One thing people that are new to DA seem to have problems with are the little subtleties. How to make a link to a fellow deviant, icon links, deviation links - that sort of thing. There are also a lot of other small pieces of info that can help make your experience here even better. So, in that vein, here are some helpful hints for those joining this program already in progress.



Deviant Links Simple code really, all you have to do is type :dev plus the deviant's handle plus another : (without the quotes, of course). So, to link to this group, you would type :dev da-unreleased : without the spaces.

Example: *da_unreleased



Deviant Icon Links Just as simple as above, but instead you have to type :icon plus the deviant's handle plus another : (without the quotes, of course). So, to create an icon link to this group, you would type :icon da-unreleased : without the spaces.

Example:



Deviation Links A tad more complicated than the first two, but not quite so hard. If you know any HTML, then this will be second nature to you. Go to the page of the deviation you want to link to and copy the URL from the address bar, then just paste it where you want the link to go. Problem is, all you end up with is [link] rather than something descriptive. So, to have the name of the deviation as the link, you would type [a href="http://www.deviantart.com/deviatio n/12823837"]Deviation Name[/a] but use pointy brackets ( < and > ) rather than the square ones shown here. Now you can link to the deviation when you thank someone for making it a favourite.

Example: A Newbie's Guide To dA Basics



Favourite/DevWatch Emoticons You have likely seen the little images people use for favourites and devwatch in people's front page comments. If you want to use them, they have very simple code much along the lines of the first 2 links. To make the favourite star, just type : +fav : without the spaces and to make the little devwatch guy, type : +devwatch : without the spaces. There you go, now you can thank someone for fav'ing one of your pieces with an image and a link to the deviation!

Example:


Note: There are literally hundreds of emoticons you can use almost everywhere on the site. Just click the 'Emoticon Legend' link right underneath the comment box (where you type the comment) for a full list of all the codees, alongside the actual emoticons themselves.



Text Formatting Looking at this tutorial, you can see that some words are in bold (I love bolding the word bold! -Ed). If you want to do the same, it is again some simple HTML code. For bold, just enclose B within pointy brackets and use /B within pointy brackets to end the bold. For italics, substitute and I for the B. You can also underline text - use U. You can even combine these tags with a link to make them stand out.

Examples: w00t! whisper radtastic! everything



Caution Be careful! In most cases, you can't edit your post after you click 'Submit'. Be sure to read over the comment very carefully and check that everything reads well and all the codes are going to work. Getting it wrong is quite a dissatisfying experience. Don't worry too much if you do mess it up though - everyone on dA makes the same mistakes from time to time.

Ask Around Now that you are ready to use your new skills, get out there and see what other deviants are doing. When you see that someone has done something cool with their comment, don't hesitate to ask, politely, how they did it. And don't forget to comment on their artwork as well. You could just as easily ask right here about something that's got you stumped, too.

Be Nice, Be Explicit If you really like a deviation, make sure to add it to your favourites, so that the owner knows you really enjoyed the piece. Be sure to drop a comment to tell them so - use more than three words - explaining why you like it. This is what helps everyone here learn and grow. And when someone makes one of your pieces a favourite, make sure to stop by their page and leave a little thank you note, it is the polite thing to do.



From ~LopiX
Edits *timtam



More Info
FAQ #53: How do I use Emoticons? Where are they?
FAQ #81: How can I make links to other deviants, deviations, or websites?
FAQ #104: What HTML formatting may be used on deviantART, forums and the shoutbox? And what is the format for these codes?