## Welcome to Steemit!

This page is full of information to help you learn about the platform and become a successful Steemian. You can return to this page at any time by clicking on the "Welcome" link in the main menu. There is a table of contents below to help you navigate the page.

Included on the page is a "Quick Start Guide" with information on how the platform works, and a "To Do List" with recommended steps to get started with your account. 

Below that is a section of "Helpful Posts from Steemit Users", which contains a collection of posts from users in the community that are helpful for new users getting started. 

Below that is a list of recommended users to follow, a collection of other resources including the <a href="/faq.html">FAQ Page</a>, and information on where to find live help. 

<a class="anchor" name="Table_of_Contents"></a>
## Table of Contents

### Quick Start Guide

- <a href="/welcome#No_Cost_to_Participate">No Cost to Participate</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Upvotes">Upvotes</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Comments">Comments</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Creating_Posts">Creating Posts</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Tags">Tags</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Followers_and_Feeds">Followers and Feeds</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Resteem">Resteem</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Digital_Currencies">Digital Currencies</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Curation">Curation</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Payments">Payments</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Home,_New,_Hot,_Trending,_Promoted,_and_Active">Home, New, Hot, Trending, Promoted, and Active</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Profile">Profile</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Reputation">Reputation</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Cashing_out_or_Spending_SBD">Cashing out or Spending SBD</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Plagiarism">Plagiarism</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Password_Security">Password Security</a>
- <a href="/welcome#Earning_on_Steemit">Earning on Steemit</a>

### To Do List

1. <a href="/welcome#Backup_your_password">Backup your password</a>
2. <a href="/welcome#Sign_Up_for_Steemit_Chat">Sign Up for Steemit Chat</a>
3. <a href="/welcome#Setup_your_Profile_Avatar_and_Cover_Image">Setup your Profile, Avatar, and Cover Image</a>
4. <a href="/welcome#Choose_your_NSFW_(Not_Safe_for_Work)_Display_Preference">Choose your "NSFW" (Not Safe for Work) Display Preference</a>
5. <a href="/welcome#Create_your_introduceyourself_post">Create your "introduceyourself" post</a>

### <a href="/welcome#Helpful_Posts_from_Steemit_Users">Helpful Posts from Steemit Users</a>
### <a href="/welcome#Users_to_Follow">Users to Follow</a>
### <a href="/welcome#Other_Resources">Other Resources</a>
### <a href="/welcome#Live_Help">Live Help</a>
### <a href="/welcome#Third_Party_References">Third Party References</a>

***

## Quick Start Guide

<a class="anchor" name="No_Cost_to_Participate"></a>
### No Cost to Participate

It is free to post, comment, or upvote all content on Steemit.com. You might even get paid for it!

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Upvotes"></a>
### Upvotes

Upvotes are Steemit's way of saying you like someone's post or comment.

To upvote, click on the <Icon name="chevron-up-circle" /> *Upvote* icon at the bottom of the comment/post.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Comments"></a>
### Comments

When you are first starting out, commenting on other people's posts can be a great way to get involved and connect with people!

To comment on a post, or reply to an existing comment, click on the "Reply" link at the bottom of the post/comment.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Creating_Posts"></a>
### Creating Posts

To create a post, click on the "Submit a Story" link in the upper right corner.

Posts have three main parts: Title, Content, Tags.

You will want to make your title attention grabbing, and relevant to your content.

To create your content, you can either use "Editor" or "Markdown" mode.

There are several guides for creating posts in the "Helpful Posts from Steemit Users" section below.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Tags"></a>
### Tags

Tags will help people find your posts.

Each post can have up to five tags, separated by spaces.

The first tag in the list will be the main category that the post is in.

The tags should all be relevant to the content in the post.

You can browse content by tags, as well as see a list of popular tags that other users have used in their posts [here](https://steemit.com/tags).

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Followers_and_Feeds"></a>
### Followers and Feeds

To follow an author, click on their username and click the "Follow" button.

Once you follow someone, all of their posts will show up in your "Feed" on the homepage when you login.

As other Steemians come across your posts and comments, you will start to gain followers.

You can see all of your followers and the people you are following in your profile page.

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<a class="anchor" name="Resteem"></a>
### Resteem

If you want to share someone else's post with all of your followers, click on the <Icon name="reblog" /> *resteem* icon.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Digital_Currencies"></a>
### Digital Currencies

STEEM, Steem Power and Steem Dollars are the three forms of digital currency used by the Steem Blockchain.

