diff --git a/docs/user/faq.md b/docs/user/faq.md index e7516a765..797e61445 100644 --- a/docs/user/faq.md +++ b/docs/user/faq.md @@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ sub: meta # Stacker News FAQ -To quickly browse through this FAQ page, click the chapters icon in the top-right corner. This will let you scroll through all FAQ chapter titles or search for a particular topic within this page. +_To quickly browse through this FAQ page, click the chapters icon in the top-right corner. This will let you scroll through all chapters or search for a particular topic within this page._ --- @@ -14,444 +14,366 @@ To quickly browse through this FAQ page, click the chapters icon in the top-righ ### What is Stacker News? -Stacker News is a forum (like Reddit or Hacker News) where you can earn sats for creating or curating content. Rather than collecting “upvotes” that are not redeemable or transferable on Reddit or Hacker News, on Stacker News you can earn sats. +Stacker News is a forum similar to Reddit or Hacker News. Unlike Reddit or Hacker News where you earn "upvotes" or "karma" that are not redeemable or transferable, on Stacker News you earn satoshis for creating and curating content. -### What Are Sats? +### What are satoshis? -Sats are the smallest denomination of Bitcoin. Just like there are 100 pennies in 1 dollar, there are 100,000,000 sats in 1 Bitcoin. On Stacker News, all Bitcoin payments and balances are denominated in sats. +A satoshi is the smallest denomination of bitcoin. Just like there are 100 pennies in 1 dollar, there are 100,000,000 satoshis in 1 bitcoin. Satoshis are commonly abbreviated as sats. On Stacker News, all bitcoin payments are denominated in sats and use the Lightning Network. -### Do I Need Bitcoin to Use Stacker News? +### What are cowboy credits? -No. Every new stacker can comment for free (with limited visibility) while they earn their first few sats. After a stacker has started earning sats for their content, subsequent posts and comments will incur a small fee to prevent spam and to encourage quality contributions. Many stackers earn enough sats from their posts and comments to continue posting on the site indefinitely without ever depositing their own sats. +Stacker News never takes custody of stackers' money to send it to someone else. -Post and comment fees vary depending on the [territory](#stacker-news-territories). +To help new stackers get started without requiring them to [attach a lightning wallet](#how-do-i-attach-a-wallet), stackers without an attached wallet will earn cowboy credits (CCs) when other stackers zap their content. Stacker News will accept CCs instead of sats for any payment on the site at a 1:1 ratio. This means new stackers can use these earned CCs to pay for posts, comments, zaps, jobs, boosts, donations or even territories but cannot withdraw them. -### Why Is My Wallet Balance Going Up? +If you need additional cowboy credits beyond what you've earned through zaps, you can always purchase them with sats at a 1:1 ratio [here](/credits). -When other stackers [zap](#zapping-on-stacker-news) your posts and comments, those sats go to you. Stackers who are actively contributing content and sats also earn extra sats as a daily reward. These sats come from the revenue generated by Stacker News from posting/commenting fees and boost fees. +### What are zaps? ------ +Zaps are micropayments on the Lightning Network commonly used as tips. -## Creating an Account +### What are territories? -### How Do I Create a Stacker News Account? +Every post on Stacker News belongs to a territory. Territories are communities where stackers gather to discuss shared interests and help them grow and thrive. -The most private way to create a Stacker News account is by logging in with one of the Lightning wallets listed below. +They are founded by stackers who pay us to receive the revenue they generate (some would call that a business model). Territories generate revenue because 70% of post, comment and boost fees and 21% of zaps go to the founder. -Lightning wallets for logging in to Stacker News: +See the [section about territories](#territories) for details. -- Alby -- Balance of Satoshis -- Blixt -- Breez -- Coinos -- LNbits -- LNtxbot -- Phoenix -- SeedAuth -- SeedAuthExtension -- SimpleBitcoinWallet -- ThunderHub -- Zap Desktop -- Zeus +### Do I need bitcoin to use Stacker News? -Alternatively, new stackers can set up an account by linking their email, Nostr, Github, or X accounts. +No. Every new stacker can post or comment for free (with limited visibility) while they earn their first few CCs or sats. After a stacker has gained a balance, subsequent posts and comments will incur a small fee to prevent spam and to encourage quality contributions. Many stackers earn enough from their posts and comments to continue posting on the site indefinitely without ever buying CCs with sats. -### How Do I Login With Lightning? +[Post and comment fees vary depending on the territory](#why-does-it-cost-more-to-post-in-some-territories). -To login with Lightning: +### How do I earn sats on Stacker News? -1. Click [Login](/login) -2. Select [Login with Lightning](/login?type=lightning) -3. Open one of the Lightning wallets listed above -4. Scan the QR code that appears on Stacker News -5. Confirm your log in attempt on your Lightning wallet +There are four ways to earn sats on Stacker News: -### Can I Use Multiple Login Methods? +**1. Zaps** -Yes. +To earn sats via [zaps](#zaps) from fellow stackers peer-to-peer, you need to [attach a wallet](#wallets) that can receive payments. Once you're setup, share interesting links, discussion prompts or simply engage with the community in comments. If another stacker finds value in what you shared and they also attached a wallet, you will receive real sats when they zap you. -Once you’re logged in, follow these steps to link other authentication methods: -1. Click your username -2. Click [settings](/settings) -3. Scroll down to link other authentication methods +**2. Daily rewards** -Once you’ve linked another authentication method to your account, you’ll be able to access your account on any device using any one of your linked authentication methods. +Stackers can also earn sats via daily rewards. Stacker News uses the revenue it generates from post, comment and boost fees, the job board and donations to reward stackers that contributed to the site with even more sats beyond the zaps they already received. Contributions also include zapping content since they are used as a signal for ranking. **You do not need to attach a wallet to receive daily rewards in sats. They are automatically deposited into your account.