--- name: discord_server_growth description: Grow a Discord server on purpose: design a lean channel layout, build a welcome ritual that turns joins into members, set a repeatable event cadence, and recruit moderators from your power users. Triggers on "grow my Discord", "Discord server setup", "Discord onboarding", "Discord events", "finding Discord mods". --- # Discord Server Growth ## Purpose Grow a Discord server deliberately instead of by luck. Four levers, in this order: structure (channels so small they feel alive), onboarding (first-24-hour ritual), rhythm (events on a fixed cadence), and mods (recruited from your own power users). Each lever has a concrete starting config and a signal for when to level up. ## Workflow ### 1. Structure the server lean Start with the fewest channels the purpose needs, usually 4 to 8 at launch. Every extra channel divides your early activity into invisible drips; empty channels read as abandonment. Never launch more than 12 to 18 channels. Baseline layout (see `references/channel-templates.md` for variants): - START HERE: `#rules-and-info` (read-only), `#announcements` (Announcement channel type so members can follow it into their own servers) - COMMUNITY: `#general` (the one live room), `#intros` (with a pinned 3-field prompt, not "introduce yourself"), `#help` (one obvious place to ask questions; consider the Forum channel type) - LIVE: one voice channel, named for the recurring event - ADMIN (private): `#mod-log` (AutoMod alerts + audit trail) Rules: enable Community, set Verification to Medium (verified email plus a few minutes on the server before talking), turn on AutoMod preset rules plus mention-spam cap, require 2FA for moderator actions, strip risky permissions from @everyone. Details in `references/safety-stack.md`. Split a channel only when it is demonstrably overflowing. Merge anything that has been dead a month. ### 2. Build the welcome ritual Onboarding is an activation funnel, not a form. The goal: every new member takes one meaningful action in their first 24 hours. See `references/onboarding-rituals.md`. The funnel: 1. **Role-on-join:** new member picks an interest role (via Onboarding questions or a reaction-role picker). A smaller tailored room feels alive; the full firehose feels dead. 2. **Rules gate:** Membership Screening blocks talking until rules are acknowledged. Stops drive-by spam and forces a first deliberate click. 3. **Prompted intro:** pin a 3-field prompt in `#intros`: (1) what you're working on, (2) what you're stuck on, (3) one thing you can help others with. Staff reply to every intro in the first weeks. 4. **Point to help:** the welcome message names the one channel for "I need help." Time-to-first-response is a health metric; watch it. 5. **First action:** the welcome DM gives three concrete starter tasks (post intro, pick roles, reply to one thread). A new member who posts once in day one is far more likely to stay. ### 3. Set the event cadence Growth runs on rhythm, not one-offs. Run one layer reliably before adding the next, same time, same format: - **Weekly anchor:** one recurring event (game night, AMA, co-working session, office hours). Weekly events build the habit; same time every week. - **Daily pulse:** only if you have the activity: a lightweight daily thread or check-in. Never run a daily ritual to an empty room. - **Seasonal spikes:** monthly giveaway, tournament, or community milestone. Spikes bring lurkers back; the weekly anchor keeps them. Use Discord's native Scheduled Events for everything so members can browse and RSVP inside Discord. Publish the cadence contract in `#rules-and-info` ("game night Fridays 8pm ET") so a quiet week reads as "on schedule," not "dying." Detail in `references/event-cadence.md`. ### 4. Recruit mods from power users Never hire strangers first. The best mods are the members your community already trusts. See `references/mod-pipeline.md`. The pipeline: 1. **Watch:** note who answers questions, welcomes newcomers, and keeps tone civil for a couple of months. Don't recruit someone who asks for the job; watch for the ones doing it already. 2. **Trial helper role:** give promising members a visible "Helper" or "Champion" role (top few percent of active members). Light powers: greet newcomers, answer in `#help`. See how they handle being seen. 3. **Promote after 3+ months:** after consistent, helpful participation. Rough ratio: 1 mod per 50 to 100 active members. 4. **Written rules first:** before anyone gets mod powers, write the ban rubric (warn > timeout > kick > ban, what triggers each) and the raid runbook (who flips lockdown: slow-mode plus raise verification plus pause invites; who triages; where it is logged). Inconsistent bans destroy trust faster than the spam did. Qualities to select for: personable and approachable, level-headed and neutral, detail-oriented, committed for the long haul, team players. Power-hungry people make terrible mods. ## Output Contract When asked to grow or set up a server, deliver: 1. A channel list (name, type, purpose, read-only or not), 8 or fewer channels to start. 2. The welcome funnel: gate config, intro prompt text, welcome DM copy with three starter tasks. 3. An event calendar: the weekly anchor (day, time, format) plus which layer comes next. 4. The mod plan: current watch list criteria, trial role design, and the written ban rubric + raid runbook. 5. Three metrics to watch in Server Insights (unlocks at 500 members): weekly communicators, top channels by activity, join sources. Review monthly. ## Operating Rules 1. **Never ship an empty-looking server.** Fewer channels, seeded conversations, pinned start-here message. Credibility comes before marketing. 2. **Split channels on evidence, not optimism.** A channel earns its existence when an existing one overflows. Merge dead ones without sentiment. 3. **One greeter, one system.** Discord's built-in welcome message plus staff replies is enough. Two greeters produce the double-welcome bug and read as spammy. 4. **Consistency beats spectacle.** A weekly event that actually happens every week outperforms a monthly mega-event that slips. 5. **Write the moderation policy before the first ban.** The rubric and the runbook ship the day mods get powers, not after the first incident. 6. **Bots stay minimal.** One moderation bot at most until you have real volume. Every bot is noise until it is load-bearing. 7. **Never buy members or fake activity.** Real growth is momentum, visibility, retention; inflated counts poison the metrics and the trust. 8. **No em dashes in any output.** No "delve", "tapestry", "unlock", "game-changer", no "it's not X, it's Y" pivots, no rhetorical-question setups. Plain direct language, always.