More information on the three types of tokens can be found in the [Steemit FAQ](https://steemit.com/faq.html).

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Curation"></a>
### Curation

Up to 25% of the reward for posts goes to the people who voted on it. These people are called curators.

The more Steem Power you have in your account, the more your upvotes will be worth, and the more potential curation rewards you can earn!

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Payments"></a>
### Payments

Payouts are made 7 days after the post/comment is created. You can claim your rewards in your wallet after 7 days.

The payments may fluctuate (up and down) until the final payment is reached.

Payments for posts are split between the author (at least 75%) and the curators (up to 25%).

The author reward is paid 50% in Steem Power, and 50% in liquid STEEM/SBD.

Authors also have the option to decline payout, or be paid in 100% Steem Power!

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Home,_New,_Hot,_Trending,_Promoted,_and_Active"></a>
### Home, New, Hot, Trending, Promoted, and Active

These are various ways to sort blog posts.

**Home** - Most recent posts of the people you follow (your feed).

**New** - Posts are sorted by the time posted, newest first.

**Hot** - Popular posts at the moment.

**Trending** - Posts with the highest pending rewards currently.

**Promoted** - Listings that are boosted by Steem Dollar payments get "Promoted" for greater visibility.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Profile"></a>
### Profile

<Icon name="user" />

**Feed** - Here is where you go to see the most recent posts from the people you follow.

**Blog** - Here is where you go to see all of your posts and resteems.

**Comments** - Here is where you go to see all of the comments you have made to other's posts and comments.

**Replies** - Here is where you go to see all replies other users have made to your posts and comments.

**Wallet** - Here is where you go to see your wallet balances, make transfers, exchange STEEM/SBD, and Power Up.

**Change Password** - Here is where you go to change your password.

**Settings** - Here is where you go to update your settings.

**Logout** - Here is where you go to logout.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Reputation"></a>
### Reputation

A reputation score is one way Steemit measures the amount of value you have brought to the community.

The higher the number, the more weighted votes an account has earned.

All new users start at 25.

Your reputation will go up as you earn upvotes for your posts and comments, but it can come down if they are flagged.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Cashing_out_or_Spending_SBD"></a>
### Cashing out or Spending SBD

You can spend your SBD at the [Peerhub Store](https://www.peerhub.com/).

You can exchange your STEEM and SBD for bitcoin on an exchange such as [BlockTrades](https://blocktrades.us/) or [Bittrex](https://bittrex.com/).

You can also "Power Up" and use your STEEM/SBD to gain more Steem Power!

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Plagiarism"></a>
### Plagiarism

The community is looking for you to add your own personal touch to your articles.

Plagiarizing, that is posting someone else's work as if it were your own, is very frowned upon by the Steemit community.

If you are using anyone else's material as part of your posts (including images) - please cite your sources.

Also, make sure that you are not violating any copyright laws if you are using someone else's material/images. Limited, sourced material sharing is OK under fair use and fair dealing doctrines.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Password_Security"></a>
### Password Security

Your Steemit account is worth real money. Treat your Steemit password like you would your bank password, and keep it secure!

Unless your password was recently changed and you possess the old one, **there is no password recovery for Steem accounts**. You are 100% responsible for having it backed up. This means secure digital backups, as well as secured paper backups, off-site if possible.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Earning_on_Steemit"></a>
### Earning on Steemit

The best attitude to have is to expect to make nothing. Have fun. Get engaged. Make friends. If along the way you earn something - bonus!

It is possible to earn thousands of dollars, but most authors who are doing this have put in a lot of time and work to contribute to the community and build followings.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>

***

## To Do List

<a class="anchor" name="Backup_your_password"></a>
### 1. Backup your password

Unlike centralized web services, **the Steem Blockchain has no account password recovery**.

You are entirely responsible for keeping your password, and keeping it secure.

Save your master key and keep it somewhere safe.

It is strongly recommended that you store an offline copy of your password somewhere safe in case of a hard drive failure or other calamity. Consider digital offline storage, such as a flash drive or burned CD, as well as printed paper. Use a safe deposit box for best redundancy. 

If your account is valuable, treat it like a valuable!

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Sign_Up_for_Steemit_Chat"></a>
### 2. Sign Up for Steemit Chat

A lot of users hang out and chat when they are not posting or browsing Steemit. It is a great place to meet people!

There is a link to sign up in the main menu in the upper right corner.

