The Steepshot series: Let's Learn to Use the Steepshot Platform (Episode 2)

Repository

https://github.com/Chainers/steepshot.io

A. Introduction

In my last post on this series which was coincidentally the first, I introduced the Steepshot platform. There, I wrote extensively about this platform and its history. I also remember that I made a comparison of the Steepshot platform to its Instagram counterpart - their similarities as well as their differences. In addition to that, I also talked about the different platforms created by the Steepshot team and how they can be downloaded or accessed. Lastly, I shared my thoughts about this platform and what I felt needs to be done urgently to better and faster promote the project.

In this second episode of the Steepshot series, I will be talking about one of the Steepshot platforms available for use - that is the Steepshot.io web platform. This website, is just like this Steemit.com website where users do not need to download any extra applications. Simply open your web browser or app on your phone or laptop and insert the website address. Once you log in or create an account via the platform, you can begin posting your pictures right away or maybe not.

B. What Steepshot Is

You know how you post your pictures to your Instagram page and you sit back and watch as likes and comments begin to flow in from all angles which gives you some certain level of joy and satisfaction?

The Steepshot project is just like Instagram except that while you get only likes and comments from the latter, users of Steepshot simply need to post their pictures to the Steem blockchain and get financial rewards for their posts.

Your posts are upvoted by the Steepshot/Steemit community and after seven days, payouts from the post are shared to the you as the owner of the post as well as to those who upvoted the post.

C. The Steepshot Web platform

One of the platforms built by Steepshot for its teeming number of users is the Steepshot for web platform. Like I said earlier, users who do not want to download an app, or have no android or iOS devices to download the Steepshot apps do not need to fret. Taking this category of people into consideration, the team behind this project built the Steepshot for web platform for them.

Once your access your web browser, input the address Steepshot.io. This link will take you to a webpage where you'd see button links for the 3 Steepshot platforms vis-à-vis iOS, Android and the Steepshot for web platform. Click on the Steepshot for web button and you will be redirected to the Steepshot web platform. On getting there, you'd see picture posts made by other users, and a sign in button above. It's time for you to begin making your own photo contributions to the platform. Let's look at how you can sign in.

D. Signing into Steepshot for web

When you click on the sign-in option above, you are presented with a variety of options for signing into the platform.

i. Steemit Posting Key Log In

The first option present on the platform asks you to input your Steem username and private posting key. First, input your username. The issue now is how you can get your Steem posting key.

Now when you go to your wallet tab on your Steemit blog, look for where you see permissions. Click on it, and you'd be presented with four different keys. The first is the posting key, the second is the active, and the third is the owner key while the fourth is the memo key.

Where the posting key is, you would see a button which says show private key. Click on it and you will see your private key pop out. Copy this key and paste it in the space for it on the Steepshot log in page. Then click on the login button below it.

ii. Golos Log In Option

There is another option of logging in with your Golos user details and you have to enable it by clicking on the button as shown on the screenshot below. Once you have provided those details, click on the login button and you will be logged into the Steepshot platform. You can now begin posting your pictures right away.

iii. Steemconnect Authentication Option

The third option for logging into the Steepshot platform is by making use of the Steem connect authentication platform. Just like the platform says "Don't you trust us?", it is for those of us who have trust issues and find it difficult to entrust third party apps with our keys. This at times could be probably due to some bad experiences that we might have had with some other platforms or it could just be us trying to play it safe. The Steemconnect option gives us the liberty to still log into the Steepshot platform and post our pictures without giving out our posting keys to Steepshot.

E. Registering For a Steem Account through Steepshot

For users without a Steem account, there is the option to register and get your user details for logging into the Steepshot platform. Look for where it say's "don't have a Steem account?" and click on the registration button. This takes you to a page where you have two options for your registration.

i. Registering through Steemit

The first option reads "Register through Steemit". This option is free, but takes about one to two weeks before you can get your owner key and complete your sign up. When you click on this option, it takes you to the steemit.com platform where you will also see two options for signing up - the free and the paid method.

Simply click on the "sign up for free" button, provide the details you are asked for, validate your email and phone number and you will receive a success mail from Steemit. After a week or two, you get your user key and you can now begin using the Steepshot platform. Too slow right? Let's take a look at the other options.

ii. Registering through Blocktrades

The 2nd option says "Register through Blocktrades". This option is not free but when you sign up through this means, you get your Steem details instantly. You do not need to wait for several days before you can get those details. When you click on the "Register through Blocktrades" button, you are redirected to the Blocktrades web platform. There, you'd see the different steps you need to take before you can successfully create your account on Steem. Fill in your preferred account name, copy and enter your password in the field provided, and then download your password backup file.

Once done, decide on your payment method. You can pay for your new account with either Ether, bitcoin, SBD, Steem, litecoin, doge, dash and a few others. At the time of writing this post, you would need 6.1 Steem, or 4.9 SBD to pay for a new account. The other payment methods have varying prices and you can see these on the platform. Every account created through this means gets a 2.0 Steem power amount to enable them carry out transactions on the blockchain.

Once you have successfully selected all necessary items, click on the "Get deposit address" button. You'll be directed to a new page where you will see the address to send the coins to for the creation of your account. Once successfully completed, you'd be able to login with your new username and password.

iii. Registering through Steemcreate

Steemcreate is another option present on the Steepshot registration page through which users can register on the blockchain. Once you click on the register through Steemcreate button, you are directed to the Steemcreate platform. If you do not have the required cryptocurrency needed for registering an instant account through blocktrades, then Steemcreate is for you.

Steemcreate allows users to create a new account instantly on the Steem blockchain and pay for it with the use of their debit cards. All they need to do is to put in their email address, card number, month and year of card expiry and their cvv number in the fields provided. Next, click on the "Pay $20 button". From there, you can finish up with the process of creating your account.

There is also another option of paying for your account with bitcoin. However, I tried the bitcoin option and after inputting my email address and clicking on the "payment info" button, I received an error message. The error message was that the type bitcoin is not a valid source type. I am guessing that it's either that the Steem create option is no longer working (Now obsolete) or probably because my email address does not have bitcoin in it. I'm not sure how it works though.

These are the 3 ways prospective users can create an instant account on the blockchain through the Steepshot platform. Once they create the account, simply log in with your posting key or sign in through Steemconnect to the Steepshot platform. Once that is done, you can begin posting pictures.

F. My thoughts about the Steepshot web platform

The Steepshot web app is a beautiful platform for users of the project on prospective contributors to the platform. Simple to use, the Steepshot web platform allows you post a picture to the Steem blockchain just like you make a post to the Steem blockchain through steemit.com, busy.org or any of the other front ends to the blockchain.

I have only posted on Steepshot twice and gotten little from it. The Steepshot web platform is still a work in progress and so I can't really yet pinpoint areas where work needs to be done emphatically.

Thank you so much for your time.

I remain your amazing dApps presenter, @curtwriter.

Resources

A. https://steemit.com/steepshot/@juanmiguelsalas/review-of-the-bot-for-telegram-of-the-steepshot-application-the-fastest-way-to-post-a-photo-on-steem-s-blockchain
B. Other pictures were screenshots from my device.

Series Backlinks

• The Steepshot Series: Introducing the Instagram-like DApp (Episode 1)