Tools are generally not exciting things. But, when you need them, you need them. Sure, you can drive a nail in with a rock. But, having a hammer is so much quicker and easier. Having a nail gun is better yet.
Hive has tools. The more time I'm around Hive, the more tools I learn about and use, and the more efficient I become.
Here is a list of some of my favorite Hive tools, listed in no particular order. You've likely encountered some or most of these, but maybe you'll find one more tool to toss into your toolbox.
1. Hiveblocks.com - block explorer
Everything on the blockchain gets recorded. Hiveblocks is a block explorer...a way to see and read things on the chain.
If you go to https://hiveblocks.com/, you will see the most recent things that have happened on Hive. Refresh, they'll be totally new. It's a live snapshot of the chain (and it's a recording of the chain). There are also interesting stats shown, like market cap and current supply of Hive...how many Hive tokens are there? (go and check!)
What's interesting is to check your own account. Simply add your username to the end: https://hiveblocks.com/yourusername All of your Hive data, all the way back to when you signed up, is there. Both cool, and scary. This is also a great way to check your Resource Credits and voting power.
Bottom line: Hiveblocks can help keep an eye on the chain and your account
2. Engage - communication tool
Engage was made by rock-star Hive dev @arcange. It's a little hard to label, so I just called it a "communication tool." I think of it as a web-based email system for my Hive communications.
If you only get a couple of notifications per day, using the built-in notification handlers in things like PeakD or ecency probably are fine. If you get more, you might try Engage.
Notifications come to you like emails come into your inbox. You can quickly see the responder's words and the comment to which they're responding. You can quickly reply, vote, or both. This really helps to save time because you don't have to open every single response (though you can if you wish to see more context of the response).
Read all the details here: @hive.engage/stay-connected-with-your-hive-audience-and-catch-attention
Bottom line: if you get lots of notifications, this can save you time.
3. Recovery - a way to get back your Hive account if needed
Again, this is another tool by @arcange. The Recovery tool can be used in case you lose access to your Hive account. For instance, you might lose your private keys and get locked out. Or, you might get your private keys phished away from you. There is no way to "find your private keys", you are responsible for them.
)Hive does have a recovery system of last resorts...a "recovery account". In principle, it's another account held by another person whom you trust. arcange's "Recovery" service is different in that it is automated. You don't need to rely on another person, the system runs on its own.
To use "Recovery", you do need to do something now, though. You must change your recovery account to the Recovery system. You can check your current recovery account at https://hiveblocks.com/@yourusername
@thekittygirl wrote a great post explaining all of this better than I can. I'd encourage you to read why this is important: @thekittygirl/check-your-recovery-account-now-important
Her summary is that arcange's automated system just might be the best route to go with.
Read all the details on Recovery at: @arcange/introducing-hive-account-recovery
Bottom line: Recovery is a great tool to have set as your "recovery account".
4. HivePay - buy with Hive and Hive-Engine tokens
You know how Bitcoin has its Pizza Day...the day someone first bought a real item with BTC. That day and transaction showed real-world real use for Bitcoin. HivePay.io gives the Hive ecosystem the same type of functionality.
)You can buy or sell things using Hive, HBD, or any H-E token through HivePay. It's really neat because you can set a price for an item in USD, like $5, and HivePay will magically figure how many Hive-Engine tokens that equates to. Then, items can be purchased with H-E tokens.
I have a simple, small shop set up at https://crrdlx.websavvy.work/luvstore/ where you can see an example of this in action. Click any of the "Checkout with HP" buttons, then choose a Hive-Engine token to see how it works...how the cost is figured. Play around and check a different token. (Don't worry, you can do these steps without actually paying for anything, just don't sign it with HiveKeychain.)
5. PeakD - your Hive Swiss Army knife
PeakD does almost anything and everything a normal user would like to do on Hive. If you're here, you probably know of it.
)There's too much in PeakD to summarize. I continually learn more and they continually add more. I'll hit on a couple of PeakD tools here that I'd like to emphasize:
Witness voting
Witnesses run Hive. They are also called "block producers" because they, well, run the software that does that. They are elected and, I believe, the top 30 are the only ones who are "official". The others do it for redundancy and to maybe one day be in the top 30.
Anyway, it's important, you can vote, it doesn't hurt you at all to vote, and you can always unvote at any time if you wish.
