How to Create, Set Up, and Run a Successful Discord Server
UPDATED July 18, 2022
Written By Merlene Leano
So you've decided to create a Discord server and become a member of its rapidly expanding community. The name of your server is already memorable, thanks to your creative thinking.
While setting up a Discord server isn't rocket science, creating up a good one that serves a specific niche community is a different story. There is a need to understand the details of how to run a Discord server so that you can obtain valuable information on a specific thread you've made while keeping it fun and interactive.
What is a Discord Server?
In layman’s terms, a Discord server is a place where people connect online. It is like a place where all your close friends hang out to talk about different things, from TV shows and the newest game releases to random ideas. Everything happens in the same room.
Running a Discord server is a wonderful way to connect people wherever they may be in the world.
How to create a Discord server, you ask?
The first thing you need to learn if you want to make your own Discord server is to decide what your purpose is for creating one. What are your objectives?
It is one thing to want to start a community in which your friends can communicate in real-time while streaming in groups and sharing excellent playthrough recordings. Similarly, it is just as important to understand that starting a Discord server (or any other online group) is not intended for you to have full control over.
You cannot govern other people's beliefs and standpoints, preferences, and interests, or even the creation of something for a profit. Instead, focus on using selflessness and transparency as the foundation of your community. Focus on enabling an environment where members can interact freely without being hindered by any form of discrimination or prejudice.
There are three key steps that you can use as a guide to making a Discord server:
Step 1:
First, you need to download the Discord app on your computer or smartphone. Or, you can visit the Discord official website. Either way, you’ll need to sign up as a free user to help you move on.
If you are a first-time user, you will be asked whether you want to create or join a server. On the flip side, if it’s not your first time or if you’re just a returning user, you can always create a server by clicking the big plus button on the Discord UI.
Step 2:
Think of a unique (and interesting) server name. Choose your region manually if the system doesn’t immediately detect yours. Then, click “Create”.
Step 3:
Once created, your will automatically be connected to the server. Hover your cursor to the left side of the interface and then click the drop-down button to see the available settings to customize your servers. Some features you can customize include invite friends, channel creation, and server options.
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How to Run a Successful Discord Server?
After learning how to make a server on discord, you should also know how to run it successfully. You must know which features to maximize to help you build a genuine community.
1. Structure Your Channels
When your Discord server is in its early stages, keeping it organized is simple. Once your server increases in popularity and recognition, expect that there will also be more posts with irrelevant or completely off-topic content. Typically, your first step in dealing with this is to flag them, correct? Flagging user posts can cause you to lose members in the process, especially if they aren't breaching any rules or guidelines and simply want to chat about anything else.
To avoid such repercussions, you should make every effort to build your server channels in such a way that they can accommodate that type of communication while remaining relevant.
Navigate to your channels tab and choose the channel you want to customize. To access the editing options for any channel, right-click on it and select Edit Options. Ideally, you should set up a channel where you can share information about your server, general ground rules, and announcements. Make sure that only you and your fellow admins or moderators can post on these channels.
Then, you can build more channels to cater to specific discussions, off-topic discussions, and/or general discussion channels. Following that, you can now add more specialized topics of your choosing. Furthermore, once you've established the objective of each server, it's a good idea to start branching out to other topics.
Additionally, suggestion, support, and FAQs channels are useful for assisting users who have questions about your rules, events, promotions, and a variety of other aspects to help them become acquainted with your Discord server.
Tip: You can also alter your channels by right-clicking on a blank area in the channel's sidebar while holding your cursor over it. This allows you to add categories that prioritize simplicity when dealing with conversations on larger servers. Then, use the drag and drop feature to reorganize your channels to your liking.
2. Implement Ground Rules
Another factor to consider when learning how to make a good Discord server is the application of community-wide rules, regulations, and policies. After all, no online platform can prosper unless it has a coherent set of standards in place to oversee member actions. Failing to enforce rules and guidelines exposes your Discord server to spam attacks, bots, and individuals who do not even belong to your server. To protect your community from spamming, harassment, advertising, NSFW content, toxicity, and other improper and unwelcome online content, establishing clear rules is quite helpful.
You can also make your server spoiler-proof, which is very useful if your discussions revolve around new video game releases, TV shows (especially limited series), and movies. These rules ensure your members have excellent experience on your service through and through.
3. Add a Moderation System
As you ponder over the question, how do you create a Discord server that’s safe and enjoyable, consider setting up a moderating system. This will help protect your server and users from potentially harmful user-generated content (UGC). If you want to keep toxic individuals at bay and neutralize any looming problems that your platform may encounter in the future, try hiring moderators. Using community moderation, you can help your administrators manage comments and debates, as well as ensure that users adhere to your Terms and Conditions or Code of Conduct.
A set of guidelines for user content will free up a significant amount of time for you to think of new ways to assist your server in growing. The field of content moderation is no longer a developing one. There are numerous firms on the market nowadays that provide community moderation services, so finding the most appropriate moderation partner is not difficult.
4. Set Up Roles
Setting up roles is the same as appointing your own "officers" to monitor user activity and provide them access as necessary. Roles are the equivalent to ranks in a forum. For example, you can grant your moderators the authority to prohibit other users and delete their posts.
Choosing members to assign roles is a crucial part of mastering how to run a good discord server.
Roles are extremely important to the success of your server because they allow you to completely customize the standards of your server to match your specific requirements. Privileges and permissions are easily adjustable with relative ease to customize specific channels and other Discord features such as voice chat, text, chat, tagging, and mentioning.
5. Utilize Bots
Learning how bots can boost your server is also integral in learning how to create a Discord server. Some might claim that bots are unreliable, but they are a necessary component if you want your server to be successful in the long run.
Bots are increasingly becoming popular in internet forums and discussion groups. The ability to automate a variety of routine processes on your servers helps you save more time. The possibilities are endless, ranging from reminding your users to follow the rules to emphasizing announcements, advising new members on how to navigate your channels, and even playing music in your channels. There is something for everyone.
Without a doubt, the word "complicated" springs to mind when you hear the term "bots." However, the reality is that there are a variety of bots available that you can easily integrate into your server's system. Bots work in a variety of ways, and thus understanding their various qualities before incorporating them into your channels is essential. If you want to find the best bots for your server, check out the libraries on Discord and Top. GG.
Ready to Create Your Discord Server?
Now that you have an idea how to set up a server on Discord, you must allot time to learn about the must-have features for optimizing your server further.
Discord is a superb way to connect with others who share common interests. Follow the steps outlined above to learn the fundamentals.
The bigger your server grows, remember to maintain a positive and respectful environment with your members. User content is among the most prevalent challenges in Discord and in any online community.
If you find yourself being challenged by the growing number of user content that needs monitoring, you can always employ the assistance of BPO companies offering moderation services.
Chekkee, for example, provides community moderation services powered by both human and AI technology to ensure that your channels serve their purpose: to cultivate an atmosphere where people can interact whenever and wherever they choose.
