@SteemThemer enables users to make Steem posts and profiles look better.
Image created in Canva from CC0 assets.
Hi! It's Omi here.
The objective of this project account is to help improve the aesthetic appeal of Steem blockchain posts and profiles by:
Like it or not, appearance plays a significant role in human trust, acceptance, participation, and popularity.
The mission of this project is simple:
While many curators focus on content meaningfulness and emotional substance, the focus of this project is primarily focused on post and profile aesthetic— such as well formatted posts, nicely branded profiles, and quality post assets.
"British researchers analyzed how different design and information content factors influence trust..."
— Peep Laja, The Importance of Great Visual Design, Coversionxl.com
Also, it's my hope for this project to appreciate and design in a range of aesthetic styles including professional, casual, artistic, thematic, and even eccentric.
I'm also exploring a range of top categories (Tags) and communities to discover popular post types. A post could look like a blog, a comic book, a magazine article, or a résumé; it doesn't matter. A profile could be minimalist or wild and funky. If it looks good, it's of interest to this project.
Although I'm not placing emphasis on substance, grammar, or writing style (other curators have that covered); these do play a part in first impressions and the initial judgment of visitors.
Steem blockchain has many incredible content authors and producers. While substance feeds and maintains our interest, it's usually snap judgments that determine our initial interests.
Because of this, I care to disclose I favor the Chicago Manual of Style when dealing with citations, readability, and publishing matters that may affect post appearance.
I also disfavor walls of text, walls of italic, and walls of bold— unless there is an obvious intentional aesthetic, artistic, or standardized reason for using them. For instance, industry-standard scientific papers tend to have longer paragraphs.
Lastly, this project is not here to criticize poorly formatted posts or unappealing profiles. I realize my opinion is subjective. And your opinion of my work is also subjective. The project is solely focused on emphasizing that which looks good to me (and fellow co-curators, if a team exists for this project one day.)
Instead, the strategy is to reward, highlight, and encourage the appealing, not hate the unappealing.
While I see nothing inherently wrong with these services, I want to see if this project is of genuine interest to people.
Part of this project's goal will be to ease the pain of some of the following problems as well:
Steem App Compatibility— Have you ever made a post on a Steem blockchain app other than Steemit, only to notice it doesn't look that appealing on Steemit? Or, have you ever made a post on Steemit and noticed it doesn't quite render the same on another site, like Busy? Since each Steem blockchain app is entitled to its own styling, I hope to approach experimenting in cross compatibility between Steem blockchain app post rendering via the user-end. My goal is to answer the question, "What can I do so that my Dlive or Steepshot posts still look great on Steemit too?" In addition, I'll make feature suggestions and providing bug reports to Steem blockchain app developers.
Cross Browser Compatibility— Web pages render differently in each browser on mobile, tablet, and desktop. While there's no getting around that, I hope to explore how to render posts and profiles attractively regardless of interface.
Cross Device Formatting— It's easier to format a post on a computer with multiple tabs open, local design assets, and two hands typing. However, complex post authoring can be a nightmare on mobile devices. I hope to experiment with ways of making post creation and editing a smoother on smart-phone and tablet devices.
I'll be sharing any findings here and with app and interface developers.
The following are some examples of post titles for content I plan to publish:
To recommend post topics, feel free to leave a comment. I'm wide-open to suggestions.
This page is presently inactive — or, pre-alpha. Nobody is monitoring it regularly. I have chosen to set up the account to auto-follow three curation trails and a few users so that it will not keep voting on hold while I organize the project. This account is currently following the trail of:
Curie — for curating a broad range of exceptional content
Dtubedaily — for curating videos
Utopian-io — for curating innovative and progressive Steem technology
This account will also manually upvote and resteem as time permits.
The goal of this account is to be 100% manually curating — eventually — once the project is in full swing.
The project will post an update roughly every 2 weeks. Development won't be rapidly advancing — as I have a lot I'm working on. But the turtle wins the race, right?
