I am writing this guide for new members or anyone who has questions about deviantART and its members. Please comment if something doesn't make sense or if you need help! Please note, this is NOT a guide to everything on deviantART, just some stuff I thought was worth talking about.

PLZ ACCOUNTS:

What is a "plz" account?

A "plz" account is a deviantART account where the avatar is an emote that you can use in your journals, comments, etc.

How do you use them?

To use them, write :icon(thenameoftheaccount):

An example is which is written as :icon supertighthug plz: (minus the spaces)

Some popular accounts are:

To get the account name, roll your mouse over the image and copy the text you see beginning with an :icon and ending in a :.

Quick lesson in dA plz account slang~

means that you did something awesome, so you get a free internet!

means I like~

means you posted a chain message and it failed

means that you made an account that ended in "plz" but isn't an actual plz account.

<-- This has a list of groups that keep a list of "plz" accounts.

This [link] is something you can download to use on deviantART that gives you an enormous list of "plz" accounts.

LLAMAS

What are llamas for?

Llamas don't really have any specific purpose. The creators of deviantART originally made them as a joke, but when everyone loved them, they kept them. They can be given to other people by going to the top of their profile, pressing Give and selecting Llama. They don't cost any points to give them and when you give them, you don't loose any yourself.

I've seen llamas look different. Why is that?

The more llamas you get, the more its appearance changes.

1 - Llama -

10 - Super Llama -

50 - Albino Llama -

100 - Super Albino -

500 - Ninja Llama -

1,000 - Fancy Llama -

2,500 - King Llama -

5, 000 - Spartan Llama -

7,500 - Wizard Llama -

10,000 - The Golden Llama -

No Longer Available - Rainbow Llama

What is llama for llama?

Llama for llama (a.k.a Give a llama, Get a llama) is where you give someone a llama and are guaranteed to get one back.

This is a previous journal I wrote with llama for llama groups: [link]

I've seen other badges, what are those?

It depends on the badge. To get some, you need to buy deviantART merchandise, to get others you need to submit to a certain category or have them given to you by other deviants. #Badges-of-DeviantART addresses them all~

DEVIANT SYMBOL

I've noticed symbols in front of deviants names. What are those?

Almost every deviant has a symbol in front of his/her name. These signify your standing in the deviantART community. One exception would be lolly who works at deviantART and specifically asked not to have one.

What do they mean?

~ Member

* Premium Member

= Beta Tester

` Former Administrators or Senior Member

° Alumni

! Banned or Deactivated/Closed Account

+ General Administrators

¢ Creative Team

^ Community Volunteers

$ Core Administrators (deviantART Employees)

£ Officially run deviantART accounts

# Groups

© Policy Enforcement Team

% deviantART Prints Team

: Premium Content Staff (No Longer in Use)

@ Volunteer Message Network Team (No Longer In Use)

For more info, go here: FAQ #106: What are the symbols in front of each deviants nickname? or read [link]

How do you make someone's name show up with a symbol?

By writing :dev and then the username and end it with a :

For example, :dev mangasockattack: (without the space) is =mangasockattack

DAILY DEVIATIONS

What are Daily Deviations?

Daily Deviations or DDs are like the New York Times Bestseller list of deviantART. They are fabulous pieces of art and literature that are featured by the community. As suggested by the name, there are new ones everyday, so be sure to check them out by holding your mouse over the arrow on the top left (next to the words deviantART) and click Daily Deviations (the one with the heart).

How do you nominate a DD?

Select the proper person in this list:

All Galleries - $Moonbeam13


Community Projects - $namenotrequired

Anthro - ^KovoWolf

Anime/Manga - ^rydi1689 & ^sTiViA

Artisan Crafts - ^Talty & ^maytel

Body Art & Modification - ^Battledress

Comics & Cartoons - ^KasumiCR & ^JCROXAS

Cosplay - ^pullingcandy

Customization
Digital Dolls - ^hollinesskiss
Emoticons - ^ChaosEmeraldHunter
Icons & Handhelds - ^ValaSedai
Skins & Themes - ^neiio

Designs & Interfaces - ^princepal
Game Development Art - ^Master-Mune

DeviantART Related - ^ladygagz

Digital Art - ^Thiefoworld & ^laserbeast
3-Dimensional Art - ^alltheoriginalnames
Fractal Art - ^SaTaNiA
Photomanipulation - ^SanguineVamp
Pixel Art - ^ClefairyKid
Vector - ^ChewedKandi
Vexel - ^TheLastHuzzah

