Tips: Save your Stardollars - for non-superstars

Okay, okay, so as we know, the 1 Stardollar per Day campaign has ended. While1 Stardollar per day doesn't seem like a lot to some people, for others it was a way to buy stuff. And now that it's gone, and the Play&Earn money doesn't last forever, how to keep buying clothes and furniture without spending all the money we have? Follow this tips!

1. Make a wishlist. Making a wishlist of all the items you want will keep you focused on buying what you really want and need, not a new piece from the StarPlaza that you'll never wear again.

1.1 If you have items in your wishlist that are too similar to the items you already have in your suite/MeDoll Editor, don't buy them - it's a waste of Stardollars!

2. Play Play&Earn everytime you log in - everytime you play and shop, you'll have one less item on your wishlist.

3. Try not to buy things that cost more than $5, so you'll only spend your temporary Play&Earn money instead of your Stardollars.

4. If you see a new item that you want, but you already spent your Play&Earn money that day, don't rush to buy it with your normal Stardollars - 99% of times, the next day the same item is there with the same price tag. (I've bought a lot of items thinking they'd be Superstar the next day, and almost all times I was wrong)

5. If you see an item from, let's say, DKNY, that is non-superstar but completely overpriced, think if you really need the dress. Are you buying it because you like it, or just for the sake of having a DKNY item? If you chose the second option, save your money for something else you really like. (Generally, Stardoll releases this items to make non-superstars buy the item without thinking about it)

6. Just because you see something that is cheap, doesn't mean you have to buy it. Sometimes, cheap is expensive in the long run: those $1 Basics flats are a bargain, but will you ever wear them?

7. If you really like an outfit you've seen on a user, try to find it for a cheaper price - the StarPlaza has a lot of similar clothing!

8. Do not waste money on some stuff from the Suite Shop - you can create a spare account and send it as a gift to your main account!

8.1 Check our post on spare accounts coming soon!

9. Avoid stores like Candie's or Abbey Dawn which, despite being non-Superstar, are very expensive! There are similar items on stores such as Pretty in Pink, Evil Panda, Folk and Fallen Angel! Also, Abbey Dawn and Mudd's jeans are far too expensive - for nice jeans, try the Stardoll Store.

10. The best bargain stores in the StarPlaza are:

- Basics: just like the name, they have basics in every color, and everything costs no more than $5.

- Stardoll Store: they have a lot of clothes for a reasonable price, and every Stardoll user's bound to find something they like there. They also have great $2 and $1 accesories, and jeans in every color!

This is it! I hope this post helped you save stardollars! And read above Stardollar tips for Superstars!

How to: Clubs

So, you've created a club and want tips on how to make it popular? We've got you covered! Read the tips below and your club is set for success.

Your Club's Name

Tip #1: Try to make an easy club name. For example, if you're making a club about Demi Lovato, AVOID naming it like this: .demi..lovato..., DeMirOcKS, demyilovahto. It's too confusing, and if you misspell Demi's name and have other gramatical mistakes, people won't want to join.

Tip #2: If the name you want is already taking, try adding numbers, uppercase letters (in a neat way!) underscores, dots, spaces, or extra letters or words. For example: the club name DemiLovato is taken. Then, try:

- Demi Lovato

- DEMILovato

- Demi.Lovato

- DemiLovato2

- DemiiLovatoo

- DemiLovatoRocks

- Demi_Lovato

and so on...

Avoid misspellings on a club's name, it just looks messy.

Tip #3: Play with words and numbers. For example:

- the name Tokio Hotel can be T0ki0 H0tel (the zero replaces the letter "o").

- The word "rocks" can be written as "rox"

- "Love" can be written as "Luv"

- "Girls" can be written as "Gals"

- "Boys" can be written as "Boyz"

Tip#3: If possible, try finding an unique name. If there are more than 50 clubs with a similar name: DemiLovatoRocks, try naming your club DemiLovatoRox or ILoveDemiLovato, which has a similar meaning. You can always find synonims at urbandictionary.com (go there if you're over 13 or if you have your parent's permission!)

