I am very happy to announce that earlier tonight, I have pushed the version 0.8.13 of our app, steemstem.io.

In a few words, this update contains a couple of new features that will allow users to get promoted (or featured) on the app.
To make a long story short (for more detailed explanations, please see below), the app now includes two ways to render a post more visible.
Firstly, authors from the SteemSTEM whitelist automatically get free promotion.
Secondly, authors can pay 5 STEEM to get featured.

The homepage layout

The homepage of the app is divided into three areas, as illustrated on the screenshot below.

Two of these areas are dedicated to post promotion. The rightmost column targets our whitelisted members, whilst the header bar is available to anyone.
Both the header bar and the whitelist column include three place holders for promoted posts.

The SteemSTEM Whitelist

The rightmost column of the page is dedicated to the SteemSTEM whitelisted members and contains three place holders for posts written by these authors. Any post they write is eligible provided three conditions are met.

The post must include the #steemstem tag.
The post has to be written in English.
The post must have been published in the last 7 days.

The app then randomly selects three posts from those reaching these requirements. Moreover, whitelisted authors get a yellow star close to their username, anywhere it appears on the app (see the example below).

At the present time, the SteemSTEM whitelist includes:
@abigail-dantes, @aboutcoolscience, @alexander.alexis, @alexdory, @alexs1320, @anaestrada12, @astrophoto.kevin, @carloserp-2000, @chappertron, @chloroform, @cryptoitaly, @dexterdev, @eniolw, @erh.germany, @gentleshaid, @gra, @greenrun, @iamphysical, @ied, @irelandscape, @katerinaramm, @kingabesh, @lamouthe, @lemouth, @mathowl, @mobbs, @pangoli, @robertyan, @robotics101, @samminator, @scienceangel, @scienceblocks, @sco, @steemstem, @suesa, @terrylovejoy, @tking77798 How to get to this list? There is an only way: be active in SteemSTEM (i.e. by writing nice posts and engaging the other members of the community both on Steem and on discord). If you think you should be on this list, do not hesitate to reach out the SteemSTEM Honor Members on our discord server.

5 STEEM to get featured

The homepage of the app also contains a header bar with three place holders for posts to be promoted. The way to get there is as follows.

First, 5 STEEM must be sent to @steemstem-io. The fee can vary (please verify on the @steemstem-io profile).
There are then two cases. If the author is whitelisted, his/her post is automatically eligible for getting promoted. If the author is not whitelisted, the post must be upvoted by @steemstem to be eligible for a promotion.
A post stays eligible during one week after payment.

If there are more posts than place holders, there is a random selection of the three shown posts each time the app is loaded. If there are less posts than place holders, posts from @steemstem and from this account (discussing the app) could get freely featured.
By the way, the entire process is fully automated, and there will be no reimbursement of the fee.

The close future

I will continue improving the app during the next couple of weeks (I am in vacation from the university :) ), finalizing v0.8 by fixing a bunch of minor bugs. For v0.9, keychain integration is in order. For the technical part, I please visit the SteemSTEM.io GitHub folder.
Feel free to share your experience with the app, to report any bug or weird feature or to suggest or complain about anything. The comments to this post are open, as well as the SteemSTEM discord server (in a dedicated channel).

SteemSTEM

SteemSTEM aims to make Steem a better place for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and to build a science communication platform on Steem. Make sure to follow SteemSTEM on steemstem.io, Steemit, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to always be up-to-date on our latest news and ideas. Please also consider to support the project by supporting our witness (@stem.witness) or by delegating to @steemstem for a ROI of 65% of our curation rewards (quick delegation links: 50SP | 100SP | 500SP | 1000SP | 5000SP | 10000SP).