Web Monetization like I'm 5
Tags: webmonetization, gftwhackathon
Published: 2020-05-18 18:57:37

---
title: Web Monetization like I'm 5
published: true
description: A guide to getting started with web monetization
tags: #webmonetization, #gftwhackathon
cover_image: https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/ejxl6qwzhwe544rlklwr.png
---

## Table Of Contents

* [Web Monetization like I'm 5](#chapter-1)
* [Why we need Web Monetization](#chapter-2)
* [Web Monetization as a user](#chapter-3)
* [Web Monetization as a Creator](#chapter-4)
* [Suggested Project for Web Monetization Hackathon](#chapter-5)


### Web Monetization like I'm 5 <a name="chapter-1"></a>

The term is exactly as it sounds, monetizing the web! but what that term doesn't explain is the fact that it's also protecting your privacy, protecting your data, saving your time, and also distributing payment seamlessly using open-protocol. Ohh I shouldn't bring in the boring stuff from now, I'll keep things basic and in another article, I'll talk about the web monetization API and others. 

If a product is free, it's good, but when you pay for a product; that's better. Or perhaps, I should ask like this, would you rather have your information sold or would you pay $0.0001 (In Nigeria that's like 30Kobo) or so. You might probably think your data are worthless until you tell your friend you are not voting for a particular presidential candidate on WhatsApp and you start having issues with your voter's card...That's just a joke, but you get the gist right?
The way your data are used influences what you see, what you read, and subconsciously how you behave. People understand the influence the world wide web has over various factors and the goal is to make it safer. 

And let's say you wanted to read an article or tutorial on DNA splitting, that was written by a professor that happens to have a paywall, you have to start thinking about what currency is in use in that country, the payment platform to use and if you subscribe, you're probably going to just read that DNA RNA article and that's it, after that day, the subscription is no longer useful. These examples go on and on like that. This brings me back to "Web Monetization" Take it as a way to have unlimited access(covered under your subscription with [Coil](coil.com)

Web Monetization is a way of streaming micropayments to the creator of the contents you're using.  Meaning, you don't have to always register on every website just to read a two-page article. 
Payments are automatically sent to the payment pointer while you're on the website. But one thing is sure, if you're on Coil with $5, you can't exhaust it in a month. [Two reasons for this are] (https://help.coil.com/accounts/membership-accounts) 
1. The Micropayments streamed are small.
2. When you use up to $4.5 your remaining funds are well managed to spread across the end of the month. As a creator/User, you don't need to bother yourself about this.


See it like this, the future of Web is faster, little or no more annoying on-click redirection in websites, content creators can accept streamed payments from all over the world without worrying about the location, currency, or conversation rate of their users. And oh, I'm from Nigeria and I have Web Monetization all setup also both as a creator and a user, you can check out [devcareer.io/sultan] (Devcareer.io/Sultan)  
I'll be sharing how you can set things up as a first time user also.


### Why we need Web Monetization<a name="chapter-2"></a>
There's no single answer as to why we want a safer web, a faster web, and a web that supports content creators from all over the world seamlessly. I can begin to explain the technology behind the Web Monetization API, [interledger] (https://interledger.org/), the meaning of Open protocol, and even go as far as explaining the process of streaming funds across the web, but the simple answer is: We need a better web that's safer and less frustrating. We need a web that supports content creators without extorting users, a web that generates revenue for content creators without having to sell users' privacy. Do you want to read more about how Coil handle user privacy? Check out [this post] (https://coil.com/p/sharafian/Doubling-Down-on-Privacy/cD_ZiwT2J) by Ben Sharafian   

### Web Monetization as a user <a name="chapter-3"></a>
So you want to have a feel of what Web Monetization is all about as a user? Here's a quick guide to help you out. 

Steps
1. visit [https://coil.com/signup] (https://coil.com/signup) and sign up. 
2. Go to settings and enter the "Membership" card.
3. Add your credit card and subscribe, it's $5
4. Download the extension for whichever browser of your choice, Web Monetization is currently being discussed as a standard under the W3C and has several players involved in the conversation including a number of the major browser vendors.
Here's an [INTERVIEW] (https://www.w3.org/blog/2019/09/w3c-interview-coil-on-interledger-protocol-and-web-monetization/) W3C had with [Stefan Thomas] (https://twitter.com/justmoon); the current CEO of [Coil](coil.com).

Download the [Coil extension for Google Chrome here] (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/coil/locbifcbeldmnphbgkdigjmkbfkhbnca?hl=en)
Download [The Coil Add-on for Firefox here] (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/coil/)
Download [The Coil Add-on for Microsoft Edge here] (https://microsoftedge.microsoft.com/addons/detail/ljionajlbinlfkdnpkloejeoogfgkojm)

You can also download [Puma Browser] (https://www.pumabrowser.com/) as an addition to other browsers for mobile phones.

