Read the English edition.
0. Preface#
It's 2023, are you still writing blogs? Is your blog hosted on closed third-party platforms like Medium or WeChat Official Accounts, or is it a self-built open-source blog framework on GitHub?
Today, I want to nominate a blog solution that I consider to be the coolest, most symbolic of freedom, most futuristic, and filled with endless possibilities - xLog.
(Image: DIYgod's xLog.)
It is an application product based on the Crossbell blockchain. The underlying technological framework includes Ethereum, InterPlanetary File System (IPFS), and smart contracts specifically designed for social content creation.
You may think that terms like blockchain, IPFS, and Web3 sound distant from ordinary users and are often associated with the illusory world of scammers in the "crypto world". However, in this field, speculators are just a noisy part of it, and we should see the people who are truly striving for the "Web3 ideal" and what they are doing. As a completely open-source social ecosystem product that focuses on user-controlled Web3 data, Crossbell blockchain and xLog are part of this movement.
Currently, this ecosystem has just been launched, and there is not enough information about it online. You can read these articles to learn more:
- The First Open-Source On-Chain Blogging System xLog - DIYgod introduces xLog.
- Here Comes crossbell.io - crossbell-blog introduces Crossbell.io, a Web3 social product based on synchronized data.
In simple terms, your information is stored on the blockchain (which means it is secure and permanent); your privacy is protected; and the ecosystem of the blockchain makes social interaction full of endless possibilities.
But instead of just talking about it, let's experience it. Even if you have never encountered Web3 before, this article is willing to guide you through the charm of xLog from scratch, and also serve as your first lesson in Web3.
(Disclosure: I am a member of the Crossbell and xLog development and maintenance team. All of our work is open-source on GitHub.)
1. Prepare a Wallet#
A wallet is your identity credential in Web3. Don't be scared off by the word "wallet" - it represents your "assets", and in Web3, assets are not just "money", but more importantly, "data". We believe that data is priceless and needs a wallet to be properly safeguarded. So don't worry, Crossbell, where xLog is located, is completely free and is a blockchain project focused on "data assets".
How do you safeguard your wallet? There are many software options available. There are also numerous tutorials online. This article is not a comprehensive guide, so I will subjectively recommend the most widely used wallet - Metamask.
Metamask has a browser extension and a mobile app. We can download and install the browser extension from its official website.
After downloading and installing this wallet management software, please follow the software instructions to create your first wallet. I won't go into the details here, but if you get confused during the process, it must be a problem with their software...
2. Open xLog#
Open the xLog website. Click on "Connect" to connect your wallet.
3. Claim $CSB#
After logging in, you will see a prompt in the upper right corner of the webpage saying "Insufficient balance".
Just like in real life, activities require money, and activities (transactions) on the blockchain require fees. The fee for the Crossbell blockchain is $CSB. You may wonder why Web2 websites don't require fees to operate. The answer is that your "data privacy" has already been used as an alternative fee without you realizing it.
The good news is that you can currently claim a small amount of $CSB for free. After clicking, we will be redirected to the Faucet page. You can think of the faucet as a "foundation that provides relief to users with insufficient balance". Currently, the faucet will give each new user 0.02 $CSB as a gift, and you can claim more after spending it.
Follow the instructions on the page, enter your address (you may need to send a tweet for verification), and claim $CSB.
Congratulations, 0.02 CSB has been credited to your account!
4. Create a Site#
Let's go back to xlog and click on "dashboard".
Next, we will be redirected to a page where we can create a new site.
(Note: Subdomains cannot have duplicate names.)
Click the "Create" button, and after waiting a few seconds, the Metamask browser extension will pop up a transaction box for confirmation. Yes, every activity on the blockchain exists in the form of a "transaction" and requires a small amount of $CSB, which we just claimed, as a fee. As shown in the image, this transaction will cost 0.000332 CSB.
Let's click the "Confirm" button.
After waiting for a few seconds, the page will redirect to the dashboard. Click on "Create a Post" to write your first blog post.
After writing the article, click on the "Publish" button to publish it. Then, Metamask will pop up a window asking for a fee to complete the transaction.
Click "Confirm", and your article will be successfully published. Congratulations, you have published a blog post on the blockchain!
At the end of each article, you can see the transaction hash and IPFS link of the article, along with other Web3 information. It's really cool.
5. Other Features: Browse, Interact with Articles, Follow Authors...#
Open your site and take a look! My site's domain is: song.xlog.app. (You can also bind a custom domain on the Settings page.)
When browsing other people's articles, you can like, mint (turn the article into an NFT), and comment on each article.
You can even follow authors.
After following, you can browse the subscribed feed on crossbell.io. (Future updates will include a notification system, RSS subscriptions, etc.)
6. Leave Anytime - Data under Your Control#
Many "pseudo" decentralized applications still tightly control your data, but in the Crossbell ecosystem, your data is truly in your hands.
In the settings page, click on the "Export data" section, and you can export all user data with one click, including your blog posts, which can be saved in well-formatted Markdown.
7. Conclusion#
Congratulations on settling down on the blockchain. We look forward to your creations.
Feel free to join the Crossbell community and discuss with us!
- Discord: https://discord.gg/4GCwDsruyj
- In Discord, we can speak freely. Additionally, the xLog channel occasionally holds rewarded creative activities. The ongoing activity is "What does your ideal future internet/Web3 look like in five years?"
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_Crossbell
- Exciting new features and plans will be announced on Twitter.
- GitHub: https://github.com/orgs/Crossbell-Box/discussions
- GitHub Discussions is where our engineers and users discuss and make decisions on technical solutions.