MINDS 101 FOR NEWBIES
Welcome! I'm very glad you are here to take advantage of the many opportunities offered on this site. Here you are with your brand-new account on minds.com. What do you do now? I'm a user like yourself and have compiled something I hope will be easy, simple, logical, and helpful to you on this new adventure. This site has a lot to recommend it, so let's get started.
SET UP YOUR ACCOUNT 🏆
How to begin the process of creating your account is covered in a different article with screenshots (click the following link):
If you are reading this however, you have already come through the initial process. Congratulations, that trophy is for you. Let's now go step-by-step over everything from a "birds-eye" view, and help you get around the site.
INSPECT THE MAIN MENU 🤓
On this website your Homepage is called "Channel" but I also use your "Page" for now. You can always quickly get to your Page by clicking your avatar at the top right and "view Channel". On your Channel Page look at the white bar at the top with links - this is the Main Menu. Click each one of the following to see where it leads:
-Newsfeed - (Also that yellow lightbulb on the left). Will show you a feed of content as articles are published on the site with sublinks to subscribed and boostfeed (more below on this).
-Channels - Shows you the cards of other minds.com members. Here you can click the avatars of the folks listed to go to their Page and see what they are publishing. If it interests you, you can hit their Subscribe button which means you will see more of their content in your Newsfeed. Below that you will see links to a list of people you are subscribed to (subscriptions) and a list of those subscribed to you (subscribers).
-Videos - Shows you a sample of what videos people are uploading on the site. Below that you will see a link to a list of videos uploaded by your subscriptions (people you are subscribed to); a link to the videos you uploaded (my videos); and a link to upload videos.
On your Page on the left side you will also see your most recent videos.
-Images - Shows you a sample of what images people are uploading on the site. Below that you will see a link to images uploaded by your subscriptions (people you are subscribed to); a link to images you have uploaded (my images); and a link to upload images.
On your Page on the left side you will see a block of the last 9 images you have uploaded to your channel and by clicking the "see more" link below that you can see your Albums (collections of images and videos) and an upload function there also for images and videos.
-Blogs - Here you can browse through to see a sample of the original articles, called Blogs, that people are publishing on the site. The sublinks are once again Subscriptions to see those from people you are subscribed to; my blogs; and write a new blog. Here is where you can write your own Blogs.
-Groups (Includes "My Groups" and "Start a New Group") - Here you can browse through to see a sampling of the groups on the site; view the groups you belong to; and start your own group.
-Notification Bell - See "Track Your Tracker" below for details on this.
-Wallet (Bank Symbol) - Allows you to see your Tokens activity; Tokens you have collected, been wired, sent; used for boost; and more. See "Collect Tokens" below for more on this.
-Boost - Takes you to your Boost Console - more about this below.
-Search Bar - Use the Search Bar to find Channels, Groups, Blogs and more.
-Your Avatar - The drop-down menu allows you to go to your Channel (Home Page); Settings page; FAQ; the Help and Support group, the main place for getting answers to questions and reporting bugs or issues; and log out.
That Support link is your path to the official minds.com support group. When you post a query there, you will get assistance from other (advanced) users and the minds.com staff. All posts are vetted to make sure they are Help and Support issues. Watch your Tracker (see below) for replies to your post.
INSPECT YOUR CHANNEL (PAGE) 😋
-Set Your Messenger Password 📬
When you first create your account, you will see in the bottom right of your Page, "Messenger". This is the tool for sending brief messages to those you are subscribed to. Until you set a password, Messenger will continue to remind you. You can use your log-in password, or a different one (recommended). Thereafter, if you forget or want to change your Messenger password, click the gear on it. Your prior conversations are saved unless you change your Messenger password.
Click Messenger to see the list of your subscribers - the blue dot tells you they are currently online and the green dot says they sent you a message - click their name to read it.
