The Edit Button is your key to making changes.

Members of your Room are listed on the left side of the dustjacket.

The first Feature you should become familiar with on your Lobby is the edit button located on the right hand side of your room's Lobby as you can see here on the screen shot. This button will open your imagination, to change your Lobby's appearance, as well as admit members and make changes to the Room guide.

Upon selecting the edit key on the Lobby, you will find the Room Editor with the options, you as the Head Hedonist have to set and create for your Room or Lounge. The options personalize the Lobby and its Guide to your specifications. The Options available are explained in further detail below.

This is the tool to use, when you desire to replace your Lobby image. Simply browse for your image and hit the upload button. Remember size and resolution will determine download time for your members. The Image should capture the imagination and theme of your room.

If you have a Closed Room, or a Lounge, you will need to check daily to see if anyone has applied to your Room. (As an assist, a flag should show up in your Portal next to that Room/Lounge's name, so to remind you to go check.) As the screenshot above shows, when a person has applied, you will see their Persona name, the Reason they have applied, and the Dispensation you will be taking. If you wish to wait to process their application, you simply leave it as No Action. If you wish to admit them to your Room, you will hit accept and go. This will send out an acceptance letter to their home, and will add the persona to your Room's member list. If for some reason you decide to decline the person to the Room, simply choose Decline and go. Sometime, a persona will apply twice. You may accept the person once and decline them for their second application. This will not affect their first acceptance. Remember most people do not like to wait on applications, so it is best to process them as quickly as possible.

Once at least one person is set up in a Room as a Head Hedonist, they can add (or delete) others. Use this tool with care. Don't delete anyone without consulting with them (if there's a dispute, the staff will assist you in resolving this), or if it appears that they've vanished without so much as a vapor trail or explanation for several months. If adding a new Head Hedonist, consult with all other current Head Hedonists for your Room. Simply click on the add or remove option, and select the Room Member name you wish to add or remove.

Again, use this feature sparingly.

One of the great features at Panerotica is the ability to create your own erotic role play environment and get other people involved. It's not, however, all smooth sailing. Many Rooms founder and never get that tingly motion in the ocean. While it's never possible to guarantee a successful Room, there are things that you can do that will maximize its chances of success. This article will, hopefully, supply you with some advice and guidelines so that when you decide to take the step of creating a new Room here at Panerotica it will have every chance of success.

Preparation
First do your research. You have an idea for an interesting erotic Room, either original, historical, or fantastical. Have a good look around the other Rooms. Peek in the different genres. See if there is a similar idea already on the site. If there is and the Room is failing or just quietly ticking along you might want to consider jumping in and writing in that one instead of creating a whole new one. If there is a very popular Room on that theme then maybe you don't want to create something that will compete. Or, you may wish to add a twist, so that it will appeal to a different sexual genre and focus.

Second is to give your Room idea body. Nebulous rambling Room ideas often fail because there is too much room and too little guidance. People get lost and never feel comfortable jumping in. Newbies never get comfortable enough to find their feet. Small tight Room ideas are too rigid. People don't have room for their own creativity. An example of a rambling (and rigid) Room could be a multigenerational erotic saga set over the period of two or three centuries, with a plan to move the Room from one century to the next... eventually. It seems there is a plot to follow but the scope is too large and people are supposed to perform certain actions over the course of the Room and others have to wait before they can even start posting. You want all your members to be able to play together and be able to be flexible about the events they narrate. Pick a concept in an exotic geographic locale, or during an exciting era and start there. If you choose a historical venue, you'll probably be playing loosely with the history, so one possibility is that if you want to write about Queen Victoria (where there is tons of facts) then perhaps set the tale amongst the servants of her household. They can show her life through their eyes and yet have plenty of room to make up their own lives and loves. Besides, we all know how much erotic play the servants might be having on the side. If you are doing a historical erotica, allow yourself to be guided by the historical flavor of the period, but give yourself room to diverge and indulge in the personal lives of your personae.

You've had your Room application accepted and now you have the boards and Lobby. Set up those boards first, before getting into the actual action. Be sure to give plenty of guidance to your new hedonists in your Lobby. Give the tone and feeling you want for the Room to have right away. People like guidance as long as it's not too rigid. Tone is set by the language you choose to use and the images you choose. Boards should have clear topic titles and descriptions. There should be places to socialize, for the Room to be administrated, for research and story discussion, and for the Room posts themselves. Rooms at Panerotica are given three bulletin boards. The Story boards are for the main erotic play and fiction posts. The Social boards are often used for social clubs, providing background info and research for your erotic stories, as well as showcasing erotic writings. The Members Only boards (which are only readable by members of the Room and site admin) can be used for plot discussion and administration as well as more personal conversations; anything you would rather was just available to your members. Make sure you put up topics where your new members feel they can ask questions and get help. Welcome new members and see that they know who you are as a Head Hedonist. Once your administrative and social topics are up, it's a good idea for the Head Hedonists to plow right in with some postings on the boards. Seed the Room with the sexual atmosphere you wish to engender.

