Translation: Blockchain in Vernacular
On June 25, 2024, Solana released their new features: Solana Actions and Blinks. With these features, users can interact with the Solana blockchain more conveniently. This article is a comprehensive guide to Solana Actions to help you fully understand Solana Actions.
1. What are Solana Actions?
According to Solana’s official documentation, Solana Actions is an API that allows websites to interact with Solana and perform on-chain activities such as transfers, voting, and donations.
If you are not a technical person, you may not quite understand what API is.
Don’t worry, let me explain it in simple terms: Solana Actions is like the backend system of a courier company. This system is responsible for processing all orders, arranging routes, packaging goods, and ensuring they are delivered safely.
For example, you place an order online to buy a product. The courier company's backend system (Solana Actions) processes your order, arranges for the courier to pick up the product, pack it, and deliver it to your door.
2. What is Blinks?
Blinks is a user interface consisting of graphical elements and buttons that we can directly see and interact with.
By clicking these buttons, we can interact with the Solana blockchain. This is similar to shopping on an e-commerce site; you click a button and then confirm the payment.
Currently, it looks like this.
You can choose the transaction amount or enter a custom amount. This is a test page, you can see it on my Twitter: https://x.com/AndyCharle1994/status/1806120704041169190
3. The relationship and difference between Actions and Blinks
If you understand their definitions, it is easy to grasp the difference between the two.
In simple terms, Solana Actions is the underlying code logic that ordinary users do not need to understand, while Blinks is the UI interface presented to users, and users conduct on-chain activities through Blinks. With Blinks, many operations no longer need to be completed within the dApp, which greatly simplifies the complexity of the operation.
4. How to enable the Blinks feature?
If you want to experience or use Solana Blinks, you need to enable the relevant features in your wallet, and then you can use Blinks on Twitter.
Here’s how to enable the feature in various wallets.
In Phantom Wallet: Click Wallet - Click Settings - Click Experimental Features - Enable.
In Backpack Wallet:
Click Settings > Solana > Allow Solana Actions on X
In Solflare Wallet:
Solflare does not currently support Blinks. To use the Solana Actions feature, you need to install the Dialect plugin and select Solflare in the plugin.
Dialect plugin download link: https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/dialect-blinks/mhklkgpihchphohoiopkidjnbhdoilof
5. What are the application scenarios of Solana Actions?
Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Transactions: Users can trade tokens directly on decentralized exchanges (DEX) through Solana Actions without leaving the current application or web page.
NFT Marketplace: Users can buy, sell, or auction NFTs through Solana Actions, signing transactions directly in their wallet or website.
Payments and Transfers: Users can use Solana Actions to transfer SOL or other tokens quickly and cheaply without entering a dedicated payment app.
DAO Governance: Community members can vote on DAO proposals through Solana Actions, directly from the chatbot or website.
In-Game Purchases: Game developers can integrate Solana Actions to allow players to purchase items or upgrades within the game interface without leaving the game interface.
Subscription Services: Users can subscribe to blockchain-based services such as data provision, content access, or membership clubs through Solana Actions.
Charitable Donations: Charitable organizations can use Solana Actions to accept cryptocurrency donations, streamlining the donation process and ensuring transparency.
Social Media Interaction: On social media platforms, users can use Solana Actions to tip, vote, or perform other interactive operations and complete on-chain transactions directly within the platform.
6. Solana Actions FAQ
Is Solana Actions safe? I saw many users on Twitter worrying about this issue, because there are often various scam links on Twitter, which lead to user financial losses.
Wouldn’t the introduction of Solana Actions exacerbate this phenomenon?
I don't think there is any need to worry about this issue.
Because if a website needs to enable Solana Actions functionality, they need to register and be reviewed in Dialect’s public registry.
After the review is passed, the vast majority of phishing links can be avoided.
Where are Solana Actions available? Currently, Solana Actions are available on Twitter. In the foreseeable future, they will be available on various websites.
As a developer, what resources are available to learn Solana Actions? You can learn on the following websites:
https://github.com/solana-developers/awesome-blinks?tab=readme-ov-file
https://docs.dialect.to/documentation
https://solana.com/docs/advanced/actions#rules
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIXEzhvX0u8
Solana Actions has just been launched. Quickly mastering this knowledge will allow you to develop some very cool applications. Anyway, Solana Actions is indeed a cool feature. It has just been launched, and I believe it will shine in the future.