Your Club's Category

Tip #1: Make sure your club is under the right category. If you have a club about, let's say, Paris Hilton, don't put it under the Animal Friends category! Try putting it into Celebs or What's hot and what's not. The following categories should be for:

- Celebs / Media: put it if you have a club about celebrities, gossip, or something celebrity-related such as TV Shows/Channels or Books.

- Looks: put it if you have a club about fashion, celebrity fashion, magazines, beauty, or style.

- What's hot and What's not: the most used category, I think it works with anything related to gossip, fashion, celebrities, Hollywood, TV, movies, music, etc. If you have a club that talks about a lot of stuff, this category is the best.

- Animal Friends: use it if your club is about animals, pets, animal rights (PETA, for example), fur on fashion, etc.

- I think... / My philosophy / Hearts and Tears: these three categories are better for clubs which are about helping others with their problems (i.e AskPaulinaGirls), personal opinions, etc.

- Other: self-explanatory.

Your Club's Picture

Tip #1: Follow Stardoll's picture guidelines: no gif pictures (moving pictures), no pictures showing violence, no pictures of yourself or people you know.

Tip#2: choose a picture that relates to your club. For example: if you have a Twilight club, put a Twilight or Edward Cullen picture, not a picture of a TV. If you change your picture afterwards, Stardoll will take a long while to approve it, so make sure you're choosing the picture you want!

Your Club's Presentation:

Tip#1: Your presentation is the one of the most important things in your club. Write about what your club is about, if you have any contests, the club's rules, the club's managers, etc. Make your presentation neat and easy to read: have up to 3 colors in it, and medium-sized letters.

Your Disscussion Forum & Top-Spot Topics:

Tip#1: Make your first top spot topic welcoming all new members into your club. Type some rules, but be nice!

Tip #2: Delete all the chain or spam topics everytime you spot one in your club's discussions. If less people can see spam, less people will spread spam.

Tip #3: Ban people that are violent or writing too much spam or innapropiate stuff.

How to make people join your club:

Tip #1: If you are superstar, broadcast daily about your club with your Play & Earn money!

Tip #2: If you are not superstar, talk about your friends about your club with a nice, polite and friendly letter like the following:

"Hey!

What's up?

I have a new club, [insert your club's name here[ and I'd love if you joined it! I'll join your clubs too!

Thanks!

xx, [insert your name here["

Avoid the following:

" I HAVE A NEW CLUB!!!!!!!!!! JOIN IT NOW!!! PLZZZZZZ!". It's just annoying!

Tip #2: Make contests about which member can join more people to the club, and offer a nice prize (becoming a manager, gifts, etc). Post a Top Spot Topic like this:

"Hey! We're having a contest! The member who invites the most people into the club will receive [prize here[. Make a topic with your name and "invited" (ie soovintage invited...) so the people who you invited can write that you invited. No fake accounts please!"

Slowly, your club will gain popularity.

Remember....

... to update your club and make it active! People will start leaving if you don't!

... always be nice to your club's members.

... be 100% that you want to create your club. If you delete a club, you'll need to wait 7 days (for superstars) and 30 days (for non superstars) to make another one!

More Info:

http://www.stardoll.com/en/help/section.php?sectionId=19

The end! I hope this post helped!

How to have Great StarBazaar Sales

Do you want to get rid of items or clothes that are cluttering your suite? Or maybe you want to get extra Stardollars? Or just sell stuff that you don't really use anymore?

That's when Starbazaar comes in handy - you get rid of stuff you don't want, you get extra money and somebody else gets a cute top or a nice chair. However, it's not that easy to get great StarBazaar sales, so, how can you have a good one? Follow this steps and you're on the road to more Stardollars and a neaty suite!

