Blockchain for content creators: Part 2: Using Wordproof for Timestamps

Published in

Coinmonks

6 min readDec 25, 2020

Read my original post at Voice.

WordProof has been a welcome solution for content creators to protect their content. It is easy to use and removes all the complexities of interacting with a blockchain. You just need to have a Wordproof account and link it with your WordPress.

Features:

WordProof has 4 major features:

1. Copyright Protection: Timestamp your content in the EOS or Telos Blockchain.

2. Time Machine: Be transparent and show your readers the changes you have made in the content.

3. Verifiable truth: Wordproof gives power to users to verify your content using a pop up below your content.

4. Structured Data for SEO: As a timestamped content is more trustworthy than a non-timestamped article, you are able to prove content integrity. The Timestamps outputted to Schema.org, helps you to be ready for next-generation SEO.

Copyright Protection using EOS and Telos:

In this article, we will focus on the basic feature, Copyright Protection

WordProof uses the below steps to ensure that your content is timestamped in the blockchain,

• It transforms the content into a hash. This is a mathematical algorithm that generates a unique fingerprint

• Adds the Hash to the blockchain

• A certificate is ready for download as proof of your content. This can be downloaded as a PDF.

How to use WordProof

Create your user ID and Password in the Wordproof Website. Log in.

The homepage will show you the number of Timestamps you have. In the free plan, you will get 10 Timestamps every month by default.

Select on the Manage Subscription link and you will see a list of plans. Remember these plans are for different types of users. Simple content-writers can still do with the Free Plan.

Click on the View Publisher plans to see the plans in detail.

I clicked on the Select our free plan. The free plan does not have some offerings, but it is a good one to start out and then move over to the next plans as needed.

Once you are happy with your plan, go back to the Dashboard and click on the Website button.

Put your website URL and select the Blockchain. You will have 2 options

1. EOS

2. Telos

Below is a look at the advanced setup. It is still a work in progress and gives up garbage. However, this is not a deterrent.

Once done, you will be asked to connect your Website. You need to generate a Site Key which you will put on your Website for the platforms to sync.

Now, open your WordPress dashboard. Install the Wordproof Plugin. Once installed it will appear on the left bar of the WordPress platform.

Click on overview and it will open up with a variety of options.

Click on Setup. The platform will show you the steps needed. For new joiners, it is recommended that you use the Automatic set up option.

You already have the Site Key (store this key securely), generated from the Wordproof website. Click on Yes.

Select the type of content you want to timestamp. Also, select if you want to show revisions. Save and continue.

You might want to show your readers the certificate of authenticity of your work. Click on the below link to input the text you want to show them along with the certificate.

Your set up is done. Now you will be able to timestamp your articles individually.

There are 2 ways to Timestamp. Bulk and Publish. In bulk, you can select to Timestamp all your articles at the same time. I prefer manual Timestamping.

Go to All Posts in WordPress. On the right side of each content, you will see an option to Timestamp. Click on Timestamp this post.