Your [steemit.chat](https://steemit.chat/home) account is a separate account from your Steem account.

Some channels allow you to share links, but others don't. For instance, [general](https://steemit.chat/channel/general) is for discussion without link promotion, while [postpromotion](https://steemit.chat/channel/postpromotion) is for promoting your Steemit posts.

Each channel will have its rules posted in the "Info" section.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Setup_your_Profile_Avatar_and_Cover_Image"></a>
### 3. Setup your Profile, Avatar, and Cover Image

Under your user settings, you can update your profile. This includes your display name, location, about info, and website.

To set your avatar image, type or paste a link to the URL where the image is located into the "Profile Picture URL" field.

To set your cover image, type or paste a link to the URL where the image is located into the "Cover Image URL" field.

Once you have made all your changes, click the "Update" button to save your profile.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Choose_your_NSFW_(Not_Safe_for_Work)_Display_Preference"></a>
### 4. Choose your "NSFW" (Not Safe for Work) Display Preference

By default, content that users have tagged as "NSFW" will be hidden, but a link will be shown to reveal the content.

You can update your display preference so that NSFW content is always shown by default, or is completely hidden with no option to reveal.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Create_your_introduceyourself_post"></a>
### 5. Create your "introduceyourself" post

While not required, the tradition for new users is to create an "introduceyourself" post, to let the community know who you are.

You can see some examples of what other people have done [here](https://steemit.com/trending30/introduceyourself).

It is not required, but a lot of users will take a picture of themselves holding up a piece of paper that says "Steemit" with the current date, so we know you are a real person.

It is not required either, but if you have other social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) you can help the community verify that you are who you say you are, by sharing the link to your Steemit introduceyourself post with those accounts. If you are claiming to be someone famous, this is pretty much expected.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>

***

<a class="anchor" name="Helpful_Posts_from_Steemit_Users"></a>
## Helpful Posts from Steemit Users

