Frequently Asked Questions 🤔
Some of these are not actually asked frequently, but they're still good to know.
Who can post to dev.to?
Anyone! Yes, you have permission to make a new post of any kind as long as it meets our community guidelines and gets through common-sense spam filters. Your post is subject to removal at the discretion of the moderators if they believe it does not meet the requirements of our code of conduct.
How do I post article on dev.to?
Click on "Write a Post" in the top right corner of the site. Write your article, give it a title, tag it with appropriate tags, and fill out any other relevant fields. Then, once you're ready, either click publish in the bottom left if using the Rich + Markdown editor, or if using the Basic Markdown editor change published: false to published: true in the front matter of the post and save. Your post will now be published.
Is there a guide for how to use DEV's editor?
Yes! Here is our editor guide, you can also find it by clicking the "?" page in the editor.
What are the best practices for writing a post on DEV?
We have a series called Best Practices for Writing on DEV that will walk you through this topic. 🙌
How do I get featured on the home page?
The home page is tailored to each individual DEV member based on what they're following.
Every now and then, the DEV Team may "pin" a post to the homepage if it's an announcement that is relevant to all folks, but these are generally posts from the DEV Team.
Can I cross-post something I've already written on my own blog or Medium?
Absolutely, as long as you have the rights you need to do so! And if it's of high quality, we'll feature it.
How do I change my Twitter/GitHub username?
You can add or remove Twitter/GitHub associations from your settings, but note that you must have one OAuth method connected to your account at all times. E.g. if you want to remove GitHub, but it's the only OAuth you have connected to your account, you'll need to first add another OAuth method (e.g. Twitter) in order to have the option to remove GitHub.
If you have any issues with this, email [email protected] and we'll take care of it.
What about my post's Google ranking?
You can set the canonical_url of your post before publishing so that Google knows where to send the link juice (that precious, precious link juice).
How do I add a canonical URL?
In your post editor, click the menu button:
Then fill in your canonical URL!
If you're using the Basic Markdown editor, you can add it inside the triple dashes, like so:
---
title:
published: false
tags:
canonical_url: https://mycoolsite.com/my-post
---
How do I create a series of posts on DEV?
We have a handy guide here that explains step-by-step how to create a series on DEV.
If you've written the first entry in a series and are wondering why the series info is not showing up, it's because we don't actually display information about a post being part of a series until there is more than one entry in the series. Once you write your second entry in the series, the Table of Contents and title for the series should appear.
I found a bug (not a security vulnerability). How do I report it?
Please create an issue on our repo.
I found a security vulnerability. How do I report it?
Please email [email protected].
How do I report spam?
For a specific comment: navigate to the comment and click the dropdown arrow to report abuse.
For a specific article: navigate to the article, scroll to the bottom and click report abuse.
In general, you can fill out the report abuse form.
How does dev.to make money?
Right now, we count on listings and sponsors. We also sell some merchandise on The DEV Shop.
What's up with your sponsors?
If you have questions about sponsorships (i.e. how to turn off sponsor displays), visit our sponsorship info page.
How do I delete my account?
You'll find the option to delete your account in your settings. Self-deletion will remove your DEV profile, and all articles, comments, Connect messages, etc.
If you require a full GDPR deletion, please e-mail [email protected] with the subject line "GDPR Delete Request" and we will ensure that any of your remaining data is purged from all systems.
Do I own the articles that I publish?
Yes, you own the rights to the content you create and post on dev.to and you have the full authority to post, edit, and remove your content as you see fit.
By posting content on dev.to, you give us a nonexclusive license to publish it, including anything reasonably related to publishing it (like storing, displaying, reformatting, and distributing it).
Will you put ads on my posts' pages?
No ad will ever be placed next to a user's post without their consent in the matter. If you would prefer that no ads be placed next to your posts, you can navigate to Settings > Customization, scroll down to sponsors, and uncheck the box beside "Permit Nearby External Sponsors (When publishing)".
How do I set a cover image on my post?
If using the Rich + markdown editor, then click the "Add a cover image" button above the title of the post.
If using the Basic Markdown editor, include cover_image: [url] in the front matter of your post.
For more information on our editor, check out our editor guide.
How does comment threading work?
Comments are threaded with a maximum depth, and then they become flat. You can respond to flattened-out threads by replying to the last comment in the overall thread.
Can I hide comments on my own posts?
Yes. To hide a comment that was added to one of your posts, simply click the dropdown connected to the comment and select the "Hide" option. You can read our original changelog post on the feature for more information.
Can I use profanity in my posts?
We don’t disallow profanity in general, but we do have an internal policy of not boosting posts through our social channels that have profanity in the title, so you might want to keep that in mind.
Can I follow RSSes on DEV?
Yes, you can. The link for our main feed can be found here: https://dev.to/feed. For user-specific feeds, you can find them via https://dev.to/feed/username. For tag-specific feeds, you can find them via https://dev.to/feed/tag/tagname.
Upon sign in, why do you require authorization to allow the DEV Community to access info on my Twitter account?
The authorization page being talked about looks like the following:
This is the default scope for Twitter and to our knowledge we can't get any more granular than this. Here's a picture of our options and what we've chosen:
We take a strong stance against collecting unnecessary data on our users as stated on our privacy page.
I signed up to DEV with GitHub/Twitter, but can't figure out how to disconnect or switch out this OAuth method from my account. Can you help me?
The problem you're running into is happening because you must have one OAuth method always connected to your DEV account.
The easiest way to go about solving this issue is to add another OAuth method to your DEV account. There are a couple of ways you can approach this…
Firstly, you can add a Forem account to your DEV account by creating one here and then connecting it to your account via your settings. Once you’ve done so, you can then disconnect your GitHub/Twitter account from your DEV profile and add your desired account.
Just scroll down underneath the "Danger Zone" and click "Remove GitHub" or "Remove Twitter" (whichever is applicable). After refreshing the page, you'll see the option to add the new account.
If you’d rather not create a Forem account, you can use the same process above but connect a GitHub/Twitter account to your DEV account instead prior to removing the GitHub/Twitter account you'd like to remove.
Alternatively, if you'd rather not connect a GitHub/Twitter account to your DEV account. You can create a new DEV account with your desired OAuth method and email us at [email protected] requesting that we merge your two accounts together. If this is the case, be prepared to prove ownership over both of your accounts.
Can I sign up with email and password?
Yes indeed, you can! Just go to this page and you should see the option to sign up via email.
