Getting Started
Welcome to the Polkadot Wiki! This central source of truth contains guides for interacting with the core functionality. Our wiki has three main sections: Learn (for learners), Build (for people that want to build on Polkadot), and Maintain (for people that want to maintain the network).
For brand-new learners of Blockchain technology:
- The Blockchain Fundamentals MOOC course is a great introduction to familiarizing yourself with crytography, blockchain concepts, decentralization, networks, crytocurrency, and so much more. This is recommended for users with backgrounds of all levels, and is also a free course.
For brand-new learners of Polkadot:
- Polkadot's original white paper is a technical summary around one possible direction of implementing the Polkadot network. This paper uses rationale and technical details to support why this direction is beneficial. This original white paper also explains how Polkadot's core components work together to build this decentralized network.
- Polkadot's overview paper is an updated version of the white paper that describes the protocol in more technical terms. We would recommend reading this overview paper if you are interested in digging more into the protocol itself.
- Polkadot's light paper is a visual, easy to read, and less technical introduction into its blockchain technology. This paper dives into the components of Polkadot but is understandable for both a non-technical and technical reader.
- Polkadot's specification is a Github repository that holds the latest Polkadot Host protocol specification, Polkadot's specification tests of the many components of the network, and the Polkadot Runtime specification. This repo holds algorithms and explores how various processes function in the Polkadot network. The Polkadot specification takes Polkadot's ideas and concepts from the light and the white paper but focuses on the technical specs of the technology.
- Watching the Technical Explainer Videos: These are great introductory videos that explain and demonstrate how to use Polkadot and its User Interface.
- Reading What is Polkadot? A Brief Introduction on Medium. There are also other great articles to read on Polkadot's Medium or Web3 Foundation's Medium.
- Creating a Polkadot Account
- Sending a Balance transfer
- Staking as Nominator
- Running a Validator
- Setting an Identity
- Creating a Proxy Account
- Making Proposals and Voting for Referenda
- Social Recovery (Coming soon!)
- Running for the Council
- Voting for Councillors
- Using the Treasury
For brand-new learners of Kusama: To learn more about how to build and maintain on the Kusama network, please head over to our Kusama Guide.