Explore the ins and outs of writing, editing, scheduling, and managing articles.

The Editor

The DEV editor is your primary tool for writing and sharing posts. With a Markdown-based syntax and flexible options for embedding content, the editor is one of the main ways DEV members express themselves. Drafting, scheduling, and publishing posts are all options; importing via RSS is also a feature that we provide.

Learn how to use the DEV editor to create and format your articles effectively:

Drafting and publishing a post:

1. Click on "Write a Post" in the top right corner of the site.

2. Follow the prompts to fill out the necessary inputs. Give your post a title, write the body content, add appropriate tags, and fill out any other optional fields.

3. If you're not ready to share your article, just click "Save draft" in the bottom left. You can access your drafts from your user dashboard and return to editing your post whenever you wish.

4. Once you're ready to share your post, click the "Publish" button in the bottom left. Note: if you are using the Basic Markdown editor you interface is more minimalistic, and you'll need to change published: false to published: true in the Front Matter of the post, then save to publish your post.

5. Congratulations, your post should be published! You should see the article listed on your public profile. Note that you can access analytics for each post you've shared from your user dashboard by clicking on the ... beside the article title.

Scheduling a post:

1. To schedule a post, you may open a draft or start writing a new post.

2. Once you've got your post set up, click on the hexagon icon in the bottom left-hand corner near the Publish button.

3. See "Schedule Publication" and use the inputs to select a date and time for the post to go live. Note: this feature is set to your local time zone.

Creating a Series

DEV provides authors with the ability to link articles together in a series. A series has a title and an associated page to hold all the entries (e.g. Sloan's Inbox). Most often this is done for articles that are thematically related or recurring weekly posts.

We have a handy guide here that explains step-by-step how to create a series on DEV.

Note: If you've written the first entry in a series and are wondering why the series title is not easily visible, 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.

Cross-posting Content

DEV offers a variety of features for those who want to cross-post content from elsewhere on the web. We encourage folks to share articles from their personal and company blogs! Notably, we offer folks the ability to import content via RSS and set canonical links on any posts that are shared.

Using the RSS Feed on DEV Community

1. Configure RSS Feed:

   • Navigate to extensions within the settings.
   • Under "Publishing to DEV Community 👩‍💻👨‍💻 from RSS," enter your blog's RSS feed URL.
   • You will see the option to "Mark the RSS source as canonical URL" or "Replace links with DEV Community links." Check the info below (Specifying a Canonical URL) to help you decide which option to select.
   • Click "submit feed settings."

2. Edit Post Drafts Before Publishing

   • Go to your user dashboard.
   • Click edit beside the post you want to post.
   • Save each draft after making changes.
   • Publish Post when ready.

How to Specify a Canonical URL

Members reposting content often worry about original posts becoming less discoverable in search engines and their website losing visibility as the newer publishing platform (e.g., DEV) might surpass the original blog.

Fortunately, DEV allows authors to address these concerns. By inputting a canonical URL, contributors can ensure search engines understand the original source. This prevents any penalties for reposting, and search engine crawlers boost the ranking of the original article.

• Option 1 (RSS Import):
  • Check the "Mark the RSS source as canonical URL by default" box upon import.
• Option 2 (Individual Posts):
  • Identify your editor version in /settings/customization.
• Rich + Markdown Editor:
  • Click the gear icon next to "Save draft" and enter the original post's URL in the "Canonical URL" field.
• Basic Markdown Editor:
  • Add canonical_url: X to the post's front matter, specifying the original post's URL.

Following these steps ensures proper attribution and maintains the visibility of your content.

Helpful Resources

Below you'll find various resources we recommend for better understanding DEV's writing policies and tools.

DEV Editor guide

A quick guide that provides you with technical tips for using the DEV Editor and our brand of Markdown. You can also find it by clicking the "?" page in the editor.

Markdown Cheatsheet

A handy cheatsheet for commonly-used Markdown formatting syntax.

Best Practices for Writing on DEV

A helpful series that offers both technical tips and general guidance for making the best-fit article for DEV. 🙌

Guidelines for Avoiding Plagiarism on DEV

This resource offers guidance for how to avoid plagiarism. We take a strong stance against plagiarism on DEV; please don't hesitate to report any plagiarism to us.

Guidelines for AI-assisted Articles on DEV

These guidelines detail our requirements for properly labelling AI-assisted content on DEV. Please don't hesitate to report any content that is written with AI-assistance if it isn't following these guidelines.

Common Questions

Q: How do I set a canonical URL on my post?

In the post editor, click the hexagon icon in the bottom left-hand corner beside "save draft" and you'll see an input box to designate a Canonical URL. Note: if you are using the Basic Markdown editor you must add a line for it inside the triple dashes (aka Front Matter), like so:

---
title:
published: false
tags: 
canonical_url: <https://mycoolsite.com/my-post>
---

Q: How do I set a cover image for 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. Note: you may change your editor type from your settings.

Q: 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.

Q: 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.

Q: Can I use profanity in my posts?

We don't disallow profanity in general, but we do have an internal policy of not promoting posts that have profanity in the title, so you might want to keep that in mind. If your profanity is targeted at individuals or hateful, then it would cross the lines of what's acceptable via our Code of Conduct and we may take necessary action to remove you content.

Q: Why has my post been removed?

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. If you think we may have made a mistake, please email us at yo@dev.to.

Q: Will you put ads on my posts' pages?

It's possible. We do allow organizations to purchase advertisements with DEV.

However, if you would prefer that no ads be placed next to your posts, just navigate to Settings > Customization, scroll down to sponsors, and uncheck the box beside "Permit Nearby External Sponsors (When publishing)"

Of course, we'd appreciate it if you keep those boxes checked as this is important to our business. But, we respect your decision and appreciate you sharing posts with us!