Reddit bills itself as The Front Page Of The Internet and the title is not without merit, with the site having an Alexa Global Rank within the top 100 and millions of page views in a day. The site boasts an absurd amount of content with users, known as Redditors, posting interesting content hourly. With content that caters to almost every niche imaginable, you can go in and explore and immediately feel at home.
If you’re reading this and have never set foot into the site before or just have and are completely confused on how to navigate the site, fret not as we have have for you 20 tips, tricks and tools to help get you started in finding the content you love. There are even tips here for current Redditors and you will be surprised with some of the hidden features and gems the site has.
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1. Understand The Subreddit
The first time a user enters Reddit, they may experience a sense of information overload on the front page of the internet. In order to understand the site, the user must first understand the subreddit.
A subreddit is like a section of the site that is dedicated to one topic, such as news, games and fitness. The front page is filled with information that are made up of posts from the default subreddit of the site. Look around for subreddits that will fit your niche and you will find a community ready to engage with you.
2. Search For A Subreddit
Reddit is a very large site with millions of users and thousands of subreddits catering to nearly every topic imaginable so it can be a bit hard to find a community that fits your interest. To help you search for one, you can use their subreddit search which can be accessed by pressing ‘More’, located at the very right of the My Subreddits bar. You will see 2 search bars.
The first will give you quick recommendations based on a keyword. For example, searching for the word book will give you the most popular book-related subreddits. The second will give you a list of all related subreddits for a more in-depth discovery.
3. Create An Account And Subscribe
Probably the first thing you should do if you’re serious about getting into Reddit is to get an account. Not only will you be able to participate in the comments sections, you can subscribe to the different subreddits you find intruiging, so that they will appear on the front page. Plus, you will be able to unsubscribe from any of the default subreddits that you may not like, so their posts will no longer appear on your page.
4. Learn How To Style Your Comment
You’ve probably seen some of the comments on Reddit, on how they are able to add some style into the comments. There are a lot of ways to stylize your comment. A good way to learn them is to read through their Commenting FAQ. If you know how to use the Markup syntax, you have a head start as Reddit is able to recognize these.
If you want to use those funny styled emoticons that are common on Reddit, such as the look of disapproval (ಠ_ಠ), it is done by the use of Unicode characters from the Kannada language. For the look of disapproval, copy and paste ಠ_ಠ into the comment box or just copy it directly if you see it elsewhere. Reddit supports the use of Unicode characters in comments, so use them to your heart’s content.
5. Follow Some People
Found an interesting Redditor and would like an easy way to follow their activity across the site? Add them into your own personal subreddit that contains just the posts from the people you like. To add a user, go to preference > friends and then type in the username of the Redditor you wish to stalk. Once that’s done, go to reddit.com/r/friends to view all the posts submitted by them. Do take note that you will need an account for this.
6. Find New Stuff With The Random Button
Tired of the usual subreddits you usually go to and want to discover new ones? Try out the Random button, which will throw you a completely random subreddit for you to peruse. Though you might want to be careful when you click it because, as the name implies, it is random and pressing it could possibly land you in a NSFW (Not-Safe-For-Work) subreddit.
7. Sort The Subreddit Submission
The sorting feature can be a great way of discovering new content when browsing on a new subreddit. On the top of the page, you will be given the options to sort by the newest, the hottest or the most controversial. But the best way to make use of the sorting feature is the top. Press it and you will be given the option to sort from the best of the hour, week, month, year and, for the very best, of all time. A great way to discover the gems a subreddit has to offer.
8. Combine Subreddits Into A Multireddit
Reddit allows you to create what is called a multireddit, a way for you to group together different subreddits to view within a page. This can be incredibly useful if you want to group together related subreddits into one page instead of going to each one individually.
To create a multireddit, you have to be logged in. Go to your front page and press create located on the left side of the page, under multireddits. Name it and you will be taken to a page where you can add in the subreddits. You can explore other multireddits people create by pressing explore multis.
There is also a way to create a multireddit on the fly without logging in by using this URL, www.reddit.com/r/subreddit+subreddit, where the word ‘subreddit’ is replaced with your preferred community. Example, www.reddit.com/r/wallpaper+wallpapers. If you want to add more, just add another + in the URL.
