eip:
title: An Article NFTs Standard
description: A standard describing text-based NFTs for articles.
author: xarraxyl
discussions-to: [tbd]
status: Draft
type: Standards Track
category: ERC
created: 2022-06-15
Abstract
This standard describes a simple protocol for creating and displaying NFT articles.
Motivation
NFTs are associated with art, yet any kind of digital asset can be wrapped in an NFT. By providing a protocol for creating and displaying NFT articles, we unlock the interoperability needed for content writers to create and show their articles, which in turn can facilitate the article’s exchange using the already existing NFT infrastructure.
Specification
An article NFT is an NFT whose URL points to a txt file that complies with the following rules:
-
MUST begin with a paragraph of arbitrary length that MUST begin with “title: ”.
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MAY be followed by a paragraph of arbitrary length that MUST begin with “authors: “ which in turn MUST be followed by the authors’ names, separated by a comma.
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MAY be followed by a paragraph of arbitrary length which MUST begin with “abstract: “
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MAY be followed by a paragraph of arbitrary length, which MUST begin with “keywords: “ which in turn MUST be followed by the keywords, separated by a comma.
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MAY be followed by “markdown: “ and then followed by a word describing the markdown schema. “none” is also acceptable if no markdown schema is used. The markdown schema keywords are not specified in this proposal but will be subject to organic community effort.
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MUST contain at least one more paragraph.
Here is an example of the simplest possible txt file that would comply with the protocol:
===
title: Can trees talk to each other?
Scientists have discovered that trees may indeed be able to alert each other to danger by sending electrical messages through their roots.
===
Let’s take a look at an article that makes use of “authors”, “abstract”, “keywords”, and “markdown”.
===
title: Can trees talk to each other?
authors: xarraxyl
abstract: What can scientists say regarding tree-to-tree communication?
keywords: trees, communication, science
markdown: none
Scientists have discovered that trees may indeed be able to alert each other to danger by sending electrical messages through their roots.
===
Note that the order of the optional paragraphs is significant. This means:
- “abstract” must be after “authors”.
- “keywords” must be after “authors” and “abstract”.
- “markdown” must be after “authors”, “abstract”, and “keywords”.
Glossary:
Authors. Creators of article NFTs.
Platforms and marketplaces. Web3 apps like LooksRare, OpenSea, Foundation, etc… which provide the ability for users to create and exchange digital assets.
Paragraph. Text of arbitrary length that ends with two carriage returns.
Rationale
The design seeks the sweet spot between:
-
Ease of use for authors.
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Ease of implementation by platforms and marketplaces.
The title and the body of the article are the only part of the protocol that are mandatory. This provides a minimal skeleton for articles.
The authors may provide additional metadata regarding the contents of the article by using “authors”, “abstract”, and “keywords”.
The “markdown” keyword is intended to instruct the UI on how best to display the body of the article.
Backwards Compatibility
Not applicable. Text-based NFTs that do not comply with the standard are not considered article NFTs.
Test Cases
A regex tool can be written to aid the implementation of NFT articles by testing if a file complies with the standard.
Security Considerations
There are security risks for platforms and exchanges parsing the article NFTs’ text files to display their contents. A reasonable approach is to save the contents of these files in a database for a faster display to the end users.
A malicious article NFT may take advantage of an automated articles crawler and perform an SQL injection.
Copyright
Copyright and related rights waived via CC0