Hive 101 - A Crash Course for Beginners

How are we all doing? So the week has been great so far and i am happy to see our members doing amazing and our various project working out well so far. Hive Ghana's 8th Borehole project is already underway with workers commencing on the field for our next location and we are all optimistic about the future.

_{Edited with Canva}

But then leaders also noticed that we have had some newbies join us recently, some having their their blockchain/web3 experience for the very first time whereas others may be picking up from where they left off and becoming active again as we continue to push Hive to Ghanaians whiles impacting life in the process. So i thought to use this opportunity to do a quick crash course to remind us of some of the basic and most important factors to consider a hiver.

I do hope that this not only benefits newbies but also serves as a refresher course for all of us that we may continue to do our very best and help the community and each other grow. Ok, so without much ado, let's start with the very basics, keys...

After your created your account or your mentor helped you to create your account, you were given a password, this is your master password and it happens to be the most powerful. It is best to keep this password very safe and secure, store it offline for extra security. If you gained your account through a third party on the blockchain it is recommend to change it before proceeding to get the other keys.

_{A Screenshot of @nattybongo's wallet}

You can access this feature or function at wallet.hive.blog/@username, now with your master password you can now retrieve you your owner, memo, active and posting keys. Posting keys are going to be used here, hive.blog/@ursername. If you are already posting then you already know this, as i said this is a crash course as a refresher course for all of us. Now to not bore you with the details of all the functions of these keys i would recommend your read the descriptions for each well when you visit wallet.hive.blog/@username and you go to keys and permissions.

Please use your active for transactions and posting key for blogging. The next thing would be setting a recovery account. This is very important because mistakes sometimes happen and when they do we would want you to be able to retrieve your account because the blockchain works such that if you loss your master passwords not much if anything can be done for you. One of the safety nets is the recovery account setting, which ideally should be an account you know personally, someone you trust. I would recommend any of the leaders of our community. This can be done on Peakd.com. I promise to go into the details and step by step of how to do this.

_{Image by @nattybongo}

Once you have this sorted out then we move into the community system and nethiquettes. Hive is a global village on its own and there are factions which are communities who work separately and together make the entire blockchain function. We all have our skill set and talents that define who we are. Personally i am defined by my career as an Optometrist and my passion for music and my ability to play the keyboard and so that is the niche i have found myself and this is where i know i can thrive.

Knowing where you can thrive may make all the difference for you as a newbie. Take your time to go through communities, read their guides, understand the rules, do they fall within your scope, do you believe you can contribute meaningfully and immensely to the blockchain through these communities? Then go for it. But do not forget to join or subscribe to Hive Ghana if you haven't already, we are your people after all. Now when you join, please engage. Even as you share, look at the works of others, appreciate them so they can appreciate you. Make friends, read, read and read some more.

_{Image by @nattybongo}

Learning is an everyday thing and if you wish to be able to find your way around the blockchain, then you cannot slack when it comes to reading or learning, engaging and reaching out to people always. If you wish to do video recordings then go to 3speak.tv, log in with your hive posting key so it syncs with your account. If you are a science enthusiast i'd recommend stemsocial for you and if you are a music lover and singer like myself give hive open mic a try.

Building account takes time, as a beginner the greatest harm you can cause yourself is to compare yourself or your account to others especially leaders or others who may have made friends and may have been on the blockchain for quite a while. Take your time to learn and find your way around and please do not go around looking at people's wallets, you will only be discouraging yourself from being able to give out your best.

_{Image by @nattybongo}

Make sure to produce quality content at any point in time. Do your due diligence in researching well before sharing, do not just put something in a disheveled state and expect good response. Quality attracts, the more or better you do the more people want to see what you have to offer. Learn about basic markdowns on the blockchain. How to upload images, how to justify and center alight texts and images, how to bolden, how to sub text etc. These will come in very handy and could make all the difference in your work being aesthetically appealing to people for them to want to read or share with others.

Allow yourself to grow and you can be rest assured that you will love your time here. There is not better place to be than on the Hive blockchain.

I always say that when in doubt ask, there are people who took the lead and know better than you, do not do anything that you not sure of because the repercussions may be too costly for you. Please and please avoid plagiarism, always share original content and if you have to show anyone's work sample at any point in time where image or a text from somewhere, please reference well and accordingly.

_{Image by @nattybongo}

Be respectful always, show courtesy and when you make a mistake and you are taught what to do, kindly follow through quickly. If you have any challenges or trouble you may reach out to myself or any of Ghana's leaders on discord. Please note that this is a crush course and not an exhaustive or detailed proceedings on specific issues or approaches, we would take things one after the other in the days ahead and ensure that we all find it easy navigating around the blockchain. Until then, i leave you with this. thanks for reading and have wonderful time.