Newbie and beginner advice for starting out on Bitcointalk

[Retty]

Hi everyone, I just thought that i'd share this to people who are brand new/relatively new here.

This is an attempt at trying to get people who are new here to pay attention, not to make silly mistakes, FOLLOW THE RULES and become a valued member here. Its a bit of a long read but stick with it as it will help you on your journey here.

For starters i'd point you to this here which you should definitely read before doing ANYTHING!  There is some excellent advice here and some of it is so basic, yet people don't adhere to what it says. Please do yourself a favour and read it: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1689727.0

Biggest Newbie Pitfall

We see the same topics and posts here multiple times on a daily basis, i'm pretty sure you know the ones i'm on about- how to rank up, how to get merit, its too hard, its unfair etc etc.  

I can tell you right now, whether you like it or not, if you post something like what i've written above you are most likely ALREADY DOOMED . Sounds harsh but its true. I can't even begin to imagine how many times senior members here have seen these posts. I have been here 5 minutes in comparison and i am fed up with seeing them so trust me when i say- DON'T ASK! The answers to your question are already littered throughout the site and really aren't difficult to find. That's why its vitally important to look around for a solution.

Remember, i'm only saying this for your benefit.  

Browsing OFFLINE

Ok, this is subjective and i'm not saying its for everyone, but it helped me when starting out here.

I browsed the site offline (not logged in) for the first 2 weeks i joined here. This will sound counter productive to a lot of people here, the reality is that it has gave me an advantage that a LOT of others have missed. So why browse offline?

1: To see what people are posting here. Could i 'fit in' here? Have i got enough knowledge to be a valued member? If not, i needed to find somewhere i can mix with the crowd.

2: To keep my activity/merit (was hoping i would get some!  ) ratio respectable. Again, this depends on the person. I'm not here to Bounty Hunt primarily. Don't get me wrong i wear a signature but i might aswell if i'm here i guess. When i started here i wanted to become a valued member and contribute, try to make this site a better place, to prove that there are actual people out there who's sole intent isn't driven by reward, rather than the art of learning.

3: To stop me posting irrelevant/pointless comments. I'd rather post something relevant or helpful than a string of words that are meaningless. There are MODERATORS all over the site, so post crap and spam, you will stand still and never rank up. The alternative- post where you have solid information/insight to the question/problem thats been posted by the OP.


Find your NICHE

As stated above, find places within the site that are your NICHE. Break the site down into categories and find what YOU know something about. If that's the bounty section- unlucky! You should be looking to post where you are comfortable posting and where you have something to say. There are niche's ALL OVER this site. If you're an 'expert' of a certain trading strategy, a certain coin, a certain exchange, mining equipment, cloud mining, wallets/ledgers, upcoming events, great sources of info, i don't need to go on here- i can think of loads more off the top of my head.

Look for the posts that YOU know something about, participate and contribute.  

Finally, don't complain!!! In 99% of cases where i see people complaining about the rules, the rankings, the merit system etc, there is one common denominator- behaviour on the site. Anyone can look at anyone elses posting history, if you're posting rubbish you only have yourself to blame.

The rules are the rules and they aren't going to change to suit you. Just adhere to them, learn, take onboard what i've said here and i PROMISE it will help you. This isn't rocket science guys, a lot of it is just common sense.

As i always say, if you need any help then reach out! I will always try to help where i can.

Thanks for reading this far and good luck on your journey here.  

[Crypto_Sassy]

Browsing OFFLINE

Ok, this is subjective and i'm not saying its for everyone, but it helped me when starting out here.

I browsed the site offline (not logged in) for the first 2 weeks i joined here. This will sound counter productive to a lot of people here, the reality is that it has gave me an advantage that a LOT of others have missed. So why browse offline?

1: To see what people are posting here. Could i 'fit in' here? Have i got enough knowledge to be a valued member? If not, i needed to find somewhere i can mix with the crowd.

2: To keep my activity/merit (was hoping i would get some!  ) ratio respectable. Again, this depends on the person. I'm not here to Bounty Hunt primarily. Don't get me wrong i wear a signature but i might aswell if i'm here i guess. When i started here i wanted to become a valued member and contribute, try to make this site a better place, to prove that there are actual people out there who's sole intent isn't driven by reward, rather than the art of learning.

This point does not make any sense to me, You can  login and still do not comment and it will be same.
I will suggest you to change this point as "Read more, Write less"  so that your content will have quality.

[DrMill]

i am a newbie. still going through the forum and hope to move up  soon.

what do you mean by browsing offline.

He browsed the website but did NOT log in. Then, he could read everything (or almost), but could not write any post.

Well, that's really subjective, and you don't have to follow that direction if you don't find it fit. It's fine for newbies to read a lot and write some, as long as their posts are useful to other members.