Testnet Testing Tools

in #steemdev5 years ago (edited)

Hey all, will be keeping this post alive with updates as I have more of them, but here's what I've been working on as far as the testnet. With a custom up to date condenser and keychain support, this should open things up to a lot more people.

Currently there are still a few barriers but right now we can already start testing a few things.

My testnet condenser / wallet pair is currently running on-demand If you click it and it is not responding, wait a minute or so while it wakes up and then refresh.


Warning: USE TESTNET SETTING ON KEYCHAIN IF USING KEYCHAIN
Condenser: https://eontestnet.herokuapp.com
Wallet: https://eontestnetw.herokuapp.com (links from condenser)
Warning: USE TESTNET SETTING ON KEYCHAIN IF USING KEYCHAIN


The usual warnings apply here-- play with alternate accounts if you do not want to risk passwords. The code that's running can be audited as well, running the code here: branch for condenser testnet, branch for wallet testnet.

I should probably make the whole background yellow like the other condenser testnet though.

To test with keychain on the testnet, update to the latest version of keychain. In the preferences section you will see an option for 'TESTNET' when selecting the RPC. (Chrome has it, Firefox should come soon after)

The testnet wallet will have keychain soon (Edit: now has keychain), and am working on integrating the initial blocktrades proposal UI.

Things that can be tested now with this setup while the testnet is alive (currently is on the new fork as of now):

  1. EIP
  2. Curation windows to 1 minute
  3. General posting
  4. (Proposal viewing and voting, coming soon... )

Note that a subset of transactions are being auto sent from mainnet to testnet, and values you see in testnet do not reflect the distributions you will see when it launches.

One thing that's on my immediate list for attention with testing is to make sure the downvote pool behaves as expected.


Further Updates

  1. There's a bug switching to and from TESTNET. The way to fix for now is to disable/renable the keychain. I've sent out this fix for the problem, along with other improvements to make it clear that a transaction is for the TESTNET or not. download latest chrome version and this is resolved.
  2. Powerup does not work in wallet or keychain. Will work on a fix (STEEM vs TESTS in terms of symbols. I missed a swap in keychain as well) -- Update-- the wallet itself can now do it, but not yet keychain.
  3. You can also use the steemit testnet sites: blog and wallet.
  4. Filed https://github.com/steemit/steem/issues/3435 for missing manabar in condenser_api vs database_api. After finding the bar, found I was able to downvote 13 times before upvote bar started to decrease. Will document in detail for later. This is not inconsistent with discussions, though it sounds like a lot-- the rshares/unit of time that can be allocated on average is constant, just like before, but the max downvote amount is capped by the max of the two Mana bars. Meaning, if you want a full power downvote, either the downvote Mana bar should be full or the regular one should. A lot of ways to manage them.
Sort:  

wow that is super interesting.

Okay, some people might be surprised, I did a bit of testing a few days ago, none of the comments or votes or post showed up over on the steemit side. For today's testing I saw the edit for using KeyChain, and login went much smoother, and now all those comments are showing on the steemit side. Looks like only the comments transferred over no indication of votes transferring, kind of good, because I did do a few test votes.

edit-post took and registered over on the steemit side, just kept spinning on this side. I clicked the cancel button and reloaded the page and the post was here.

Yes, I just found this out too. And switching to and from TESTNET is problematic. I've made a few more improvements to it and sent out a request for taht.

Will make it clearer that the current broadcast is on TESTNET or not.

It's testing, so issues are sure to arrive. I really don't mind, this is my alt account that I really don't know what I'm doing with it other than as a catch-all sort of place. I'll try to run through a few more post/comments/votes/ and maybe even do another test post on herokuapp site this evening.

I tried to take a look with my alt account -this one - the main page opened, but no sign in was allowed on either the regular or the wallet site.

Hmm I was able to. What are you seeing? Do you see it in the menu icon on top right? Error with password?

I used this link from your post: https://eontestnet.herokuapp.com/
The first screen was this:
first screen.png
the welcome screen, I clicked the x and went to the underlying screen:
2nd screen.png
Then I used the Login on top right hand side and got the regular login type screen:
3rd screen.png

Note the very subtle difference after I clicked login this screen showed:
4th screen.png

It basicaly stayed in that greyed out state and did not log me in. It just sat there, when I clicked the browser refresh I was taken directly back to screenshot 2 above. I tried it three times, and just now a forth for this response. No error message nothing about wrong key or anything, (I used my posting key as the password.

