BitShares for non-developers?

[hightower]

I've downloaded the client 0.6.0 - It all look pretty straight forward untill I try to actually use the account I was able to generate after a lot of issues. How do I get BTS from place A (ploniex) to place B (my account) , what is a memo? why do I need it? where do I find options to back up my wallet once I have BTS in the account? And what is PTS, I bought some yesterday now it seems PTS is useless or not part of Bitshares anymore.. very confusing and hope you are able to push me in the right direction because I am close to giving this up.

Thank you for your effort,

I suppose you already bought some BTS and PTS from the poloniex exchange.  That is good.  The next step is go download the software wallets from BTS (https://github.com/BitShares/bitshares/releases)  and PTS ( https://github.com/PTS-DPOS/PTS/releases). Launch the wallets and make sure they are fully synchronised.
Create a new account in both BTS and PTS wallets.  Go to the BTS faucet (faucet.bitshares.org) and PTS faucet (faucet.cubeconnex.com) to register your newly created accounts. (If the faucets run out of money, send some fund BTS/PTS coins to them.) You can now send fund from the poloniex to your registered accounts. The memo field can be anything.

[BunkerChainLabs-DataSecurityNode]

Hi, I'm also new. I'll share my experience thus far and maybe it can help.

First: Download the Bitshares wallet from the website to your local machine and set up your username and password. Then export you wallet file to your computer, and save it elsewhere. (Flash drive, email, cloud, etc.) Now that the "keys" (the backup file and your password) to your personal "vault" (desktop wallet) are secure, you then need to register the name with the blockchain and then fund your account. Go to http://faucet.bitshares.org to register you username. Once your username is registered with the blockchain, you can fund the account with Bitshares. But to do that, right now, you need to buy Bitcoin. In most cases, you'll buy a fraction of a single Bitcoin (In the beginning I assumed I needed to buy a whole coin, but this is unnecessary). 

Next:  The easiest way to get Bitcoin, for me (and in the same day and without much hassle) was to go to Localbitcoins.com and create an account (an online bitcoin wallet essentially). You can search for various methods of deposit, but I searched for a cash deposit option with a bank in my area. The details of the account and the transaction are understood when you use the site and find a seller. Essentially you deposit cash and verfiy it with a receipt and then the seller sends your equivalent amount in Bitcoin to your Localbitcoins.com online wallet. You now have Bitcoin and can exchange it for other altcoins. Almost there.

Finally: Localbitcoins.com is a good temporary wallet, but you'll want to download another Bitcoin wallet for more security (Bitcoin Core, Electrum, etc). But if speed is your main concern, then simply use your Localbitcoins.com wallet to hold your Bitcoins temporarily before exchanging them for Bitshares. This is where Shapeshift.io comes in, as it is the most convenient exchange service available right now, by far. Your personal Bitshares username or public key is the receiving address. Shapeshift.io even has a live chat function if you need some extra explanation.  By the time you're finished with the Shapeshift transaction (a few minutes), you should have Bitshares transferred to your local wallet. (sigh of relief)

As for what to do with your BTS once they are in your Bitshares wallet, this is becoming better explained with each new update. You can simply hold BTS or exchange them for BitUSD or some other asset. Or you can transfer BTS to another exchange, like BTER.com. But I suspect the wallet will become more intuitive and more user-friendly as time goes on. One note about the Memo field. Usually when you Transfer BTS to another wallet, the Memo field would be used to ensure the funds are attributed to the right account, and this information is usually provided by the receiving party.  They will offer a reference number or something for you to include in the Memo field. In the case of BTER.com for example, when you want to deposit BTS to an online BTER account, they will provide the Memo details.

Good luck!

Nice Share.. thanks Futurist! 

[futurist]

Hi, I'm also new. I'll share my experience thus far and maybe it can help.

