Depends on the author and what kind of help they want. A beta-reader in general is another set of eyes that look over your fic for mistakes, plot-holes, punctuations issues, stuff like that and makes recommendations as to changes, although it should be in discussion with the author before changes are made.

It's kind of like an editor or proof-reader but not really.

Betaing will depend on what an author needs/wants and what the beta is prepared to do. I've read about some betas being expected to do more than base editing, from entire reworks of fanfiction, which is more like co-writing or co-authoring than beta/beta-reading.

I've beta-read/betaed a handful of times - that usually revolved around proofing and editing, with minor changes to sentence structure to cut out repetition of ideas, excessive wordiness, and run-on sentences. Spelling's been fine, as has punctuation.

Never encountered more complex needs, other than basics.

No idea on the second question. And all I can think of is Discord from MLP. Which is probably not what you meant.

~ Pyre

I was wondering about that, since i've been reading a lot of fics where it's said that they haven't been beta readed/have no beta.

And
>Dokuga discord channel? Exists?

Thanks for your help!

Excellent advice, Emiko, and thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I had no idea what Discord was or its capabilities, so I'm sure I learned at least as much as others on the site.

YOU ROCK!!

~~Wiccan~~

Discord is a voice chat program similar to Skype, yet more stable (and some say more user friendly). It is opensource, free to use, and largely populated by gamers. I use it myself for my World of Warcraft guild.

What Kiritsune is asking is if a dedicated Dokuga server has been created and exists. Servers are, metaphorically, rooms where members who have installed and registered on Discord could come together to talk/chat about anything Dokuga. Basically, an expanded voice-capable version of our Dokuga chat room.

As of the moment, no such server exists.The difficulty I see is that we consist of a wide overlap of different generations of people. As such, it is very important for us that we adhere to our standards of making Dokuga a comfortable place for all users. Having a server on Discord would mean that moderators would be recommended to make sure members play by the rules and possibly 24/7. However, for many of us, that's just time we do not have no matter how great the idea would be. But, for those individuals that would like to chat about fanfiction, one could set up a personal Discord server and use it - i.e. discussing beta corrections, discussing favorite stories, etc. This would exist apart from Dokuga, yes, but is still a program that has its uses.

That being said, I would be remiss if I didn't point out the obvious. The web is a wide, wide world. As with all things, please use commonsense and caution. NEVER give out personal information that could lead to endangering yourself, NEVER agree to meet in person unless it is someone you absolutely trust (and do it with a group of friends and in a public, populated place), and if someone within the Dokuga community is harassing, bullying, or making you feel uncomfortable, speak up! Let someone know. Let one of our mods/admins know, if it's within our community of members. But please know that since Dokuga is not associated with Discord, all we can do is make sure the person does not harass you here. We have no ability to moderate in any other space, so it is at your own risk, so if you are going to use Discord, please do it safely.

As an addition, Dokuga doesn't have its own Discord server, but a SessKag discord has been advertised on here before. So you could check that out, too.

My Discord is a fan-run thing that at times gets activity and then doesn't. But it does still exist, so feel free to stop by and chat.