Hollyoaks Wiki
Advertisement
Hollyoaks Wiki
Screenshot of the mobile version of Discord — a snippet of conversation in a Hollyoaks discussion channel.

A sample of what to expect in a Discord chat on a mobile device.

The Hollyoaks Wiki Discord was created on 31st May 2020 as a place for Hollyoaks fans and Wiki users to chat together in real-time. It is open to anybody who wishes to join, whether you use the Wiki or not. The Discord server is run by Wiki staff and is not endorsed in any way by Hollyoaks, Lime Pictures, Channel 4, E4 or All3Media.

The Discord administrators are IAreSam, danielr and Ast153 — please feel free to drop us a message with any queries or concerns.

There may occasionally be mature or triggering discussion on the server. We ask that you are mindful of your own needs if this is something you may find difficult, as there is only so much we can moderate to protect users.

If you're already a Discord user or feel confident enough to jump in, click here to invite yourself.

What Is Discord?[]

Discord is a community chat platform, providing similar functionality to group chats (like on social media) but with additional features. It can be accessed on multiple devices such as smartphone, tablet, website and computer. Each community is known as a server (shown in the server list on the left edge of your screen). When you accept an invite to a server, you become a member of its community.

Within the server, there are different channels, preceded with a # symbol – these help to group the specific discussion topics. For instance, in a Sci-Fi Movies server, you could have a #star-wars channel and a #blade-runner channel. There are also specific channels for voice chat and video streaming, preceded by a loudspeaker symbol. You can flip between each channel freely from the channel list (generally on the left of your screen, next to the server list), and take part in different discussions in more than one simultaneously. Some channels are used purely for organising information or sharing links of interest, and might not let you send a message to them.

There is also a user list (generally on the right of your screen), which shows who is online currently. It will indicate if somebody is using Discord on a smartphone with a small phone icon. In this list you may notice something called bots; these aren’t real people, they are basically just computer programs that run automated tasks such as announcing someone’s arrival in the chat, running trivia, setting people’s preferences, removing misbehaving people, etc.

When you’ve found a channel that you would like to chat in, you can type your message in the box at the bottom. Once you’ve sent your message you can hover over it to see more options, such as the pencil icon to edit what you’ve said or click the icon to show further options such as delete. Using the same hover menu over somebody else’s message allows you to react to it with emoji, or to reply — which is useful if there is a lot of discussion going on and you need people to know which comment you are responding to.

You can choose to mute certain channels — perhaps if you have no interest in the content. You can also change your notification preferences in the Discord app so that you’re either notified for every message, just messages where you are mentioned or for nothing at all. Discord also allows you to direct message people if you wanted to have a private discussion.

Discord has a feature called roles, which are tags that are added to your profile. Sometimes they are purely cosmetic, such as to show your support for a particular cause, but they can also be used to enable additional features and enhance your experience – for example, someone with a Gold Star role assigned could have exclusive access to a #gold-star channel, or someone with a No Spoilers role assigned might have #spoilers completely hidden from their view. You can use the bots (mentioned earlier) to automatically give yourself certain roles, using the react emoji buttons on certain messages posted by the bots. Usually, any of these preference-setting posts will be kept together in a specific channel.

There are detailed guides (with helpful images) out there, although some people find the best way of learning is to jump straight in.

Rules and Guidelines[]

While we didn't want to lay down a long list of authoritarian rules, it has become clear that in order to better serve the entire community, we need to be more transparent about what we deem acceptable or unacceptable. Below is a list of guidelines to help maintain a positive, pleasant and mature vibe on the server:

1) Be respectful.
Discuss differences politely without conflict. Trolling and harassment are prohibited. Respect others' choices to block users without questioning them.

2) Stay on topic.
Use the appropriate channels for discussions. If conversations naturally shift topics, it's okay, but avoid starting irrelevant discussions in the wrong channel.

3) Use spoiler channels.
Post spoilers only in designated spoiler areas or use spoiler tags to protect others from unwanted reveals.

4) Avoid interruptions.
Don’t start new topics in ongoing conversations to prevent overwhelming the channel.

5) Be mindful of sensitive topics.
Use content warnings for potentially distressing material and limit controversial subjects like politics and religion.

6) Avoid flooding.
Use images and GIFs in moderation to keep the chat readable, especially for mobile users.

7) No spam or self-promotion.
Get approval from administrators before posting self-promotion. Regular contributors are more likely to be approved.

8) Consistent identity.
Stick to one user identity for familiarity and recognition in the community. You can specify an identity just for this server.

9) No unsolicited DMs.
Ask for permission before sending direct messages or friend requests. Unsolicited contact can lead to removal from the server.

Rules and guidelines are subject to change with any future developments.

Channel Breakdown[]

We try to keep the amount of channels we have as minimal as possible — too many can be very overwhelming for somebody just joining. We group the channels into four categories — Information, Chat, Role-Play and Extras.

