A few weeks ago I came across a post - We don't need to know about tech to use tech.
But it took me a few days of eating up all sorts of guides about Hive platform, interfaces, economy and content creation to make a head start here.
I can relate to the steep learning curve one has to go through for starting on Hive. Which can become unbearable if you are an absolute beginner to the crypto space.
And so I have come up with this quick start guide to Hive.
Without wasting any time - let's take a dive. There's no point in calling it a quickstart otherwise ;).
Blockchain & Hive
Blockchain - A digital database (record of entries) which is copied and spread over a network of computers present under different roofs and owned by different people - almost impossible to hack and tapered with.
Bitcoin is the first blockchain that could only store transactions of Bitcoin.
Further evolvement in this field led to the development of more sophisticated blockchains with different characteristics like Ethereum -
First project that made it possible to store code (apps) and run it, using blockchain to record and verify the interactions of users executed on the app.
Since then a lot of different variants of blockchains have introduced.
Hive is one such blockchain that can be used to develop and run apps in a faster and cost effective way.
Cryptocurrencies and HIVE
Currencies are store of value that can be used as a medium of exchange.
Crypto is digital form of currency that can not be duplicated and double spent because it is built on blockchain.
And it doesn't look like the images you see on internet. It doesn't have a shape. It is a 'piece of code' or 'unit of data' that specifies the amount of coins stored in an account on a blockchain.
Hive blockchain also has its own currency called HIVE.
But what's so fancy about all this - Why blockchain, crypto, Dapps and Hive?
Why Blockchain :
- Decentralization
Blockchain makes it possible to create complete decentralized systems that are owned by its users. If Facebook stops existing tomorrow. All your content present there will be gone. Because it is present on Facebook servers owned by 'Facebook Inc'. But whatever you'll post on Hive will remain forever yours, Hive isn't owned by a single entity but the community and you don't have a Hive account, you own a Hive account.
- Creates new ways to transfer economic value
Blockchain gave birth to Ownership economies - Where users can become owners by consuming a product or by putting their assets into their system. Rather than a small group of owners and founders of a company taking home the value, users can directly earn the majority of income generated based on their contribution.
Which brings us to - Apps Vs Dapps
Apps that are built on blockchain are called Dapps (decentralized apps). Platforms like YouTube and Facebook exist because of content of their users. But majority of profits adds to the net worth of the owners/investors of these companies. Whereas blockchain also enables the apps running on it to utilize ownership economies, i.e creating their own token and distributing back the value created by its users with the help of underlying blockchain tech.
Which brings us to Hive
Hive is a blockchain that makes it possible to store content, code and run applications on it. Various games, exchanges and other Dapps are hosted here. It is a community owned all in one content storing and sharing repository, that rewards its users in HIVE tokens for contributing and being a part of it. So, you can develop and host all kinds of Blockchain based apps on Hive, or use it to create and share content through multiple Frontends built on hive based on your content creation needs and interests.
Just for understanding - Hive in itself is not an app/platform, it is a blockchain. Think of it to be more like Google Cloud or Amazon SES. It is not similar to facebook.com, It can rather be compared to the Facebook.Inc's servers that host the facebook.com platform and all the content that users post through it.
That was the complete brief intro about what you need to know before hand. Going further we will start with understanding various Hive interfaces and what are they used for? And end with creating a Hive account and making it ready to roll.
Hive Dapps & Platforms
As I told you earlier, Hive is community owned. So it doesn't have one single interface to share and store content on the blockchain.
It has a variety of frontends instead, built by different community members, for creating accounts and posting content and various other purposes.
Doesn't matter what platform you use, your content will get stored on the Blockchain. And can be accessed via multiple frontends.
Hive Blockchain + Hive Dapps/Platforms = Hive Ecosystem
Though there are also multiple other digital interfaces built on hive like games, decentralized exchanges, NFT marketplaces etc.
But we will be focusing here on those which help us leverage Hive as a content sharing social media platform.
Content Sharing Social Media Interfaces At Hive
Here's a snapshot of all the social frontends that are a part of Hive Ecosystem.
Some of them are general posting platforms Like - Peakd.com, Hive.blog , Ecency.com. These are the general interfaces, meaning if you would make post using one of them it'll be visible and accessible on all three.
While others are content or community specific.
Hive uses communities and tags to categorize content.
