Repositories:
https://github.com/Jestemkioskiem/utopian.rocks.ext
https://github.com/stoodkev/steemplus
Introduction
This post is to briefly analyze two browser extensions which aid contributions on utopian. Utopian.rocks and Steemplus. In this post, I'll highlight the features of these extensions, give my review of each feature, and why I use any of these extensions.
For the benefit of those that don't know what a browser extension is,
An extension, simply put, is a tool or plug-in that enhances the utilization or interface of a web browser or a webpage.
With the re-emergence of the Utopian official front-end taking quite a long time to show forth, contributors have been subjected to making contributions via other steem frontends Steemit, Busy and Esteem as an interim medium until the official utopian frontend is fully back, . Honestly making contributions with these frontends was quite tasking at the initial time.
The rise of extensions to aid utopian contributors to make utopian contributions was a great idea and I say big thanks to the developers of these extensions.
Post Body
Just recently a new extension which would enhance the procedures of making utopian contributions was announced. The extension called Utopian rocks. According to a statement by the lead developer of this extension, and I quote
The Utopian Rocks browser extension aims to bring an easy and un-invasive experience of submitting posts to Utopian through the steemit.com (and soon busy.org) frontend.
Prior to the creation and establishment of this extension(utopian.rocks), quite a good number of users especially myself, in particular, have utilized an extension which offers a lot more than just making utopian contributions easy, the "Steemplus extension".
Steemplus extension does a lot more than making utopian contributions but within the context of this review, I'll narrow down the functionalities of steemplus extension down only to its role on Utopian.
To effectively review and compare the utopian.rocks with steemplus extension, I'll outline the features of these extensions.
Features of Utopian.rocks extension
This extension was just released and it doesn't currently have a lot of features but I'm certain as further development occurs, the extension may see other cool features being included.
The features of Utopian.rocks which I've cropped from the official statement introducing the extension are;
1. Post status information.
This feature would be very useful to other curious cats like myself. I'm accustomed to surfing the website almost every minute to check how my contribution is fairing on the queue. It's great that I don't have to be on utopian.rocks to know the status of my contribution and I also like how this information is displayed on the screen when a post is viewed without having to scroll down. It'll be cooler if I didn't have to open the post to check it's status though. It'll be an almost the same process as checking out the info on the actual utopian.rocks website.
However, I noticed that this information is only visible and available when the post or contribution is opened from the website only and won't be visible if the post was viewed on steemit directly. Maybe this is a mistake from the developer, but if this not a mistake but how it was intended, then it's not really cool having to be dependent on the website to get status information of the contributions on steemit, if we had to go through utopian.rocks to make this feature active on steemit it'll be pointless since accessing utopian. rocks website in the first place already delivers the information of our contributions we needed.
2. Utopian Templates & Beneficiaries FREE OF CHARGE
It'll be pointless to call it a utopian extension if it didn't contain templates for contributing to utopian. The cool thing about this feature is the ability to access utopian categories with a single click. This is placed so perfectly that you'll hardly notice it's just beneath the title bar of the post page. I wish this was slightly more legible though. I totally buy the concept of making it small so it doesn't become a distraction when using the post editor. Another flaw I discovered is the font color of the categories texts. The font color is greyish and when night mode is toggled on, it is really difficult to see the categories. It took me a deep stare to get the actual category I wanted to click on.
This is a huge flaw for me personally because I utilize night mode even during the day and I'm pretty sure there are a lot of other contributors with similar preference and it wasn't really good having to strain my eyes. This could be improved later on maybe, and I suggest that the developer makes the texts a little bolder and implement inversion of text colors. It should be black on day mode and white on night mode for efficient readability. I also totally dislike the idea of having to go through steemconnect authentication process to successfully make a post. If only my opinion is considered, this process should be exterminated.
The idea of making this extension free to use and rid of beneficiaries is really cool, I mean who doesn't like free things? Virtually everyone does. So I think this is plus for users of utopian.rocks extension and it'll be the attracting factor for prospective users and maybe me in the future.