** You can find and withdraw your reward sats balance [here](/credits). -### Why Should I Log In With Lightning? +**3. Referrals** -Logging in with Lightning is the most private method of logging in to Stacker News. +Another way to earn sats is via [referrals](/referrals/month). If a stacker signs up through one of your referral links, you will earn 10% of their rewards in perpetuity. A referral link is any link that ends with /r/\. Additionally, if a stacker clicks on your referral links the most on a day, you will also receive 10% of their rewards for that day. -Rather than entering an email address, or linking your X or Github accounts, you can simply scan a QR code with your Lightning wallet or use a Lightning web wallet like Alby which enables desktop stackers to log in with a single click. +Your posts, comments and profile are implicit referral links. They don't need to have the /r/\ suffix. -### How Do I Set a Stacker News Username? +To make referring stackers easy, clicking on `...` next to a post or comment and selecting 'copy link' will copy it as a referral link by default. You can disable this in your [settings](/settings). -When setting up an account, Stacker News will automatically create a username for you. +**4. Territories** -To change your username: - -1. Click your username (it's in the top-right corner of your screen) -2. Select profile -3. Click ‘edit nym’ +The last way to earn sats is by founding a territory since they generate revenue. However, this is not a recommended way to earn sats for new stackers since you need to pay for the territory in advance and it requires a lot of effort to just break even. --- -## Funding Your Account - -### How Do I Fund My Stacker News Wallet? - -There are three ways to fund your Stacker News account: - -1. By QR code -2. By Lightning Address -3. By sharing great content - -#### QR code - -1. Click your username -2. Click [wallet](/wallet) -3. Click fund -4. Enter a payment amount -5. Generate an invoice on Stacker News -6. Pay the invoice on your Lightning wallet - -#### Lightning Address - -1. Click your username -2. Open a wallet that offers Lightning Address support -3. Enter your Stacker News Lightning Address on your wallet -4. Pay any amount to fund your Stacker News account - -#### Sharing great content - -Every new stacker gets free comments (with limited visibility) to get started on Stacker News. Many stackers have earned enough sats from their first few posts and comments to continue posting on the site indefinitely without ever depositing their own sats. - -### What Is a Lightning Address? - -A Lightning Address is just like an email address, but for your Bitcoin. +## Wallets -It is a simple tool that anyone can use to send Bitcoin without scanning QR codes or copying and pasting invoices between wallets. +Stacker News is non-custodial. To send and receive sats, you need to attach a wallet. If you don't attach a wallet, you will send and receive [CCs](#what-are-cowboy-credits). -For more on how Lightning Addresses work, [click here](https://lightningaddress.com/). +### How do I attach a wallet? -### Where Is My Stacker News Lightning Address? +Click [here](/wallets) or click on your nym and select "wallets". You should then see this: -All stackers get Lightning addresses, which follow the format of username@stacker.news. +![](https://m.stacker.news/75164) -Your Lightning address can also be found on your profile page, highlighted with a yellow button and a Lightning bolt icon. +We currently support the following wallets: -### How Do I See My Account Balance? +- [WebLN](https://www.webln.guide/ressources/webln-providers) +- [Blink](https://www.blink.sv/) +- [Core Lightning](https://docs.corelightning.org/) via [CLNRest](https://docs.corelightning.org/docs/rest) +- [Lighting Node Connect](https://docs.lightning.engineering/lightning-network-tools/lightning-terminal/lightning-node-connect) (LNC) +- [Lightning Network Daemon](https://github.com/lightningnetwork/lnd) (LND) via [gRPC](https://lightning.engineering/api-docs/api/lnd/) +- [LNbits](https://lnbits.com/) +- [Nostr Wallet Connect](https://nwc.dev/) (NWC) +- [lightning address](https://strike.me/learn/what-is-a-lightning-address/) +- [phoenixd](https://phoenix.acinq.co/server) -When logged in, your wallet balance is the number shown in the top-right corner of your screen. +Click on the wallet you want to attach and complete the form. -Clicking your wallet balance allows you to fund, withdraw, or view your past transactions. +### What do the arrows mean? -### How Do I See My Transaction History? +Not every wallet supports both sending and receiving sats. For example, a lightning address can receive sats but not send them. This is indicated with an arrow to the bottom-left ↙️. A wallet that can send sats will have an arrow to the top-right ↗️. -To see your full history of Stacker News transactions: +### I can't find my wallet. Can I not attach one? -1. Click your wallet balance in the top-right corner of your screen -2. Click [Wallet History](/satistics?inc=invoice,withdrawal,stacked,spent) -3. Select which data you would like to see from the top menu +We currently don't list every wallet individually but [this is planned](https://github.com/stackernews/stacker.news/issues/1495). -The buttons on your wallet history page allow you to view and filter your past funding invoices, withdrawals, as well as the transactions where you stacked sats or spent sats on Stacker News. +If you can't find your wallet, there is still a high chance that you can attach one. Many wallets support Nostr Wallet Connect or provide lightning addresses. Here is a table of common wallets: ------ +| Wallet | Lightning Address | Nostr Wallet Connect | +| --- | --- | --- | +| [Strike](https://strike.me/) | ✅ | ❌ | +| [cashu.me](https://cashu.me/) | ✅ | ✅ | +| [Wallet of Satoshi](https://www.walletofsatoshi.com/) | ✅ | ❌ | +| [Zebedee](https://zbd.gg/) | ✅ | ❌ | +| [Coinos](https://coinos.io/) | ✅ | ✅ | -## Posting on Stacker News +If you still can't attach a wallet, you can reach out to us in the [saloon](/daily) or simply reply to this FAQ. -### How Do I Post? +### I receive notifications about failed zaps. What do I do? -To submit a post, click the Post button in the nav bar. +This means your wallet isn't working properly. You can retry the payment or check your [wallet logs](/wallets/logs) for errors. A retry usually works. -Each post has a small fixed fee as a measure to limit spam, and to encourage stackers to post quality content. +If the retry didn't work, you can't find an error or don't understand it, let us know in the [saloon](/daily) or reply to this FAQ. -There are a few different types of posts stackers can make on Stacker News, including links, discussions, polls, and bounties. +The link to the wallet logs can be found on the [wallet page](/wallets). -- Link posts require a title and a URL (stackers can optionally include a discussion prompt) -- Discussion posts require a title and a discussion prompt (stackers can optionally add links to their discussion prompt) -- Poll posts require a title and at least two poll options to choose from -- Bounty posts require a title, prompt, and a bounty amount to be paid on task completion +### Why do I need to enter two strings for NWC? -### How Do I Comment? +For security reasons, we never store permissions to spend from your wallet on the server unencrypted. -To comment on a post: +Since we however need to request invoices from your wallet when there is an incoming payment, we need to store the details to receive payments on the server in plaintext. -1. Click the title of the post you want to comment on -2. Submit your comment in the text box below the post +This means that the details for receiving cannot be mixed with the details for sending and is why we need two separate NWC strings for sending and receiving. -To reply to a comment: - -1. Click reply beneath the comment you want to reply to -2. Submit your comment in the text box below the comment - -### How Do Posting Fees Work? - -Post and comment fees vary depending on a few factors. - -First, territory owners have the ability to set their own post and comment fees. - -Additionally, fees increase by 10x for repetitive posts and self-reply comments to prevent spam. - -As an example, if it costs 10 sats for a stacker to make a post in a territory, it will cost 100 sats if they make a second post within 10 minutes of their first post. If they post a third time within 10 minutes of their first one, it will cost 1,000 sats. - -This 10x fee escalation continues until 10 minutes have elapsed, and will reset to a fee of 10 sats when the stacker goes 10 minutes or more without posting or replying to themselves in a comment thread. - -This 10 minute fee escalation rule does not apply to stackers who are replying to other stackers, only those who repetitively post or reply to themselves within a single thread. +Other applications don't require two strings for one of the following reasons: -There are also fees for uploads but your first 250 MB within 24 hours are free. After that, every upload will cost 10 sats until you reach 500 MB. Then the fee is raised to 100 sats until 1 GB after which every upload will cost 1,000 sats. After 24 hours, you can upload 250 MB for free again. Uploads without being logged in always cost 100 sats. +1. they only use NWC for sending but not for receiving +2. you can only receive while you are logged in +3. they (irresponsibly) store permissions to spend in plaintext on their server -Upload fees are applied when you submit your post or comment. Uploaded content that isn't used within 24 hours in a post or comment is deleted. +### Why is my wallet not showing up on another device? -### What Is a Boost? +By default, permissions to spend from your wallet are only stored on your device. -Boosts allow stackers to increase the ranking of their post upon creation to give their content more visibility. +However, you can enable [device sync](/settings/passphrase) in your settings to securely sync your wallets across devices. Once enabled, your wallets will show up on all devices you entered your passphrase. -### How Do I Earn Sats on Stacker News? +### I have a wallet attached but I still receive CCs. Why? -Stackers reward each other for their contributions by zapping them with sats. +This can happen for any of the following reasons: -To start earning sats, you can share interesting links, discussion prompts, or comments with the community. +1. The sender did not have a wallet attached +2. Sender's dust limit was too high for the outgoing zap amount ("send credits for zaps below" in [settings](/settings)) +3. Your dust limit was too high for the incoming zap amount ("receive credits for zaps and deposits below" in [settings](/settings)) +3. Sender's wallet was not able to pay +4. Routing the payment to you was too expensive for the zap amount (3% are reserved for network fees) +5. The zap was forwarded to you -Beyond the direct payments from other stackers, Stacker News also uses the revenue it generates from its job board, boost fees, post fees, and stacker donations to reward stackers that contributed to the site with even more sats. +### I have a wallet attached but I still send CCs. Why? -Every day, Stacker News rewards either creators or zappers with a daily reward. These rewards go to stackers who either created or zapped one or more of the top 33% of posts and comments from the previous day. The rewards scale with the ranking of the content as determined by other stackers. +This can happen for any of the following reasons: -Finally, Stacker News also rewards stackers with sats for referring new stackers to the platform. To read more about the Stacker News referral program, click [here](#how-does-the-stacker-news-referral-program-work). +1. The receiver did not have a wallet attached +2. Your dust limit was too high for the outgoing zap amount ("send credits for zaps below" in [settings](/settings)) +3. Receiver's dust limit was too high for the incoming zap amount ("receive credits for zaps and deposits below" in [settings](/settings)) +4. Your wallet was not able to pay +5. Routing the payment to the sender was too