Hive is not new to most of the “crypto-bloggers”. I call them Crypto-bloggers because they write blogs to earn crypto-tokens that can be exchanged for fiat currencies or other popular crypto-currencies. Hive platform was copied from the previously popular Steemit platform. Before Hive, there were many similar platforms that tried to mimic Steemit like Weku, Whaleshares, Bitshare and others, to name a few, but the value of their tokens are low until now.
This discussion will be done in the most understandable way as possible. Use of technical terms will be minimal so everybody could understand fast and easy. I will try to translate technical terms to layman’s term so it won’t be hard for newbies. What I will share is what I know about the platform, anyone can make a correction if what I said is wrong. I’ll keep everything simple.
SIGN-UP OR REGISTRATION
Hive, like other social media platform, asks for sign-up or registration, but hive sign-up is not that simple. The easiest way to register is through esteem.app by @good-karma, it offers a free sign-up using only your email address and self-chosen username. To register CLICK HERE
Fill-up the form with your username and email address. Check your email for registration confirmation and verification. There is a verification code you need to supply sent to your email address. Enter the code to finalize your registration. Wait for esteem to send you another email containing your password. The password that they will supply must be copied thoroughly, and saved in a safe place where you can keep it. Don’t lose your password because you’ll lose your account for sure, no way of recovering it. You can also keep the email sent to you with your password.
Don’t be too excited to enter inside the blogging page because you need to get another password for posting. Clcik Here to get your posting key. Login using your username and primary password. Click Keys & Permission and look for the posting key. Copy it and paste it where you can keep it. I am using Google Keep to keep my passwords so I can access it even in my mobile phone.
LOGIN INSIDE YOUR BLOGGING PAGE
There are several ways to create your first post or blog. You need to enter through the blogging page using your browser or app.1. HIVE.BLOG – this a webpage that you can use to create your post using your browser. It will contain all your posts.
2. PEAKD.COM – this is a webapp that you can also use to create your post. You must login with hivesigner using your posting key.
3. EsteemApp – download the esteem application for desktop or mobile depending on what device you would like to use for blogging.
These are applications you can use to start your blogging. Login using your username and posting key only.
CREATING YOUR POST
Log-in using Hive.blog. Click the pen icon in your webpage to start writing your post. When using a PC or laptop, on the left side of the screen is where you will write your post. On the right side is the preview of your post. In writing, markdown style editor which I mentioned that is on the left side. In the markdown style editor is where you compose your work. Enter your Title and compose your article. You can insert picture by clicking the “select image” below the editor. In peakd.com, the markdown editor is simpler to use because you will just click icons.
Credit your pictures or photos properly. If you get it from the internet you should state the site where it was taken. If the picture is yours, then state that it is your own picture.
Make your introduction post your first post with a tag #introduceyourself. It will help you gain welcome upvotes that are usually high.
PERSONALIZE YOUR PAGE
In your page, click settings to change your avatar, cover photo and your personal description. You can also indicate your website and location. This will help others to identify you and follow you. Click update to save your changes. Make your avatar and cover photo attractive to make it appealing to others.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR WALLET
To access your wallet, go to wallet.hive.blog, log-in using your primary key. You will see the following tabs on the top. 1. Balances – where you can find your Hive, Hive Power, Hive Base Dollar (HBD) and Wallet Value in Dollars. All your transaction will be seen at the bottom of the page including earnings, exchanges and transfers. 2. Keys & Permission – it contains the posting and active keys of your account. 3. Change Password – where you can change your password. 4. Communities – If you want to create your own communities.
Here are the contents of Balances;
- HIVE – is the tradeable token used inside hive ecosystem. It can be used to Power-Up your Hive Power.
- Hive Power - influence token which gives you control over post, upvotes and your activity within the ecosystem. Hive Power has influence over your Voting Power, Resource Credit and Vote Value. The higher the Hive Power the higher voting value and bigger mana.
- HIVE BASE DOLLAR – is also a tradeable token you can use like Hive.
- SAVINGS – if you want to save your tokens you can place it into savings, it won’t be available for transfer or trade. It is subject to 3-day withdrawal waiting period.
- Estimated Account Value – is the estimated dollar value of all your Hive, HBD and Hive Power.