1. Go to your StarBazaar page. See what you don't need or don't use anymore, or what do you think is worth selling. Write everything down on Word or a piece of paper.

2. Now, go to the StarPlaza's Starbazaar page. With the search function, find the items you want to sell and see what the normal selling price is. Try to sell that item at the same price it is normally sold at the StarBazaar, or even lower! (everybody loves a bargain, trust me!)

3. Now, go back to your StarBazaar and sell your items with the price you think it's appropiate.

4. Now, advertise your sale!

- On your presentation, write "Sale!" in red. Do not make it too flashy, though.

- Try to show some sale items in your Suite, or maybe wear them! Try to make a nice, stylish outfit, not throwing randomly all your sale items together. If you have a nice outfit with your sale clothes, people will see that the items you're selling are wearable and worth the money.

- With your $5 from Play&Earn, broadcast advertising your sale! Try to broadcast when there's a lot of people at Stardoll. If on the broadcast page there's a big queue of broadcasts, it means that a lot of people are logged on Stardoll.

- Send your friends dollmails about your sale. Write polite messages, not overannoyingly ones:

Polite Advertising Message:

"Hi! How are you? We haven't spoken in a long time!

Anyways, I have a sale! I'm selling __________, ____________, __________ for a cheap price and it'd be really nice if you could buy something. Thanks!

xx, [your username]!

Annoying Advertising Message:

"SALE!!!! SALE!!!!! DKNY RARES CUTE STUFF FOR CHEEEAP!!! BUY BEFORE ITS GONE!!!"

That's it! Good luck with your sale! Here are some more tips:

Tip #1: Always try to sell at cheap prices. Everyone loves a bargain, and everyone hates when something is overpriced!

Tip #2: Sometimes leaving nice messages in random guestbooks help:

"Hey, I love your outfit/medoll/suite! You're so stylish!

By the way, I have a sale! It has stylish and trendy stuff for cheap prices! I'd love if you checked it out! Thanks!"

Tip #3: Don't try to sell items you really like... I once sold my November 2006 HotBuys Ugg Boots for.. $21! I was crazy!

Hope this helps!

How to Block Stardoll Ads

Today, Stardoll is full with advertising everywhere: at the start page, at your friends list, at the dolls & games section, etc.

I really dislike this, since some ads are inappropriate for young children, some might infest your computer with malware, or some might ask you for personal information (remember, never reveal personal info!). So, how to avoid this ads?

There are different ways to do so, and it depends of the browser you have. Here we'll find a solution for 3 kinds of browsers: Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

Internet Explorer: to avoid ads on this browser, you don't need to download anything: simply browse with the InPrivate Filter, which can be enabled by pressing CTRL(or Control)+SHIFT+F. To read more about the InPrivate Filter, click here.

Mozilla Firefox: to block ads here, you'll need to install a Firefox Add-on called AdBlock Plus. Don't worry: it doesn't have any virus and it's reccomended by the Firefox team. Download it clicking here.

Google Chrome: you will need to install Chrome Extensions to avoid ads. I reccomend AdThwart and AdBlock, they're the most used and most popular Ad Blocking Extensions. Download AdThwart clicking here and AdBlock clicking here. Again, they're safe.

Using another browser? Comment telling us and we'll find an Ad-Blocking feature for it!

How to Avoid Hackers, part I

Avoiding hackers might seem easy but it's not. In Stardoll, there are thousands of girls being hacked daily, because they fall into hackers and scammer's traps. Today, there are lots of tools hackers can use; from key loggers to fake proxies to fake offers. We'll cover them all in different posts.

Today we are seeing the easiest and most used hacking form, the fake offers. I can't remember how many times I've seen"Free DKNY", "Free Miley Cyrus Clothes", "Free Stardollars!" and "Free makeovers" in presentations, broadcasts or comments.

This offers are never true! Do not trust them and anyone who says it's true! If you think they might be true, create a fake account and give the user your password to see if it works. If you cannot acces your account later (you've been hacked) or if it doesn't, well, now you know.

