I just learned about the emoji keyboard on my new iPad. But when I send a smiley face the other person does not see it. Am I doing something wrong?

What are you doing and what do they see?

I typed an email and put in a smiley. Sent it to myself. Saw it on the iPad but not on my computer. There were empty boxes. Sent one to a friend too and she didn't see the smiley on her computer.

That's because the Emoji font set isn't on the PC.

As a general rule, only other iDevices can see emojis created from the iPad. You could, however, look up and keep handy some Unicode symbols for typing. I installed an app that puts a whole bunch of Unicode characters in my Contacts app. I'm not sure I like where they are, but I do like the fact that I can put in a smiley face that can be read by everyone I sent the text or e-mail to ... so far.

It'd be nice if all devices could talk as well to each other and we can use the fancy emojis (because there are way more than Unicode ever thought of), but, in a pinch and with no other options, I use Unicode.

Marilyn