Fan Art - ^KasumiCR & ^Lyricanna
Fan Fiction - ^JZLobo

Film & Animation - ^kingmancheng & $Moonbeam13

Flash - ^SqueakyToybox

Literature - ^Beccalicious,^thorns, ^NicSwaner & ^neurotype

Photography - ^Kaz-D & ^3wyl
Abstract & Surreal - ^arctoa
Animals, Plants and Nature - ^IsacGoulart
Architecture - ^anmari
Artistic Nude - ^Nyx-Valentine
Conceptual - ^astridle
Darkroom - ^RockstarVanity
Fashion - ^Pixel-Spotlight
Fetish - ^Nyx-Valentine
Horror/Macabre - ^pullingcandy
Photojournalism - ^xbastex
Pin-up & Glamour - ^DistortedSmile

Resources & Stock Images - ^Elandria & ^PirateLotus-Stock

Space & Sci-Fi - ^alltheoriginalnames

Text & typography - ^pica-ae

Traditional Art - ^deshrubber, ^Astralseed, ^Salvador-Rudy & ^SylwiaTelari
Street Art & Graffiti - ^kiwi-pdd

Other Staff Members with DD privileges who take suggestions from the community:
Anthro, Comics & Cartoons & Digital Art - $kozispoon
Digital Art - +ekud
Fan Art - $aunjuli
All areas - $Ikue
All areas - $fourteenthstar
All areas - $spinegrinder

and send them a note with the deviation and the creator and (preferably) why you think it deserves a DD.

For more information, read this: FAQ #18: Who selects Daily Deviations and how are they chosen?

How can I tell if a piece of artwork has received a DD?

Easy! Just look down at the comments area. Is there a banner that says "Daily Deviation"? If not, then no, the piece has not received a DD~

This group catalogs almost every piece of artwork and literature that has received a Daily Deviation: #DD-Catalogue

THUMBNAILS

What are thumbnails?

Thumbnails are codes that when pasted into a journal, artist's notes, etc. shows a little picture of your artwork.

Where do I get the thumbnail code?

Go to a deviation's page, MOST TIMES underneath the word Share on the right there will be several symbols and an arrow. If you click on the arrow, a little dropdown menu will appear. Underneath the word Thumb there will be a code that looks something like this:

:thumb12345678:

Paste that wherever you want it and you will get a mini image of your art!

To make the image bigger, type the word "big" after the colon but before the word "thumb"

POINTS

What are points?

Points are the currency of deviantART.

How do I get them?

You can get points several ways including, but not limited to:

SELLING PRINTS - On deviantART you can turn your art into prints which can be sold on deviantART for points. For more info, roll your mouse over Shop in the top bar and select Points .

POINT COMMISSIONS - Point commissions are kind of like user-run stores. Basically, you make a journal with prices for drawing other peoples requests. Also, deviantART has created a new system for artist commissions. Information can be found here: [link]. However, dA takes 20% of it, so you may be better off doing things on your own.

CONTESTS - Lots of deviantART members host contests with point prizes. Some of them require you to watch them, some require you to draw something and some all you have to do is comment. To keep in touch with big contests in the area, watch or become members of popular advertisement or contest groups.

POINT-GIVING ACCOUNTS - This is probably the easiest option. There are many accounts on deviantART where there are a list of members to watch or give llamas too and if you llama/watch a certain amount, they will give you points. A while ago, I wrote a journal with a list of point-giving accounts. Read it here: [link]

LLAMA FOR POINTS - On the top right hand corner of your page you can see your badges. If you click on it sometimes you will see someone's avatar with the text Give Llama For Points. If you click on the text and give them a llama you will be rewarded with one or two points.

TRADE MONEY FOR POINTS - Using your credit/debit card or PayPal, you can transfer your real money into points to use on deviantART. For more info, roll your mouse over Shop in the top bar and select Points .

RECEIVING DONATIONS - If you edit your page (by clicking edit page on the right) you can add a donation pool to your profile. Then, if people like your art, they can donate!

PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP

What is a premium membership?

A premium membership is something that deviantART members can purchase. It allows access to more features, like critiques.

How do I buy one and how much are they?

You can buy one by rolling your mouse over Shop in the top bar and select Buy Premium Membership. Prices vary depending on how long you want your membership to be.

