Utopian is about to start using a new delegation system and the FAQs needed to be updated to reflect these changes. Aspects of the old system had to be replaced and wording updated to express how the new system will work and how it affects the answers to users' questions. Below is a list of all the changes I have made.
How do I earn more rewards?
The old text emphasized how the community influenced rewards (which remains true to an extent) but a more direct approach seemed better. The new text is below:
Quality is what matters most on Utopian. Project owners appreciate useful contributions that solve problems and move their projects forward, so quality contributions will get noticed and rewarded. Always submitting your best work is the surest way to position yourself to earn more for your contributions.
Why are some contributions rewarded more/less?
The old text explained how the Utopin bot voted in different categories with different voting strengths, and this will be replaced by the various delegations availed to the different projects.
When contributions are upvoted by project owners, they express their level of satisfaction with your work and their perception of the value it brings to the project. Seeing posts with higher rewards than others signals a difference in value, impact or difficulty of work between the contributions, as judged by project owners. Contributions that project owners feel are bringing more value to their projects will have higher rewards.
Why do some projects pay more than others?
I added this question because when the new delegation system is in place, projects will have varying amounts of delegations and will give out rewards that vary in range. Some contributors might start wondering why some projects give out less rewards.
How many sponsors a project has, and how much they invest in it, directly affects the amount of rewards that contributions made to that project get. Projects with larger support from sponsors are able to give out higher rewards. Project owners can also sponsor their own projects, by buying STEEM and delegating Steem Power to their projects via Utopian, further increasing the amount of rewards they can distribute.
Why are my posts earnings less after 7 days?
I used the fluctuations of the STEEM price to explain in simple terms how post payouts are affected.
The Steem blockchain calculates a post's payout using the current market price of the STEEM currency. When the price of STEEM goes up, all posts see an increase in the value of their payout amounts. When the price of STEEM goes down, all payout amounts decrease accordingly. Since every post's payout is available seven days after it is published, the general price movement of STEEM during that time affects how much posts earn.
I also took the chance to improve all the other FAQs.
How can I cash out my STEEM?
On this FAQ, I put Bittrex first, Changelly next and Poloniex last because of the latter's lack of availability lately.
Once you have some STEEM in your wallet, you can transfer it to a cryptocurrency exchange that supports STEEM like Bittrex, Changelly or Poloniex. There you can exchange it for other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, which are easier to exchange for fiat (USD for example).
Or you can use Blocktrades, which is integrated into the Steemit wallet interface. Just click your STEEM balance and a dropdown menu will appear. Then click “Sell” and you'll be taken to Blocktrades.
How do the different reward options work?
I imported a more detailed explanation from the Contributor Quick Start Guide.
Utopian gives you two ways in which to receive your STEEM rewards.
1) 50% SBD, 50% STEEM POWER (default)
This option gives you 50% of your rewards in SBD, which is a form of liquid STEEM. It can be transferred and spent immediately. You can trade it for Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency, and ultimately exchange it for the fiat currency of your choice.
The other 50% will be in Steem Power, which is STEEM that is bound to a smart contract that lets you withdraw your STEEM in 13 weekly amounts. Steem Power has a lot of utility in the Utopian ecosystem, and more information about its importance is available in the knowledge base.
2) 100% STEEM POWER
This option gives you all your rewards in the form of Steem Power, which you can withdraw through a 13 week schedule by "powering down" your Steem account. Learn more about the Steem blockchain's economic model.
When will the Utopian bot upvote my contribution?
I put simpler explanation here providing a link to where one can learn about the voting power feature of Steem in detail.
The Utopian bot starts voting on eligible contributions once its voting power reaches 100%. Learn more about voting power.
Who can I talk with if I need more help?
This is a new FAQ that directs people looking to talk with someone to Discord.
You can post a message in the #help channel on Discord and one of Utopian's moderators will get in touch.
README
Most of the changes made to the README file involved synchronizing the FAQ list with the new order, renaming and reordering them.
That's all for this update. Thanks for reading.
Visit the Utopian Help Center's GitHub repository
Posted on Utopian.io - Rewarding Open Source Contributors