Even if you know how to setup the basis of an application, and even though this is not a requirement--it's your best bet to just read through anyway because there are some important things in here you should note, even if they are opinions they are a collective opinion over years and years of study so you best heed them. :)

The Name
You would think something as simple as a name wouldn't be so monstrously important, but in fact it is the most important base to forming your character. So let's get some basics out of the way.

A lot of people tend to be on one side of the fence: either they can't seem to come up with a good name, or they come up with so many they cannot choose. The solution for the first problem is to use your brain, and use a few well-proven techniques in good name making that will get you remembered and recognized.

Coming from highly experienced administrators and well-seasoned character developers (meaning myself along with Ems, Kia, and any other staff on this site), we advise you not to use popular, well-known, or celebrity names. On the rare occasion sometimes a wolf named Pandora would be cool, it's not so cool when the whole Greek mythology is romping around a forum just because one person started what I call the Name Fad. One person gets it into their head a certain way of making a name is cool, and everyone follows. You've seen them, you've heard them, and you know all about what I mean.

We are not saying no to naming your character after a popular hero or character from a book or fairy tale, just as advice, saying it sometimes is better to come up with something on your own if the shoe fits better. Good characters are worth the extra effort.

There are plenty of possibilities of unique and creative name-making, but I won't delve into that here. There are a few helpful suggestions though for those that seem to piddle along in the name department, holding them back from releasing their creative intuitions upon the world. A very useful site (that I, personally, use quite a bit for name ideas) has an abundance of names, from every country and culture you can imagine:

http://www.behindthename.com/

I highly recommend this website for people who are having trouble finding names; there is an abundance of perfectly good, unpopular, but creative names littered all over this site, you just have to dig deep enough to find one.

Age of Time
Although most people wouldn't think too hard on the subject of age, I personally believe it's a very important tool in describing and defining the character you create. One year can make the difference between a thriving young adult and a hormonal, angsting teenager. It is in fact all a matter of preference, but its also good to actually put into consideration what would work best for your character and what would shape them better, rather than just slapping up the common "Young Adult" in the blank.

What I mean is--as much as we love a bunch of emo-esque, raging hormonal teenager characters angsting about in the forums, it's always nice to have a variety sometimes. An adult here or there, maybe an older gentleman, or a kind old lady with her weird cat, or heaven forbid a happy little child. Variety makes for interesting roleplay, there's more to wolf/human roleplay than making out, sexing each other up, and finding your true love guys. :| If that's all that sold on the shelves I'd be out of business in the novel-writing department, seeing as most of my story encompasses a ton of family angst, alcoholics, and war. But aside from my author-woes, just basically this--try and lay off the default instinct to make your wolf a young adult just to get some tail (read: rear)...or just because everyone else is doing it. It's a choice, not a fad.

The Sex Debate
Everyone has their own opinion about it, and I along with others have our own as well. (and no, we're not discussing the actual topic sex guys, please use your brain. Gender.) We're not forcing you to in any manner choose one or the other, but we will, however, state the facts and give you an idea of what would be a good choice.

Usually, I'd say forums tend to have too many females, because by default, let's face it--most of us are girls. I've only actually met no more than 5 in-real-life male roleplayers during my entire forum roleplaying career (which is well over eight years, by the way), and I say this because it's a common-known fact that usually if you are female, you will default to a female role as your character. Or rather, it use to be that way back in the day. It's lightened up quite a bit since then, and more and more roleplayers are warming up to the idea of playing the opposite gender.

Crosswind is a prime example of revolution in action. The first couple weeks we had nothing but male characters being made, with the exception of one, poor, lonely human girl who was sorely outnumbered by the high levels of testosterone. Now, we're not saying you can't pick a certain gender if there are a lot of them on the forum--no. We just kindly imply you consider going out of your comfort zone maybe, give it a little try and you might find you enjoy playing a gender you wouldn't normally play. However, if you are dead-set on playing with your "comfort zone" sex, that is completely fine by us also. We won't hate you for it. :) It is good to try and help keep a decent balance, because again I stress--variety is the key to a good and unique setting.

