Welcome to the second of our Ropsten Testnet launch guides for BitCar, if you haven’t read our first guide, you can ; it outlines how to get and BitCar on the Ropsten network and setup MetaMask.
Within this article we will be discussing how to connect to the platform for the first time, display your BitCar in MetaMask and register as a member. Our third article will then dive into purchasing fractions of a car and some of the more advanced features.
Getting Started
Before we start, it is assumed that you have already…
- Installed MetaMask (as of writing, supported in Chrome, FireFox & Opera)
- Got some Test Ethereum from a faucet
- Got some Test BitCar from our faucet
All of which is outlined in our first guide, to continue, please open your browser and navigate to the BitCar platform located at – you may notice that when you navigate to this URL in your browser, it redirects you to a much longer URL; this is because of the underlying technology used to run the platform (which we will cover in another article soon).
If you want to create a bookmark for the platform, please make sure you edit it to use – this will ensure you will always be taken to the most current BitCar platform.
The BitCar Platform
Welcome to BitCar; the worlds first fractional car ownership platform built on technology.
Upon navigating to the platform, you should get a list of all the available cars displayed to you (if you get a ‘500’ error like the one below, please ensure you are using a browser supported by MetaMask and have it installed and enabled); we are currently working to make this a more pleasant experience!
Unlocking your wallet
Before you can register as a user on the site and purchase fractions of the cars available, you will need to unlock your — this is as easy as clicking the ‘Unlock Wallet’ button in the top-right corner of the screen.
Currently the only available unlock option is MetaMask ; we are aiming to extend this in a future release, so clicking ‘Unlock Wallet’ in the popup that appears will allow the platform to read your public information.
Once you have unlocked your , the currently selected account in MetaMask will be read by the platform and will be displayed at the top of the screen (with an ‘unlocked’ icon), so you are always aware of which account is being used by the platform. Should you change the current account in MetaMask, it will automatically be changed on the platform too. You can disconnect the platform from MetaMask at anytime by clicking on the ‘Sign Out’ button.
Adding BitCar Balance in MetaMask
The fastest way to add the BitCar balance of your current account in MetaMask is through the ‘My Garage’ screen of the platform. This is accessed by clicking on the speed icon in the top-right of the platform.
Your garage is the ‘home’ to view current fractional car ownership and your BitCar balance. Next to the balance and elsewhere in the platform you will see a small MetaMask fox head, clicking on these will quickly add the details to MetaMask, so you can see the balance of BitCar and fractional car ownership quickly within each account.
1. Navigate to ‘My Garage’
2. Next to the BitCar balance, click on the MetaMask fox head
3. MetaMask will now open its own pop-up window showing you the BitCar logo and balance
4. Click on ‘Add ’. Now you can always see the balance in MetaMask and transfer BitCar to other accounts on the network using MetaMask
5. To view the balance in MetaMask, open MetaMask by clicking its icon in your browser. Next, click on the three bars under the fox logo on the left, this will display all currently visible by the account.
Registering as a User
Now you have a BitCar balance and an balance from the faucets, you can register on the platform. When you unlock your for the first time, you will see a bright orange bar at the top of the screen stating ‘Click here to register…’ so lets click!
- After clicking you will be presented with our different membership levels; which are still being finalised for mainnet release.
- Click on ‘Join’ under the Bronze option
- The next screen shows some important information — ensure you read through each prompt and click ‘agree’ before clicking continue
- On the next screen there is a number of fields requiring data — please complete these
- The final field allows you to enter a ‘storage’ address. The BitCar team have decided to provide this option for another level of security; when on mainnet we expect this address to be from something offline — like a Trezor or Ledger Nano. The platform reads these public addresses when you browse the platform, allowing you to transfer purchases between your trading address and secure storage address, whilst still quickly seeing what is held where on the platform
- If you want to enter another address for test purposes feel free to do so (the setup guide stated to setup two wallets for this purpose). Click continue.
- Now the platform will cause MetaMask to open a ‘Signature Request’ pop-up; you will be cryptographically signing the data you have entered so we can securely set you up as a member on the platform — click ‘Sign’ to continue.
- MetaMask will now pop-up a transaction request; you will be submitting your membership request to the blockchain — we DO NOT any personally identifiable information on the blockchain, we use the signature and a hash of the data submitted to verify your membership request. This will cost a small amount of Ether (gas) we do not charge for being a member on the BitCar platform. Click ‘Confirm’ in the MetaMask pop-up.
- Now your request will be automatically verified by our membership service, this will require interaction with the blockchain by our membership system; this won’t cost any gas but could take some time as we write information to the blockchain.
- Once complete, you will need to sign out and unlock your again or refresh your browser.
Congratulations, you will now be able to browse the platform as a member and purchase fractions of the cars!
Please give us feedback via our , leave comments below and make sure you join our main .
Published at Thu, 18 Apr 2019 10:05:46 +0000