This project is for profit following my own principles benevolent capitalism. This posits that a win/win situation is motivating and beneficial for everyone involved. While I don't plan to (permanently) power down @SteemThemer, my plan is to grow it to keep as much of its assets holding or circulating within the Steem / SMT economies.
My (personal) value will be built outside of the Steem blockchain by using the @SteemThemer Trademark, Trade dress, Copyrights and other assets to do tutorials on other websites and retain any payments therefrom. I'll also retain any revenue produced by my own domains. However, reciprocally, these efforts will also raise awareness about Steem outside of the blockchain.
So what's on the blockchain, stays on the blockchain.
What I earn off the blockchain pays the bills.
I'm making three exceptions to this commitment:
If there presents an incredible trading opportunity that could help power up the account further, I will transfer in and out. These transfers should not take more than a few days and should always break even or profit
My master passwords are left with my children in case of accident or early demise
I reserve the right to review my commitment annually. This way if any changes are made, those following the curation trail or delegating can make an informed decision about continuing to follow the project.
If this project is able to produce enough revenue within its blockchain activities to set up a witness and seed node for Steem— I will do so.
Finally, it's my goal that this project eventually is run by awarded volunteers (like Curie) so I can back away as a passively mentioned investor and founder. As long as Steem is an accessible currency, my ideal end game will be to pass this on as an asset to my children.
My sister Victoria has the posting key to this account and is a wonderful designer. For all intents and purposes, this account is shared responsibility. She will not be posting here. She's kindly agreed to help me with voting, resteeming, and research duties. Hopefully, she'll find interest in opening her own account one day.
Pre-Alpha — You Are Here
@omitaylor via exchangeAlpha — estimated 3-6 months from now
Beta — 6-12 months
I haven't gotten this far in my vision yet. I welcome your suggestions in the comments on what the potential of this project could be.
The best way you can contribute to this project is by creating visually appealing posts and profiles for yourself, your projects, and your friends and letting me know about them. You can drop links in the comments below or tag @SteemThemer or #SteemThemer in the body or tag area of your posts.
You're also welcome to use the #PostSandbox tag if your post rewards are set to DECLINE PAYOUT. Use the #PostSandbox tag whenever you're experimenting with post formatting, layout, and post design and may be editing multiple times. It's Steem "scrap paper." You are still able to receive direct tips (wallet to wallet) or use comment tip-bots on #PostSandbox posts, but #PostSandbox are not meant for reward pool awards.
Anyone may translate post text (not videos) authored by this account into their own language and post them to their own Steem account (and keep their own audience rewards.) For videos, translators may transcribe the audio of my videos into their language as text. However, @SteemThemer authors, co-authors, and contributers retain the full copyright of the original underlying works and all translations thereof.
This project is subject to U.S. Copyright law and translators may not transform meaning, add personality, or create derivative or transformative works without additional permissions. Translations must be direct translation and must not be posted outside the Steem blockchain.
All translations and transcriptions must be sent to @SteemThemer via memo or comment.
Lastly, URLS containing translations and transcriptions must bear the following:
Language translation of Original Post Link
Translated voluntarily for hire by Your Name for @SteemThemer
or
Language transcription of Original Post Link
Transcribed voluntarily for hire by Your Name for @SteemThemer
In these cases, for hire is a U.S. Copyright specification denoting no attempt to claim derivative status.
Please contact me directly to discuss other formats and possibilities.
This account is not currently soliciting delegations. Of course, I can't (and won't) stop anyone from delegating to this account. However, I have not yet worked out any way to award delegating parties. And the authenticity of this project (and proper statistical analysis thereof) requires that I don't use votes outside the curation mission.
I still have much to learn about being a delegate and a delegator. I will hopefully have readdressed this by the time I reach the Alpha phase of the project.
If you like this project, I accept donations. I'm not accepting investments at this time.
Project related contact information will be available soon.
In the meantime, reach me at:
My Discord: https://discord.gg/gcZkjH4
On Twitter: https://twitter.com/maybornstar