Personality Traits
I could ramble for an eternity and a year for different types of character arcs that make for a really good personality, but again--this is just a brief introduction to character making, so I won't turn your brain into hot goo on the pavement. But let's cut to the chase--how often do you recognize this as personality traits for a female character? (see below example)

   Name: Sparkles
   Age: Young Adult
   Gender: Female
   Personality: She is sweet, shy, kind, gentle, nice, and likes to help others.

So what's wrong with this profile? (besides the fact the personality description is horrendously short.) She has a unique name, and a personality, so what's so wrong with this picture? Well I'll tell you what's wrong--It's BLAND. I cannot tell you how many times I've seen this description over and over and over. I want you to think for a moment, and understand something--is any living creature, wolf or human or whatever else, ever so simply put? No they are not, because we tend to simplify personalities in our brain and only get 1/3 of what is truly there.

I'm not saying it's wrong to have a character who is nice to others, I'm saying she has no depth. No character is well-developed unless there is some depth there to grab, some dimension to their person and personality. A personality has many shells and layers to it, not just one! There is the side the outer world sees (strangers, passerbys, acquaintances), the side friends see, the side loved ones see (close friends, family, etc.), and then there's the side no one sees--that innermost secret place only the character knows about and can relish in, because it is their own. We do not act the same in front of teachers and parents as we would with our friends, now would we? Wolves are no different. Certain portions of our personality web are more exerted around certain people, you just have to grasp that concept and bring it to life in a fictional character.

I'm going to give you a real example now, by using an off-forum character from my novel series so we don't get all huffy and jealous if I were to choose one of our members. So--one of the main characters in my novel series is named Aidan, and his personality has been developed over a-many years (five, to be exact) so he is a very well-rounded, very in-depth character on my record. Let's say I'll give you a basis synopsis of his personality (by listing traits), seen here:

   Name: Aidan
   Personality: Short-tempered, Arrogant, Prideful, Hardworking, Charming, and Disrespectful.

Again, something seems very empty and very un-rich about this description. Why? That's because it's only one portion of what makes up who he is. How does he act when he's not in public eye? He could secretly be emotionally disturbed, a social phobic, and have confidence issues, which would explain why he acts so brash and rude in public. Maybe he never got enough attention from his father, and chooses to try and show off all the time to impress him and use females to fill that empty void of love. Starting to feel a little more 3-Dimensional now, isn't it? He just went from an empty, plastic container to a jar full of cookies in three seconds flat!

All it takes is a little thought, some concentration, and just honestly common sense. No matter which way you turn it, there will always be more to the naked eye when it comes to a character, your job is to find out about them, and to delve into the mysterious mind of your character.

Description
Most people assume they can just stick in the color of their fur and eye color and be done with it, but the fact of the matter is they won't become a tangible character in your mind unless you form them to be that way. As much as I stressed the internal parts being a big factor in creating your character, it's very helpful to take all that information and weave it together into a visible, physical form.

What I mean is--your character needs a face. Not just any face, their face. You'll know it when you find them, or just get a gut feeling and go with it because it seems like a good idea. However you go about deciding their appearance, I'm not here to tell you how to do that, because I can't. That's all your part. My part is to help explain what to put in a description, or what works best rather.

The best way to find their face is by first imagining it. Don't just shuffle through some saved photos and pick the nicest one; that won't work. The character's appearance has to mold and fit to the personality like a glove, and I almost must regrettably inform you--it's kinda obvious when you just stick up the first picture you find for your character. The appearance takes just as much effort and thought as any other aspect. It's the physical manifestation of their oh-so-wonderful internal parts we've spent the past ten minutes discussing and developing. I mean, if you're going to put hard work into something, go the entire distance!

Think more than just eye color, hair color, and skin/fur color. How does their hair look? Is it long, short, shaggy, fluffy, silky, etc.? Are their tints of other colors, is it highlighted, are there distinct markings? You should really try and spend some time thinking about it when you work on their human form, since that has a lot more elements to it including their clothing style, hairstyle, face shape, etc. Slightly more detailed and complicated than a wolf. If you are a lykos, you get the pleasure of developing them both! All in all though, what I'm trying to say is it helps to really visualize the character, I mean really get into your head what they look like until you could almost touch them. Only then will you have the ability to do a well-drawn portion for your Description, and I'm sure we'll notice too. :)

History
Time for the big cheese, the outer shell that brings all that taco-ey goodness together so you may enjoy it in one bite. (or a few) History is the most important; the past, present, and future of your character. What I mean is--it's a pretty big deal. I'd actually suggest going backwards, and coming up with a character's backstory before ANYTHING else, and work your way from there. Then again I'm just an ambitious, loud-mouthed co-pilot to the leader of our forum, but I do know from experience it helps to start with this as a base.