-Create Your Avatar 👽
On your Page, in the space above your name, click the pencil and upload your image. Size of about 150x150 works well; larger images with the same ratio can also work, a bit of experimenting helps. When you are satisfied, hit the save button or checkmark. Once you set an avatar, you can change it but the change may take several days to show on all pages of the site.
-Upload a Banner 🇺🇸
The banner is that large image that runs across the top to personalize your Page; the size of image that works best is 2000x1125 (16:9 ratio). Click where it says "click here", upload your image from your computer and save it. (Advanced users: If you have an image that is larger, simply resize to the horizontal value while preserving the aspect ratio and crop it to size.) You can upload up to 6 different banners, they will rotate in sequence ... just follow the prompts and remember to hit the save button or checkmark on the left.
-Tell a Little About Yourself (Optional) ✏️
On the left side, click the pencil icon. You can add any personal information you want people to know about you including your location. You need not enter anything unless you want to. Hit the Save button to save your work.
-Check Out Your Subscriptions and Subscribers 🐼
On the top bar under Channels, you will see links to take you to a list of people subscribed to you and people you are subscribed to.
-Check Out Your Images and Videos 🌌
On the left side you will see 9 images - those are the last 9 images you have uploaded to Minds. You will also see the most recent videos you added. By clicking the "see more" link you can see all images and videos in your Albums (collections of images and videos) as well as an upload function; and you are able to delete any images or videos no longer wanted.
At first you will start with one basic Album; later you can create more Albums in which to upload and group your work.
-Your Activity 📣
One place for posting work on minds.com is on the right side of your Page in the "Speak Your Mind" field. Whatever you post there will be saved below that field in your Page Feed. More about this below in "SEED AND WRITE".
EXPLORE AND ADJUST YOUR NEWSFEED 🌎
On the Main Menu (white bar at top), you see Newsfeed on the left and at the very left a yellow lightbulb. Click either to go to your continuously updated feed of the articles published on this site.
At first your feed will be completely random, but as you subscribe to people you will find their stuff on your feed.
You will at first also see some controversial or explicit material and if you don't want to see those on your Feed, there are a couple of things to do:
1-Controversial Content - On the Feed, upper right, click the gear and in the dropdown, move the first slider "Open" to the left to turn it off.
2-Explicit Content - Move the second gear "Explicit" to the left to turn off graphic content, explicit language, and nudity.
3-Over 18 - Click your Avatar and in the dropdown choose Settings - select whether or not you want to see such material.
4-Block Tool - If you are still seeing content you don't like you can use the Block tool (see next section).
Give it time for your feed to adjust to your preferences, eventually you will be shown things you prefer.
SUBSCRIBE TO PEOPLE OR BLOCK FEARLESSLY 🎭
When you see postings that you like, subscribing to the person posting them will bring more of their content to your Newsfeed. People subscribing to you will see your work on their Feed and vice versa.
As mentioned above, there is a Block tool. A Block will prevent a user you block from subscribing to you or commenting or voting on your content or their material appearing in your boost feed.
You may see things on you don't care for, and if so you can use the Block tool. Click the avatar of the author which takes you to their Page; on the left click the round gear and block them.
So for example if you are seeing objectionable content on the feed, you can block the person; if someone is leaving untoward remarks on your content, you can block the person. You can always unblock if you change your mind.
VOTE, REMIND, AND MAKE COMMENTS 👍
As you see material you like, vote it up by clicking the thumb icon. Also, make a comment by hitting the "Thought Balloon" icon below the article and entering in the Comment section. To address your post to another post, click the leftward arrow. To edit your comment after posting, hover to the left of that arrow, click the left divet and pencil icon.
(To start a new paragraph in a comment field, while holding down Shift, hit Enter on your keyboard. If you just hit Enter, the comment will publish.)
If you vote something down it is encouraged to post a word of explanation in a comment; besides being courteous your input may be valuable to the author. If it comes across as downvoting a thoughtful article for no reason, it could get you blocked by that author.
