How to Write Your First Post on DEV
Tags: beginners, tutorial, writing, howtodevto
Published: 2019-09-05 14:02:46

So you've been reading dev.to and you're ready to post.  Great!  Here's **how to do that**, and **what to expect next**:

# 0. Sign Up

If you don't already have an account on DEV, you'll need one to post.  [Sign Up Here](https://dev.to/enter)

# 1. Click "Write a Post"

Once you sign in, there will be a big green button in the upper right corner that says "Write a Post" - click it!

![Write a Post](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/k89k9tnqraqxs992212q.png)

# 2. Pick a Good, Descriptive Title

Most of the time, people will only see your title - and they will have to decide to click or not based just on that.  So make your title stand out!  Tell the readers exactly what they will get from the post, and then *deliver* on that promise.  

Here's an example of what your post will look like:

{% link https://dev.to/chrisachard/es6-mini-crash-course-javascript-can-actually-be-fun-to-write-3b9l %}

#3. Add Some Tags

Tags are super important!  Readers on DEV can follow certain tags, so appropriately tagging your posts will get your posts in the feeds of the most people (who actually want to read that content!)

For tag ideas, check the left sidebar of DEV once you're logged in.  You'll be able to see tags you follow, as well as other popular tags on the site (example below)

You can also see the [all time most popular tags](https://dev.to/tags)

![Tags](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/9677bpzmd3mirejy8ooa.png)

# 4. (Optional) Choose a Cover Image

Click on the "add images" button in the post editor to open the image adding dialog, then choose a file to upload as your cover images.  Cover images give visual interest to your post, plus they show up on Twitter if someone tweets out a link to your post!

![Cover Image](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/hjy6z6cvynmbzo8fz0y4.png)

# 5. Write Your Post!

Here's the fun part :)  You can write your post directly in the DEV editor, or copy and paste from somewhere else - but here's where you get to tell people what you want to tell them!

# 6. Add Some Formatting

DEV uses markdown to format text in the posts, and they have a handy [Editor Guide](https://dev.to/p/editor_guide)

It has a lot of great stuff in that guide, so check it out!  Including how to format code by using three backticks:

```javascript
console.log("Woo!")
```

And how to embed things like links to codesandbox or other DEV posts.

# 7. Add Images in the Body of a Post

One thing that took me a minute to figure out the first time was how to actually add images to the body of a post. 

Use the same image upload button as in step 4, but then use the "Body Images" upload box.  Then: **wait a second** for it to upload.  

Once it's done, there will be a markdown snippet with a link to your uploaded image.  Copy that, and paste it right into the DEV editor!  Change the alt tag (inside the square brackets) to something descriptive, and you're good to go.

![Adding Images to the Post Body](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/0ngknk0ef5z6u2xol3cp.png)

# 8. Review Your Post in Preview Mode

Once you're done with a post, it's easy to get excited and just publish - but I recommend reading through the post at least once in "Preview" mode.

Click "Preview" at the bottom of your screen to see the formatted post.

![Preview Link](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/jm3iikny2k97k51pfkum.png)

# 9. Publish!

You're done - time to publish! 

Click the link at the bottom, and your post will be LIVE!

DEV doesn't review your post before it goes out or anything - so when you click publish, make sure you're ready for people to read it.

![Publish Your Post](https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/vu7i9ayoqsy3j7s6n6q8.png)

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# CONGRATULATIONS! 🎉

You're officially a poster on DEV :)

If you run into any problems or have questions about the posting process - feel free to ask them below.  I'll respond!


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**If you liked this post**, you can find more by:

- Following me on twitter: [@chrisachard](https://twitter.com/chrisachard)
- Joining the newsletter: [chrisachard.com](https://chrisachard.com/)

Thanks for reading!