## Perhaps you have need of a very specific icon for the writing convention of your guide or you just like to festoon your work with as much colour as possible, in either case 1,000's of cross-platform emoji & emojicons await you and your articles in searchable database collections at [Emojipedia](https://emojipedia.org) and [Emojicon](http://www.emojicons.com/).
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![emojipedia.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmYDMHnEVHVi6NnaJsp5eS6SR8GM3uHAu1uNgJahsqwyeq/emojipedia.png)
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<div class=pull-right> https://steemitimages.com/DQmRtufQujGXyVpGYNUfVuyHpwk5f82SmJtvoGzanagdUpz/charmap1.png</div> We all know about Character Map on Windows, Character Palette on Mac, and the multitude equivalents on Linux, right? No? Well, now you do. These applications allow you to view the characters available in a specific font, including © symbols and über special characters. 

Special fonts like [webdings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webdings) and [wingdings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wingdings) sprang up over the years to accommodate various pictographic needs.
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<div class=pull-left>https://steemitimages.com/DQmVKp2j1q8fnrMdvygjr3ySN8V5wRQWVeAXKF3R26Stb2X/charmap2.png</div>
But we all know about the issues caused by lack of universal standard, cross-platform support, and proprietary solutions, right? No? Well, now you know that too. If a specific character referenced in a specific font is not present on another system, well you just get an unusual substitute like a ⬜ box or a 🔣 weird code, or worse yet some other character is displayed instead, leading to confusion. Enter emoji, the ubiquitous and cross-platform standard, almost...
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##### Enter emoji
Emoji is a standardised set of characters that are available on iOS, Android, Windows, and OS X. While the artwork for each emoji varies across platforms the meaning of each symbol remains the same. Emoji names are [official character and/or CLDR names](https://emojipedia.org/faq/) and code points, listed as part of the [Unicode Standard](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unicode_Standard). The Unicode Standard is updated on an ongoing basis. The next emoji update is [Unicode 10](https://emojipedia.org/unicode-10.0/) which is currently in the candidate stage.

ℹ️ Be aware that while the rendering of an emoji will vary between systems the intent or meaning will remain the same, **check compatibility here**: [caniemoji.com](http://caniemoji.com/)

As of June 2017 there are 2,666 emojis in the Unicode Standard and counting. This includes some sequences for gender or skin tone (see below), flags, and the components of some multi-emoji sequences. That's a lot of emoji, so the problem now is not limited choice but how to find the emoji you need? That's where [Emojipedia](https://emojipedia.org) becomes indispensable.
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##### A Word About Emojicons
Emojicons are a special case because they're not actually emoji, rather they are a kind of [Gestalt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gestalt_psychology) comprised of various text characters which, when juxtaposed, resemble some character or icon. If you don't get it, well, ಠ_ಠ...... (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
[![emojicons](https://steemitimages.com/DQmX3onESrhAb1GCE8M5TpzuYQxnaLMSyrJyXLYKuy4P2p5/emojicons.PNG)](http://www.emojicons.com/)
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##### A Word About Licensing
⚠️ Different emoji are created under various emoji development projects so licensing varies a great deal. Information on licensing of various emoji can be found here: https://emojipedia.org/licensing/

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##### Accessing emoji
Emoji can be accessed by visiting [emojipedia.org](https://emojipedia.org/) and searching their massive database, there's also a short URL http://xn--yt8h.la/ which can be represented with an emoji [📙.la](📙.la) (test it, copy & paste that text to your address bar) and even combined with an emoji name or emoji to load it directly like either of these:
🔎 [📙.la/rocket](📙.la/rocket)
🔎 [📙.la/🚀](📙.la/🚀)

Bookmark or text expand that for speed. Next time you use an emoji that you want to reuse just make a new text expand or bookmark referencing it.

Or from a [DuckDuckGo](https://duckduckgo.com/) search just type `!emoji` at the start of a query to search Emojipedia's or Emojicon's collection directly:
![dax-bang.png](https://steemitimages.com/DQmf3i1zKXEmKLq1UUGieB3n7M1BGkwgznLqRVX9iYrTx2h/dax-bang.png)

<div class=pull-right>https://steemitimages.com/DQmNzkZMsfkxAfxwjRU4EAXv6Y9C3wZuaVuoQHa9oUCgWQM/Firefox_Sidebar.png </div>But by far the most convenient method is available to users of Firefox (only, sorry, it's a program specific feature). Simply make a bookmark to Emojipedia and tick the "Load this bookmark in the sidebar" box. Now you can open an Emojipedia search panel without leaving your current page! <BR><BR>

ℹ️ Be aware that any links you click in the sidebar will load to the main window, so don't do that if you don't want to leave your current page. 
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Perhaps keep a separate tab open for browsing Emojipedia using the sidebar:
![Firefox_Sidebar-Search](https://steemitimages.com/DQmeitf8kfhLMKRx2dwJQw23ARn5Kp8LTvfkrxC5ouvQZV5/Firefox_Sidebar-Search.png)

ℹ️ Finally, use modifiers can be used when searching for emoji representing specific skin tones to help you find the one that matches your needs: 🕵🏾 https://emojipedia.org/modifiers/

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So get out there, colour ❤️ your work 😂 all shades of 🔥 crazy 🎆  or stick to your common conventions with ⚠️ alerts, ℹ️ infos, & 📌 tips, either way and as always **_STEEM ON!_**

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###### Emojipedia® is a registered trademark of Emojipedia Pty Ltd, the Emojipedia name, logo, and web site content are property of Emojipedia Pty Ltd.
###### All emoji are property of the respective rights holders.
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<center>Questions and comments are welcomed in the replies. If you'd like to see more articles like this then `^vote`, resteem, and comment below. Considerable effort has gone into researching, testing, and formatting for this article.
### If you liked it, then you shoulda put a `^vote` on it!</center>
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