You can also share someone else's work (called "Reminding"); click the double arrow below the article to do this ... the item will then be added to your own Page as well as the general Newsfeed.
-Becoming a Unique User
While everyone is eligible to vote, comment on, and remind the work of others, at this time, in order for your votes, reminds, etc., to carry point value for the other person; and in order for you to participate in the Rewards program, you must take the step of creating a unique identity for your account. This is achieved by putting your phone number in the Wallet. Access the Wallet from the bank symbol in the top menu and follow the prompts to put your mobile phone number in and receive a text code.
This is needed so Minds can confirm an account is unique. The phone number is not stored, but rather converted into a unique hash ID, in order that Minds can measure unique engagement and users cannot make fake accounts to cheat the system. Why is all of this necessary? Because at some time in the future, it is possible that the on-chain tokens can be converted into monetary value. See the "More Resources" section below for more articles on the Token system.
SPEAK YOUR MIND (SEED AND WRITE) 🎻
OK, presumably this is a big reason you are here, you want to publish original content and/or share content from the Internet that is important to you that you think others would want to know.
On your Page, in the right-hand column, the "Speak Your Mind" box is the place you do this. You can write something there and hit "Post". You can click the paperclip and upload an image from your computer. (Images can also be uploaded the same way in any comment field). You can also click the paperclip to upload a video from your computer, which is up to 15 minutes in length (5 minute limit from mobile app). Or you can share an article from the Net by copying the URL and pasting it in that box.
To edit after posting, click the downward divet.
After it loads, simply hit Publish.
Now after you publish, go to the Newsfeed and you will see your article there, and others will see it there also. Everything you publish will be on that Newsfeed.
You also have the ability at any time to delete any of your work you want to remove from your Channel.
World Symbol - The world symbol is for language translation.
Trash Can - If you see a trash can it is your article, and you have the ability to remove a comment someone else made that you don't feel is appropriate.
Flag Icon - Is to report something that is abusive ... the report goes to Staff and they take any action they deem necessary. Or if the posted article is yours you can simply remove the unwanted comment.
TRACK YOUR TRACKER (NOTICE YOUR NOTIFICATIONS) 🔔
That bell in the main menu at the top bar is your Tracker, which is your notification system. Click it to follow replies that have been made to you (tags) or in your discussions, votes you have received, reminds of your articles or posts, posts in groups you belong to, and when your channel is mentioned (tagged) anywhere.
Across the top are links to allow sorting notices by type of activity.
At the bottom of the small window that opens click the bar to open the Tracker full screen.
JOIN GROUPS 🎪
You will want to join two groups right away and those are the Support Group and the Minds User Group. Then there is the Minds Noobie Meeting Area, which is a great place to get acquainted and mingle with other newbies. You can find more groups and even start your own as mentioned above.
Be aware that for every group you join you will see activity on your Tracker, but you can opt out of that; in the left panel of the group click the gear icon and choose to disable notifications ... now you will not get notices when other group members post in that group.
Also if you post in a group (you must be a member) it will show on the Newsfeed and if you should post the same article on your channel or in another group it will show again on the Newsfeed, ie., every time you post something it shows on the feed. However, if you post in a group it won't show on your Page unless you repost or remind it there and vice-versa.
Every group has a chat function accessible in the left pane on the group's main page. Click the "conversations" link.
COLLECT TOKENS 🐿
On the top bar to the left of your avatar you will see an icon that looks like a Bank. Click that to get into your Wallet and see how many Tokens you have. You can use Tokens to boost your Channel or your content.
BOOST YOUR CHANNEL AND CONTENT🎈
To boost your Channel, on your Page on the left click the Boost button and you will be prompted to choose the number of views, 1,000 per Token, up to the limit of points you have available. This gets your work seen by users of the site not subscribed to you thus expands your network on the site.
