chance to get my point of view on what steps
I took specifically to get there so that you have an idea of how one person
made it to site spotlight
P.P.S.: This is a guide for Neopians who already know how to design petpages.
If you are just interested in designing one for now, you can read a previous
article I wrote on petpages:
Getting Started: The Basics
What is Site Spotlight?
Site Spotlight is a competition that involves designing a unique website for
your neopet, this website for your neopet is called a "petpage". Neopets.com
displays a new winner on the Site Spotlight page every 2-3 days.
How do I enter?
E-mail your username, petpage URL, petpage title, and Petpage description and
a logo for your petpage (optional) to : fansites@neopets.com
How do I know if I win?
Well, there is actually no e-mail or Neomail notification if you win. About
1.5-2 months after you enter your petpage for site spotlight, your petpage will
appear on the main Site Spotlight page and your username and pet's name will
appear on the New Features page. You will also notice that if you haven't blocked
Neomail or Neofriend requests, you will have over 100 messages and TONS of Neofriend
requests.
What exactly do you win for the Site Spotlight?
Other than the recognition and support of a LOT of Neopians, you a bagful of
Neopoints (2000 Neopoints, that's worth about 2000 Tiki tack keyrings), and
a shiny new trophy for your trophy cabinet.
What are the rules for Site Spotlight?
These are some good rules you should follow:
1. It must be a neopet petpage (so it can be like:
http://www.sampleserver.com/~mypetpage it has to be:
http://www.neopets.com/~MYPETNAMEHERE)
2. You cannot copy other petpages, copying petpages is a freezable offence!
3. The petpage has to be appropriate. No rude comments, hate-pages (well, I
guess it would be okay to try petpage themes like "10 reasons why the Snowager
is so terrible!"), no "creative" spellings, don't post any links to scams, fake-login
pages, because those are also freezable offences.
4. Always ask permission to use another neopet user's graphics (if you use it
on your own petpage).
What Comes Next?
After knowing what the Site Spotlight is, you should get started on designing
your petpage. The key to designing a petpage is all in the content. Remember,
petpages can't be just an art gallery. Graphics alone cannot win you the site
spotlight (well, I think so). It has a lot to do with content.
Originality
This is probably the most important thing in a petpage. Being original is absolutely
essential if you want a good shot at site spotlight. Coming up with unique petpage
themes is a good idea. Take a look at all of the petpages that are out there
today. I bet you that 95% almost follow the same layout: About Me, My Story,
Likes/Dislikes, My Family and Friends, etc. etc. Do something original, a petpage
theme that has never been done before. You want something where if people visit
your petpage they go, "Wow, I've never seen anything like it!" Make your petpage
one-of-a-kind. Mine was about a candie shoppe, past site spotlights have been
about disco balls, NeoHome guides, game guides, plushie factories, tributes
to one of the Uber Faeries and more.
Graphics
Graphics are a good way to make your petpage visually appealing. They can be
pixel drawn, or can be scanned. Hosting your images on a dependable image host
is probably a good idea.
Formatting/Layout
Designing a layout is a great way to organize the content in your petpage. Having
a unique layout using tables is helpful way of doing that. You don't want a
petpage where the content is all over the place. Having a unique layout is a
good idea too :)
Unity
Make sure your petpage has colors that blend well together. You don't want a
lime green background with lemon yellow text… Try keeping everything together
so that they do not seem out of place, like having a picture of a Lenny in a
Kau petpage for no apparent reason at all.
Other things to keep in mind
Make sure you credit the websites that you used to make your petpage. Be sure
that you are having F-U-N designing your petpage and entering it into site spotlight.
Don't feel that you are forcing yourself to do it, because that isn't fun.
Things you SHOULD NOT do:
1. Do not copy any body else's petpage, that is a freezable offence.
2. Take anybody else's graphics without asking their permission to do so.
3. Taking the content of someone else's petpage and claiming it as your own.
4. Taking a neopet petpage template and entering it into site spotlight.
Site Spotlight, Here we come!
If you have finished your petpage, and you are absolutely sure you want to
enter, and then e-mail fansites@neopets.com with the necessary information.
Before you submit, you should ask your Neofriends for comments and suggestions
to help improve your petpage. The prize is 2000 Neopoints and a trophy. It takes
1 and a half to two months to find out if you won.
What are the benefits of Site Spotlight?
Well, you become very popular. If you haven't blocked Neofriend requests or
Neomails, then expect to get acquainted with a lot of Neopians. Many, MANY people
will visit your shop so expect to see that almost everything is sold. It seems
to be really beneficial if your neopet is in the beauty contest the week that
you have won site spotlight *wink wink*. You'll find an unusually high number
of people have joined the guild you are in.
You get a lot of page views, these were Aendie's petpage views the week she
won site spotlight:
03/22/2003 : 17 views
03/23/2003 : 19 views
03/24/2003 : 14 views
03/25/2003 : 2395 views
03/26/2003 : 7051 views
03/27/2003 : 1777 views
03/28/2003 : 581 views
03/29/2003 : 493 views
03/30/2003 : 382 views
03/31/2003 : 244 views
04/01/2003 : 245 views
04/02/2003 : 129 views
What if I don't make it?
The important thing is always to TRY, TRY, and TRY AGAIN!! I myself made several
attempts for site spotlight. The first time it was with my baby Blumaroo's petpage,
Naerou's Cafe. After two months had passed, I tried again with Alyshiia… and
the Blues. Then after another two months had passed, I tried again with my red
Zafara, Aendie's Candie Shoppe. The important thing is to ALWAYS be persistent.
Just because you don't make it the first time, doesn't mean you have to give
up altogether. You can try out for site spotlight as many times as you want.
You know what? I was about to design a new petpage to try again for site spotlight
with my baby Uni, brynniie if I hadn't made it with Aendie :) …
I hope after reading this you decide to try designing a petpage, and then eventually
try out for site spotlight. If you have any other questions regarding site spotlight,
you can Neomail me or check the help section on NeoPets or check the NeoPets
contact page.
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