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 out 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 they are 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.