Hello community, and especially aspiring guide writers! I am Teh Grazzh0pper, bringing you another guide. However, this guide is a bit different. This guide will be focused on new Mobafire members who want to start a new guide.

Although I may not have been here for the longest time, I do believe that I want to help the community. Furthermore, I have been noticing that most new guides are bad, not because they aren't receptive to information, but because they haven't been in this community long enough to know what is expected of them when they make a guide.

I am aware that there are other guides, such as JhoiJhoi's making a guide guide and Laggermeister's 10 commandments of writing a guide, but my guide aims to allow newer players to know what should be the requirements of writing a guide, as well as how to actually write one in such a way that it is in-depth and attractive.

Do take note that this guide does not contain a lot of BBCode :P, and I certainly DID NOT plagiarize anything from similar authors.



I, Teh Grazzh0pper, will fulfill the pact below and I will make sure that this guide is as good as it can be.



Now, what did I just show you? More on that in the next chapter.

This is basically agreeing that before you write a guide, you will fulfill the terms and conditions below. This is done by myself, and before you make a guide, if you have read my guide, you will copy and paste this pact and put it in your guide. You WILL read through all the things in the pact, and agree with them and fulfill them before you even consider writing a guide.

Do credit me when you paste it at the intro of your guide, however I recommend you to spoiler it by adding while putting the image inside.



Without further ado, I reveal to you the summoner's pact. To use it, simply write before the image: I, ________, will fulfill the pact below and I will make sure that my guide is as good as it can be.

By the way, you need to fulfill at least 7 of the 11 pacts, though pacts 1, 6 and 7 are MANDATORY.





I hope that this pact will allow you to realize what it takes to become a competent guidewriter. In the next chapter, I will go into crafting your guide itself.

Arguably the begginer's nightmare=BBCoding. Many beginners will struggle at this, and people will downvote your guide for having "walls of text".

Let me explain why BBCoding is essential in any guide. BBCoding makes your guide look pleasing to your eye. Who would want to read your guide if it is just walls and walls and WALLS of text? For people to actually start reading your guide, good BBCoding is required. It enhances the overall look on your guide, makes your content more interesting and makes people actually ENJOY reading your guide.



While I may not be an expert in BBCoding, I feel that my guide is like the "Benchmark" when you want to BBCode. It is simple, yet pleasing to the eye(though I admit that I still have some formatting problems). The link is here:http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/stronk-ad-ezreal-reborn-aka-v2-319595

I generally have a few requirements on BBCoding:

• Use columns when explaining certain parts of the guide, ESPECIALLY items, skill sequence, lane synergies and matchups(if any) as well as ability and summoner spells. It makes it easier for people to associate an icon with your explanation.
  
  The link below is a link to a columns guide by Icecreamy:
  http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/how-to-use-columns-194730
• Read other people's guides that have excellent BBCoding.
  Generally, reading any guide by the following authors (you can search yourself for such guides):
  Jhoijhoi
  GrandmistressD
  Astrolia
  MissMaw
  OTGBionicArm
  
  Are all great examples of guides with excellent BBCoding.
• Lastly, ensure that you have enough space between explanations.
  A good example would be space(remove the @) or a "filler"
  
  While it is inevitable that you will have "walls of text" in a good guide, spacing, dividing it into paragraphs or simply excluding really unnecessary information (e.g. Why you can't play Ezreal as support) to make your guide look more presentable.

So basically, you need to be able to be good at BBCoding in order to write a guide. While this may seem annoying and very difficult at first, you'll get the hang of it. There are many helpful general guides which cover BBCoding, banners and even custom table of contents if you are skilled enough (which I am not unfortunately). Simply go to the guide list, change the settings to "General guides" and then click "Top Rated" to look for such guides. The "Guide Help" and "BBCode Guide" on the top of your guide list also redirects you to helpful BBCode guides.



With that, we have finally gone through BBCoding! Next up will be on chapters you need, and actually starting to write your guide.

This will be the main focus of my guide to making a guide. We will now delve into what content we should have when you create a guide. By the way, a BBCode guide should be in another tab when you create your guide for easy reference.

But WAIT! Before you carry on, do read this link here!



These are the basic requirements:

• Introduction
• Pros/Cons
• Summoner Spells
• Abilities Explanation
• Skill Sequence
• Runes and Masteries(you can separate into two chapters)
• Items, both essential and situational/optional
• Tactics
• Conclusion, with credits

For things like advanced requirements, I would recommend the following:

• General skills of a role (e.g. Ganking for Junglers)
• Lane synergies/matchups/counters (you can do all 3)
• Jungle path for junglers
• How to win your lane/jungle and how to come back
• Teamfights

Do take note that this is not all, and you are free to come up with whatever chapters you deem necessary.



Now I shall go into the specifics of the REQUIRED chapters:

Introduction:

In this chapter, you should give a brief introduction of yourself. Tell them why you chose to write your guide (after all, you must have a motive for writing a guide), as well as showing your credentials if you can by uploading screenshots of ranked stats, LOLKING stats or even MULTIPLE game stats(that you should spoiler cause not many people will want to see that).

Pros/Cons:

Give a brief explanation of the chapter, then put the pros and cons side by side for easier comparism. Then, summarise the chapter by stating why the pros are better than the cons, for example.

Summoner Spells:

Give a brief explanation of the chapter, then proceed to explain the "Mandatory" and "Possible" summoner spells one can take. Leave out totally unviable summoner spells (e.g. Clarity on Renekton) as they just take up space. Conclude it with a summary.