First: Download the Bitshares wallet from the website to your local machine and set up your username and password. Then export you wallet file to your computer, and save it elsewhere. (Flash drive, email, cloud, etc.) Now that the "keys" (the backup file and your password) to your personal "vault" (desktop wallet) are secure, you then need to register the name with the blockchain and then fund your account. Go to http://faucet.bitshares.org to register you username. Once your username is registered with the blockchain, you can fund the account with Bitshares. But to do that, right now, you need to buy Bitcoin. In most cases, you'll buy a fraction of a single Bitcoin (In the beginning I assumed I needed to buy a whole coin, but this is unnecessary). 

Next:  The easiest way to get Bitcoin, for me (and in the same day and without much hassle) was to go to Localbitcoins.com and create an account (an online bitcoin wallet essentially). You can search for various methods of deposit, but I searched for a cash deposit option with a bank in my area. The details of the account and the transaction are understood when you use the site and find a seller. Essentially you deposit cash and verfiy it with a receipt and then the seller sends your equivalent amount in Bitcoin to your Localbitcoins.com online wallet. You now have Bitcoin and can exchange it for other altcoins. Almost there.

Finally: Localbitcoins.com is a good temporary wallet, but you'll want to download another Bitcoin wallet for more security (Bitcoin Core, Electrum, etc). But if speed is your main concern, then simply use your Localbitcoins.com wallet to hold your Bitcoins temporarily before exchanging them for Bitshares. This is where Shapeshift.io comes in, as it is the most convenient exchange service available right now, by far. Your personal Bitshares username or public key is the receiving address. Shapeshift.io even has a live chat function if you need some extra explanation.  By the time you're finished with the Shapeshift transaction (a few minutes), you should have Bitshares transferred to your local wallet. (sigh of relief)

As for what to do with your BTS once they are in your Bitshares wallet, this is becoming better explained with each new update. You can simply hold BTS or exchange them for BitUSD or some other asset. Or you can transfer BTS to another exchange, like BTER.com. But I suspect the wallet will become more intuitive and more user-friendly as time goes on. One note about the Memo field. Usually when you Transfer BTS to another wallet, the Memo field would be used to ensure the funds are attributed to the right account, and this information is usually provided by the receiving party.  They will offer a reference number or something for you to include in the Memo field. In the case of BTER.com for example, when you want to deposit BTS to an online BTER account, they will provide the Memo details.

Good luck!

[ubits]

I beleive you enter your registered BTS name instead of your public key to transfer out of Polinex. Normally 10 mins, extreme couple hours

[Daruhshie]

Just so I am not pointing the finger in the wrong direction.. my public key is my address to deposit to right? The reason my deposit to my own account didn't go through is that its considered invalid / not registered. I'm on a second attempt now, how long should a transaction like this take?

[fundomatic]

Poloniex was mentioned quite a few times with regard to BTS withdrawals, deposits.

Sorry to hear it hasn't been sorted.

[Daruhshie]

Hi Fundomatic,

Thanks for the reply, I've dropped a ticket at Poloniex support asking why a transfer I submitted about 24h ago is still pending. I presume when sending assets to your own account a "memo" is not required - I'll await the response from Poloniex. Hope all goes more smoothly from here on then, Bitshares does look very interesting, looking forward to learning more about its possibilities and functionalities.

[fundomatic]

How do I get BTS from place A (ploniex) to place B (my account)

Last time I moved funds from Poloniex, I didn't used any memo. So, I left memo field empty.
Mind though, it was a while ago.
So, try using your registered BitShares account name when you withdraw BTS from Poloniex.

what is a memo? why do I need it?

A memo is a short message that you can send along with the funds. Some, exchanges would you ask you to include a specific memo so that they could identify your payment(deposit).

As for PTS, you would probably want to read
https://bitsharestalk.org/index.php?topic=14019.0
to appreciate it (or not).

[Daruhshie]

I've downloaded the client 0.6.0 - It all look pretty straight forward untill I try to actually use the account I was able to generate after a lot of issues. How do I get BTS from place A (ploniex) to place B (my account) , what is a memo? why do I need it? where do I find options to back up my wallet once I have BTS in the account? And what is PTS, I bought some yesterday now it seems PTS is useless or not part of Bitshares anymore.. very confusing and hope you are able to push me in the right direction because I am close to giving this up.

Thank you for your effort,