It is easy to create a raft, but the real fun comes from building a community. Rafts can be created by anybody on Raftr. We provide tools to customize, build, and manage your community; this is a big responsibility, but it is very rewarding. It is important to keep your raft vibrant and attract broad membership; we delete rafts that do not achieve this to free up their names for others that wish to take on this responsibility.
To create a raft, use the + button on the bottom of the screen, which is used for creating all new content in the app, and select the raft button. (This feature is currently only available on iOS, though we will be introducing to Android and Web soon; in the meantime if you are on one of those platforms, please contact ask@raftr.com for help creating a raft). Once you’ve done so, the only required inputs are a name, a tagline, an icon image, and a designated category/ topic. You must select only one category and topic, but you can elect to create lots of tags which will help people find it. The name of the raft must be unique, so if the name you choose is taken, we will ask you to modify it. Additional, optional settings to customize your raft can be set at time of creation and/ or added or modified at any time later. These are important to understand because they will help set the tone of the raft and determine how many members you attract.
After you create a raft, you can attract new members in several ways. We will help by featuring it in Explore upon creation, and in Search when it has at least ten members or at least ten actions in the last month. In addition, we offer tools for you to make sure its appearance is appealing and vibrant, and that you actively manage members, content, and communication. As creator of the raft, you are designated as the raft’s leader (RL) and this comes with various rights and responsibilities. You get to select co-leader(s) and curators, as well – how to do so is noted below. Together a raft’s leader, co-leader(s), and curator(s) are it’s “raft admin”. The info below delineates the responsibilities and rights you and your selected administrators have:
Appearance and rules management (look and feel of your raft):
- Change name: Leader
- Change icon: Leader and co-leader
- Change tagline: Leader and co-leader
- Add/ change description: Leader and co-leader
- Add/ change rules: Leader and co-leader
- Add/ change welcome message: Leader and co-leader
- Add/ change cover image: Leader and co-leader
Member management:
- Rafts always have (exactly) one member with the rank of leader – the person who created the raft has this rank immediately upon creating it.
- In addition to the leader of the raft, a raft may have unlimited co-leaders and curators – leader, co-leader, and curator are the three admin ranks available in all rafts
- In the raft’s settings, you will find the member management option – where you can promote or demote members into/ out of these ranks.
- You can also release any members from your raft in member management, which is helpful for keeping safe communities.
- The admin rights hierarchy follows:
- Promote, demote, release any member: Leader
- Promote to curator or co-leader rank, demote from co-leader or curator rank, release any member except Leader: Co-leader
- Promote to curator rank, demote from curator rank, release any member except leader or co-leader: Curator
Content Management:
- There are two ways to manage content on your raft: pinning posts and its privacy settings.
- The raft’s leader and co-leader can change privacy of the raft, which determines both whether the raft has membership limitations and also how visible its content is to non-members.
- Pinning posts is a right available to all raft admin. This can be very useful to promote an event post or highlight something funny, interesting, or informative so your members don’t miss it.
Beyond these tools and rights, it is important to set an example as an active member of your raft by posting, chatting and encouraging your fellow admin to do the same. All reactions, comments, replies, and votes tallied from your created rafts contribute towards which content is trending throughout the app; and all posts will appear in the “Popular” Posts feed which helps discoverability. It is also important to spread the word to attract new members that will help you make the raft more fun and engaging. In keeping with this, if a raft has been inactive for three consecutive months and has fewer than 15 members, we will automatically delete it to free its name up for others that would like to use it and build the community.