3. Translation Submissions
This is the most distinguishable feature that the developer boasts of against the other extension steemplus, the availability of a translations submission template. The inclusion of this category template in utopian.rocks extension isn't so special in my opinion though, probably because I'm not a translations contributor. Contributors to this category will find this extension really attractive.
Currently, these are the major features of Utopian.rocks extension.
Features of Steemplus extension.
The features of steemplus are almost similar to that of utopian.rocks with few dissimilarities.
1. Utopian contribution templates.
Steemplus like utopian.rocks extension has templates for contributing to utopian. The difference is the translations category template which utopian.rocks extension boasts of. Also, the manner in which these templates are made available is distinct. To fetch utopian templates with steemplus I have to type in the utopian-io tag which sometimes feels a little stressful for me to do. In terms of this feature, I'll choose to utilize utopian.rocks extension over steemplus. I'm not a developer but I think implementing the One-click feature on steemplus isn't an impossible task.
2. Github repository fetching
Steemplus extension doesn't just provide utopian templates, it makes it easier for contributors to link the repository of the project they are contributing to, in their contributions simply by searching the repository. This feature is actually really cool and it's the major reason why I still utilize the steemplus extension. It brings back that same old utopian feel where contributors could just link repos without having to type individually or copy and paste. Personally, if this was a marketing exercise, this bonus would win me over easily.
3. Steemplus Beneficiary.
Steemplus becomes an automatic beneficiary of one percent(1%) the total reward of any contribution made with the extension. This might be a huge blemish for some people and maybe it is. I was actually skeptical about why I've got to pay a token sum just to use the extension. After some time though and thinking it didn't seem like it was so bad and the developer of steemplus actually salvaged the situation by introducing spp(steemplus points). Now I earn steemplus points simply by using the extension to make utopian contributions which makes me eligible for upvote from steemplus and according to the developer, these points can be used to purchase more premium features later on. I've been a recipient of these points and I've also received upvotes on a majority of my contributions. In my honest opinion, one percent(1%) beneficiary fee isn't such a big deal, but it could be for a lot of contributors though.
Summary
After carefully analyzing the features of these extensions personally, there are not many differences to make solid comparisons. Both tools are exceptional in their own respective domain and without extremely distinct features, it'll be hard to decide which extension to use. Although utopian.rocks have some really cool advantages over steemplus in my opinion, I've chosen to stick to steemplus in the meantime due to two(2) reasons. Firstly, the ability the insert links to repositories in the post body. This is a small thing that actually does a great deal for me. The other feature is the steemplus points which makes me eligible to receive upvotes from steemplus official account also, I'm really anxious to know what the premium features the developer has in stock which I'm sure will be exciting hence I've got to harvest those points the way I can.
Choosing steemplus over utopian.rocks doesn't in anyway suggest that the extension is bad and I'm certain with further developments it'll be amazing especially the plan to integrate the tool on Busy frontend for utopian contributions which is something steemplus can't do yet, maybe it's in the future plan, I'm not entirely sure. Making the extension available to users of Mozilla Firefox browser will be another huge step and maybe the inclusion of Opera browser which will then become a tie in that parameter when comparing these extensions.
Hopefully, this post gets to the developer of Utopian.rocks extension, like I've stated earlier in this post, the post status information should be looked into and be corrected if it is a flaw in coding. If it's not, then it is not a good idea to have a post status information on when accessed from utopian.rocks website.
DISCLAIMER :
The reviews I've given about these extensions on this post are solely my personal opinions and this post is not in anyway sponsored by any of the developers of this extension to cajole you into using any of them or to damage the reputation of any of these extensions. Whatever decision you make with respect to this contribution is solely yours and yours alone.
Resources
https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@jestemkioskiem/utopian-rocks---the-browser-extension-is-here
https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@steem-plus/steemplus-220-utopian--steemplus-partnership--bigger-upvotes
Series Backlinks
This is my first post about this project. Hopefully, it'll be a series as further developments are done on the projects.