How to make the most of dev.to
Arik
・3 min read
Two months ago my camel's back broke.
I was part of another online developers community and after getting one too many undeserved insults from some of their lesser members I decided that enough is enough. And began looking for a new home.
Luckily, it wasn't before long that I found dev.to and immediately took to it. The staff were friendly, people were actually posting nice, constructive comments to other people's articles, and the general atmosphere was that of inclusion rather than one upmanship. Lovely.
Now I'd like to share some tips I've collected in an effort to help both newcomers get started, as well as help keep the spirit of this wonderful community alive.
Welcome
First things first.
Whether this is your first day here or you've been here for a while I'd like to newly welcome you.
I'd especially want to welcome you if you took the time and wrote a little blurb on the welcome thread that never got any love or comments.
So, Welcome!
Profile
I know, I know. We're all sick of filling up all these profiles everywhere we go. But this is different. This profile here is for other humans to read to get to know you, not for machines to figure our how to target ads at you. So go ahead and tell us a few words about yourself. You're much more interesting than you realize.
Comments
Join the conversation. If you read an article you like, go ahead and say something in the comments section. Even if you're not an "expert" on the matter. Your opinion absolutely matter.
First, it helps the author know that he/she is not talking into a void and second, it gives you the opportunity to ask questions and get answers. Many of the articles are quite technical and while the authors are doing their best in explaining the material, it is absolutely expected that questions will come up.
Make others feel at home
Make a habit of visiting the welcome thread every now and then and saying hello to newcomers. It means so much for a new person to get that first hello and feel welcome.
This is doubly true for people who follow you.
Share your experiences with us
How many times you thought to yourself: "maybe I should write an article about that" and then didn't? I'm going to guess that it happened more than a few times. The short answer: just do it already!
Even if it improves the life of just one person, isn't it worth it?
And by the way, it doesn't matter what you write about or if there's a million articles on the subject already. Your experience is unique. Your perspective is unique. Your background is unique. So just please share it with us.
Don't condone littering
When I published my first article here I was stupid enough to post a link to it in the previous community I was part of. Before long the nasty comments started appearing. But this time something else happened. Members from dev.to were sticking up for me. Next, dev.to staff stepped in and removed the garbage. I was amazed.
So know that you're part of a really cool community and take part in keeping it like that. If you notice someone bullying you or others, take a stand against it by referring them to the code of conduct.
Say thank you
Lastly, feel free to say a word of encouragement to the
ThePracticalDev
https://dev.to
team every now and then. They're doing a brilliant job building this platform and giving us a home.
Good luck.
Discussion
You know, I almost never get to write a comment. But thanks to this it felt a bit different, a bit more welcomed to do so :) I am not really sure what you did but it works and if applied properly it could help people out be more communicative on other posts here as well ^^
I couldn't have said any of this better myself. I felt a bit embarrassed that this post, and a lot of other great momentum for the community, coincided with some random downtime yesterday and this morning, but smooth sailing ahead!
Thanks for being an awesome community leader since joining up. We look forward to working hard to grow the positive impact of the project going forward.
The pleasure is all mine. And thank you guys for doing what you're doing.
And by the way, these downtimes are a good sign. means we're growing! And with growth comes the perks of scalability :-)
"With great power, comes great responsability." (uncle Ben). Good job guys!
Thank you for the post Arik. Been lurking since I found this community a few weeks ago. Now I will write something in the welcome thread and fill out my profile. Not that because I have to, but because I want to.
Awesome!
thanks Arik,
I am new here and i have already felt welcomed. This is an amazing community. Although i hardly if at all understand the articles and posts because of all the technical language i have found the beginner and motivational posts have really got me excited about this community! When i joined just yesterday and i found that i actually had followers? I was stunned. Who me? What do ii know that someone would follow me? What a great community!
That's so great to hear that you feel welcome! All the best on your journey!
Nice post and great read. My first ever comment after almost one year on dev.to
Yessssss!
Now I have to leave a comment just to avoid feeling bad.
