Short Intro to the deviantART Forums.
Where to find the Forums.
The first step you should take before using the forum is to access them and give a general look around to get an idea on how they are, but how can you see them if you don't know how to find them? Luckily finding the forums is really easy, all you have to do is clicking the link Forum that you'll find on the top of deviantART pages (if you customized your "More" menu, you'll have to click on "More" and you'll find a link to the Forum in the Spotlight category). So now that you know how to get to the Forum page go and give a look at them.

General Information.
With a first glance you will notice a really basic forum structure, with a list of forum name on the right, the number of topics and post in the middle and on the left a link to the latest thread posted for each of them. If you try clicking on one of the forum names you will be brought to the forums. It seems all pretty easy and the structure seems so basic that whoever could browse around the forum without issue... but it's not really like that. The forums you see when you access the forums page are the deviantART Main forums, but they're not the only ones! If you carefully look at the Forum page you will see a "Categories" button right under the word Forum on the top of the page. If you try clicking it you will see a menu with a list of forums appearing, and on the top of that list you will notice "Galleries". Galleries forum are currently a little hidden, but that doesn't mean they should be forgotten. If you have any question related to an Art technique you should ask it in those forums, so be sure to give a good look at them too


Some Rules.
I'm afraid to tell you but even Forums have got some rules and you should check them carefully before taking part to the Forum community!
The easiest rule to follow is to always post your threads in English only. If you'll ever post a thread in another language you can be sure it'll get locked. Please note that this rule exist in order to provide a good moderation, so please keep your posts in English. The second easy rule to follow is not to answer to threads that have been not active for 6 months or longer. All the threads receiving a reply after 6 months or more of inactivity will get locked. The reason? Some people don't like to get replies to a thread they created 4 years ago.

Some other rules can be found in each forum, posted in the Sticky threads (usually they have a "README before posting" written next to them)

The rest rules are the same that apply to the whole deviantART, and the most important are:
   No sexual discussions
   No promotion or distribution of warez
   No spamming
   All links posted should be directed to websites rated PG13

For these three I recommend you to check the following FAQs (and a News article) so that you'll have a clear idea about them.
   FAQ #506: Does deviantART allow sexual discussions in chatrooms or the forums?
   FAQ #501: What is "warez" and what is deviantART's stance on warez?
   FAQ #263: What is spamming?
   CEA UPdate for 14 February 2008 - Unacceptable Off Site Links

Where to Get Help?
I will never get bored of say this... Please, and I really mean it, if you require assistance or help with deviantART DON'T ask for it in forum threads! Any thread containing a help request with a feature of this site will get locked, not cause MN@ members are evil and don't want you to get help, but cause they want you to receive a proper help from official channels! So please if you need help read the thread: Where to get help on deviantART.

Creating a Forum thread.
Searching the proper Forum.
The first thing first before posting a new thread is to find the right place where to post it! Be sure to browse well all the forums (Main and Galleries Forums too) to get an idea on what they are about and then post it in the forum where you think your thread will fits the most.

Guidelines.
Once you think you found the proper forum be sure to read well the Forum guidelines, they're usually on the top with some other threads that have a yellow icon next to them. Guidelines and all the other threads with the yellow icon are called Sticky threads, and they're the ones that contains useful information about the forum. Be sure to read them, especially the ones with "READ ME" in their title, if there's written read me there has to be a reason.

Active Threads.
Did you read the forum guidelines and you're sure that's the perfect forum for your thread? Awesome! The next step you have to take now is to read through the entries of the forum to check if there's already a thread about the subject you want to talk about. It doesn't take much as deviantART forum consist of one page only, as soon as threads are pushed down and reach the "second page" they'll stop being shown from the forum page and they'll be back only if someone write again in that thread. If you see an already existing thread about the subject you want to post (in example, if you want to post a thread about the weathere and you see a thread that is talking about the weather), please write in that one and don't create a new one.

How to post.
Once you're sure you found the proper forum simply scroll down the page to the bottom and you will notice a big title "New Forum Thread", simply fill "Subject" with the title of your thread, choose a "Thread Icon" that will be displayed next to your thread title and finally write the post in the "Body" box. Once you're done (be sure to spellcheck what you write, forums with a proper grammar are better welcomed by the regular forum users ) click on "Preview" to see how your message will appear, if you want to make some changes click on "Edit" and edit your message, and once you'll be sure about your message click on "Submit".

Using the Forums
The Reply button.
When you're answering someone in a forum thread always remember to use the Reply button. It's important to use that button because if you do it the other person will get notified about your message in his message centre.
If you need further information about it check the FAQ #41: What do the "Parent", "Top" and "Reply" links under comments mean?

