Pronunciation: miss-kat
Function: noun
Etymology: short for miscategorized

1. DeviantArt-speak for an image that is posted in the wrong gallery.
2. Any image that has been submitted improperly causing it to be out of place.

"What's the buzz about miscats, why do people make such a bid deal about them?" It's a common enough question, what compels people to focus on them so much? Hopefully I will help give some answers to this situation and provide some information to make people think about why miscats are such an important thing here at DeviantArt.

First off, as the definition above states, any image that isn't in the proper gallery is considered a miscat. It happens to every gallery, art that isn't like the others. Some really stand out and others are not so bold in their misplacement. Regardless of how misplaced, it's a situation that can be improved. Here's what I believe to be some of the biggest reasons why artists should take more care to properly submit art to the correct gallery.

As a gallery director, dealing with miscats is a huge drain of resources. There are days when we spend hours moving images that are not in the proper gallery. Time that could be spent for browsing, writing news features, looking for art to post as Daily Deviations is wasted while we move art instead. Time that could be spent creating really cool contests, or interviewing fellow deviants is used going through report tickets for miscats. Hours that we could be using for chatting with fellow deviants, helping build the community by getting feedback first hand, is spent moving images. As I said, miscats are a huge drain on resources.

Besides wasting resources, how you post your art says much about yourself. If you consistently submit to the wrong gallery, how are you going to be received by the community? I'm sure most of us have seen it, "WRONG GALLERY" written in the comments. Although that is harsh, it is a negative mark on how you and your art is received. If you don't care about where your art is misplaced to, why should anyone bother to give it the time it deserves by clicking on it when browsing?

Another aspect about miscats that gets overlooked is if your art isn't where it should be, it may get overlooked by incredible ways. Whether you want to admit it or not, DA is increasingly becoming popular. Being a website that has membership internationally, the eyes of the world are upon us here. It would be a sad day if a large corporation was looking for a specific type of art and missed yours because it was a miscat, posted to a gallery that they weren't looking in, regardless of the fact you may have created exactly what they needed. "Yeah, sure, what are the odds of that happening?" Who cares, if you miss the opportunity of a lifetime because you didn't care enough when you posted your art, odds won't matter.

So what can you do to help? To begin with, know your art and the galleries that apply to the medium. If you paint, get familiar with the painting sections. Browsing the areas is a great way to see what the medium is all about and how the theme of each section is laid out. For example, browsing the fractal gallery will give you a really quick idea what they look like. Each gallery has a flavor and look, browsing them really helps you understand them.

The gallery descriptions also are a huge source of information. By taking just a small moment to read them during the submission process would help eliminate miscats tremendously. A lot of work went into writing them and we review them to see if they are in line with the current sections. Art evolves, so should the descriptions.

Lastly, if you still don't know the right place for your art, contact the help desk. It happens, people create something that we don't have a gallery for. No shame, it happens. We get the help ticket and review the image. Sometimes it's a matter of finding what it's as close to as possible. Most of the time there is a gallery, we just have to help the deviant find it. On rare occasions, a new gallery needs to be created. Like I said, art evolves, so should we. The help desk is a great source to get your problems taken care of.

After all that, there will still be people who don't care. It's only natural, not everyone will care, the world is made from all types of people and so is this site. If you see art that is misplaced, reporting it does wonders. Simply click on "Report Policy Violation" at the bottom of the image and select "Misplacement" in the drop down menu. When submitted, a report is generated for the gallery directors to review. We deal with the image the way it should be, moving it from the gallery if it is a miscat.

We deal with probably hundreds of images each day. Because of the huge volume that needs to be taken care of, the quickest and easiest way to move a miscat is select the "scrap" location. This is the default location for us moving them because it simplifies the process. If we had to hunt down the correct gallery for every report, we'd never get things done, scraps is the best way to deal with a miscat. Scraps is only the default setting, it is NOT a statement of your images quality. Please do not take it personally, it's not about what your art looks like, merely that it was posted to the wrong spot. When we move an image to scraps, it is encouraged for the artist to read the gallery descriptions and relocate it to the correct gallery. You do not have to leave it in scraps, it's only a temporary state to maintain the galleries.

In conclusion, keeping the galleries organized is important for many reasons. I hope this will help encourage people to do the right thing and help the site by simply taking a small amount of time during the submission process to place their art correctly. You worked hard on your creation, make an effort to have it received in a positive manner.