Kidding, awesome post!
This a thousands times! Online exchanges are so much better when it feels like you are talking to an actual person rather than just a nobody with an empty profile. And it doesn't take that much time to fill up a profile...
Great to see you around Arik.
Most people suffer from the "Impostor's Syndrome".
But everyone has a different background/knowledge.
I am sure we can all learn from each other.
Thank you for this article! I've been here for quite some time and indeed never got a comment on my welcome post haha. But this made me happy ! Love the positivity :)
Great to have you!
Hi Arik 👋. Glad you're loving dev.to as well. I've really been enjoying posting content on the site (so much easier than Medium) and also I've been enjoying reading a lot of the content. 🔥 If you haven't already, you should check out the chat as well, dev.to/connect
Check it out. Yea, it looks dope.
This is so nice, nice story and I am feeling very welcomed. So, thank you.
And, as a young mother, starting to learn how to code with a baby and all the things that come with the baby, I will definitely write an article about my journey. Thank you.
So awesome! Can't wait to read that post. I'll bet it's going to inspire many other women to follow your footsteps.
Tnx, I hope so. Will attach here that post.
Please do!
I never usually comment but this post made me do it. Thanks for sharing!
I had never added comment to any article before now or really been part of online community but your post has given me a different perspective. Thanks Arik.
So cool! That makes me happy!
Thank you Arik for writing this post! I have started lurking on Dev.to, but haven't written any posts yet. I'm still trying to figure things out. I've been trolled on my blog before, and had to start moderating it. Hence, I haven't jumped on the Medium's, etc because of lack of moderation. Also, I was harassed off a Slack group once, by someone I can only presume was angry that I did something they felt they couldn't do. (ie I was sharing the release of my mobile apps to the market. Insecurity may be the same reason for the many hurtful comments you received from the other community.) Anyway, I'm glad you found a supportive dev community, and perhaps with time I can learn to trust again and perhaps adopt this community as well.
Great to have you with us Vui! Welcome aboard!
Glad you are here Arik. I'm really enjoying this community as well. I hope as it grows we can keep toxicity to a minimum.
"And by the way, it doesn't matter you write about or if there's a million articles on the subject already. Your experience is unique. Your perspective is unique. Your background is unique. So just please share it with us."
oh, arik... thank you so much for this little gem. THIS is why i'm gonna start writing and sharing even though i just started programming and english is not my first language. i just need to put myself out there and it's incredible to know that dev.to is a platform for that, so welcoming to newbs like me.
Awesome! Can't wait to read your articles.
Thanks Arik, appreciate the time you took to post this. New to this community and after many years of doing other things (not computer related) trying to get into the big scary world of programming as its what I have always loved. Will be keeping an eye on your posts going forward.
Thanks Arik
Awesome! Can't wait to see what you're going to create.
Thanks for writing this!! It highlights basic things neglected for long. I have been silent reader of posts and comments, commenting a reply in my mind and just like you said, i wanted to write articles here on Dev and thought what will use will it be of, if there already exists an article explaining what i wanted to convey.
Things change from here, from this post. this is the 1st comment. Soon 1st article in the coming month. An idea has been lingering for the past few days.
See what i have done here, if i start writing, i just keep going.. :D
So cool. Can't think of a better way to start my week than to read this comment. Thanks, and can't wait to read those articles!
I am so grateful to have found this group and read this post. I'm a newbie and oftentimes you just want to be around a setting that feels like a family, especially one that loves what you love. Thank you for the greeting. It meant the world.
So glad you liked it and even more happy you decided to join! Welcome and good luck!
Thank you 😊
Thank you, Arik. I do feel more of a welcoming atmosphere on this platform than others. I hope that continues. I enjoyed your post and it has helped me to see that I too have a voice in the community. I hope that you continue to do well and I hope I can learn some things along the way on this journey with dev.to.
Wow. your comment just made my day. Thank you. And yes, we do work hard and take pride in making this community a welcoming space. Great to have you here.
