Updated: Dec 6, 2018 [10:49 AM EST]

Hey there everyone! Due to the recent outbreak of Tumblr artists migrating to NG, I decided to work on a little handbook to help newbies get settled in. 

The Art Portal and Scouting: 

Anyone can submit their art into Newgrounds, however their art will not appear on the Art Portal right away. That user needs to be 'scouted' before they can really submit stuff to the Portal. Only a Scout (a person who was scouted and granted entry to the Art Portal) can do this. 

In order to get scouted, you need at least four submission already submitted within your NG account. Once you do, a Scout can grant you entry. Keep in mind you cannot ASK to get scouted. That will lower your chances in actually getting entry within the portal. The best way to get scouted is posting your art within the Art forums in the NG BBS.

Another thing to keep in mind, by any chance you, the Scout that scouted you, or a user that was scouted by the same Scout that granted you entry has their submission removed or are banned from the Art Portal, you will be pruned and lose the right to submit artwork within the Art Portal, and so will the Scout that scouted you and the scouted users that Scout granted.

EDIT: As of the 12/5 maintenance, you can add up to 12 tags within your art now!

Never accept Art Portal rights with anyone you wouldn't trust your life's work with.

What's Allowed and What's Not?:

Newgrounds has a strict, no-tolerance policy on works or content that you did not made your own, or stolen from another. Simply enough, don't be dumb and commit art theft like a lunatic. However, considering some special cases (i.e. using Source Filmmaker models and etc), the rules can be interpreted a bit differently. 

For a more detailed explaination on what's to be expected when submitting content within NG, read the Newgrounds Wiki entry here. 

If for some reason you feel the need to report a submission or find something that doesn't belong in the Portals, you can report that submission by clicking the flag icon on the submission's title bar.

Remember to be descriptive in your report. False reports can get you in trouble, or worse.

Leveling System, Voting, B/P Points and More:

Every new user registered onto NG start off with the standard Level 1, Civilian badge, Normal whistle, and no B/P points get up. To level up, you need to vote on submissions across the entire site. For every vote you earn 2 XP. You'll be able to continue to rack up experience until your fifth vote, at which you'll make a deposit for the day. You can only earn a total of 10 XP for a single Grounds Gold day. How a Grounds Gold day ends and start is dependent on your own current time zone. 

XP adds weight to your vote, allowing you judge a submission much more critically. Within NG's own general portal, you have the power to either save or completely destroy someone's precious submission. A movie/game submission needs to be judged before it can really enter the Portal. For each submission you save or delete, it'll add toward your B/P (Blam/Protection) count. Gaining B/P points also adds more Voting Power to your votes!

Voting 0-1 stars on a movie/game submission will blam it. Voting 2-5 stars will protect it. Voting incorrectly will not earn you B/P points.

For a more details on the the system and the process of judging submissions, check out the wiki here. 

User Pages and Customization:

While NG doesn't have as much customization options as Tumblr does, NG does allow you to list your favorite movies, games, and even medals earned through games, trophies and even stats. Like Tumblr, you get your own page, named right after your handle name (i.e. ******.newgrounds.com). It's your own personal page and it can be as a easy gateway to your other social media outlets. 

You also got your own blog right in the middle of it all, and you free to switch around the columns to what you see fit. Not only that, you can also set a cover pic, your profile pic, and even the accent colors of the page, all in one tool!

It's a really snazzy tool, just saying.

The BBS and You:

The Newgrounds Bulletin Board System, or NG BBS for short, is the best source of information (minus anything that goes into General) you can find about everything Newgrounds, animation, art or basically anything you can think of! It's also a way you can discuss topics with other fellow NGers about utter nonsense if you wanted to. 

Remember to read the rules!!

This Is Great And All, But How Do I Freakin' Upload Stuff?!

Simply press this handy button right next to your name and other handy buttons...

Go on, push it...

...and pick your poison!

Remember to upload content that YOU made or own the rights to.

Oh, as a extra thank you... every NGer gets a free 500MB+ (500MB more if you're a Supporter) of storage to use on the Dumping Grounds! Improve searchability with tags! You're only limited to four tags at time, however a pending update is coming where you'll be able to tag even more information about your content!

Collabinator and the Project System:

The Collabinator and the Project System are two of the most helpful tools for content creators here on Newgrounds. 

The Collabinator allows artists, musicians or even writers to come to get together and put their skills to work. It's a good way to seek out paid work for others, getting a project going, hiring artists and etc, or just the means of putting yourself out there. This is the best way to get some serious networking here. 

The Project System is Newgrounds' own publishing system for everything movies, games, audio or even artwork. The PS handles publications of your works, manages revenue for all members working, access Dumping Grounds data and more. 

It's fairly complex, so take the time to read up the wiki for more information.

(to be added later)

If you got any questions or would like to beat me in the head about something I miss, feel free to yell at me about it in the comments section or shoot me a PM!