You'll need either a desktop Namecoin client (Namecoin-Qt) or a UNIX Namecoin daemon. Instructions for building namecoind from source are here. Once you have a running version of either Namecoin-Qt or namecoind you will need to buy some namecoins (from exchanges like Kraken or BTC-e) and send them to yourself. Now you're ready to register new names.
- issue a "name new" with the key (the username with "u/" prepended)
- issue a "name first update" with the chunked profile
The "name new" operation is the first operation required to register a key-value pair on Namecoin (and by extension, a username/profile pair in accordance with the ONS protocol). This is the operation that communicates intent to register and use a given name. Without "name first update," however, the name registration is not complete.
Current cost: 0.01 NMC
After the "name new" operation is complete, the "name first update" operation completes the name registration.
Current cost: 0.00 NMC
Key-value entries in Namecoin are limited to a maximum of 519 bytes.
As a result, profiles exceeding 519 bytes must be split into several linked components in order to be embedded in the blockchain.
To chunk a JSON object, simply do the following:
- check if all the remaining data fits in one chunk
- if not, choose an unregistered Namecoin key (e.g. "i/username-1" - this will be the key of the "next" chunk) and create an empty JSON object (the current chunk), then add a pointer from this chunk to the next one (e.g. "next": "i/username-1")
- fill the JSON object with as many properties as possible
- go back to 1
Note: we recommend not using the "u/" namespace for linked chunks.