1. I believe the most important thing to consider when you are looking to plan an April Fools joke is to know your intended audience. Know their sense of humor and also interests. After all, the last thing you would want is to pull a joke that they think isn't funny or could not care less about. So know your target.
2. Do not wait until the last minute to try and pull something off. Plan a few days or weeks in advanced depending on the size and scale of the prank. Last minute attempts at pranks, generally, fail.
3. Consider all of the consequences of your joke (if there are any). You do not want to be the guy or girl who thinks they have a great prank and hurts the person (physically or mentally) or people you were pranking. Even worse, end up getting yourself hurt or in trouble.
4. Think about events or things that may have happened within the past year to you or the person you are pranking and see if you can come up with an idea based on past events. If you are looking to prank a community, consider the type of community and what it revolves around. Pranks that are based on stuff that happened a number of years ago generally aren't as funny as more recent things.
5. No one likes elementary school jokes such as "Your shoes are untied…. APRIL FOOLS!" – keep those in elementary school. If you're going to prank someone make it worth-while to you and them. Something that can be remembered and talked about.
6. Depending on the magnitude of the prank it may be worth getting other people involved to help you pull it off. Team work is key.
7. If you want your joke to be successful keep it to yourself or the group of people you are working with. Telling people who are not involved in the joke will lead to a failed attempt – chances are they will tell someone who is not supposed to know.
8. Do not reuse the same pranks year after year. Even worse would be to use the same prank in the same year on more than one person. If you are going to do it right, keep it fresh and new.
9. If you cannot think of a joke which you are not happy with chances are it's not a good one. Trust your gut – if you think it would make a good joke, go for it. No one says you must have an April Fools joke every year. If one year you cannot think of a good joke wait until next year and plan a great one.
10. The worst joke of all time is telling your significant other you want to leave them. Generally not the best idea.