YOUR ACTIVITIES WITHIN HIVE
There are tasks or activities you perform inside Hive platform like create post, reblog post, follow, upvote, downvote, comment, delegate and transfer tokens. All of these activities affects your Resource Credit. Performing these activities will reduce your RC. Your Resource Credit, Voting Power and Downvoting Power is dependent on the amount of your Hive Power. You need to check them regularly to know their status. May be you’ll ask why you can’t make a post, it is because your Resource Credit is already drained. You can visit HIVEBLOCKS to see your VP, DP and RC.Higher Hive Power will help you use your VP and RC longer and recharge faster. Your Hive Power is your strength within Hive ecosystem. For new sign-ups ask your friend or the one who invited you to delegate some Hive Power to you so you can perform some tasks.
Voting for a post that you like depends on your Voting Power. Voting Power is reduced whenever you upvote comments and posts but don’t worry It recharged every hour until it reached 100% again. Lesser Voting Power will provide lesser value. To avoid fast depletion of Vote Power, you can reduce the voting percentage. Don’t give a 100% vote, reduce it to 50% (using the vote slider), so that it won’t drain your Voting Power fast.
You can also downvote post and comment, but I suggest you don’t. If you don’t like a post just leave it. Downvote Power works the same with Voting Power.
Your Vote Value depends on the amount of Hive Power you have. It starts really with 0. Once your Hive Power increases your Vote Value increases as well. Like Vote Power, vote value can be changed using the vote slider. Example: A 50% upvote will give the post only 50% of the vote value.
If you want to see statistics of your Resources you can visit https://hiveblockexplorer.com/@username . It will help you analyze your performance and activities.
Following authors are good thing you must do and reading their works will make you learn faster. If you happen to read a good post don’t hesitate to upvote it. If you want to promote the post to your followers, you can reblog it so that your followers can read and upvote it. If you can’t read a post the time you saw it, you can reblog to read it in a later time. Creating good post will help you grow your fan and audience. When you grow your audience it will lead to more upvotes with higher vote value.
DELEGATION AND TRANSFERS
Delegation of Hive Power can be done when you already have excess Hive Power. You can lend it to others to help them start or it can be used to further increase your Hive Power. When you delegate HP to a recipient your voting power and vote value are reduced. However, your delegated HP grow because it gets a share from the curation reward. You can remove delegation when you feel you need it want use it. Transfer of Hive and HBD can be done through peer-to-peer or through the allowed crypto-exchange platform like @bittrex and @blocktrades. Peer-to-peer transfer is transferring tokens to other member’s wallet. The deal is done from person to person. Transferring your tokens to exchanges will help you trade your token to major crypto-currencies like BTC (bitcoin). You can search for tutorials on how to properly transfer your tokens to exchanges. Mistake on the exchange or wallet address will make you lose your tokens. Be careful when transferring.
AUTHOR AND CURATION REWARD
Posts are being rewarded base on the upvotes depending on the vote value of the votes acquired. 50% of the vote value will be given as author reward and 50% will be given as curation reward after 7 days the post was published. Pay-out is always 7 days after publishing the post. Author reward will be given to the writer of the post and Curation Reward will be given to those who made the upvotes. Early curators have the best chance of getting curation reward depending on their vote value. Accounts with high Hive Power and vote value will have a better chance of getting curation reward when upvoting posts. Don’t be shy to upvote, you can get reward too.
By clicking the reward amount below your post will help you see the value of the Author and Curation Rewards. And to see the history of your rewards you can click the reward tab on your page.
HIVE COMMUNITIES
Communities are group of people sharing the same interest. SUBSCRIBE to their community, it will give you opportunity to share post in the community. When creating a post, click "write post" button, the main tag of your post is the community’s tag and your post will appear on their community page. It will help your post to be seen by other community members and main curators that will help you acquire better valued upvotes. Make sure that you follow the rules of the community. Write articles only relevant to the community. You can search for communities that suits your interest and the niche of your articles or blogs. Most of the community rewards good authors. For video makers you can subscribe to #Threespeak community. Interest like photography, food, original contents, love and others have their respective communities.
Here some of the communities to name a few;
1. HivePh - Philippine Community #hiveph #philippines by @bearone & @romeskie
2. Threespeak- Video uploads #threespeak by @threespeak & @theycallmedan
3. OCD - Original Content Decentralized #ocd by @acidyo
4. GEMS - Users retention #gems by@appreciator, @rocky1 & @upmewhale
5. Ulogs - for uloggers #ulogs by @surpassinggoogle
Most of the communities have their own TOKEN rewarded to authors of posts. It can be seen in the Hive-engine. In Peakd.com, go to your wallet and click hive-engine, you’ll see your community tokens.
WITNESS
Study about witness and vote for you chosen witness, that you think can help improve the HIVE ecosytem. Don't forget it. They will definitely help this platform grow. ---
I hope newbies could learn and start easily using this article. Patience is the key to be successful in this platform.
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