HTML tags.
deviantART forums don't support BBcode, so don't try writing something like [B]text[/B] as it won't work at all. Do not panic though, as they support some standard HTML tags, in example if you want to write something in bold be sure to use the HTML tag <b>text</b>.
If you don't know much about HTML check the FAQ #104: What HTML formatting can we use on deviantART? And what is the format for these codes? as it contains a list of codes that can be used around forums and the site too. Please note that in forum posts just like in comment you can't use images, so if you try using the <img src="" /> code it'll end up displaying the code and not the image. Another FAQ you might find useful, in case you want to promote your website or you want to share a link with some people, is the FAQ #81: How can I make links to other deviants, deviations, or websites?, so be sure to give a read to that one too.

Deviations and Print Thumbnails.
Even though you can't use the HTML code to show images, there are 3 special forums where you're allowed to post thumbnails of your deviations and/or prints. Those forums are the following:
   Deviation ThumbShare forum: In this forum you're allowed to share thumbnails of your deviations
   Prints Thumbshare Forum: In this forum you're allowed to share thumbnails of your prints
   Subscribers Thumbshare Forum: this one is available only to subscribers member only and in there people can share both deviations and prints thumbnails.

Posting a thumbnail of a deviation is really easy, all you have to do is to use the code :thumb###: (where ### is the deviation number) that can be found in the deviations page, next to the Artist's comment, while for posting prints thumbnails you should use the code :shop###: (where in this case ### is the number of the print). If you're still confused with thumbnails read the FAQ #511: How do I post thumbnails of my art on the Chat Network or Forums? you'll find an example of deviations and print thumbnail code there.

Request the closure of a thread
How to properly request a lock.
Did you post a thread in the wrong forum? Are you bored to get replies in a thread you posted? Do you want to report a thread cause it violate some rules? Then request a lock for it! When you're requesting a lock though please don't write things like "plz [link]" or "can you lock my thread? (without a link)", as the first isn't really polite, is it? and the second way is not complete. A proper closure request should be like: "Can you please lock my thread? You can find it here [link]" or "There's a thread that's been posted in the wrong forum, can you please check it? [link]". It doesn't take too much to add a "please" to the request and I can assure you that it makes it sounds much better.
Before going on be sure to check the FAQ #709: I need to request a forum thread closure, where do I go for help?

#MNAdmin.
The fastest way to get a thread locked is going in #MNAdmin. In there you will usually find an active MN@ operator that will take care of your request as soon as he/she will see it. If there's not an active mn@ you can try leaving a message to one of them using the @MNBot command:
`note send username message
(example: `note send Little-Vampire can you lock this thread please [link] ).
If you can't think of any MN@ username you can see a list of the Senior MN@ on the top of the chatroom! As soon as the MN@ you contacted will be on dAmn, he/she will see your message

Help Desk (Chat Inquires).
Another place where you can request a lock is the Help Desk. Be sure to choose "Chat Inquiries" as category so that you know it'll be sent to the right persons!
Please note this method might take more time and won't be immediate.

Contacting MN@.
Some people report threads also by noting directly one of the MN@ operators. Even if it's a fair way to report a thread I'd rather discourage you in doing it unless you're totally sure the MN@ you're trying to contact is active. You might have the back luck to send the note to a MN@ that is somewhere on vacation for a week or more, so your note won't be read for some time and the lock will be delayed.

Not do do.
If you want your thread to be closed please don't write things like "This thread is closed!" or "This can be closed now as I don't care about it" in your own forum thread without reporting it, because it'll be useless. If you want your thread to be properly closed use one of the way I explained before, because writing yourself that a thread is closed won't do anything, people will still be able to write in there.
Another thing it'd be nice if you'd avoid doing is to request a thread lock in MN@ and core staff's userpages and journals. There's a working note system, so if you really want to contact a MN@ member for the closure of a thread do it through notes.

Oh my someone locked my thread!
Contact the Help Desk.
One of your threads got locked and you think it was unfair? Don't go in the MN@ userpage to insult the person, but first read well the lock message left by the moderator. If you still have questions about the lock, or if you think the lock wasn't needed you can contact the Help Desk (Chat Inquiry category) or you could try discussing about it directly with the MN@ that closed it via note.



Well this is more or less all you need to know in order to properly use the forums. To get more in touch with the Forum community you should also give a look at the Forum Newsletter that =bohobella writes monthly!
You can find a list of the past and current Forum Newsletter in this thread: Forum News Letters!