What is STEEM?
Steem is a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin). It uses a blockchain which is a computer based distributed and public ledger. If you want to learn more about cryptocurrencies I would recommend reading the Wikipedia page on Bitcoin. A fixed amount of Steem is produced everyday and this makes up the rewards that are available for posts and curation.
What is a Steem Dollar?
This is a sister currency to Steem that is pegged to the US dollar. Each SD can be used to purchase approximately 1 US dollar worth of Steem.
What is Steem Power?
This is a special form of Steem. SP is required to vote on content on the Steemit platform. The more SP you have the greater the value of your vote. In order to acquire SP you must either convert Steem to SP by a process called powering up or alternatively earn SP through posting or curation rewards. Unlike Steem, SP is not a “liquid” currency which you can transfer and spend whenever you want. In order to use it in this way it must be converted back to Steem in a gradual weekly process known as powering down. This can be initiated from your Steem wallet and happens over a period of 104 weeks.
What are Whales, Dolphins and Minnows?
These are terms that people use to describe Steemit users with different amounts of Steem/SP. There are no formal definitions. As the names suggest whales have the largest amount of SP, followed by dolphins in the middle and minnows at the bottom. Where you set the boundaries for each is entirely subjective. There is a lot of talk about whales because they have the largest voting power and influence on the platform.
Steemd uses a slightly different system which you can see here (https://steemd.com/distribution):
The Basics of Navigation
Your Account Homepage
Diagram 2 – This shows a screenshot of my homepage for illustration
This is your central hub for Steemit. At the top left (A) you will see tabs for the various different feeds such as home, new, hot, trending, promoted and active. Clicking on them will take you to them. On the top right (B) is a magnifying glass which lets you search steemit, next to which is the “Submit a Story” button which is used to make a new post. To the right of this is a symbol of a head which reveals a drop down menu with various quick access options for your account. Finally to the right of this is pictogram of three horizontal lines – this offers links to things like the Steemit Whitepaper.
Directly below all of these you will see your username with your repuation score in brackets. Next, directly below this (C) will be your stats in regards to follower number, post number, and number of people that you follow. Clicking on either “followers” or “followed” numbers will take you to a list of each where you can see them and manage them.
Down below these is a black bar with various tabs on it (D). “Blog” lets you view a list of your posts. “Comments” shows comments you have made on other people’s posts. “Replies” shows people’s replies to any of your posts, comments or otherwise. Rewards lets you view your author and curation rewards.
The Wallet Page
Diagram 3 – My Wallet Page for Illustration Purposes
This is accessed by clicking on the “Wallet” tab on right side of the black bar on your homepage (E).
This shows you the amount of Steem, Stem Power and Steem Dollars you have along with your estimated account value (M in next diagram).
It also shows your transaction history at the bottom (H).
Next to each amount for each of your currency types are various drop down menus which are accessed by clicking the disclosure triangles to their right. For Steem you can “transfer” to another account, “power up” (which converts it to Steem Power). “Buy or sell” allows you to sell it on the internal market. Finally the “Deposit” option lets you buy Steem using Bitcoins via the Blocktrades service. There are similar options for Steem Dollars allowing transferring and trading on the internal market and “Convert to Steem” – which converts your SD into Steem internally after a week.
You can also buy Steem or SP using the button (L) which seems to duplicate the functionality mentioned above.
Steem Power only has 2 options – you can “Deposit” using bitcoins in a similar process to that for regular Steem. “Power down” starts the process of converting your SP to Steem weekly over a period of 104 weeks.