Thanks. I'm still poking around here and there trying to get used to everything, but I feel pretty at home with the people I've interacted with so far.
Hey Arik, I really liked your blog post about juniors on your website!
Thanks very much!
Thanks for this article. It's hard to gade it any different than saying "Well said, thanks for puting things into a perspective." Here's a thought, maybe this article should be pinned on the... oh, wait, that wouldn't work - every user has his own custom feed. Then, maybe this article should be pinned at the top of feed of every user, so whenever they log in - this article is the first thing they see. It just feels welcoming and... right? From my point of view, this article packs much more power than any code of conduct might pack fear from exclusion for misbehaviour. Anyway, loved it, thanks for sharing.
Thank you for the kind words and I'm glad you feel welcomed! That's exactly why I came into this community and why I like it so much.
Thank you for a great article.
Hello,
I am a new member of dev.to. Ok, I already checked it a few times in my past months but I never felt "strong" enough to register and actually be active.
However I registered because I wanted to find a community while I am learning and develop my programming skills( in my case it is Android from an online course - I am not sure shall I name it?!).
After I read your "old" post, I decided I will look at the Welcome thread and comment other newcomers post. Second, I wanted to say thank you to you. It helped me leave behind my shadow, and make commitment ( like learn everyday, practice and share information). Also, I didn't even think about dev.to staff (profile) in my early stage,but when I looked at it I found daily challenge, some more interesting posts etc. Now I feel I found many new things and I want to be a part of everything :)
Have a good day
Wow. This just gave me goosebumps. Thanks so much for this nice comment. And allow me to extend a warm welcome to our community. I'm sure this community will be of great service to you in many ways to develop and grow as a programmer.
Thank you, it is very kind of you! I didn't expect such a quick reply from anyone, That's great.
I just started to edit my profile. And I consider to write some information on my profile everywhere else like Stackoverflow,github, reddit. (They all new accounts as well)
You know I quit from Uni when I actually failed there and wasn't motivated.(2015) But now my feelings are like a bear who woke up from winter :D
And I am hungry to know everything.
If there is anything what a new member should know/aware of then please let me know :)
Probably you figured out, I enjoyed the article and encouraged me to look around dev.to.
Thank you for that again.
I want to start by saying thank you! I'm new here, I've only got like a week in this community. You're so right with the "maybe I should write an article about that" thing, I've said that line so many times and only done it a few times! I'm trying to improve, and that's one of the reasons I'm here in dev. Once again, thanks. That's the kind of motivation I needed today.
Love it!
Really, it's a post that touches the reality, reveals expressions, and shares ideas to face it. It's a reminder for me to improve things mentioned which I'll be doing, a few now and some later. Also, I don't want to leave without admiring such a thoughtful community that believes in appraising instead of diminishing its newbies. Thank you for summing up your experiences and advice to establish and build a better identity.
Great article! I just joined a couple of days ago and you've reminded me to finish filling out my profile and reply to the welcome thread. I already get a great feeling from this community. I look forward to supporting and contributing here more <3
Thanks for the post!
Great post Arik, thanks for writing it!
Great article, thanks for writing it.
I believe that after a long search I've found a place to get back to blogging. Really appreciate you sharing this article as it expresses what I believe a community should be and it encourages me to start blogging again, we should be always constructive and positive, supporting each other, some of the same principles that are present in great development teams.
I stumbled upon this post thanks to the DEV.to welcome email, and I'm glad I did!
I am usually wary of posting or getting involved in communities, but I really want to start contributing. This article really gave me that boost of confidence that I was looking for!
Thank you for sharing this!
Love it!
It really feels great that I am in a community where I am taken seriously though I am new in this field. Its not been long working on software industry and I quite enjoy this.Thank you for encouraging to write something. If I had not gone through this post, surely I would not have written this. Feels great being a member of this community......
I just love reading comments like these. It's what this place is all about. A community. A diversity. A place where every voice is equal. Welcome, and it's a pleasure having you on board.