Metaversal is a Bankless newsletter for weekly level-ups on NFTs, virtual worlds, & collectibles
Dear Bankless Nation,
Thereās an open edition boom going on.
The rise of Manifold, a flexible DIY NFT minting suite, is a big reason why.Ā
I say words like flexible and suite here because Manifold now offers a range of different minting styles and nearly a dozen NFT apps and counting that creators can use to easily tailor their drops however they see fit.Ā
For todayās post, then, letās do a refresher on Manifold, namely how to set up your own NFT smart contract and then install any of the projectās growing app options!
-WMP
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How to use Manifold for DIY NFT minting and more
Assuming youāre using a wallet that hasnāt created a Manifold account before, you could get started on Manifold by following these steps:
Go to https://manifold.xyz
Press the āSTUDIO LOGINā button
Press the āConnect Walletā button and sign the transaction to enter
Complete your profile info by adding your name / pseudonym and, optionally, your email
Youāll next be taken to your personal Manifold Studio dashboard, which will look like so:
At this point youāll arrive at the āOverviewā section where you can create new self-published NFT smart contracts as you please or review, update, and add to NFT projects youāve already launched via Manifold. If you havenāt created anything yet, you could get started by pressing āNew contractā and then:
Pick a name for your contract
Pick your NFT type, i.e. ERC721 (standard for 1/1s) or ERC1155 (flexible for editions)
Pick your contract symbol
Lastly, input the ASCII text that will brand your smart contract ā searching the web for āASCII text art generatorsā will bring up a range of generator tools to choose from
When you have your info prepped, press the āDeploy on Goerliā button and switch over to the Goerli testnet with your wallet
If you donāt have any Goerli Test ETH, go to https://goerlifaucet.com
and then use the provided link to sign up for a free Alchemy account to unlock the faucet
Once thatās done paste your wallet address into the Goerli Faucet text bar and then press the āSend Me ETHā button ā boom, then youād have 0.2 Goerli ETH
Back on Manifold press the āDeploy on Goerliā button and complete the prompted transaction to create your test smart contract
Wait for your contract to be deployed and verified (this can take up to 10 minutes) and then go back to your dashboard and, if you want to skip minting a test token, press āDeploy on Mainnetā to officially launch your contract on Ethereum
Complete the contract deployment transaction, which costs around Ī0.008 (~$13 USD) at the time of this postās writing ā when the transaction is completed your NFT contract will be live and you can press āGo to Dashboardā to start minting your first Manifold NFTs
Once youāre in your new NFT contractās bespoke dashboard, you can flick over to the āTokensā tab to mint new tokens or the āSettingsā tab where itās possible to configure your onchain royalties, approve admin addresses, schedule holder snapshots, and more.Ā
Zooming in on minting, Manifold currently offers creators access to the four most popular mint styles, namely Single Tokens (1/1s), Editions (1/Xs), Batch of Tokens (1/1/Xs), and Claim Pages (popular for free or paid open editions).Ā
Minting art via any of these approaches requires the same general flow. Youād upload your media file, complete the title, description, and properties info, and then press the āMint to Mainnetā button.Ā
Next youād wait for your mediaās metadata to upload to Arweave, a decentralized storage network, and then complete the mint transaction, which e.g. currently costs around Ī0.005 (~$8 USD) for a 1/1 mint. Thatās all it takes! DIY creator-owned NFT publishing ftw.Ā
So now that youāre refreshed on the basics of launching your own smart contract and minting your first NFTs on Manifold, letās walk through the projectās growing suite of apps, which you can find by clicking on the āAppsā tab back in your main Manifold Studio dashboard. Youāll arrive on a page that looks like this:
Now at 11 apps and counting, these resources are either created by the Manifold team or are sourced from community members. Top examples include:
š Claim Pages ā for launching free or paid, timed or unlimited open editions
š„ Burn Redeem ā for setting up a burn-to-redeem page where holders can burn one type of NFT to mint another type
š¼ļø Gallery ā for creating and managing public auction pages for your Manifold mints
ā Marketplace Blocker ā for blocking marketplaces from selling your NFTs, e.g. if they donāt respect royalties
If you want to use one of these apps, youāll have to press its āInstallā button and approve the install. For example, if you add the Claim Pages app then youād simply press its āOpenā button on the Apps page, at which point you could start readily creating limited or open edition drops through the signature Manifold upload flow.
Also, once you have some mints and collectors to your name, keep in mind that along with the āOverviewā and āAppsā tab, your main Manifold Studio dashboard will have a āCollectorsā hub that you can flick over to review your biggest and newest NFT collectors, which can be a useful tool for learning about your fans.Ā
Lastly, if youāre an avid NFT collector yourself and want to keep your finger on the pulse of many of the mints coming out of Manifold right now, be sure to tap into some of the feeds that are tracking these drops like the ones seen here:
Action steps
Go DIY on Manifold: set up your own NFT smart contract and install your favorite Manifold apps š±
Catch up on my new weekly Metaversal recap format: first issue live here š
Author Bio
William M. Peaster is a professional writer and creator of Metaversalāa Bankless newsletter focused on the emergence of NFTs in the cryptoeconomy. Heās also recently been contributing content to Bankless, JPG, and beyond!
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