Start Here - Handshake 101 Guide
Here’s a crash course on Handshake, we hope this free training in text and video form helps you understand the value of Handshake and the decentralized internet.
Handshake 101 Guide
In addition to the video above, you can also read the main sections below.
You can download these slides and also present this in your local community here.
Handshake: Domain Names on the Blockchain
We all know Bitcoin! But bitcoin is simply money on the blockchain - the core and fascinating thing to us is the blockchain and decentralization.
Handshake is domains on the blockchain, and HNS is the token that people buy and sell to be able to bid on domain auctions, buy domains, and update the domain records (DNS).
We have a dedicated video and tutorial on the Handshake blockchain here at Skyinclude.com/blockchain.
Handshake is Top Level Domains (TLD)
It is also important to understand - Handshake is for TLD - Top Level Domains. We are used to buying "SLD" (second level domains) and here we talk about differences of SLD and TLD, which you can watch below:
Mining HNS Coin
Want to start digging for HNS? The economics may not make full sense in today's market - but it does support the ecosystem.
We have a dedicated video and tutorial on getting the hardware setup and software setup here at Skyinclude.com/mining.
Buying HNS Coin on an Exchange
Don't want to mine HNS? Or don't have an airdrop? Then buy it - like most people do!
We have a tutorial on getting HNS coins here at Skyinclude.com/buy-hns.
How are TLD Handshake Domain Names Issued? (Getting Them at Auction)
Now that you have a basic understanding of a blockchain, and the HNS Handshake blockchain, how does it “start”?
It started in Feb 14, 2020 with auctions and the release of the HNS “coin” as the “currency” or token to buy / use to bid on these auctions and to update the DNS settings of these domains.
Below is a video on the Handshake auction process:
The creators put the whitepaper on handshake.org and also made sure top names were reserved for those owners. It also made sure that top open source contributors on Github were given (called airdrop) free HNS tokens to use to claim names to use for this “free and open internet”.
But not all the domain names were made available on Feb 14, 2020. Each week a new set of names are released, and after 1 year, Feb 14, 2021, all names will be released and available for auction.
We have a full video on this auction process at SkyInclude.com/auction/.
It is also worth noting - we have a special guide on emoji domains which you need to be careful about.
Right now in early Jan 2021 - we have about a month and a half before all the names have been released. We believe the market will change once the auction releases are done, as “all the super good names” will have been released. But of course auctions will still go on for those that haven’t been open yet.
Buying Handshake Domains on the Marketplace
Don't want to bother with opening auctions or bidding in Handshake Domain name auctions?
Then just jump into the marketplace and buy!
We have a tutorial on finding hidden gems at Skyinclude.com/marketplaces/.
Gifting Handshake Domains (Help Spread the Word)
Do you have friends who need to get into Handshake? Check our SkyInclude.com/gift guide or check the video below:
How to View A Handshake Name (Accessing)
How do you see websites that are built on Handshake?
For now, it still isn’t pre-setup in Chrome and other major browsers - we are hoping Brave and other more tech friendly browsers allow it soon. Once it is in browsers natively, the market will really open up.
If you want to view a Handshake site, there are a few ways to do this - we have a quick video on NextDNS and also Handy Browser.
Using Your Handshake Name (BUILD!!)
We at SkyInclude really exist to help more people actually use the Handshake domains instead of buy, hold, and sell (flip).
The first part is building a site, using HTML and CSS - here's a page builder guide.
Once you have the HTML and CSS ready - time to upload it. You can use the Skynet - and here's a Sia Skynet.
While it is still early in the game, we believe by you taking the time to learn how to build on Handshake you will have a competitive advantage.
Also for now - you can still use “traditional” hosting such as Amazon s3, Vercel, Wordpress and others - and simply point the DNS to Handshake. Some may give warnings or not recognize it.
But what is really exciting is the decentralized hosting on Sia Skynet via SC (Sia Coin). Just like Handshake is the blockchain for domains, they are a blockchain for hosting.
You can watch a longer video we made about how to upload your website to Skynet here at SkyInclude.com/skynet
Using Your Handshake Name on Footnote (Social Network)
It is still super early for Handshake, but the team at Bob Wallet made a social network, nmd.co, based on their social network system footnote - we made this video as well as guide Nomad social network on Handshake
They made it so that people can build their own social networks, using Handshake domains as their IDs.
Internet Marketing Tactics for Handshake Dweb
While it is still early days - there are strategies in the HNS domains you invest in - we made this video as well as guide Handshake for internet marketers
This is just the tip of the iceberg - there is so much to build and market!
How to Contribute More To The Community
This is a community driven effort. And once you buy HNS or buy/receive a Handshake domain, you are part of this community as a director.
And with great power, comes great responsibly! We hope more can contribute towards growing awareness and getting more adoption.
One way is the W3C documentation @Raf has started. You can watch the video and read the blog at SkyInclude.com/w3c.
Also, sharing, spreading the word, educating, and more.
So Many More Guides - Wallets, Domain Transfers and more
SkyInclude has invested a lot of time building out even more guides - check out SkyInclude.com/blog for the most up to update guides and tutorials.
About SkyInclude & How To Collaborate
If you’d like to contribute to Skyinclude, we have 2 ways
We do accept HNS here at SkyInclude.com/hns
And we are working on a beta page builder and staging server for you to build your site and then deploy to the decentralized web here at SkyInclude.com/setup.
Let’s work together to build the internet the way it was meant to be - for the people, by the people .