The first thing a good shifter needs to do is set up descriptions for all of his or her forms. This is done by setting the prop &desc-<form> me=<desc>. The form names are listed in +shift/list once your race has been set. It is suggested that in the forms you wear clothing, you stick to clothing that has been dedicated, and use a multidescer for other non-dedicated clothing.
Example: Cat wants her Sokto form to read "The kind of prehistoric cat you don't want to mess with". She would input the following - &desc-sokto me=The kind of prehistoric cat you don't want to mess with.
Next, there's the matter of +finger information. That can change with form too, and it's usually a good idea to do so to protect your OOC masque when you're shifting forms. It's done in a similar manner to descing, by setting &<thing to change>-<form> me=<text>. The things that can change are Fullname, Age, Appage, Shortdesc, Position, Song, Quote and Plan.
Example: Cat's quote in Homid is "Sweeter than mama's home-made apple pie", but in Feline is "Meow?". She would set "e-homid me=Sweeter than mama's home-made apple pie and "e-feline me=Meow?
Auras are also important to set up, +help aura can help there.
The last thing all applicants need to set, be they Shifter or Kin, is +info. The mandatory fields are &info_General, &info_<race> and &info_<tribe> for both. Kin will not be able to see the info_<race> field, but it is important to set for the shifting folk to read. +help +info gives a full explanation.