Just think about this for a second--what made you who you are right now, as of this moment? Your parents or caretakers probably influenced your beliefs and ideas about the world I'm sure, people you've met, things you've experienced, a crisis you went through, and a lot of other things made you who you are today. What they have in common is the factor they are all part of your history. So yes, history does in fact shape us to who we are today, and can be influenced from everything under the blue sky from a culture we grew up in to a life-changing experience (good or bad) we once had when we were younger.

Fictional characters are no exception to histories. They have a history, it's just up to you to find it and develop it. Whatever you want it to be! I won't preach on what is a good history, because there truly is no good history, just well-developed ideas. Even if someone used that very common "my entire pack died or cast me out", if it's executed well--it can be just as good a background as any other history. It's just a matter of how well you write it. Again, I do stress though variety is key to a healthy forum, so if you see a million people with the same "I'm all by myself" sob story, consider something else if you can.

But basically I'm trying to explain how important a factor the character's history can be. Depending on how they were raised (or not raised), it will affect their childhood. Now you can do it the way I suggested, and start with the history--because I personally think it just makes it easier on you, because with the history comes whatever personality blossoms from the setting they were raised in, and helps that. Also can contribute to their appearance, whether by the clothes they wear or how they are built, etc. There are a million ways history knits everything together, I won't blab on about it, but let's just leave it at that--your history defines your past, present, and future.

Integrated Characters vs. Newfound Characters
A rare topic not often brought up is the lesser-known but still useful subject known as Integrated Characters. To explain in definition, an integrated character is a pre-planned acquisition specifically developed to meld into one or more character's plots that are already on the forum. This could be in the form of a family member or someone from their past, or even someone that they have wronged or vice versa. In essence, they are made to snugly fit into a plot already in motion and further enrich that plot as well as progress it.

Now there is more than one way to create integrated characters. They can be made dually with another character played by a separate user (simultaneous integration for them both), or they can be made to fit into a character already on the forum and well-established in the roleplay community, or even (in the rare case) a character specifically created to fit into the plot of a character-to-be that has not yet been created.

These types of characters are usually meant for people who want something to dive right into when they join a forum, perhaps so they don't feel so misplaced if they are joining into a forum with characters so complex and already deep into plotlines. With their integrated characters, they already have a spot to start in and can easily work from there, and have something to work from. This also means they will be diving right into a very severe storyline, and will probably be expected to keep up with the characters already in motion with it. It can be a big responsibility for the user, but is often very well-worth it as long as the creator has a decent amount of experience under their belt to handle it.

On the other hand, and a much more common choice amongst roleplayers is creating the fresh Newfound Character. There is nothing wrong with these, and if fact it only further enriches a forum with a new story to tell, and makes for a dynamic cast and we certainly encourage that. Newfound characters are the new kids on the block, you could say, and have no virtual ties to any of the established characters already in the game. They are fresh, and in this role they have the opportunity to meet everyone and start with a clean slate without the worry of complicated plotlines and pre-established stories and backgrounds. However, the downside is they have to establish their story and make a territory for it, which can often be difficult with a large and even a medium sized forum with clusters of stories already deep into plotlines. That initial establishment to mark their own special territory can often be daunting, and luring members into their own plotline can be even more difficult, but well worth the effort once the story is rolling. With their clean slate, they can imagine anything and everything under the sun for their story, making Newfound Characters a more tempting choice for roleplayers to start out with.

All in all, no persuasive paragraphs or essays on each type of character should determine what you do, but it can influence your decision. Whether you are the raring-and-ready-to-go roleplayer who wants to sink their teeth right into a thick, dramatic plot already started, or the adventurous roleplayer looking to establish their own, unique story, you are welcome either way.

All Done!
Most of this is just my own opinion on things, and you don't have to take this like some sorta iron rule to character creation, its just a big rant about my views and gathered information about character-making from experience with it. Also studying websites about it, books, articles, and just general observation of what people view as good profiles and...not...so good profiles, haha.