Keep tuned for more!

How To: Create a Neat Presentation

A user presentation is a way of expressing yourself and telling everybody who you are and what are your interests. Interesting presentations are nice to read, and let's face it, nobody likes those spammy, one-hundred-colors presentation. Does anybody really want to read a story about true love? Or a tree drawing? No, they do not.

So, how to create a good, neat presentation? Follow these steps:

1. Choose no more than 3 colors, which compliment each other and are easy to read.

2. Choose no more than two fonts and only one size. Different sizes and lots of fonts make the presentation messy and chaotic.

3. First, introduce yourself, your hobbies, and interests. Or, you can start with a quote which you feel identified with.

4. Want to show some of your outfits or saved dolls? Remember, more than 3 dolls is just too much.

5. Have a wishlist? You can create it on Paint and then add it to an image hosting system like TinyPic. Then, paste the link on your presentation!

6. Have a blog? Don't spam your entire presentation with it, you will look desperate. Just mention it once or twice.

7. You can divide your presentation in different subjects: "About Me", "Interests", "Favorite Things", "My Outfits", "My Wishlist", etc.

Remember: your goal is a clean, neat presentation! Add some color to it, and you're done! And please avoid:

1. Boring quotes EVERY girl has in their presentation. How many times have you seen "Fashion fades, but style is eternal"? Overdone!

2. Drawings, too much icons, etc.

3. Those boring stories about "girls are like apples in a tree" or "my friends and I aren't like barbie", "I have an Obsessive Cullen Disorder" etc. etc.

4. As said before, too much color, different font sizes etc.

5. Spam. Everybody simply HATES those huge "Sale!", "Vote me CoverGirl!", "Visit My Blog!" stuff.

I hope this helped!

Proxies

Lately, to get free stuff and access to hidden pages or items on Stardoll, a proxy is needed. But... what is a proxy? Is it safe? Read more...

Question: What is a Proxy?

Answer: A proxy is a server in which a client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service (such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource) available from a different server. The proxy server will forward your request, but under its own IP adress. For example, if a proxy is located in Australia, it has an Australian IP. If you use this Australian server, you will browse websites with an Australian IP.

There are two kinds of proxies: manual proxies and web site proxies.

Q: Why do I need to use a proxy?

A: Lately, Stardoll has been giving free stuff only to specific countries or regions, which have their own IP adress. To get the free stuff, you’ll need a specific IP, and you can get it with a proxy.

Q: Where can I find a website proxy?

A: Just google “free proxy + x”, in which x is a specific country. For example: “free proxy + France”, “free proxy + Brazil”. On Club Free Stuff you can find some proxies at the sidebar.

Q: Is a proxy safe?

A: Yes and no. Sometimes, website proxies aren’t safe for your computer and might damage it, so we suggest having an anti-virus such as Norton or McAfee installed before going into web proxies. We cannot guarantee that the proxies we provide you are 100% safe. BUT, Manual Proxies are safe.

Q: How can I use a Manual Proxy?

A: - If you’re using Internet Explorer, go to Tools/Internet Options/Connections/LAN Settings, then check the box that says Use A Proxy Server for your LAN. Then, write the manual proxy’s IP and port.

- For Google Chrome, click on the Tool Button, then click Options, then Under The Hood, then click on “Change your Proxy Settings”. Then click “LAN Settings”, and then check the box that says Use A Proxy Server for your LAN. Then, write the manual proxy’s IP and port.

- For Mozilla Firefox, click on Tools/Options/Advanced, then click on “Settings”. Click on the Manual Proxy Configuration button, and then write the IP and Port for the manual proxy under http Proxy.

Q: Are there any differences between a Manual Proxy and a Web Proxy?

A: Yes. Most times, Web Proxies do not play Flash and have lots of advertisings.

That's all for now. If you have any questions, just comment!