- [Posting and Markdown Basics](https://steemit.com/steemit/@thecryptofiend/markdown-basics-for-beginners)
- [Tons of Ways to Spend Your Hard Earned STEEM/SBD](https://steemit.com/steem/@timcliff/the-steem-economy-tons-of-ways-to-spend-your-hard-earned-steem-sbd)
- [Advice on How To Build a Following](https://steemit.com/steemit/@allasyummyfood/how-i-build-a-following-of-160-k-from-scratch)
- [Steemit Etiquette Guide](https://steemit.com/steemit/@thecryptofiend/the-complete-steemit-etiquette-guide-revision-2-0)
- [Advice on using Tags](https://steemit.com/steemit/@rok-sivante/the-top-3-reasons-to-tag-your-steemit-posts-a-simple-quick-strategy-for-long-term-profits-and-success)
- [The Ultimate Guide To Steemit Payouts](https://steemit.com/steemit/@shenanigator/the-ultimate-guide-to-steemit-payouts)
- [Steemit Succeeds if We Make it Succeed](https://steemit.com/steemit/@krnel/steemit-succeeds-if-we-make-it-succeed)
- [Professional Formatting Tutorial](https://steemit.com/writing/@minion/professional-tutorial-for-post-formatting-both-for-beginners-and-advanced-users)
- [Introduceyourself Example](https://steemit.com/almost-famous/@teamsteem/hello-steemit-coinmaketcap-com-introduced-me)
- [The Steemit Newbie's Comprehensive Guide To Understanding Your Wallet](https://steemit.com/steemit-help/@merej99/the-steemit-newbie-s-comprehensive-guide-to-understanding-your-wallet-by-merej99)
- [Witness Voting Guide](https://steemit.com/witness-category/@timcliff/witness-voting-guide)
- [Steemit for Artists](https://steemit.com/art/@voronoi/steemit-for-artists-a-new-stage-for-craft)
- [Steemit Chat Guide](https://steemit.com/steemit/@firepower/dummies-guide-to-using-steemit-chat-effectively-everyday)
- [How to use Blocktrades to exchange STEEM/SBD for BTC](https://steemit.com/steem/@thecryptofiend/how-to-use-blocktrades-the-fastest-and-easiest-way-to-buy-and-sell-steem-sd-and-my-review-of-the-experience)
- [SBD to bitcoin (BTC) using Blocktrades, then BTC to Euro or USD Using CEX.io](https://steemit.com/howto/@future24/blocktrades-tutorial-part-2-how-to-exchange-sbd-to-btc-and-sell-them-for-euro-or-usd-english-german)
- [A Guide To Cashing Out Your STEEM/SBD Using PayPal](https://steemit.com/tutorial/@son-of-satire/a-minnows-guide-to-cashing-out-your-steem-sbd-using-paypal-without-using-coinbase-and-their-invasive-identity-checks)
- [How to Make Your Presence Known](https://steemit.com/steem-help/@papa-pepper/let-your-presence-be-known-advice-from-papa-for-newer-users)
- [Emojis for Steemit](https://steemit.com/emojis/@blueorgy/steemit-emojis-master-list)
- [5 Markdown Tips](https://steemit.com/steemit/@steemitguide/markdown-and-html-code-guide-for-beginners-that-includes-5-useful-tips-to-edit-posts-and-comments-using-the-raw-editor)
- [How to Get Noticed if You Are a New User on Steemit](https://steemit.com/steemit/@thecryptofiend/how-to-get-noticed-if-you-are-a-new-user-on-steemit)
- [Curation Rewards Explained](https://steemit.com/curation/@liberosist/mind-your-votes-ii-a-guide-to-maximizing-your-curation-rewards)
- [More Information on Curation Rewards](https://steemit.com/steemit/@calamus056/curation-rewards-explained-in-great-detail)
- [Everything you need to know about potential payouts and flagging](https://steemit.com/payout/@timcliff/everything-you-need-to-know-about-potential-payouts-and-flagging-for-new-users)
- [The Ultimate Guide of Tips for New Steem Users](https://steemit.com/steem-help/@timcliff/the-ultimate-guide-of-tips-for-new-steem-users)
- [Ways to Find Free and Legal Images](https://steemit.com/steem-help/@mindover/don-t-plagiarize-images-here-are-13-free-and-legal-ways-to-find-high-quality-photos-you-can-use-on-steemit)
- [Steem Keys and Passwords Guide](https://steemit.com/steemit-guides/@pfunk/a-user-s-guide-to-the-different-steem-keys-or-passwords)
- [Unwritten Rules of Steemit](https://steemit.com/steem-help/@beanz/the-unwritten-rules-of-steemit)
- [Advice on How to Succeed on Steemit: Come to Give, Not to Take](https://steemit.com/psychology/@shenanigator/come-to-give-not-take-the-power-of-reciprocity)
- [Best Practices for Steemit Artists](https://steemit.com/art/@merej99/best-practices-for-steemit-newbie-artists-by-merej99-a-100-power-up-post)
- [STEEM The Super Basic Explanation](https://steemit.com/steem/@thecryptofiend/steem-the-super-basic-explanation-for-new-users)
- [Blogging Tools](https://steemit.com/blogging/@munteanu/blogging-tools)
- [How to Create Different Types of Blog Content](https://steemit.com/writing/@jessicanicklos/how-to-create-different-types-of-blog-content-know-here-total-guide-line)

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Users_to_Follow"></a>
## Users to Follow

- @steemitblog - Official Steemit Announcements
- @ned - Ned Scott, CEO and Co-Founder of Steemit

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Other_Resources"></a>
## Other Resources

- [FAQ](https://steemit.com/faq.html)
- [Steemit Help](https://www.steemithelp.net/)
- [The Steem Whitepaper](https://steem.io/SteemWhitePaper.pdf)
- [Steem App Center](http://steemtools.com/)
- [Steem Block Explorer](https://steemd.com/)
- [Steem Blockchain Explorer](https://steemdb.com/)

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Live_Help"></a>
## Live Help

Ask your general questions in the [help](https://steemit.chat/channel/help) channel of [steemit.chat](https://steemit.chat/home). Users in the channel will typically respond to questions within a few hours.

New Member Support Community is a group of people dedicated to helping new users find their way around Steemit. You can find them in the [New Member Support Community](https://discord.gg/HYj4yvw) channel of Discord Chat.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
<a class="anchor" name="Third_Party_References"></a>
## Third Party References

Peerhub, BlockTrades, Bittrex, Steemit Chat, Steemit Help, New Member Support Community, and Discord Chat, as well as the tools listed under "Other Resources" are third party applications/services, and are not owned or maintained by Steemit, Inc. Their listing here does not constitute and endorsement or recommendation on behalf of Steemit, Inc.

All of the links in the "Helpful Posts from Steemit Users" section were created by our users and do not necessarily represent the views of Steemit, Inc. or its management.

Please use the third party tools and content at your own risk.

<a href="/welcome#Table_of_Contents">^</a>