expensive for the zap amount (3% are reserved for network fees) +6. The zap was forwarded to the receiver -### How Do I Format Posts on Stacker News? +### I don't want to receive CCs. How do I disable them? -Stacker News uses [github flavored markdown](https://guides.github.com/features/mastering-markdown/) for styling all posts and comments. +You cannot disable receiving CCs but we might change that in the future. For now, you can donate any CCs you received [here](/rewards). -You can use any of the following elements in your content: +--- -- Headings -- Blockquotes -- Unordered Lists -- Ordered Lists -- Inline code with syntax highlighting -- Tables -- Text Links -- Line Breaks -- Subscript or Superscript +## Territories -In addition, stackers can tag other stackers with the @ symbol like this: @sn. Stackers can also refer to different territories with the ~ symbol like this: ~jobs. +Territories are communities on Stacker News. Each territory has a founder who acts as a steward of the community, and anyone can post content to the territory that best fits the topic of their post. -### How Do I Post Images or Videos on Stacker News? +When Stacker News first launched without territories, much of the discussion focused exclusively on Bitcoin. However, since territories have been introduced, anyone can now create a thriving community on Stacker News to discuss any topic. -There are two ways to post images or videos: +### How do I found a territory? -1. By pasting a URL to an image or video -2. By uploading an image or video +Click [here](/territory) or scroll to the bottom in the territory dropdown menu and click on "create". -If you have a URL, you can simply paste it into any textbox. Once your link is pasted into the textbox of a post or comment, it will automatically be rendered as an image or video when you preview or post. +### How much does it cost to found a territory? -To upload files, click the upload icon on the top-right corner of the textbox. This will open a file explorer where you can select the files you want to upload (or multiple). We currently support following file types: +Founding a territory costs either 50k sats/month, 500k sats/year, or 3m sats as a one-time payment. -- image/gif -- image/heic -- image/png -- image/jpeg -- image/webp -- video/mp4 -- video/mpeg -- video/webm +If a territory founder chooses either the monthly or yearly payment options, they can select 'auto-renew' so that Stacker News is automatically paid the territory fee each month or year from your CC balance. If a territory founder doesn't select 'auto-renew' or they don't have enough CCs, they will get a notification to pay an invoice within 5 days after the end of their current billing period to keep their territory. -Uploaded content that isn't used within 24 hours in a SN post or comment is deleted. +If you later change your mind, your payment for the current period is included in the new cost. This means that if you go from monthly to yearly payments for example, we will charge you 450k instead of 500k sats. -As explained in the [section about posting fees](#how-do-posting-fees-work), fees might apply for uploads. +### Do I earn sats from territories? -To expand an image on Stacker News, click the image. Clicking it again will shrink it back to its original size. +Yes. Territory founders earn 70% of all posting and boost fees as well as 21% of all sats zapped within their territory. These earnings are paid out at the end of each day. You will receive a notification and you can withdraw your sats at any time [here](/credits). -If you are trying to post images from Twitter on Stacker News, make sure you have selected the tweet's image URL, and not the tweet URL itself. +The remaining 30% of posting and boost fees and 9% of zapped sats go to the Stacker News daily rewards pool, which rewards the best contributors each day. -To find the image URL of a twitter photo, right-click the image on Twitter, select "Open In New Tab", and copy that URL. +### Why does it cost more to post in some territories? -### Stacker News Shortcuts +Territory founders set the fees for posts and comments in their territories. -Stacker News supports a handful of useful keyboard shortcuts for saving time when creating content: +Additionally, fees increase by 10x for repetitive posts and self-reply comments to prevent spam. -`ctrl+enter`: submit any post/comment/form -`ctrl+k`: link in markdown fields -`ctrl+i`: italics in markdown fields -`ctrl+b`: bold in markdown fields -`ctrl+alt+tab`: real tab in markdown fields +As an example, if it costs 10 sats for a stacker to make a post in a territory, it will cost 100 sats if they make a second post within 10 minutes of their first post. If they post a third time within 10 minutes of their first one, it will cost 1,000 sats. ------ +This 10x fee escalation continues until 10 minutes have elapsed, and will reset to a fee of 10 sats when the stacker goes 10 minutes or more without posting or replying to themselves in a comment thread. -## Stacker News Territories +This 10 minute fee escalation rule does not apply to stackers who are replying to other stackers, only those who repetitively post or reply to themselves within a single thread. -### What are Territories? +### Are media uploads free? -Territories are communities on Stacker News. Each territory has an owner who acts as a steward of the community, and anyone can post content to the territory that best fits the topic of their post. +Your first 250 MB within 24 hours are free. After that, the following fees apply: -When Stacker News first launched, much of the discussion focused exclusively on Bitcoin. However, the launch of territories means anyone can now create a thriving community on Stacker News to discuss any topic. +| uploaded within 24 hours | cost per upload | +| -------------------------| --------------- | +| up to 250 MB | 0 sats | +| 250-500 MB | 10 sats | +| 500-1 GB | 100 sats | +| more than 1GB | 1,000 sats | -### Can Anyone Start a Territory? +After 24 hours, you can upload 250 MB for free again. -Anyone can start a territory by clicking the dropdown menu next to the logo on the homepage, scrolling to the bottom of the list, and clicking [create](/territory). Stackers can also create as many territories as they want. +Uploads without being logged in always cost 100 sats. -### How Much Does It Cost to Start a Territory? +Upload fees are applied when you submit your post or comment. -Starting a territory costs either 100k sats/month, 1m sats/year, or 3m sats as a one-time payment. +### Are media uploads stored forever? -If a territory owners chooses either the monthly or yearly payment options, they can select 'auto-renew' so that Stacker News is automatically paid the territory fee each month or year. If a territory owner doesn't select 'auto-renew', they will get a notification to pay an invoice within 5 days after the end of their month or year to keep their territory. +Yes, if it was used in a post or comment. **Uploads that haven't been used within 24 hours in a post or comment is deleted.