You can also boost your content; your Boost Console is accessed by clicking the Boost button in the top bar; and you have a Wallet (that Bank icon) to manage your Tokens - see the "More Resources" section below for articles on that.
Where do boosts go? If you boost an Activity post or Newsfeed post, it goes to the Newsfeed. If you boost from a channel, a group, or a media page (blog, image, or video) then it will boost to the sidebar of the Newsfeed. Which Newsfeed? Yours and all of your Subscribers.
A precaution about boosting: the system allows you to boost for 5,000 views at a time. You don't need to wait the full time until one boost is completed to add another on the same content. Technically the system lets you go right back in immediately and add boost after boost, but don't do it. Minds cannot accept that many views of the same post right on top of each other, otherwise it starts to spam users feeds and takes up multiple boost blocks. You can stagger it 2-3 times over the course of a day, just space them out so it doesn't appear like spam. This is very important to keep in mind.
WIRE ⚡
You can wire your tokens to other Minds users in two ways: by visiting their Channel and clicking Wire Me on the left; or under an activity post clicking the lightning symbol. More on Wire in the More Resources section below.
SOLVE LOGIN ISSUES 😨
If you should lose your password to log in to the site, follow the prompts to get a code sent to you by email which will allow you into your account; set a new password. If you lose your Messenger password, you will need to set a new one; see the section above for how to do that.
GET OFFICIAL HELP AND SUPPORT 🚑
In the Main Menu (top bar), clicking your avatar and Help&Support will take you to the official site for the Help and Support Group. Another group that offers help is the Minds User Group.
MORE RESOURCES 🚒
There are several excellent articles I'm going to list giving much more information; this article was intended just as a very basic primer. Having absorbed everything here, your next step will be to visit these articles to answer the many further questions you probably have. Some of the information in some of these articles is now outdated since the major site overhaul the last week of March 2018.
Beginner’s Guide to Minds.com: The Social Media Site That Pays You in Crypto
https://blockonomi.com/minds-com-guide/
About Minds/Terms/Privacy/Contact Minds
FAQ
Setting Up Your Account
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/795700379655118848
Minds User Guide for the Browser
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/694641687321911310
8 Basic Essentials
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/742327794419113984
The Minds Survival Guide
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/708859261353992192
Useful Links for Newcomers
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/700440743231102981
How to Be a Useful User on Minds
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/789910265542496256
A Guide to Etiquette on Minds
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/623625937396703243
Turning Minds Newsfeed Into Your Personal Pleasure Cruise
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/803004318991495168
Dragon's Interactive Treasure Trove of Resources for learning and using minds.com
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/817408411232890880
Your Special Powers Over Trolls
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/773165087325167624
Minds Groups
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/695690382154932226
Stylish
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/642434505059082253
Minds For Viners
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/738982413513793536
Boost
Your Minds Boost Console: How to Use It
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/758490546346926080
Wire
Minds Plus
Token 101 - How the New Rewards System Works
https://www.minds.com/wallet/tokens/101
A Helpful Guide to Minds Token
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/826249777155657728
Minds Tokens: What They Are and What They Are Not
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/836607056186159104
Minds Crypto Integration 101
https://www.minds.com/blog/view/825693314038353920
MetaMask
https://metamask.io/#how-it-works
https://www.minds.com/minds/blog/how-to-setup-your-wallet-with-metamask-871783126122799104
Installing Minds on Ubuntu
https://www.minds.com/archive/view/718232805288452096
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A SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO THESE OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTORS WHO HELPED KEEP THIS ARTICLE IN THE BOOSTFEED:
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FEEL FREE TO POST ANY QUESTIONS AND IF I CAN'T ANSWER WILL TRY TO POINT YOU TOWARD HELP FROM ANOTHER SOURCE. DON'T FORGET TO CHECK THE ADDITIONAL RESOURCES LISTED ABOVE.
Updated 8/9/18