How to use BitcoinTalk for the first time
Observe no more you must
Last week I published, Satoshi’s 2nd Gift — BitcoinTalk, an introduction to BTT (BitcoinTalk Forum). It focused on the importance of the forum in the world of crypto, the different functions it serves, and also highlighted some of the greatest moments in crypto history that happened there.
Just like Yelp or Reddit, there are many BTT observers that never take the leap into actively joining the forum. This continuation article will focus on why you would want to join and what to expect in your first few weeks as a new user on BitcoinTalk.
Going past Newbie
Why you should bother going through the newbie stage:
- You want to ask questions and contact people on the forum
- You are interested in marketing your own crypto project
- You’d like to participate in bounty campaigns (working for compensation in cryptocurrency)
- You’d like to offer your services or use someone else’s services related to crypto. This could be design, development, or even trading actual coins
This article and will focus primarily on the first bullet and not on the marketplace of BTT. There are many scammers out there and I don’t want to give anyone a false sense of security when it comes to giving out actual money in exchange for these services. No one should be going from newbie to purchasing bitcoin on this forum within 2 weeks. For now, we are explorers learning about crypto, asking these experienced trailblazers about the world they’ve travelled before us.
Exploring BTT
After registration, you’ll want to explore a few forums and threads if you haven’t already. Non-users can visit these threads too. Here is a list of the ones I suggest for complete newbies:
mprep’s Unofficial list of (official) Bitcointalk.org rules, guidelines, FAQ
The first thing you’ll find out is that there is no official rules list. The forum and its moderators reserve the right to dish out bans and post deletions as they see fit, but unofficially, this list is a great first place to see what is and isn’t allowed. The main gist is that posting should always provide value and that spamming is off limits.
coly20032003's [Tips] Guide for forum search
The search bar on the main page will let you search all of BTT forums and will save you time hunting down information on a particular project or service. Use the Google Search as often as you can (available by going direct to the search screen). The BTT search field is rate-limited to save resources and the Google Search is often more accurate. Use the Google Search.
roslinpl’s [LEARN] BBCode Lessons & Tutorials [+tutorial videos!]
The forum uses BBcode for posting, which lets people do cool things like add images and stylize their text. You’ll want to learn this only if you want to eventually start marketing your own project or services.
iasenko’s Comprehensive guide to Bitcointalk. Newbie friendly + calculator and infographic
This is my favorite compilation guide for beginner’s. It explains activity, merit, and ranking, has a nifty ranking calculator, and a great merit infographic that will be featured in my follow-up ranking article.
In the above threads, I also referenced the 4 members that contributed the threads to the community. Those links directly post to their profiles links(you can see yours by clicking on the profile tab in the forum toolbar). You can also see a list of the most recent topics they have started, their most recent posts, and other information about the members.
Interested in looking for the latest ICOs? I think my favorite board has to be the Altcoin Announcements. Here you’ll find a sundry supply of new tokens, and also old yet still popular ones popping up. It’s the first place decentralized projects begin their foray into BTT, and you’ll see a wide range of quality and depth in how teams treat these announcements. These are great places to post with little to no repercussion for not knowing the rules, and a very attentive team will be sure to respond to your inquiries promptly.
Gearing up for that first post
After you’ve had a chance to peruse the forums, you will be ready to start a topic or add to a conversation with a post. For a first-timer, posting a topic or responding to a Beginner post is a great idea. You can do that here on the Beginner Board. Remember, keep your posts relevant to each thread.
Another thing you should try: quoting someone in the thread. In the top right corner of every post there is a “quote” button that will take you to post writing with the quote BBcode already prepared. Your response should be after the [/quote] in the composition field.
I think I’ll click “quote” and reference what “Dragonslayer2018” said
Now, there are a few things you can’t do in your first posts as a newbie. You wont be able to post very often in the beginning until you rank higher. This is to prevent spam. Another spam prevention tactic: you will not be allowed to post images in your posts. Now, if you are in a hurry, you can purchase a Copper Member paid membership. This “Allows you to post images even if you are a newbie, reduces the time-between-actions limit, and provides some of the same benefits as being of natural Member rank.”
It’s possible you received the Units of Evil message that is preventing you to post without paying a very nominal fee of BTC (usually less than $0.50 worth). The system works perfectly so don’t hesitate, and just pay it (some people even wonder how BTT know’s that you paid). For many of you, it will possibly be your first time using Bitcoin outside of trading it.
Another thing newbies can’t do is PM/DM (Private Message/Direct Message) other users. This is again done in the quest to fight spam. If you want to communicate with someone, you’ll need to post in the thread and request it, but make sure you add some sort of context and add value to the thread so it isn’t spammy.
Developing a thick skin
Ken does have a point
One of the things the BTT moderators have to deal with as a popular crypto forum are the many scammers, many bots, and many incentives to just post random fluff to “bump” the post (bumping is a term referencing the practice of adding to a post to “bump” it back to the first page of a board). There are bounties called signature campaigns that pay people to post while using their signature. This leads to useless posts that would end up clogging the forums if it weren’t for the ever diligent moderators.
There will be rude people. Very rude. There will be “trolls, arguments, and illogical responses.” Just like Twitter, Reddit, and Yelp, everyone has an opinion and thinks theirs is the only valid one. Sometimes moderators are just quickly doing their jobs and don’t have time to explain or soften their responses. Its important to understand that a large portion of this community works completely for free.
A few things you can do to decrease the likelihood of a rude response, a post deletion, or even a “newbie nuke”:
- Post relevant content to the thread. There is literally a board for every kind of topic
- Check to see your question has not already been answered. This might sound hard, but usually someone will have addressed it early in the thread.
- Don’t post referral links. Going into the bitcoin discussion boards to ask about mining is ok; posting referral links to your mining pool isnt
- Be patient. If you havent received a response, its ok to “bump” your topic once every 24hours.
And that’s it! Follow these rules, post actively during your first few weeks, and you’ll go from Newbie to Jr. Member in no time! (Well, about 1 month, but thats for another article.)
This was part 2 of the “Satoshi’s 2nd Gift” guides
I’m going to explore the following topics in more detail in subsequent articles:
-Using BitcoinTalk for Evaluating ICOs
-BitcoinTalk: A Crypto Marketer’s most essential tool
-Services: What’s available and how to choose them
-Bounties: How to make crypto millions without investing
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this article
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