** -If you later change your mind, your payment for the current period is included in the new cost. This means that if you go from monthly to yearly payments for example, we will charge you 900k instead of 1m sats. +### I no longer want to pay for my territory. What should I do? -### Can Territory Owners Earn Sats? +Make sure 'auto-renew' is disabled in your territory settings. After that, simply ignore the new bill at the end of your current billing period. -Yes, territory owners earn 70% of all fees generated by content in their specific territory. This means territory owners earn 7% of all sats zapped within their territory, as well as 70% of all sats paid as boosts or posting and commenting costs within their territory. These rewards are paid to territory owners each day as part of the Stacker News daily rewards. +After the grace period of 5 days, the territory will be archived. Stackers can still see archived posts and comments, but they will not be able to create new posts or comments until someone pays for that territory again. -The remaining 30% of fees generated by content in a given territory is paid to the Stacker News daily rewards pool, which rewards the best contributors on the site each day. +### How do I bring back a territory? -### What Variables Do Territory Owners Control? +Enter the name of the territory you want to bring back in the [territory form](/territory). If the territory indeed existed before, you will see a hint below the input field like this: -Territory owners can set the following variables for their territory: +![](https://m.stacker.news/76254) -- Territory name -- Territory description -- Minimum posting cost -- Allowable post types +The info text mentions that you will inherit all existing content. -Territory owners can also mark their territory as NSFW or enable moderation. Moderation allows them to outlaw content with one click (see [How Do I Flag Content](#how-do-i-flag-content-i-dont-like)). +Other than that, the process to bring back an archived territory is the same as founding a new territory. -All territory variables can be updated after creation. +### I want to share the costs and revenue of a territory with someone. How do I do that? -### What Happens If I No Longer Want My Territory? +You can't do that yet but this is planned. Currently, territories can only have a single founder. -If a territory owner chooses not to renew their territory at the end of their billing period, the territory will be archived. Stackers can still see archived posts and comments, but they will not be able to create new posts or comments until someone takes ownership of the territory. +--- ------ +## Zaps -## Discovering Content on Stacker News +### How do I zap on Stacker News? -### How Do I Search on Stacker News? +To send a zap, click the lightning bolt next to a post or comment. Each click will automatically send your default zap amount to the creator of the post or comment. You can zap a post or comment an unlimited number of times. -To search for content on Stacker News, click the magnifying glass located in the navbar. This is a powerful feature that allows stackers to search for posts, comments, and other stackers across the site. +### How do I change my default zap amount? -[Search results](/search) can be filtered by the following metrics: +You can change your default zap amount in your [settings](/settings). -- best match -- most recent -- most comments -- most sats -- most votes +### How do I zap a custom amount? -In addition, search results can be segmented over time, showing the relevant results from the past day, week, month, year, or forever. +To send a custom zap amount, long-press on the lightning bolt next to a post or comment until a textbox appears. Then type the number of sats you’d like to zap, and click 'zap'. -Finally, there are some hidden search commands that can further assist you with identifying specific types of content on Stacker News: +Your last five custom amounts are saved so you can quickly zap the same amount again. -`~territoryname` allows you to search within a specific territory -`nym:ausersnym` allows you to search for items from a certain user by replacing `ausernym` with the nym you want to find -`url:aurl` allows you to search for certain domain names by replacing `aurl` with a domain name you want to find +### Do zaps help content rank higher? -### How Do I Subscribe to Someone on Stacker News? +Yes. The ranking of an item is affected by: -If you find a stacker you want to see more content from, you can click their profile and then click the `...` icon next to their photo. There, you can choose to either subscribe to their posts or their comments. +- the amount stackers zapped a post or comment +- the trust of the zappers +- the time elapsed since the creation of the item -Once subscribed, you'll get a notification each time they post content. +Zapping an item with more sats gives you more influence on an item's ranking. However, the relationship between sats contributed and a stacker's influence on item ranking is not linear, it's logarithmic. -### How Do I Subscribe to Posts on Stacker News? +The effect a stacker's zap has on an item's ranking is `trust*log10(total zap amount)`. This basically means that 10 sats equal 1 vote, 100 sats 2, 1000 sats 3, and so on ... all values in between and above 0 are valid as well. -If you find a post you want to follow along with, click the `...