Information[]

  • #welcome — For most people this will be where they land when they first join. It contains all the information you need to know (much of which is already on this page).
  • #preferences — This channel allows you to control your experience. You can mark your spoiler preference (and colour your name accordingly), indicate which country you live in, what kind of viewer you are, what your "ships" are, what your favourite era of the show is and unlock the role-play section (which is hidden from view by default).
  • #commands — This channel exists as a quick reference for any commands you may find useful, for instance the !remember-birthday command which lets one of our bots announce when it's your birthday.

Chat[]

The chat channels are the most active, for obvious reasons. Hollyoaks-related chat is split into sections to keep spoilers at bay, and Wiki discussion should be kept to the Wiki channels. Naturally, discussion in any of the chat channels can easily diverge into off-topic territory; this is perfectly acceptable and nobody will police this unless it starts to interfere with the flow of on-topic discussion. We're not monsters!

  • #oaks-general — General Hollyoaks discussion, particularly the past i.e. not episodes airing in the past few days. Please do not discuss topics that have not aired on E4 — although you can use ||spoiler tags|| for quick mentions to avoid switching channel needlessly.
  • #oaks-spoilersHollyoaks discussion where anything goes spoiler-wise. You have been warned! If it has yet to air on E4, it belongs in here. You don't have to talk only about spoilers in here — this is just a discussion room where spoilers are acceptable.
  • #episode-discussion — Using Discord's forums feature, each episode has its own numbered and dated thread within this channel so it's always clear which episode you're talking about. Use these for live commentary, sharing your thoughts after watching or discussion relating to that episode in particular. Useful for grouping the discussion regardless of which pace you watch at. Spoiler-wise, it's assumed that you have watched the episode before opening the thread, so please be cautious. There are to be no spoilers beyond the episode in question.
  • #off-topic — If you wanted to chat with other Hollyoaks fans about unrelated topics, you can do it here.
  • #creative — Anything creative can be shared here. Collages, photo manipulations, music videos, etc. It does not need to be Hollyoaks-related.
  • #wiki-general — General discussion linked specifically to the Hollyoaks Wiki.
  • #wiki-error-reporting — If you've noticed a mistake on Hollyoaks Wiki (including spelling/grammar), you are welcome to try and fix it yourself. If you are not sure about doing that, please paste a link here with a brief description of the mistake and we'll look into it as soon as possible. Any help is most welcome as the Wiki is a community project.
  • #bot-commands — If you want to use any of the commands from #commands but don't want it to interfere with the flow of discussion, you can use them in here. This is particular useful when you need to quickly look-up information about something, for instance by typing !wiki Tony Hutchinson.
  • Hollyoaks FM — Voice chat. This channel is unmoderated; administrators can not be responsible for anything that takes place here.

Extras[]

You can't type in these channels — they are mostly to provide extra information.

  • #social-media-posts — Posts from the official Hollyoaks Twitter and YouTube pages will automagically post here.
  • #scheduling — Upcoming schedules and changes you might want to be aware of.
  • #polls — Have your say on various topics by voting with the reactions. There could be spoilers and speculation, you’ve been warned.

Worth Mentioning[]

Spoiler Prevention Tactics[]

In #preferences you can set your spoiler preference and it will colour your name appropriately (inspired by a traffic light) — red if you are happy to hear any spoilers, orange if you watch at E4-pace, and green if you don’t want to know anything beyond what Channel 4 has aired. Please try to respect the spoiler preference of others, and don't assume that everybody wants to hear spoilers.

Spoiler Tags[]

Discord has a cool feature where you can block out a word or line of text so that people can choose to click it if they want to see the text behind it. This is useful for mentioning spoilers in a non-spoiler channel, where it isn’t always practical to switch to a spoiler channel for the sake of one tiny detail. You can use this feature by typing two pipe (or vertical bar) characters immediately before and after the text that you wish to cover — e.g. ||spoiler text here||. On many QWERTY keyboards this pipe character shares a key with the backslash, to the left of Z — you can press it whilst holding Shift. On a phone keyboard it will most likely be in the special characters section.

Activity Roles[]

We sometimes use the roles feature for vanity, but we also use it to separate lurkers and chatters in the online list, so it’s easier to identify who might be around that is likely to join the conversation. This can be seen in the online users list. When everybody first joins they are given the role of Chester Residents, but once they’ve typed a handful of messages they become Hollyoaks Residents. Naturally, some people will always prefer to lurk and never want to participate in the chat, so this just lets you see who is around that may be more likely to join the discussion.

How Do I Join?[]

Step 1 – Install Discord[]

Discord is available on many platforms and you can switch between them at will. Follow this link to find download links for PC, iOS, Android, Linux or Mac. Once you’ve downloaded the software/app, install it.

Step 2 – Create a Discord account[]

Once you’ve installed Discord, open it. Follow the instructions to create an account with the service. You may be required to verify your account with a telephone number — this is to prevent spammers.

Step 3 – Click to join[]

Our invite link is here (or https://discord.gg/vJYWf8DJnS) — click this on the same device that you have installed the software on and you should be asked to open it in Discord.

Step 4 – Welcome[]

You should be with us now! Have a quick read of the welcome channel, then come and say hi in one of the chat channels!

Thank you so much for joining us.

Advertisement