I thought I’d try something a little different for this week’s Guild Leadership column, so I’ve had a crack at creating my own Youtube video. I’m not sure yet whether or not this idea was sheer brilliance or utter insanity. Clocking in at four and a half hours work for a four minute clip, making a video is a hell of a lot more work compared to just writing a post and taking a few screencaps, but I’m pretty happy with the results. Please don’t mind the  ’um’s and occasional word fumble

In this video I discuss what I feel to be the most effective way to manage a guild bank — the Deposit Only tab. This means that you dedicate one tab for deposits only and only ranks of your choosing (Officer and above, for example) can remove items from this tab. The other bank tabs function as per usual, with you setting the limit on how much people can withdraw, but members cannot put items into them.

Benefits of the Deposit Only Tab

• People can donate items safe in the knowledge that an Officer will make sure it is distributed appropriately. “Guild member X decides to donate a rare pet for the next guild competition. Without thinking, he throws it in the wrong guild tab. Guild member Y comes along, sees the rare pet in a tab they have access to, and promptly they withdraw it and learn it. That is a recipe for drama right there! With a deposit tab, Guild Member X can only deposit the item into one tab, and can rest assured that the Bank Manager will deal with it accordingly. Crisis averted!”
• Since there is only one possible tab for items to be deposited, Officers can better track who is depositing what. This is especially useful for guilds that reward those who donate useful items.
•  A single tab for deposits ensures that junk items do not end up muddled in with important items. It also ensures that your cheekier guild members cannot fill an entire tab with level 5 fish, inadvertently destroying any organisation system your Bank Manager may have in place.
• Once an item has been deposited, only a member of the appropriate rank can remove the item. This prevents “Donation Remorse”, as the item cannot simply be removed if you change your mind.

How to Create the Deposit Only Tab

1.  Open up your Guild Window (The default keyboard shortcut is “J”)
2. Select the “Guild Info” tab at the bottom of the window.
3. Click on “Guild Control”
4. Select “Bank Tab Permissions” from the Guild Control list
5. Select the rank which you would like to edit.
6. In the tab that you would like to be used as the deposit tab (In this example I call it “Deposit” and it is the first bank tab on the list), ensure that “View Tab” is checked, that “Deposit Items” is checked, and that the Withdraw limit is set to ZERO.
7. For those ranks that have permission to organise the bank, you will want to be sure to change the number from zero to a number you feel comfortable with.
8. For the remaining tabs, set the Withdraw limit to an amount that you feel comfortable with that rank taking out, and make sure that “Deposit Item” is unchecked.
9. Repeat this process for each guild rank, adjusting the amounts accordingly.

What kind Guild Bank Management System do you use? Are you a fan of allowing the Guild Bank to run itself with minimal interference from officers, or do you prefer to have more control over what happens to donations? Have your say in the comments below!