At the beginning of the year, I used Planet to rebuild my blog. In addition, I encountered some interesting things and wrote a few worthless articles on the internet.
During this period of free time, I happened to see a familiar product on V Station with an attractive title: xLog - On-chain Open Source Blogging Community and Creator Incentive Program. I say it's familiar because I've seen author DIYgod post about it on Twitter several times, and I occasionally follow his blog. And when it comes to being attractive, come on, who can resist a real money incentive program?
But I'm really a novice when it comes to blockchain. I got a headache just trying to configure the payment method for my small shop by reading the documentation. It feels like one step, one pitfall, and if you step on the wrong one, there's no saving you.
Getting Started with xLog#
Using xLog is very simple. First, visit xLog and choose Get your own xLog in 5 minutes. You will have two options:
What's the difference? From my experience, if you don't use a wallet, you won't be able to receive transaction tokens or sponsorships from others, and you won't be able to change the custom domain assigned to you by xLog.
Which Wallet App to Use?#
On Apple devices, I recommend MetaMask, and on Android devices, I recommend Trust Wallet. For other platforms, just follow the prompts in the dialog box to make your own choice.
Your wallet needs to support adding a custom network, but on Apple devices, Trust Wallet does not support adding a custom network.
Head back to your wallet main screen to view the new network. You can now send & receive tokens on the Core DAO network in your Trust Wallet Mobile! Please note, custom token on mobile is currently only available on Android, and will be released on iOS very soon!
It's hard to find this sentence, it's hidden in the instructions for adding a custom DAO, but other than that, it says that adding a custom network is supported. Anyway, I couldn't find it...
Because every time I link my wallet, it defaults to selecting the ENS token, and I learned about it when using Planet, so I know I might need it, but it's expensive to buy, and in the end, I found out that I didn't actually need it. I paid a tuition fee...
How to Connect Your Wallet?#
Alright, if you're using MetaMask on your phone like me, just follow along. If not, you'll have to figure it out yourself, it's not that difficult.
Choose Connect Wallet, then Other Wallets, and scan the QR code on the page with the app in the upper right corner. Wait for a prompt on your phone and follow the steps to complete the process.
Next, you will be asked to create a Character, which is like a user identity, a role.
Soon, you will see the welcome page of xLog:
👋 Hello,
Welcome to xLog!
Claiming Tokens#
Everything xLog does is on the Crossbell blockchain, and all blockchain operations require resources, hence the term gas fee.
But don't worry too much about the balance. You can claim $CSB for free in the Tokens tab of the xLog console. Most operations are free, but they require a small amount of gas fee (giving me a feeling of V Station's virtual currency system).
You can check your account in the block explorer, for example, check my account balance in the block explorer.
Configuring Signature Delegation#
In the console, tap on your Character and select Signature Delegation.
Open it, and you won't have to authorize transactions in your wallet every time you perform an operation.
Start Creating or Importing Articles#
xLog supports importing Markdown, and the editor itself is native Markdown. However, if you need to migrate content, you may need to re-upload all the images, otherwise the images will not be stored on the blockchain.
It took me about half an hour to migrate some of the junk I had written before, mainly checking and uploading images. I'm looking forward to the introduction of a one-click replacement (scanning the image format in the content, downloading, and automatically uploading).
Why Did I Switch to xLog#
After exploring xLog a bit, my first reaction was: The Blog Garden of the New Era, because it has a certain social element, recommends bloggers in the background, and Characters can represent your identity on Crossbell, with a hint of centralization.
Decentralization is something I can't fully achieve at the moment. If I'm still using Planet to create content and I lose my computer without backing up, I will lose all access. But on xLog, I can retrieve my original content through on-chain data, and there are mnemonic phrases to help back up my wallet.
And simply put, IPNS is just too slow. You have to find a way to add a lot of caching. If the server performance is not enough, you have to find a stable public gateway. xLog tells me directly that blockchain doesn't always mean low efficiency. I no longer need to configure complex caching, I just need to change the CNAME pointer.
The different architecture also allows my articles to be updated faster! Previously, it took about an hour from publishing to being accessible on the public network after the PIN service pinned the article. On xLog, it's visible immediately after publishing.
The richer blogging features also make xLog more attractive. DIYgod, the author of xLog, has many well-known works, and I believe this will be a fast and continuously developing product.
That's it. If I have to mention a downside, it's probably that all the previous comments are gone, right?
I hope you will also like xLog.