For example 'Natural Medicine' is a community that entertains and rewards posts about all things natural health.
Anyone can create a community by paying 3 HIVE, and then manage and grow it. Whereas tags are to be used like they usually have been - specific to the topic and context.
Other than this you get a profile and you can follow others can create, upvote, comment and share content. These are a few things that you'll find common in almost every social frontend interface of Hive.
Most social interfaces also allow you to post Text and Images but you can not host videos. Meaning you can embed them as links into your posts but can not upload them.
For this Hive has a dedicated interface 3speak.tv is a video sharing platform like youtube. And similarly D.buzz is the twitter version of Hive.
Leofinance is a community around crypto and blockchain. And they have their own interface and also token called LEO. You can get LEO as well as HIVE by posting in Leofinance community or posting with relevant hashtag. And you can earn more LEO if you use their interface - Leofinance.io.
And similarly almost all Hive dapps/platforms/interfaces have their dedicated communities too. And some also token.
The Hive Economics
Every digital platform requires a backend infrastructure to operate. Which comes at a cost.
Platforms like Facebook and YouTube maintain their servers using the income they make out of their platforms. As a result they can let any new user to create unlimited content and use their server processing and storage.
But since most of the value created on Hive is redistributed among its users. It can not provide unlimited privileges to its new users.
Thus, you’ll be provided a limited amount of resources (known as Resource Credits in Hive’s terminology) to create and curate content on a new fresh account.
Adding content on hive like posting, commenting, re-blogging etc costs certain amount of Resource Credits. And upvoting costs Voting Mana. Both the account resources start replenishing overtime on their own as soon as they are below 100%.
Thus Resource Credits and Voting Mana define how much you can create and curate content.
And so Expect to find yourself stuck after making a few comments or after publishing a couple of posts with a brand new account.
You will deplete your Resource Credits and you'll have to wait for them to get recharged to post any new comments or blogs.
To permanently increase the amount of both (Resource Credits & Voting Mana) your account can hold, you need to do something called Power Up
Power Up is the process of converting HIVE present in your wallet into HP (Hive Power)
HP determines the amount of influence you hold on the platform. Whenever any user upvotes any post or comment, he can reward it with HIVE. The value of his vote is determined by the HP or Hive Power he has. And HP can always be converted back into HIVE, which is called Power Down
So having more Hive Power will provide you with more Resource Credits and will increase the value of your vote.
But first you need some HIVE in your account to Power Up
There are primarily two ways to get HIVE -
Buying from an exchange
If you don't mind investing a few dollars into HIVE. You can buy them on an exchange and transfer them to your Hive account.
Getting rewarded on your posts/comments
Alternatively you can earn HIVE by posting content and getting rewarded when people upvote it. Your content can earn for 7 days and then you can claim the rewards it generated.
Personally I would suggest buying at least $5-$10 worth of HIVE and powering it up to gain some HP. So you can at least create multiple posts and do some comments before you are out of Resource Credits.
Other than this you can also gain HP by delegation. Anyone can delegate any amount of Hive Power to any Hive account for any amount of time.
Hive Account
Hive account is different than any conventional digital account in various ways.
First of all it comes integrated with its own wallet.
A crypto wallet is a digital space to store cryptocurrencies. Since the Hive blockchain has its own crypto - HIVE, you also need a place to hold HIVE that you will earn. So creating an account on Hive also creates an account with hive wallet by default. And vice versa.
There are multiple platforms and services, both free and paid, offered by individuals, groups or entities to create an account on Hive.
Creating a Hive Account
I used free registration service Hiveonboard, you can use any from here Signup.hive.io.
The difference between free and paid is that you don't need to verify via phone or email if you opt for a paid service.
After clicking signup, you need to select a username (which cannot be changed). You also get an option to include a hive account as your referrer by filling its username on this page.
Accept the terms of service and click continue.
You'll be then presented with a screen showing your username and master password. And an option to download the back up text file containing your account's master password and all the private keys.
After you will download and open it'll look something like this.
Before telling you what these long lines of text are all about -
Here's a Caution:
This is ultra sensitive and highly confidential information. It contains everything you need to own, administer and operate your Hive account.
It is not meant to be shared with anyone, and you cannot afford to lose it. if it gets compromised or lost, there's nothing anyone can do to retrieve your account.
You must keep it super safe. It is recommended to save multiple copies of it at different places in both digital and physical form.