Once this is done, you can start visiting the various websites that are monetized, an easy way to know if a website is monetized is by checking the status of your Coil extension/addon icon. 


Here's an example of a monetized website:  Check out the Coil icon with the dollar tag on the top right corner. 

![About Page of devcareer.io](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/bmms5z08s3lkdu80xo6i.png)


Compare that to this page that wasn't monetized: 
![Home page of devcareer.io](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/juk3bxdbf33qdcvaiijc.png)

If you click on the Coil Icon, you should see this: Coil is paying; which means, as you're spending time on the website, Coil is streaming micropayments to a payment pointer associated with that webpage. 
![Website showing coil is paying](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/t5fy5hl2wrsprllrvocp.png)

Yes, your guess is correct, Web monetization for creators is so easy that you can easily decide what pages on your website you want to monetize. I'll talk about this in the next Article, oh sorry next chapter. 

 
### Web Monetization as a Creator <a name="chapter-4"></a>
So you're a content creator, or you just want to test this out? Let's try out this short tutorial, Feel free to send me a message on Twitter on [@hackSultan](twitter.com/hacksultan) if you need help with anything. 
It's completely free to test out and to start using Web Monetization on your website, you're an early adopter + you have more to gain and nothing to lose. 

Steps: 
1. Register as a creator on Coil on [coil.com/creator-setup] (https://coil.com/creator-setup)
2. The next thing is getting you a payment pointer, you can get a payment pointer from tons of wallet providers. In this example, I'm using Uphold, visit [uphold.com/signup] (https://uphold.com/signup)
and sign up. 

Next is to get your payment pointer, Uphold offers you access to various cards, ranging from USD, to EUR and also Cryptocurrency cards. 
We're using a USD card for this example: 

Click on your USD card, and click on the "ADD FUNDS" tab
![Uphold USD card page](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/n6lbslgxl8jd8ffj0vvn.png)

You would be picking the "from Interledger Payment Pointer" option here.

![Generate payment pointer](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/osi0xi7rksuvd2n33r8j.png)

Click on "generate payment pointer" and you should get something like this:

![Uphold payment pointer](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/nppzjv1k7k34kq2grqcc.png)

Copy this (your) payment pointer, it should look funny, like a pair of letters & numbers that you can't keep in your head. So you'll just have to copy it. You have no need to save it elsewhere, you can always come back to this page and copy it in the future. 

Here you'll want to do two things with your payment pointer,
A. You'll attach it to your Coil creator account.
You'll do this by going to Settings on your Coil account, then visit "Payout" and add your payment pointer. If you got your payment pointer from Uphold, then you'll select Uphold. 
 
![Uphold payment pointer](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/0h7w8g56k4t0sl4vqz9f.png)


Setting up your Payment Pointer in Africa (Nigeria):  If you're in Nigeria (I haven't checked out all other countries in Africa), Uphold is fully available for you as a payment pointer provider with no downside. I would say this is the best wallet provider as of now for Africans. 

B. You'll add it to your browser. 

Adding your payment pointer to your website is pretty straightforward.
Web monetization is flexible, you can decide what pages on your website you wish to monetize if you're a writer and you want to make some article premium, you can set things up.
So now that we're still setting things up, just go to the <head> </head> section  of the webpage you wish to monetize and add this:
![Your payment pointer](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/0ibnc2vd77v3kmamdzhj.png)

So now, all you have to do is change "Your payment pointer here" to the actual payment pointer you copied. 
You can do this on any website, and if you're having trouble setting this up, feel free to ask me here in the comment section and or send me a message on twitter [@hackSultan] (twitter.com/hacksultan).



### Suggested Project for Web Monetization Hackathon <a name="chapter-5"></a>

So  DEV announced that there's a [Grant for the web] (https://www.grantfortheweb.org/) Hackathon going on here. 

{% link https://dev.to/devteam/announcing-the-grant-for-the-web-hackathon-on-dev-3kd1 %}

Kindly go through the post to get a full understanding of what the hackathon is all about?

And oh, my personal goal is to get 10,000 content creators in Africa to start using Web Monetization before the end of 2020. In case you're about to ask me, NO I haven't applied yet so you can still steal my idea. I'm sure the web is enough for us all to come up with the same/different ideas and still see it through.

So here's a cheat for you, visit the official [Grant For the Web forum] (https://forum.grantfortheweb.org/) and you'll see tons of ideas there, but if you need me to help out with an idea, just drop a comment here on what you do and your field and I'll look for suggestions along that line for you.

Welcome to the future!!!

And Ohh, if you'll love to test the Web Monetization API, you can through [https://testwebmonetization.com] (https://testwebmonetization.com/)
![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/tcmafvhrdw8dssc2bigc.gif)