I'll try again in the morning if I have time.

Ok I'll try it soon that way to see if I can reproduce.

In the meantime, maybe try from https://eontestnet.herokuapp.com/login.html ?

Nice!

Do the post payouts on the testnet reflect the new convergent reward curve so we can compare them?:)

Yes, but because only a subset are ported over, it's not going to reflect the reality. Also probably random downvotes are going to be thrown all over. But yeah we can simulate something here :)

Hm, can you confirm that once the post value goes above 16 STEEM it's pretty much linear? :) I think @steemitblog stated something like this.

That's not really how it works. That's how it looks immediately after flipping with mainnet post distribution, but in testnet this threshold might be lower or higher, depending on the full set of posts that are paying out. But it will still be interesting to see what it looks like on the testnet.

Posted using Partiko Android

Yeah, thanks for running it :)

Just to clarify, I'm not running the testnet at all. That's other witnesses + steemit. I just run a condenser for others to interact with

Posted using Partiko Android

Yes, hello Eon my name is Lindsey I am New to steemit,.. was trying to figure out how to personal message you but can not figure out how,... I have tryed to contact Steemit customer support a dozen times but cannnot seem to get ahold of them I am haveing a hard time figureing out how steemit works,.. How do I get people to vote for me how do I make steemit Dollars,.. Do I need to add money to my account first for people to notice me and upvote for my Blogs?... How does everything work?.. if you could help me I would greatlly appreciate it,... so far I have gotten little to no respnces to anybody :-/

Lindsey, greetings!

I help run the @helpie community and witness with Eon, who pointed me your direction.

Yes. It's unbelievably hard at first... still. We are all working on that in some way or another.

STEEM, the blockchain, is much more than just Steemit... but we can get into all that later. 😍

Communities and interactions are really the strength of STEEM... but a lot of that interaction happens OFF chain. There are several options (and more every day) to meet and get to know fellow Steemians.

Eon suggested Discord (free voice, video, and text chat app), which is where our community primarily meets and interacts. If you don't have a Discord, don't worry. While it's a bit daunting at first, I can get you going in no time. But, there is no requirement to join.

There are several other text/chat apps where Steem communities 'hang'. You may already belong to one.

Now, to address some questions... (wish me luck! 😉)

... hard time figuring out how steemit works... : Girl. We all are. It's such a new (yes, 3 years now, but...) thing we are all kinda flailing around a bit trying to figure out what works in this vast decentralized world.
How do I get people to vote for me? Interact. Make friends. It's really hard. There are a LOT of new things popping up that should help reach and people seeing content they are interested in. It's not perfect, but people are still trying. 🙂 Communites and interacting off-chain is really where the bonds are being formed. Hopefully, in the future more will be able to be on chain.
Do I need to add money to be noticed and upvoted? You don't need to add money to be noticed... though if you added a LOT you definitely would be. 😲 However, when you invest and power up (stake your STEEM) it gives YOU more upvote power... while taking nothing from you. So... you get to reward the content you see by simply investing. 😍

I'm carrieallen#9415 in Discord. But if you decide to sign up and know NOTHING... just send me your name and # (next to your name) and I can reach out to you. ❤️

I'd like to introduce you to the new Tribe (community) @intrepreneur, which is a group for entrepreneurs. Feel free to click their tag and read about them. It's a lot, but there are folks around to help. ❤️

If you have discord, I would highly recommend
looking for the Steem Terminal, as they are very helpful regarding getting people up to speed. I would highly recommend following this recommendation as well regarding an introduction post: https://steemit.com/welcome#Create_your_introduceyourself_post

With that said, welcome to Steem :)

You can buy STEEM and vote for yourself. You can also vote for others.

Hi @angelgirl77412 feel free to drop into our discord Steem Chat its a pretty chill group and I'm sure we can help you. I'm SteemItQA in there too.