` icon next to the post metadata and select subscribe. +To make this feature sybil-resistant, SN takes 30% of zaps and re-distributes them to territory founders and the SN community as part of the daily rewards. -Once subscribed, you'll get a notification each time someone makes a comment on that post. +### Why should I zap? -### How Do I Mute on Stacker News? +There are four reasons to zap posts on Stacker News: -If you want to mute a stacker, click the `...` icon next to one of their posts or the `...` icon on their profile page and select mute. +1. To influence the ranking of content on the site -Once muted, you'll no longer see that stacker's content or get notified if they comment on your content. +Every post and comment is ranked based on the number of people who zapped it and the trust level of each zapping stacker. More zaps from more trusted stackers means more people will see a particular piece of content. -### How Do I Find New Territories on Stacker News? +2. To acknowledge the value of the content other people create (value for value) -Stacker News offers a number of territories, or topic-based collections of content. +Sending someone a like or an upvote incurs no cost to you, and therefore these metrics can easily be gamed by bots. Sending someone sats incurs a direct cost to you, which gives the recipient a meaningful reward and acts as a clear signal that you found a particular piece of content to be valuable. -To explore a particular territory on Stacker News, click the dropdown menu next to the Stacker News logo in the navbar and select the topic you'd like to see content on. +3. To earn trust for identifying good content -If you want to post content to a particular territory, the territory you're currently browsing will automatically be selected as the territory for your post. +On Stacker News, new stackers start with zero trust and either earn trust by zapping good content or lose trust by zapping bad content. Good and bad content is determined by overall consensus. -If you wish to post your content in a different territory, simply select a new one from the dropdown on the post page and fill out your post details there. +4. To earn sats from the daily rewards pool ------ +You can earn sats from the daily rewards pool by zapping content that ends up performing well at the end of the day. The amount you receive is proportional to your trust, the amount of sats you zapped and how early you zapped compared to others. -## Zapping on Stacker News +### Can I donate sats to Stacker News? -### How Do I Zap on Stacker News? +Yes. Every day, Stacker News distributes the revenue it collects from job listings, posting fees, boosts, and donations back to the stackers who made the best contributions on a given day. -To send a zap, click the Lightning bolt next to a post or comment. Each click will automatically send your default zap amount to the creator of the post or comment. You can zap a post or comment an unlimited number of times. +To donate sats directly to the Stacker News rewards pool, or to view the rewards that will be distributed to stackers tomorrow, click [here](/rewards). -You can also zap any specific number of sats by either changing your default zap amount or by setting a custom zap amount on an individual piece of content. +### Someone zapped me 100 sats but I only received 70 sats. Why? -### How Do I Change My Default Zap Amount? +SN takes 30% of zaps and re-distributes them to territory founders (21%) and the SN community as part of the daily rewards (9%). -You can change your default zap amount in your settings: +So this means if someone zaps your post or comment 100 sats, 70 sats go to you, 21 sats go to the territory founder and the remaining 9 sats are distributed as part of the daily rewards. -1. Click your username -2. Click [settings](/settings) -3. Enter a new default zap amount +### Is there an equivalent to downvotes? -### How Do I Zap a Custom Amount? +Yes. If you see content that you think should not be on Stacker News, you can click the `...` next to the post or comment and select 'downzap'. You can then enter a custom amount to downzap the content. -To send a custom zap amount, long-press on the Lightning bolt next to a post or comment until a textbox appears. Then type the number of sats you’d like to zap, and click zap. +Downzapping content is a form of negative feedback that reduces the visibility of the specific item for all stackers who don't have Wild West mode enabled in their [settings](/settings). If Wild West mode is not enabled, you are in Tenderfoot mode which is the default mode. -### Turbo Zaps +If an item gets flagged by stackers with enough combined trust, it is outlawed and hidden from view for stackers on Tenderfoot mode. If you wish to see this flagged content without any modifications, you can enable Wild West mode in your settings. -Turbo Zaps is an opt-in, experimental feature for improving zapping UX. When enabled in your settings, every Lightning bolt click on a specific post or comment raises your total zap to the next 10x of your default zap amount. If your default zap amount is 1 sat: +### What are turbo zaps? -- your first click: 1 sat total zapped -- your second click: 10 sats total zapped -- your third click: 100 sats total zapped -- your fourth click: 1000 sats total zapped -- and so on... +Turbo zaps are an opt-in feature. They are a convenient way to modify your zap amounts on the go, rather than relying on a single default amount or a long-press of the lightning bolt for all your zapping. -Turbo zaps only escalate your zapping amount when you repeatedly click on the Lightning bolt of a specific post or comment. Zapping a new post or comment will once again start at your default zap amount, and escalate by 10x with every additional click. +When enabled in your [settings](/settings), every lightning bolt click on a specific post or comment raises your **total zap amount** to the next 10x of your default zap amount. For example, If your default zap amount is 1 sat: -Turbo zaps is a convenient way to modify your zap amounts on the go, rather than relying on a single default amount or a long-press of the Lightning bolt for all your zapping. +- your first click: zap 1 sat for a total of 1 sat +- your second click: zap additional 9 sats for a total of 10 sats +- your third click: zap additional 90 sats for a total of 100 sats +- your fourth