Site Update: Testing New Features

In our continuous effort to improve the deviantART experience, we're publishing weekly Site Updates to keep members informed and to gather feedback. Below is a list of recent changes to the site and feedback that was brought up by members in the last Site Update.

New Features Being Tested

A series of new features are currently being tested within the community! These features are currently available to many of our Beta Testers, as well as small handful of the general deviantART audience. 

• Today Page: The new Today Page is a human and dynamically powered newspaper for the community that reflects the stories inside of deviantART as they pertain to art, fandom, pop- and world culture.
• Site Navigation: The site navigation has been given a redesign for organization and ease of use, condensing the main menu and giving emphasis to important aspects of the site, such as What's Hot, Undiscovered, and Daily Deviations.
• Activity Feeds: In addition to the familiar Message Center, the new Activity Feed gives you the opportunity to explore deviations, Polls, and other items posted by artists you follow, as well as the artwork that they curate in their Collections. 
• Status Updates: As part of the Activity Feeds, you can now post quick Status Updates! Post quick personal updates, share a work in progress or your commission status, share the work of an artist you like, talk about current events, ask your watchers for advice, share what inspires you, or talk about how you’re feeling.
  
• Tags: Tags create landing pages around topics, making it easier to discover related artwork, and bring together artists and art appreciators around common interests. Tag pages display artwork, Journals, Collections, Status Updates, and a stream of activity around a shared theme, so you can connect with other people who share your interests.
• Collections: You can now watch Collections made by other deviants. When you watch someone, you’ll automatically be watching their Collections, but you can also choose to enable or disable watching Collections on a deviant-by-deviant basis.

Your Feedback

Thank you for the feedback on last week's Site Update! Here's some of the feedback you left for us.

• Deviants were positive about the release of the Tag Editor.
• A few deviants voiced concern with a few search issues relating to tags. These issues have since been dealt with by our developers.
• Marichromatic suggested a way for the community to add relevant tags to another user's deviations (with approval from that deviant), to help bring their artwork to the right audience.

Discuss!

Random Buttons

Do you use the Random Deviant, Deviation, or Group buttons, and if so, how frequently? When you do use them, is it just a matter of browsing, or are you using these buttons with a specific intent in mind?

Header artwork: the sprouts by DSMeskalito 

Have a suggestion, idea, or feedback? Leave a comment here!
Check out a list of common suggestions!
Want to keep track of known issues? Check out our Status Forum!
Find a bug? Report it to the Help Desk! (Be as detailed as possible!)