@eonwarped,

I won't pretend to know or understand everything, but like when you say:

One thing that's on my immediate list for attention with testing is to make sure the downvote pool behaves as expected.

Other than physically "writing" an explanation of why you "may" be downvoting a particular post... do you see a better way or system possibly being implemented... in regards to downvoting?

Keep up the good work my friend!!

Hmm, I don't know. I don't even necessarily think one has to explain the downvotes either, if we have a culture of normalizing it. To me if I see one it just means the person thinks it is overvalued, and that's it. No extra judgement (although you see people that do have that extra judgement and go out of their way to add harassment on top. I never liked that). For example, you might think my current post has too much value vs what else you've seen and I wouldn't fault you for downvoting it.

I feel like it should be a requirement to when it comes to downvoting that you have to leave a comment with why. I got a small downvote the other day from a curator on one of the Tribes and couldn't tell why. I had to basically go through his entire posts to see why he did that and I came to the conclusion he probably felt I had miscategorised the post.

I am sure you have seen how posts on the EIP have been downvoted simply because people are unhappy about it, me included although I have never downvoted anybody. You should have to explain your reasons because downvotes are really discouraging.

I think it could be a common courtesy, sure. But I don't think it should be a requirement. It's also why I mention it is a culture thing. Downvotes should just be part of the experience, much like how it is on Reddit. They don't enforce explanations there either.

I am afraid unlike reddit, when what hangs in the balance is monetary value then you stand to lose more. It shouldn't be as easy to take away what someone has worked for, I feel.

Posted using Partiko Android

A man walks into a random office and starts preparing pizza dough. He's working. Should he expect a paycheck?

If the pizza is good, hell yeah!! 😎😎 I bet he leaves with some tips.

LOL. You just murdered my analogy...

I'm just saying there's a place to make pizza where you can expect to get paid for making pizza. The office isn't that place. The manager there would say, "You sir! Why are you making a mess of my office! What is the meaning of this?"

You know what? Forget it.

Opening up testing to the wider community is massive and provides huge value, thank you very much!

This way really no one will have an excuse for not testing the testnet =D

To you who is going to read this Message
Please Help!
Please am from Uganda and am 20 years old and I lost my father in 2014 now I stay with my mum only as you know mum cannot work for me and my young children to go to school.
Am here but I would to request you to help in terms of funds for completing my studies.
I ended on secondary level for lacking of funds to join the university
So now am so worried even to get what to eat is a big challenge at our home
So that is why I have decided to write this comment and post on your post so that I can get a good Samaritan to help me to lead me completing my studies and helping my family to get basic needs in their lives.
If you have anyone or you can help me to successes in this world and to change my family life to the next level please contact me on the following addresses;
Tel:+256705570269 (Even on whatsapp)
Email:[email protected]
God bless you if you are going to help with anything to me to change my life style to the next level

@eonwarped, You want to say that on Keychain we have to select Testnet in preference section right?

If we keep it in api.steemit.com what issue we can face?

Posted using Partiko Android

If you keep it at api.steemit.com it will try to broadcast to the mainnet. In some cases this works and you wind up accidentally creating a post in the live steem chain, for example :)

Posted using Partiko Android

Thank you so much for letting me know. I will go through from your blogs time to time to go through from the updates. Stay blessed.

Posted using Partiko Android

@eonwarped,
If I am not mistaken last time STEEMIT also provided their own condenser for the testing purposes, but this time I didn't heard about that so far!
$trendotoken

Cheers~

Congratulations @theguruasia, You are successfuly trended the post that shared by @eonwarped!
@eonwarped got 6 TRDO & @theguruasia got 4 TRDO!


To view or trade TRDO go to steem-engine.com
Token distribution bot developed by @swapsteem & @ali-h

Yes they are on https://condensertestnet.steemitdev.com/ but it's on an older version for the time being.

Posted using Partiko Android

You're saying this is for HF20 as that is exactly what I need for SFR voting and reward comparison. Just want to confirm. Thanks, bud!

Posted using Partiko Android

No that's still hf21 testnet. I meant older version of UI code

You aware of any HF20 testnet still up? Also, how does one acquire SP to perform any tests that require a certain amount such as the case for SFR?

Posted using Partiko Android