Bioactive Substrates for dummies

[Terranaut]

So this is going to be a thread to discuss how you start and maintain a bioactive substrate. Another thread sparked a lot of debate about starting one. I am very interested in going this route so my questions are ....
1) do you cook or sterilize the soil first?
2) what do you add to your soil?
3) do you need plants or just a microb laden soil?
4) do you need to add anything during its use or is a bit of snake waste enough to support everything?

Thanks in advance


Forgot to add 5) where do you source your soil?