9. Linking Comments
Need to link to a particular comment made by a Redditor? Use the permalink option on their comment so that you can link directly to it. Also, if you want to link to a comment thread on Reddit but find that the URL is too long, use their shortlink which can be found at the right sidebar.
10. Create A Slideshow Of Pictures In A Subreddit
A lot of subreddits are about posting photos, r/pics being one of the biggest and also a default subreddit. If you want to just view the photos without clicking on every single link, add a ‘p’ at the end of reddit in the URL: redditp.com/r/subreddit. This will create a slideshow of all the post within the subreddit. This tip really works well on the subreddits that primarily feature images. (Tip credit: euphoniumguy)
11. Live Update Of Reddit Comments
If you want to see the stream of Reddit comments in a chronological timeline, there is no better way than Reddit Stream. It will show you all of the comments as they come in, similar to a chat log. A great tip for threads that cover live events. To access it, add in -stream in the Reddit URL when in the comments section, example www.reddit-stream.com/r/subreddit/comments/article. (Tip credit: gologologolo)
12. Use Mobile Site for Smartphones
When on a smartphone, it is preferable if you use an app to browse Reddit, as the main site isn’t well suited for mobile. But did you know that they actually have a mobile version of the site? To turn the regular site into a mobile one, add in an i on the URL, i.reddit.com. This will format the site into one that is suited for smartphone browsing.
13. Imgur Has Subreddits
Imgur is an incredibly popular image sharing site on Reddit, with Redditors uploading their photos to it and then sharing it on the site to reap in the upvotes. The majority of pictures on Reddit are hosted on Imgur. If you want to skip Reddit and just get to the pictures a la 9GAG, replace reddit in the URL with imgur, example reddit.com/r/pics becomes imgur.com/r/pics. This will show you most of the pictures that are posted to a particular subreddit.
14. Change The Interface Language
Want to browse Reddit in your own native language? You can change the interface language by pressing English (the default language) on the top right corner of the site. From here, you can select the language of your choosing or, if it’s not there or incomplete, volunteer to be a translator. Do note that the post will still be in their original language.
15. Quote a Redditor By Highlighting Before Pressing Comment
What to quote another Redditor in your reply message while in the comments section? Simply highlight the quote in question before clicking reply. When you do click it, you will see the quote in the comment box, ready to be used, analyzed, praised and/or teared down. (Tip credit: Castun)
16. Unblock A Subreddit
There are times when the Wi-Fi you are using will block access to Reddit or some of its subreddits. There are 2 easy ways for you to get over this block. One is to use HTTPS, which can be accessed at https://pay.reddit.com. This will get through most blocks and all of Reddit will be available for browsing.
If only certain subreddits are blocked, there is an easier way to unblock it. All you have to do is add a + at the end of the subreddit’s name. Example, www.reddit.com/r/pics+. (Tip credit: ShetlandJames)
17. A Quicker Way To Get To Your Subreddit
When typing in the URL for a subreddit, you can skip adding in the slashes by adding the subreddit name at the front instead of the back. For example, instead of typing in reddit.com/r/pics, enter pics.reddit.com. This way, you can browse your favorite subreddit faster. (Tip credit: Aww_Shucks)
18. Reddit Everywhere With Extensions
Wish you could post the website you are currently on to Reddit or view the comments already made about it without having to open up the Reddit on another tab? There is a way to do so by downloading a Chrome or Firefox extension that is provided at the site. The links are available at the very bottom of the Reddit page, under tools. Once installed, you will be able to vote, view comments or post the site to Reddit.
19. Consider Reddit Gold
Reddit offers a premium membership program called Reddit Gold where you can subscribe to receive extra features on the site as well as some other perks. Example of features include being able to beta test the latest Reddit features, no advertisements, special offers from third parties and access to the exclusive, super secret subreddit, The Lounge, which may or may not exist. The prices are low but if you want a fun way to obtain it, make a comment that is so good that other users may gift it to you or send in a postcard to the Reddit HQ for a month worth of Gold.
20. Download Reddit Enhancement Suite
Once you are comfortable enough with Reddit the site, it’s time to take it up a notch by installing the Reddit Enhancement Suite (R.E.S) on your browser. As the name suggest, installing R.E.S. will add in a bunch of different tools that will enhance your Reddit experience, such as logging in as multiple users, an in-line image viewer, an infinite scrollable Reddit front page, among others. Once installed, you’ll wonder how you reddit without it in the first place.
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