Steemit is a bit different to many other sites, in case you haven't noticed. Even though the UI itself is basic and features limited, there are external resources that can help get a better understanding of what is going on.
When I first arrived here, I had no idea what I was doing (and still don't in many respects) but in time came across some resources that I have found very helpful, even though I may not use them all as the developers intended.
I thought I would run through a couple quickly. It is worthwhile exploring each and creating your own habits and preferences that will give you the best information to both be successful here and add value to the community.
steemdb.com
by @jesta
A fantastic resource that lets you see deep into your account (or others) to see what is going on. There is a lot here and spending some time watching how things move will help build a better understanding of the site and how you can add value all round.
steemnow.com
@penguinpablo
Steem now is a great app for getting a quick view of activity. It is fast to see how and who is upvoting your posts and how rewards are coming in across curation, author and comments. Easy to use and a simple layout. A great thing here is that it shows the Reputation score to three decimal places. This means you can see how different voters affect your rep and when you are about to level up.
steemviz/pendingpayouts
@ausbitbank
This gives you a list of all your pending payouts to come. As it warns though, don't count your chickens because there can be a lot of fluctuation over 7 days. At the moment, the trend is looking good though. Personally, I use this to see how active I have been as it is simple to see the last 7 day post count. I range between 30 and 40 normally per week. As they are links, it is very easy to use it to find and copy recent posts for referencing purposes.
Steemdollar.com
@mauricemikkers
Here you can see the price of Steem and SBD against USD and Bitcoin. Very handy if you are one of the people that likes to keep an eye on the market but don't want to stare all day. Not a bad view at the moment.
For me:
Accountability and tracking my actions is key to understand where I can improve. These sites offer me a view or an easier way to build a view of what is going on. This is less about payout and more about understanding of how my movements get translated into movements on the platform.
I think that there are other valuable resources too that can offer different views so if you know them, post in comments.
In time, I think that many of these features will become 'in-house' services but for now, it takes a few sites at least to get a rounded view of Steemit. I have tagged the creators here so give them a follow or show some support for the work they put in.
Hopefully this helps a few people get a better understanding.
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]