click: zap additional 900 sats for a total of 1000 sats +- and so on ... -### Do Zaps Help Content Rank Higher? +Turbo zaps only escalate your zapping amount when you repeatedly click on the lightning bolt of a specific post or comment. Zapping a new post or comment will once again start at your default zap amount, and escalate by 10x with every additional click. -Yes. The ranking of an item is affected by: +### What are random zaps? -- the amount a stacker zaps a post or comment -- the trust of the stacker making the zap -- the time elapsed since the creation of the item +Instead of zapping the same default amount on each press, the 'random zaps' [setting](/settings) allows you to select a range from which the zap amount will be randomly chosen on each press. This leads to greater privacy and a more fun zapping experience. -Zapping an item with more sats amplifies your trust, giving you more influence on an item's ranking. However, the relationship between sats contributed and a stacker's influence on item ranking is not linear, it's logarithmic. +### I accidentally zapped too much! Can I prevent this from happening again? -The effect a stacker's zap has on an item's ranking is `trust*log10(total zap amount)` where 10 sats = 1 vote, 100 sats = 2, 1000 sats = 3, and so on ... all values in between are valid as well. +Yes, you can enable zap undos in your [settings](/settings). Once enabled, any zap above your specified threshold will make the bolt pulse for 5 seconds. Clicking the bolt again while it's pulsing will undo the zap. -To make this feature sybil resistant, SN takes 30% of zaps and re-distributes them to territory founders and the SN community as part of the daily rewards. +_In case you wonder how we can undo zaps when lightning transactions are final: it's because we don't actually "undo zaps". We simply delay the zap to give you a chance to abort it. We make them look like undos for UX reasons._ -### Why Should I Zap Posts on Stacker News? +--- -There are a few reasons to zap posts on Stacker News: +## Web of Trust -1. To influence the ranking of content on the site +Stacker News relies on a [Web of Trust](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_of_trust) between stackers to drive ranking and daily rewards. -Every post and comment is ranked based on the number of people who zapped it and the trust level of each zapping stacker. More zaps from more trusted stackers means more people will see a particular piece of content. +### How does the Web of Trust work? -2. To acknowledge the value of the content other people create (value for value) +There are two trust scores: personal trust scores and trust scores between stackers. -Sending someone a like or an upvote incurs no cost to you, and therefore these metrics can easily be gamed by bots. Sending someone sats incurs a direct cost to you, which gives the recipient a meaningful reward and acts as a clear signal that you found a particular piece of content to be valuable. +New accounts start without any trust and over time earn trust from other stackers by zapping good content before them. -3. To earn trust for identifying good content +The only consideration that factors into a stacker's trust level is whether or not they are zapping good content. Zap amounts do not impact stackers' trust scores. -On Stacker News, new stackers start with zero trust and either earn trust by zapping good content or lose trust by zapping bad content. +In addition, stackers do not lose or gain trust for making posts or comments. Instead, the post and comment fees are the mechanism that incentivizes stackers to only make high quality posts and comments. -### Can I Donate Sats to Stacker News? +A stacker’s trust is an important factor in determining how much influence their zaps have on the ranking of content, and how much they earn from the daily sat reward pool paid to zappers. -Yes. Every day, Stacker News distributes the revenue it collects from job listings, posting fees, boosts, and donations back to the stackers who made the best contributions on a given day. +The trust scores are computed daily based on the zapping activity of stackers. -To donate sats directly to the Stacker News rewards pool, or to view the rewards that will be distributed to stackers tomorrow, [click here](/rewards). +### Can I see my personal trust score? +No. Your trust score is private. We might make it public in the future but for now, it's kept private to protect the integrity of ranking and rewards. ------ +--- ## Job Board -### How Do I Post a Job on Stacker News? +### How do I post a job on Stacker News? To post a job on Stacker News: @@ -490,20 +412,10 @@ Stacker News earns revenue from job posting fees, as well as boosts, post and co The sats from the daily rewards go to the stackers who contribute posts and comments each day. ------ +--- ## Ranking & Influence on Stacker News -### What Does The Lightning Bolt Button Do? - -The lightning bolt button next to each post and comment is a tool for stackers to signal that they like what they see. - -The big difference between the Stacker News lightning bolt and the "like" or "upvote" buttons you might find on other sites is that when you press the lightning bolt you're not only raising the ranking of that content, you're also zapping the stacker who created the content with your sats. - -- A grey lightning bolt icon means you haven't zapped the post or comment yet -- A colored lightning bolt icon means you have zapped the post or comment (the color changes depending on how much you zap, and you can zap as many times as you like) -- If there is no lightning bolt next to a post or comment it means you created the content, and therefore can't zap it - ### How Does Stacker News Rank Content? Stacker News uses sats alongside a Web of Trust to rank content and deter Sybil attacks. @@ -519,111 +431,30 @@ The Stacker News ranking algorithm works as follows: The comments made within a post are ranked the same way as top-level Stacker News posts. -### How Does The Stacker News Web of Trust Work? - -Each stacker has a trust score on Stacker News. New accounts start without any trust, and over time stackers can earn trust by zapping good content, and lose trust by zapping bad content. - -The only consideration that factors into a stacker’s trust level is whether or not they are zapping good content. The zap amount does not impact a stacker's trust. - -In addition, stackers do not lose or gain trust for making posts or comments. Instead, the post and comment fees are the mechanism that incentivizes stackers to only make high quality posts and comments. - -A stacker’s trust is an important factor in determining how much influence their zaps have on the ranking of content, and how much they earn from the daily sat reward pool paid to zappers as [explained here](#why-should-i-zap-posts-on-stacker-news). - -### How Do I Flag Content I Don't Like? - -If you see content you don't like, you can click the `...