Your Validator Identity on Staking Dashboard

In Substrate-based networks like Cere or Polkadot, validators play a pivotal role in ensuring network security and functionality. The optional Validator Identity feature enhances transparency and trust by allowing validators to provide more information about themselves. The Cere Staking Dashboard features a Community section where validators can list their identity, contact details, and validator list. This promotes unbiased exposure to validator entities and offers a dedicated validator browser for each entity.

To attract nominations, validators must go beyond merely setting up their nodes. They need to actively promote themselves, build a reputation, and engage with the community. A strong brand and active participation in the ecosystem can significantly boost nominations. Validators should remember that both they and their nominators face risks in staking, with potential losses up to 100% if a validator is slashed. Thus, building trust is paramount. Validators can achieve this by establishing a clear identity in various community channels, including setting an on-chain identity. This not only enhances visibility but also ensures nominators know who they're staking with, reducing risks and fostering confidence.

Instructions to update your Validator Identity

Quickstart Instructions

1. Clone @Cerebellum-Network/staking-dashboard.

2. Add your Validator Identity to: src/config/validators.

3. Run git pull to merge the latest changes to upstream.

   In the case that there are merge-conflicts, please resolve before committing.

4. Submit a PR.

Full Instructions

1. Fork the Cere Staking Dashboard repository.

   

2. Using the terminal (Github CLI, etc), clone and checkout your newly forked Staking Dashboard repository locally, so you can begin making the required changes to update your Validator Identity.

3. Change into the newly cloned repository root directory:cd staking-dashboard.

4. Copy a 1:1 SVG version of your logo to src/config/validators/thumbnails.

5. Open src/config/validators/index.ts in your favorite text editor:

   1. Import the SVG you added in the corresponding src/config/validators/thumbnails folder as a React component:

   import { ReactComponent as YourIdentity } from './thumbnails/YourLogo.svg';
   

   1. Update your entity details in the VALIDATOR_COMMUNITY object.

      ⚠️ Only provide the validator(s) for the particular network(s) you are operating in.

      The following includes an example of the updated the file with validators run by the Cere Team, and a template which shows how to append and include your own validator information:

      export const VALIDATOR_COMMUNITY = [
        {
          name: 'CERE',
          Thumbnail: Cere,
          bio: `Official Validators from Cere Network, the world's first Decentralized Data Cloud platform.`,
          email: '[email protected]',
          website: '<https://cere.network>',
          twitter: '@CereNetwork',
          validators: {
            cere: [
              '6S4mrsCrqWoBAYrp2PKQNh7CYcCtyEtYpx5J626Kj5vszSyy',
              '6QhzyvZQm3dLjDmeaoUnLPXzfuTi6X1HEo6AX6gfVbC3shzD',
              '6RgfwDiQTLjgbkQ5CorrKtRtCaDABQKYsibk9MeyvzmKFrk2',
              '6TBhZAgtFc3Wr8BeNu5tdMJG1NDpxKbG2Hwf2UbVtMGyFxzN',
              '6Pyh9zZgp4XCP338VDG7oshK7PvsAdyuBN6S2NNm7CBoCXx8',
              '6S9tXQmPYoeBXYey8vKYi9BMbNMD8Zgqb62k7SYMNQLUbydZ',
              '6PwAv2L43zGPEwHTb1L7LyCWv7yq2Hc4dSVYHvvi1kscCR91',
              '6Qshjra42mLDtc9ouHzUz1bMmYXg2qasmW2xSLgendRdsYED',
            ],
          },
        },
        {
          name: 'Validator Identity', // Replace with your validator name
          Thumbnail: YourIdentity, // Replace with imported react componenty
          bio: `Community Validator Description.`,
          email: '[email protected]',
          website: '<https://domain.xyz>',
          twitter: '@YourXHandle',
          validators: {
            cere: [
              '6...................ACCOUNT #1..................',
              //'6QhzyvZQm3dLjDmeaoUnLPXzfuTi6X1HEo6AX6gfVbC3shzD',
            ],
          },
        },
      ];
      

6. Make sure you’re working from the latest upstream branch head master-cere, and resolve any conflicts which might otherwise exist:

   git pull 
   git pull dev-cere
   

7. Create a new git branch using an appropriate branch name, replacing Validator-Identity with your actual validator name so the branch association is clear:

   git branch id-Validator-Identity
   git checkout id-Validator-Identity
   

8. Add, commit and push the changes made in this branch to your forked repository:

   git add .
   git commit -m 'Adding a new Validator Identity for VALIDATOR IDENTITY'
   git push origin id-Validator-Identity