Can you give premium memberships?

Yes, you can. To give one, got to Give in the right corner and select Give Premium Membership

These are great tutorials for new premium members: [link] and [link]

STAMPS

What are stamps?

Stamps are these handy little rectangles that tell people visiting deviantART about you! You can put them almost anywhere and there are stamps for virtually everything!

Where do I find them and how do I use them?

You can find them by searching for them under deviantART related < Deviant Stamps.

There are two ways to use them.

1) Use the thumbcode of the stamp.

2) Some stamps are available as "plz" accounts.

and I posted using their thumbcodes.

I posted using its "plz" account.

TEXT STYLES AND LINKS

How do I make things bold, underlined, etc.?

To make something bold:

Type <3b> (without the 3), your text and </b3> (without the 3)

SAMPLE

To make something underlined:

Type <3u> (without the 3), your text and </u3> (without the 3).

SAMPLE

To make something italic:

Type <3i> (without the 3), your text and </i3> (without the 3).

SAMPLE

To strike something out:

Type <3strike> (without the 3), your text and </strike3> (without the 3).

SAMPLE

To make something smaller:

Type <3sub> (without the 3), your text and </sub3> (without the 3).

_SAMPLE

How do I change the font of something?

By using this code:

<3font fac3e="FONT NAME"> YOUR TEXT HERE </fon3t> (without the 3s)

EXAMPLE

Use simple fonts that everyone has on their computer, otherwise it won't work.

How do I make links look like [link]?

Easy! Just paste the link and deviantART does all the work for you~

How do I make text a link?

To make text a link:

<LAa hrLAef="URL">YOUR TEXT HERE</aLA> (minus the LA s)

EXAMPLE

OTHER

ICON

To make someone's icon appear, type :icon , their username then :

For example, :icon mangasockattack : without the spaces is

MEMES

On deviantART (and other websites) "meme" can be referring to one of two things:

1) Is an image from a movie, TV show, YouTube video, etc. that has text written on it.

2) Something like this: [link] where people answer questions and/or draw things and then pass it on to the next

Overall, a meme is "an idea, behavior or style that spreads from person to person within a culture."

(Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

TAG

Tag is a term used in some memes and journals. It will say "Tag someone else!" That means, write their name/username and they have to do it, like the game tag. You tag the next person to do it.

KIRIBAN

A kiriban is where someone says "Kiriban at 6,000 pageviews!". The first person to take a screen capture of that person's page with the pageviews at 6,000 gets some sort of prize.

STOCK AND REFERENCE

Stock and reference images are images on deviantART that can be used by artists as reference or as stock in a manipulation.

To find them search deviantART under Resources and Stock Images

Each stock/reference image has its own rules, so read them before you use it!

BASE

A base is an image that artists can use on deviantART to draw on top of.

They can be found by searching either Line-art and Character Sheets or Customization < Digital Dolls < Pixel Art < Base/Adopted Base/Original Base/Traced Base

DEVIOUSNESS AWARD

The Deviousness Award is an award given to members of the deviantART community for outstanding work.

FORUMS

The forums are a place on deviantART where you can chat with other deviants, praise deviantART, welcome new members, etc.

My personal advice would be to stay away from complaints forum at first or away from the forums in general. People in the forums tend to be nastier than they would be otherwise. (This is not always true, just what I have experienced.)

To go to the forums, hold your mouse over the arrow on the top left next to deviantART and choose Forums . (The one with the speech bubble)

STA.SH

Sta.sh is a place to store your art before posting it. To submit to your Sta.sh, go to Submit in the top bar and choose Sta.sh

CHAT

The chat is a place to have fun talking to other members. To use the chat, go to (you guessed it) the arrow next to deviantART on the top left and select Chat . (the one with the smiley face)

GROUPS

Groups are, well, groups! You can join groups to discuss books or art, join contests, submit your own art and get feedback, etc.

There are lots of groups that except all types of art and other groups that except only specific types of art. Submitting your journals and art to groups gives it a higher chance of getting noticed and more of a chance of being commented on or favorited.

dA MURO

dA Muro is this handy-dandy little art tool that deviantART gives you access to, free of charge! You can use it in your comments by clicking the Add a Drawing button. You can also submit art with it by going to Submit in the top bar and choosing Draw with dA Muro.

HOLY CRAP, YOU ARE AWESOME!