Set the story. Give a beginning that others can follow. Don't be discouraged if the Head Hedonists are the only ones posting initially in the Rooms. People are a little nervous at first. Members are thin on the ground. Keep posting. Pep up the erotic content. Tend to your Room a bit every day. That way people will grow more comfortable. New members will be attracted by what they read. Time will yield more members if you have a fun plot and lively postings. People will begin to find writing partners.

Foster an atmosphere of creativity. Don't just dismiss ideas presented on the boards because they don't fit with your initial vision. For a Room to become successful and grow it must be an organic entity with input from all its writers. Stifle their creativity and they will leave to find more fertile fields. If the Room takes off at a gallop then slows down, don't despair - it's natural. There was an initial burst of enthusiasm and now people are settling in. Don't stop tending your Room, it is like a garden. Keep up posting yourself. For your Room to stay alive it must be seen on the Daily Index regularly. A good idea is to think of a new twist in the plot. Post to the boards announcing something fun is happening, or leave your members messages inviting them to get involved. Try to think of plots that everyone can partake in. Not every storyline should need to involve all personas, but togetherness will create a stronger Room, one that will stand the test of time.

In a Internet Community people come and go. It's a fact of life. Sometimes people will be very active for a while and then their life will change and they'll not sign on anymore. This might leave dangling plot lines. Be prepared to move on or around such obstacles. It's natural to give people a bit of time to return, but let everyone in your Room know that if people disappear for long periods of time the story can't stop and wait for them. Be sure to use courtesy when moving around a suddenly still persona. Don't kill them off without their author's permission. Just work your way around them (and then if they return, say after an illness or sudden business trip they can get back into the story). Fast forward a little in time or find another persona to write with. It might mean changing some details of the plot. Be prepared to be flexible.

Make sure, of course, that you as a head hedonist, continue to enjoy yourself along the way. Your enthusiasm will be contagious to others, and will help you through the inevitable down patches that come with any enterprise. Besides, it's about sex, it's supposed to be fun, or you aren't doing it right!

Disputes will arise. That's human nature. Breathe. Maintain an even keel and even when you know you're right, keep calm and consider your member's words. Watch how you respond in posts. Reread what you write before hitting the post button. Try and read it as if you were someone else. How does it sound? Maybe you are being inflammatory, albeit unintentionally? You might just feel passionately but in posting there are no facial expressions and hand gestures to clue in your audience as to your tone. When you read a post or message from a member that is heated, just remember how frustrating it is to communicate without the benefit of facial expressions. Try and put yourself in their place. Ask yourself if maybe they have a point. If you can keep your head then most arguments can be resolved. If necessary request that a site Bouncer help you mediate a problem. Don't let a problem fester or get out of hand until everyone is screaming on the boards and feelings are hurt all around.

Sexuality is a highly charged issue. Even on a site where people will be comfortable giving free reign into their sexual fantasies, and living in erotic cyber interactions with other people, comfort zone issues are bound to appear. If a writer indicates an uncomfortableness with a direction her or his co-writer is taking a scenario, listen and work with the writer. Most personas don't want to be killed off in the course of a story, nor might they want certain sexual liberties taken without permission. Don't assume that just because a persona indulged in, say, strong BDSM with one individual, that she will just simply be available for the next man in line. Encourage your members to play considerately with each other, and within the levels appropriate for the genre and Room they are in. Consensual is the keyword. This provides safe space for all to indulge their dreams.

You have created it, how to get them to cum? er, come?

Well, first they have to know it exists. Tell them about it in the Panerotica Hub; post reminders on the Community Boards. You may have to be diligent. Items that show up frequently in the Daily Index tend to get read, and the Community Boards postings are hard to miss. Without being a burden, talk up your friends about your Room or Lounge, sociably. Friends will know friends, and a slow but persistent effort will pay out. You can also IM people who are online about your Room or Lounge, but an overdose of this can wear itself out -- use this ability with discretion.

You are, of course, welcome to spread the word far and wide beyond Panerotica about your Room or Lounge. May your imagination not be a limit!

As you can see creating and maintaining a successful erotic Room is no little thing! You will find, however, with a little effort and some good writers by your side that the experience is very rewarding in many ways. You will make friends, learn new skills, and have fun using your own creativity with others to create original stories and exciting sexual experiences.