Abilities and Tips:

Do not simply tell them the stats for each ability. People can just go to lolwiki to find that out. Instead, include tips on each ability, how to use them, what they should be used for, whether they can synergize with other abilities and how to use them wisely. If possible, show them how a skill should be used, but it is advised to spoiler it. People will come to your guide to look for such tips.

Skill Sequence:

Justify your choice for maxing a certain skill in this chapter. Explain why it is better than maxing other skills. Also, some champions can max another skill first under certain circumstances. Be sure to include that if you think so too for that specific champion.

Runes and Masteries:

These two chapters should be separated, however as they are similar I shall explain them together. Explain why you chose to take certain runes and masteries.
For runes, show alternative choices, as there are always alternatives for runes. If you believe that a certain rune should be used instead of alternative runes, make sure to include that in your explanation
For masteries, explain your choice for choosing certain masteries, though it is optional to explain all. Do include alternative masteries if you feel the need to include them.

Items:

Detail is expected here. Do not simply tell other to get a certain item, explain what starting items they should be using, explain what they should be getting as their core items, and explain to them what items they can get. You can also include a recommended build if you want, however I would not advise it as every game is different and requires different items other than your core items. There should be some items that suit a certain champion better than others, so be sure to explain why one item is inferior to the other.


Tactics and gameplay:
AKA your gameplay segment. People need to know HOW to actually play the champion you made a guide on. Include explanation of what you should be doing when playing the champion you wrote a guide on. Include certain skill combinations and tell them when to use them. This part is where you apply your knowledge of a champion and teach others how to use it, so you must be clear and in-depth in this chapter.

Conclusion:

Give a brief summary of your guide, as well as wishing others success with your build. Do credit links and people who have helped you create this guide, as well as acknowledge constructive criticism.



In this chapter, I have gone through what content you require for mandatory chapters. However, if you want to add more sections, feel free to do so. You are also welcome to PM me for any tips!

In this chapter, I will go through tips you will need to take note of, as well as publishing your guide.



Tips:

• Always remember to SAVE regularly. If your computer crashes when you have nearly finished your guide, you will probably be so demotivated that you would not want to make a guide ever again!
  
• After you save, VIEW your guide. See if the coding fits, see if your content is relevant, view it with the mind of a READER.
  
• For every BBCode you use, you will probably have to stop a code, or else it will WRECK your guide. Save and view to check this, and if you are unsure of how to end a code, simply type the same code that you used at the start and add a / at the front of the code, like [/columns].
  
• Make sure your guide is FINISHED, unless you left an "optional" section to complete for instance. An unfinished guide will only get you downvotes as people want to see the whole guide and not just one small part of it.
  
• Turn on COMMENT TO VOTE! This is important to prevent trollvotes, as people will be less likely to do so. This will also force people to give constructive criticism, which you can improve on.

Now, before you publish your guide, make sure that you have fulfilled all steps in my guide. Make sure to CHECK it at least 3 times by saving and viewing it(this counts as 1 time) and looking for mistakes as well as to see whether the reader will appreciate your guide.

After that, press the PUBLISH button, and you are ready!



However, after you publish your guide, do take note to UPDATE it REGULARLY. Patch changes, constructive feedback and the meta may affect your guide, and in order for your guide to stay relevant, do remember to UPDATE it consistently, and make sure your guide is still "IDEAL".

More questions to come(please ask me by commenting on this guide or PMing me), currently I have thought of some:

Q: Oh no, I published my unfinished guide! What should I do?
A: Don't worry, just ARCHIVE it, copy the chapters into another new guide and paste it! However, you will have to complete the cheatsheet yourself.

Q: I followed your instructions, but I keep getting downvotes!
A: This could mean two things: 1. Your guide isn't good enough or 2. You are being trolled. In most cases, it's one, so do try and take their feedback and improve on your guide!

Firstly, I will link you to an example of a BAD guide:
http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/the-most-better-guide-ever-teemu-323075
Janitsu is actually a good guide maker, but this is his example of a bad guide. Of course your guide won't seem to be as bad as him, but no BBCoding, dumb skill and item build makes this a bad guide.

Next, I will link you to an example of a GOOD guide(which isn't mine):
http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/caitlyn-its-a-tarp-279977
Luther3000's guide uses excellent BBCoding, and has in-depth and well written explanations for all parts of his guide.

Terminology that you can use:
http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/lol-terminology-151019

Jhoijhoi's making a guide:
http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/making-a-guide-101506

Very good guide showing the requirements of making a guide
http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/ten-commandments-of-writing-a-guide-286932

To conclude, the reason why I am writing this guide is to try and help newer members of the community who wants to write a guide or has written a guide with many downvotes, but still do not understand what it takes to make a good guide.

I hope that this short and sweet guide has helped you to be better writers when writing a guide!
Do remember to UPVOTE and/or +rep me if this guide helps!

Credit goes to Jhoijhoi for BBCoding tips and the banner, Laggermeister for a similar idea (which I DID NOT use as a reference) as well as everyone who has given constructive feedback!

If you have any questions or you need help with your guide, feel free to PM me!

5th May 2013 (GMT +8)-Uploaded this guide.
7th May 2013 (GMT +8)-Made the long-awaited change!
25th May 2013 (GMT +8)-Added an extremely helpful thread, it's included in the main section so you wont see it in the links.