If you don't have any idea who to vote for (this was me for too long), you might look at the list of witnesses, then wait and pay attention on Hive. You'll begin to see and recognize certain names. This is what I've done. I've voted for witnesses whom I've maybe interacted with, who I've seen project they've done, or maybe I've seen interactions they've had with others. Another option, maybe not the best, but the witnesses near the top are likely there for a reason...people trust them. I realize that voting like this makes it hard for the little guy who is trying to rise up into the top 30, but, competition is good. And again, the big names are likely at the top for a reason.
To vote for witnesses in PeakD, go to your profile pic, click "Witnesses". You can vote for up to 30.
Delegation
You can "delegate" Hive Power to other users if you wish. There are different reasons you might do this: maybe to help another user, maybe to "farm" out your HP (meaning you delegate HP with the expectation of getting a return of some sort).
One thing I didn't know for a while...delegating HP doesn't mean you lose HP. You can undelegate it any time. One drawback to be aware of...delegating lowers your "active" HP, for lack of better terms. This means your Resource Credits will recharge slower. Be sure to retain enough HP so your Resource Credits replenish fast enough so you don't run out. (If you run out of RC, you can't post, comment, etc. again until they replenish again.)
To delegate in PeakD, go to your profile pic, wallet, click "Delegate". You can also click the magnifying glass icon to see if you've already delegated to someone (or to alter or delete one of those delegations).
Bottom line: PeakD has a ton of tools, witness voting is important and delegation can be useful
6. Hive-Engine - there's more to Hive than just Hive
Hive-Engine (H-E) isn't just one tool, it's really its own, very large toolbox. It requires its own post, but I'll mention it briefly here.
H-E is a sidechain of Hive, it is a cousin. Hive can't run smart contracts, H-E can. H-E has its own witnesses. You can vote for H-E witnesses at https://tribaldex.com/witnesses
Just like Ethereum has many tokens running on ETH, H-E has many tokens that run on it. If you've been around Hive for any amount of time, you likely have some of these tokens, whether you know it or not. You can see the tokens (and any that you have) at https://hive-engine.com/, or at https://tribaldex.com/, or at https://leodex.io/. These may look and seem different, but they all point to the same thing and reflect the same thing. All three have their own benefits, I use all three at various times. It's like ice cream...vanilla? chocolate? or moose tracks? They're all good, it's just personal preference.
Bottom line: Hive-Engine and H-E tokens are powerful and fun
7. H-E block explorers
I said Hive-Engine is a sidechain with its own witnesses, right? Well, then it needs its own block explorer. Here are two I look at:
HiveEngine.rocks
Going to https://hive-engine.rocks/ will show the most recent activity on H-E. But, using the search bar options is where things get interesting. Put in your Hive account name and you'll see all of your H-E token activity. You might be surprised. Put in your favorite H-E token and you can see tokens flying all over the chain. Check "Quick Links" for some stuff too.
HE Explorer
HE Explorer at https://he.dtools.dev/ was "made with ❤️ by @reazuliqbal". When you go there, you'll see all the activity for the last H-E block. Refresh...new block, new info.
For more useful info, put in your Hive username (without the @). You'll see all of your H-E activity. Again, you might be surprised.
Bottom line: these H-E explorers can help keep track of token activity
8. Stats - gather your numbers
At the beginning of the year I decided to make some Hive goals. My thinking: goals that are written down are more likely to be accomplished. The goals had to do with posts and comments and upvotes and the like.
To measure whether I am on track toward those goals, I need numbers. So, my go-to sources for Hive stats are:
hivebuzz.me
This is yet another tool by arcange. I said rock-star, right? Just enter your username and there are your stats. He's made stats fun too with little badges earned for various accomplishments.
Link: https://hivebuzz.me/
hivestats.io
HiveStats is similar...just enter your Hive username, Enter, there are your stats. Hivestats takes a no-nonsense approach and shows your stats in clean tables and graphs. Be sure to check the tabs: stats, analytics, wallet, rewards, operations.
Link: https://hivestats.io/
PeakD.com
PeakD has beautiful stats for your account. Go to https://PeakD.com, click your profile image, then Tools. Beautiful stats.
Bottom line: there are several tools on Hive showing your stats.
To resize an image, add
https://images.hive.blog/125x50/
in front of the image code (change the numbers appropriately).
To make a clickable link, see this: @infobunny/how-to-make-an-image-on-a-steemit-post-into-a-clickable-link - But here's the syntax:
above is standard after uploading image, then add ! and [] and (url) as below:
Not on Hive? The top benefits of the Hive blockchain: (1) no ONE person/group runs it, (2) YOU own your content, and (3) YOU earn the rewards your that content generates. Learn more or consider using my referral link to get your free account here.
:)