Benjamin: "Garth, you and I, we've never really talked."
Garth: *Stares blankly*
Benjamin: "We're thinking about giving Vanderhoff a weekly spot on the show, how do you feel about the change?"
Garth: "We fear change... "

~Wayne's World



Fellow deviants,

It's almost time! I don't know about you, but I'm anxious and excited. I've got that little bit of nervous and I'm ready!

Are you?

For you new deviants who don't know how things work around here; deviantART's birthday is August 7th, 2000. And we release new versions of the site each year on our birthday, with the exception of the years when we just don't. But we are in fact releasing v5 on our birthday this year! There's a count-down counter on the front page within the "deviantART Loves You" box that you can watch.

Historically new versions have been met with some mild resentment due to attachment to the older version. We anticipate this, and refuse to believe it'll actually happen this time. But it probably will be an emotional process for many members. If it helps; I've been using the new version for about a month now, and I can't switch back to v4 anymore. I simply have no desire to do so. It’s that good!

Stop talking and start talking.

We've planned v5 in anticipation for v5.5 and v6 and every major feature they'll contain. This version of deviantART is about finesse. Our focus was to keep everything the way it is, but fine tune it with a magnifying glass so that the system just works and flows a whole lot better. And we've done so for the following sections: Browse. And Search. They're now the same thing. Search. Not only the art. All the Journal Entries, all the News articles, all the Forum threads. Completely revamped News. Your news. Post it, the community will it, and it is seen. Kinda like Digg. We love Digg. The Front Page. Customize it with the art from the galleries you like. The User Pages. We polished them. For the most part? They're the same. (This is a good thing.) Navigation. Is so much. Better. The Forums. Yes, there's a jump-to menu. And yes, you can see all of them. The NEW Today page. Browse Journals. See the Community Mood graph, and get a slice of overall deviantART activity. Here are some other interesting features: Big Thumbnails. For everybody this time. Feeds. RSS/ATOM, etc. for just about everything. Embed tags for mid sized thumbs (the 300 pixel ones) - hot link art where embed tags are supported! Available only for works that are deviantMOBILE enabled. Moods; my favorite new feature! Every time you write a comment, you can set your mood. Everything you post a comment on returns a mood meter. This is great fun; it allows you to communicate how you're feeling, so people don't misinterpret what you're saying. But there's an even more interesting side effect. Browse photographs that make you HAPPY. Read journal entries that make people ANGRY. And sift through News articles that are SURPRISING.

Front Page Screenshot Userpage Gallery Screenshot

deviantART v5.5 preview

But we're not done, when v5 launches we're taking a nap, and then we're continuing on to v5.5 immediately. We intend to launch it either one feature at a time, or all at once before the end of the year. (Disclaimer: the stuff below is not launching August 7th, it's coming soon.) deviantART v5.5 will include:

• Collections. aka. devPacks.


• The Party System. Including Chat 1.0.


• The Prints Program. Revamped. Completely.

Along with that cliché phrase, "and more to come!"

And now we wait...

Thank you for your continued support throughout the years. We love you and we are honored to serve you. We all care about each other here at deviantART, so please bring peace with you, and take it wherever you go.

deviantART v5 launches August 7th, 2006.


So, on behalf of the best team I've ever had the privilege to work with,

Peace.

-- A