` next to the post or comment to flag it. This is a form of negative feedback that helps Stacker News decide which content should be visible on the site. - -It costs 1 sat to flag content, and doing so doesn't affect your trust or the trust of the stacker who posted the content. Instead, it simply lowers the visibility of the specific item for all stackers on Tenderfoot mode. - -If an item gets flagged by stackers with enough combined trust, it is outlawed and hidden from view for stackers on Tenderfoot mode. If you wish to see this flagged content without any modifications, you can enable Wild West mode in your settings. - -### What is Tenderfoot Mode? - -Tenderfoot mode hides or lowers the visibility of flagged content on Stacker News. This is the default setting for all stackers. - -### What is Wild West Mode? - -Wild West mode allows you to see all content on Stacker News, including content that has been flagged by stackers. - -This unfiltered view doesn't modify the visibility of items on Stacker News based on negative feedback from stackers. - -You can enable Wild West mode in your settings panel. - -### What is sats filter? - -Sats filter allows you to choose how many sats have been "invested" in a post or content for you to see it. "Invested" sats are the sum of posting costs, zapped sats, and boost. - -If you'd like to see all content regardless of investment, set your sats filter to 0. - ------ - -## Notification Settings - -### Where Are My Stacker News Notifications? - -To see your notifications, click the bell icon in the top-right corner of the screen. A red dot next to the bell icon indicates a new notification. - -To change your notification settings: - -1. Click your username -2. Click [settings](/settings) -3. Update your preferences from the ‘Notify me when…’ section - -### How Do I Create A Bio on Stacker News? - -To fill out your bio: - -1. Click your username -2. Click profile -3. Click edit bio - -### How Do I View My Past Stacker News Transactions? - -To view your transaction history: - -1. Click your [wallet balance](/wallet) next to your username -2. Click wallet history - ------ +--- ## Other FAQs -### How Does The Stacker News Referral Program Work? - -For every new stacker you refer, you'll receive: - -- 2.1% of all the sats they earn for their content -- 21% of all the sats they spend on boosts or job listings - -Any Stacker News link can be turned into a referral link by appending /r/, e.g. `/r/k00b` to the link. This means you can earn sats for sharing Stacker News links on any website, newsletter, video, social media post, or podcast. - -Some examples of referral links using @k00b as an example include: - -`https://stacker.news/r/k00b` -`https://stacker.news/items/109473/r/k00b` -`https://stacker.news/top/posts/r/k00b?when=week` - -To make referring stackers easy, every post also has a link sharing button in the upper right corner. If you are logged in, copying the link will automatically add your referral code to it. +### Where should I submit feature requests? -For logged in stackers, there is a [dashboard](/referrals/month) to track your referrals and how much you're earning from them. It's available in the dropdown in the navbar. +Ideally on Github [here](https://github.com/stackernews/stacker.news/issues/new?template=feature_request.yml). The more background you give on your feature request the better. The hardest part of developing a feature is understanding the problem it solves, all the things that can wrong, etc. -The money paid out to those who refer new stackers comes out of SN's revenue. The referee doesn't pay anything extra, the referrer just gets extra sats as a reward from SN. +### Will Stacker News pay for contributions? -### Where Should I Submit Feature Requests? +Yes, we pay sats for PRs. See the section about contributing in our [README](https://github.com/stackernews/stacker.news?tab=readme-ov-file#contributing) for the details. -Ideally on the git repo https://github.com/stackernews/stacker.news/issues. The more background you give on your feature request the better. The hardest part of developing a feature is understanding the problem it solves, all the things that can wrong, etc. +### Where should I submit bug reports? -### Will Stacker News Pay For Contributions? +You can submit bug reports on Github [here](https://github.com/stackernews/stacker.news/issues/new?template=bug_report.yml). -Yes, we pay sats for PRs. Sats will be proportional to the impact of the PR. If there's something you'd like to work on, suggest how much you'd do it for on the issue. If there's something you'd like to work on that isn't already an issue, whether its a bug fix or a new feature, create one. +If you found a security or privacy issue, please consider a [responsible disclosure](#how-to-do-a-responsible-disclosure). -### Where Should I Submit Bug Reports? +### How to do a responsible disclosure? -Bug reports can be submitted on our git repo: https://github.com/stackernews/stacker.news/issues. +If you found a vulnerability on Stacker News, we would greatly appreciate it if you report it on Github [here](https://github.com/stackernews/stacker.news/security/advisories/new). -### Responsible Disclosure +You can also contact us via security@stacker.news or [t.me/k00bideh](https://t.me/k00bideh). Our PGP key can be found [here](/pgp.t -If you find a vulnerability on Stacker News, we would greatly appreciate it if you contact us via hello@stacker.news or [t.me/k00bideh](https://t.me/k00bideh). +### Where can I ask more questions? -### Where Can I Ask More Questions? Reply to this FAQ. It's like any other post on the site.