Using a Hive Account
Now these are your private keys, that you require to upvote, post content, comment, transfer HIVE, power up and for all other transactions.
What is a transaction?
In blockchain terms, a transaction means any action that needs to make a change in the Hive database.
Since blockchain is a public ledger (database) it needs to verify and record which account is processing the transaction.
You will need to use your private keys to verify that transaction is being made by you and to ensure that all the changes get attributed to your account.
And so you will need to use your private keys to do any kind of activity on Hive blockchain. And you get multiple of them for security reasons.
The last image also shows the uses of various Keys under the head 'KEY DESCRIPTION'
-------------------------- KEY DESCRIPTION -----------------------
Owner: Change Password, Change Keys, Recover Account
Active: Transfer Funds, Power up/down, Voting Witnesses/Proposals
Posting: Post, Comment, Vote, Reblog, Follow, Profile
Memo: Send/View encrypted messages on transfers
The most you'll be using is the posting and active key.
Secure And Fast Ways of Executing Hive Transactions
But it will be a hassle to input these long strings of alpha numeric characters every time you upvote, comment or do anything.
Moreover it is not advisable to directly paste your private keys at Hive Interfaces.
There are some solutions/services specifically built to make it easy to manage your keys and verify transactions on hive, namely -
Hive Keychain - browser extension and mobile app with integrated wallet.
Hivesigner - an online service to let you interact with Hive securely.
Peaklock - a solution specific to Peakd.com
I personally like and use Hive Keychain.
Setting Up & Using Hive Keychain In Your PC/Laptop And Mobile.
Hive Keychain is available as a browser extension for both Mozilla Firefox and Chrome. And also as an app for Android as well as Ios.
Headover To -
- Chrome Extensions Webstore for Google Chrome.
- Addon Extensions for Mozilla Firefox
- Google Play Store on Android
- App Store on Ios
Search and Install extension/app Hive Keychain
Open the extension/app, the interface will look something similar to the image below.
You will be presented with a screen to create a new password.
This will be the password for your Hive Keychain, that you'll need to login into Keychain once in every 24 hours. And you'll be able to verify all the transactions with a click using your keys securely stored in Hive keychain.
Create a new password, confirm and click submit. You'll arrive at following screen.
Click on 'USE KEYS/PWD’.
Enter your username and master password and it'll automatically ask you to import 'Active Key', 'Posting Key' and 'Memo Key' associated with your account into Hive Keychain.
Click Import. And you're done!
Congratulations, you can now go and login to your favorite Hive frontend (peaked.com/ecency.com/Hive.blog/etc) and start creating your first post - Introduce yourself.
Note - To harness the power of Hive Keychain in mobile, you need to use the inapp browser to access Hive frontends.
Thanks for sticking by, I know this can be a lot of information for a complete newbie to consume and process. I have explained all the most important parts you need to know to kickstart your journey. But obviously there is still a lot more to know, that you will gradually keep learning along the way.
Best Wishes & Welcome to Hive.
My recommendation of Other Helpful Resources For Newbies
Most Comprehensive Guide
Want to swim in the deepest of Hive and get out alive? Here is the most comprehensive guide for beginners by @ryzeonline. Simplified and neatly written in a storytelling way with fun doodles -
Hive: A Complete Beginner's Guide (With Fun Doodles) Pt. 1
Hive: A Complete Beginner's Guide (With Fun Doodles) Pt. 2
Best Guide to Markdown - To Format And Structure Your Posts
Hive supports ‘Markdown’ and ‘HTML’ to create posts with definite structures and to make them look better. Here is a must read guide for Markdown authored by @themarkymark
How to post like a pro - Complete guide to Markdown formatting
Newbies - Must Do’s To Succeed at Hive
This is not a guide, it is a survey based on genuine research and geniune stats. And lots of invaluable insights for newbies by well established hivers. Many thanks to @livinguktaiwan for this significant contribution.
3 things Newbies should do in their first week on Hive
Other than this you can follow and checkout the account @newbies-guide, a repository of the most helpful posts for beginners.
Your upvotes and reblogs help encourage me to write more and come up with more great content. Thank You.
Image Sources : Hive.io, Hive Keychain, Custom Images
Hive Asset used as a background in post thumbnail : Shared by @crimsonclad at Hive's official Discord.
