It was a valiant attempt and I appreciate your efforts in stressing the part about people needing to learn first, but there are a number of things in the OP I'm not particularly inclined to agree with, so I'm just going to completely rewrite it (sorry). Some of these are points which I've borrowed from my own
website, which is still a work-in-progress, but may also prove a worthwhile resource.
Preface:Consider your motivations for getting involved to begin with.
If you believe "traditional" money is broken and needs to change, you're almost certainly in the right place. Many people are attracted to Bitcoin primarily because of the corruption and abuse that centralised systems are prone to. Banks and governments have proven time and again that there are some huge downsides in giving them your blind trust. Freedom and privacy are also some of the primary reasons why people are enthralled by Bitcoin. While it's okay to think about your overall wealth in the process, it's generally better to focus on the ethos of Bitcoin and what it represents. Here, we subscribe to the notions of open-source, permissionless and trustless. If you can't abide those underlying principles and perhaps desire someone in charge to keep everything under control, consider alternatives, as Bitcoin may not be right for you.
While it's not the healthiest motivation, if you are here for the profits, start your adventure with the knowledge that the majority of ICOs are specifically designed to part inexperienced and impressionable people from their hard-earned money. Most of them are only profitable for the people who run them. You can be successful in crypto without ever touching an ICO. Trading or investing in established and reputable altcoins is far less risky and you can still potentially make profits. But also understand that it's still effectively gambling and it's equally possible to make losses. There's a strong element of personal responsibility here in the cryptoverse. If you've ever had problems with gambling addiction, bankruptcy or other serious financial difficulties, strongly consider if getting involved at all is really a good idea. This is not a magical get-rich-quick scheme or some sort of free handout.
Stage One: (because "quarter" implies four and you only had three steps)This is indeed the learning stage. There should be no funds at risk. Purely education. While the forums here are certainly a helpful learning tool for the most part, try to stay aware of potential bias or misinformation. Avoid taking things at face-value. Not everything is quite as sensationalist or dramatic as it might first appear to be. People can be highly reactionary creatures, but calmer heads usually prevail. Seek as many perspectives as possible and then make up your own mind based on what your own research and fact-finding tells you.
- Understand the absolute basics. Rule #1 of Bitcoin is that if you don't have control over the private keys or seed phrases, you don't have control over your bitcoins. Be wary of services that store your funds online. Don't trust others to look after your money for you. Don't treat exchanges and webwallets like banks. Use unique and strong passwords. Don't reuse important passwords elsewhere in the internet. Make multiple backups and ensure they're stored securely.
- Ensure that you have a reasonable working knowledge of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general before any money is involved. There are so many informational resources out there, but try to find ones that maintain a degree of impartiality. Make sure you understand both the positives and the negatives before diving in. There are certain pitfalls you need to avoid, particularly when it comes to security.
- Consider that it's not all about the free handouts and that if something sounds too good to be true, there could be consequences. You might get lucky and be on the receiving end of a worthwhile airdrop or giveaway. But it's equally possible to be on the receiving end of a social engineering scam designed to harvest your personal details for the purposes of identity theft or selling your information on to marketers and spammers. It should go without saying, but be very selective about the details you choose to hand over to strangers on the internet.
- Know that due to the complexities and nuances involved, you can't easily sum everything up in a three step guide like this. There's so much more information that ideally should be included, but simply won't fit. Take plenty of time to absorb as much data as you can. It's a long road, so take it slow, don't try to rush things. The road also gets longer, giving you more to catch up on. Due to more recent developments like SegWit and Lightning, the learning never actually stops.
- The focus should categorically *not* be ranking up your forum account. It will either come naturally, or not at all. Don't even think about it. Just ensure you're contributing things that are informative, helpful and, most important of all, unique. There's no point in rehashing what the last dozen posters have already said in a slightly different way. Think of a fresh perspective you can offer. Don't start threads about merit, don't even talk about merit.
Stage Two:This is the wallet selection and first investment stage. Because if you seriously believe this has value, you shouldn't expect to get it all for free. Make sure you know what you're doing before you part with any money. But in fairness, there's no better way to learn that to start doing it. You'll learn more as you go. Try to avoid investing after prolonged price rises, wait for a dip. Timing is everything. Only invest what you can afford to lose.
- The first step to using Bitcoin is selecting a wallet to use, but you can have more than one type of wallet if you like. Desktop wallets are installed on your home computer, or if you want to use Bitcoin on-the-go in your everyday life, you can have a wallet on your smartphone or mobile device.
- For your desktop wallet, choose if you want to contribute to the Bitcoin network by becoming a full node, where your software will automate the checking and relaying of transactions, or just be an end-user with a lightweight or SPV client. A full node is more resource intensive, but has some advantages when it comes to things like privacy.
- Consider the values you store in your different wallets. Large sums should not be kept on a portable device in case it gets lost or stolen. If you have really large sums of Bitcoin, make sure you learn about cold storage and "airgapping". Other options to learn about include multisignature and paper wallets.
- You can buy your Bitcoin in several ways. There are services like LocalBitcoin.com which will match you with potential sellers. There are Bitcoin ATM machines. There are exchanges. Not all exchanges are equal, some may be safer than others. Each of these options have their own pros and cons which you need to be aware of before making your selection.
- Continue to advance your knowledge and understanding as you accumulate more bitcoins over time. Once you've reached a stage where you're confident that the things you're saying here on the forums are sensible, well reasoned, helpful and accurate, then (and only then) consider applying to a signature campaign. No one should be paying you to post crap, but if they are, it won't last long before both they and you are reported and likely banned. You don't want that to be you.
Stage Three (completely optional):This is the trading and speculation stage. You can try playing the markets to make profit. Know the risks and remember the part about how personal responsibility is a key element. If you make a few bad decisions, it could cost you a significant sum. There are no "ifs" or "buts", this is gambling. Pure and simple. Only deposit what you're willing to lose.
- You can attempt to sell your Bitcoin in exchange for your local fiat currency to turn a profit, but this isn't always a wise choice due to the volatile nature of markets and frequent shifts in laws and regulation. You may find a time comes where your access to buying and selling Bitcoin for fiat becomes financially costly depending on which way the markets move. Or it may become legislatively restrictive if you reside in an authoritarian country.
- If you are trading altcoins, make sure you've done plenty of research. Don't just pick the latest one you see being promoted and hyped, because that isn't always a guarantee of success. At the same time, coins that sound like they have impressive technical advancements aren't always profitable either. There usually needs to be a balance between innovation, security, functionality and popularity. Markets are incredibly fickle.
- It's safer if you don't put all your eggs in one basket. Exchanges have a distinct and pronounced history of hacks and security breaches. If it's not too much inconvenience, try to divide your funds between several reputable exchanges. That way, if one does run into difficulty, you won't lose everything.
- If you do make a significant profit selling some of your altcoins, strongly consider not reinvesting all of it. Maybe withdraw a proportion of the funds you've made to your own wallet and reinvest the rest of your profits, just in case your luck runs out.
knowledge is one thing we can get for free yet the most powerful we could have. 
