Hi, all you New Scratchers!

I made this topic for people who, just like me when I started out, couldn't wait for the Scratcher status!

But first, let's look at the difference between a Scratcher and New Scratcher:

So, What's A Scratcher?

I know you're all itching to become Scratchers, so I'll try and keep this section concise and short, but I think it's important you know what you're getting yourselves into.

At the moment, so as a New Scratcher, you will be able to:

• Talk on the forums, but have to wait 120 seconds between posts.
  
• Comment on projects and profiles, but have to wait 30 seconds between comments.
  
• Edit posts after the initial page load. This means that you cannot edit posts once you refresh or re-load the web page.
  
• They can't post links to non-scratch sites.
  

But, as a Scratcher, you will then be able to:

• Talk on the forums, and only wait 60 seconds between posts.
  
• Have no time restrictions on commenting.
  
• Edit posts whenever you want.
  
• Close your own topics, but only after 24 hours.
  
• Use Cloud Data in projects!
  

So, how can you accelerate yourself onwards through the path to unlocking these extra features?

How To Become a Scratcher

To become a Scratcher, the Scratch Team have said “Be Active” for 2-3 weeks. But what constitutes being active? And how can I do this more quickly?

Well, according to the Scratch Wiki you have to

…have a few projects, several comments, some forum posts, and have been on Scratch for a certain length of time.

This doesn't seem like very much information, does it?

This is because the Scratch Team and Scratch Wiki want you to be as active as possible, and participate in the website as much as possible. This is, of course, the only way to become a Scratcher:

"To become a Scratcher, one must participate in the website."

And that's pretty much all there is to it.

So if you partake in as much as possible, by making projects, commenting, and discussing in the forums, you will quickly become a Scratcher.

But, for those of you who were wondering what qualifies as active participation, here you go:

• You have to share at least 2 projects. Try and make them innovative, interesting projects, don't just rush them.
  
• You should comment on other projects, and love and favourite the best projects you find.
  
• You must have been with Scratch for at least 2 weeks, so patience is key.
  
• Visiting the forums is not a requirement, but it will help!
  

Now, finally, how to become a great Scratcher who people will like!

This section is really, really important, because being a Scratcher is all about being helpful to the community.

Being a Scratcher is not about the loves, the favourites or the followers. Being a Scratcher is about how much effort you put into Scratch: it doesn't matter the complexity of project you make, what matters is the creativity and fact that you did your best.By making projects that are good, you will get followers. By making projects that are original, fun and show great promise for the future, you will get followers who care.And by actively chattibng with the community, you will get friends.

There are many tutorials and also Scratch Projects that can teach you how to create great projects, but you can also learn about how to create amazing projects by clicking “See Inside” on the projects that inspired you. This way you can borrow ideas, and develop new understanding of Scratch features. But try and make the projects that inspire others, try and make the projects that will get others to click “See Inside”.

So put as much effort as possible into Scratch, try and be a better Scratcher than the next by showing involvement and personality.

Talk in the forums, congragulate people on their projects, and remember that “it's not who you are on the inside, it's what you do that defines you” (- Batman), so define yourself as a lovely, active person!

So I hope I helped you on the path to becoming an excellent Scratcher, and as forum activity will help you get there sooner, why not ask some questions in this topic?

This is a very nice guide!

I like that you go beyond a simple description of the boundaries of the rank system to talk a bit about becoming a good member of the community. That's important stuff.

It does look like there might be some formatting issues with some of your line breaks though - perhaps a bit of editing would help there?

I like this guide!

I would also add this advice:

look into the projects of other people - this way you learn the fastest.

frodewin wrote:

I would also add this advice:

look into the projects of other people - this way you learn the fastest.

Oh yes! Thank you, that's brilliant advice!

Paddle2See wrote:

This is a very nice guide!

I like that you go beyond a simple description of the boundaries of the rank system to talk a bit about becoming a good member of the community. That's important stuff.

It does look like there might be some formatting issues with some of your line breaks though - perhaps a bit of editing would help there?

I will try and fix the formatting problems, and thanks for saying it's a nice guide! Is there anything else I should add though?

But I am still not a scratcher! Ive been active for 3 weeks now!

AkbarRamzan wrote:

But I am still not a scratcher! Ive been active for 3 weeks now!

Keep going! Have you uploaded 2 projects? Have you loved and favourited any other projects? Have you made lots of comments on projects and profiles? Also, you can try being ExTRA kind to some people to try and get some followers. People are more likely to follow people who are kind to them.

Wow! First stickied topic! I'm going to work harder on wording it better, but thanks!

What do you mean by “Edit posts after the initial page load”?
Is it after the first page gets filled up?

Haiming wrote:

What do you mean by “Edit posts after the initial page load”?
Is it after the first page gets filled up?

Edit posts after the page first loads. Refresh the page and you don't get to edit them anymore.

(unnecessary text removed by moderator - please keep it brief)

great guide

emiasc2005 out

when green flag clicked say your awesome

Wow, this topic would be very helpful back when i was a new scratcher, i was having trouble becoming a scratcher!

All this is very helpful, because I am in a computer math class (programming) and we're doing a project where we make a game with leaderboards. Unfortunately, as a new Scratcher, I don't have access to cloud variables. Any workarounds?

legowerewolf wrote:

All this is very helpful, because I am in a computer math class (programming) and we're doing a project where we make a game with leaderboards. Unfortunately, as a new Scratcher, I don't have access to cloud variables. Any workarounds?

No, no workarounds. But keep being as active as you can, and you'll soon become a Scratcher!

Although, you'll need to wait two weeks, but in that time (to speed up the process) share at least 1 extra project, favourite several projects, love several projects, follow some people, and try and get some followers of your own by being extra nice to people!

hiforever

say []I am awesome and so is scratch

end

any tips on side scrollers

frodewin wrote:

I would also add this advice:

look into the projects of other people - this way you learn the fastest.

I like that advice! I do it when I'm on the computer, but right now, I'm on the iPad that does not have a flash player.

ninjadude698 wrote:

any tips on side scrollers

Yes. Check out this: http://scratch.mit.edu.ezproxyberklee.flo.org/projects/24389783/#editor

Thanks