Summary

A new Chrome extension update offers improved features for Medium writers to track their articles' distribution status and performance metrics efficiently.

Abstract

The author of the web content has introduced an updated Chrome extension designed to assist Medium writers in monitoring their articles' success. This tool simplifies the process of determining whether an article has been "Chosen for Further Distribution" (formerly known as "Curated") by providing a summary row of key metrics and supporting the latest Medium stats tools. The extension enhances the user experience by eliminating the need for multiple tools to analyze article performance and distribution status, and it includes support for Medium's Next Generation Stats. The author encourages users to report any bugs and suggest features for future updates, emphasizing the extension's role in saving time and providing valuable insights into an article's reach and engagement on Medium.

Opinions

The author values efficiency and convenience, as evidenced by the extension's ability to save time for Medium writers.
The author acknowledges their own limitations in coding and invites community feedback to improve the extension.
There is an element of self-deprecating humor in the author's tone, particularly when discussing their "poor coding skills" and the modest financial returns from the extension.
The author shows appreciation for Ben Ho's insights, which inspired the new version of the extension.
The author expresses a desire to continue developing the extension with potential new features, indicating a commitment to its ongoing improvement and relevance.
The author is optimistic about the potential for articles to gain wider exposure through Medium's distribution system, as indicated by

The Easiest Way To See if Your Article Is Curated

Save your time while you are procrastinating (or analyzing)

It’s been some time since I have written anything on Medium. My holiday made me do other things. During my vacation, I did stumble upon a post by Ben Ho. In his article, he uncovers a way to see whether your article still has a chance to become Chosen for Further Distribution (aka Curated). He inspired me to release a new version of my chrome extension.

As this is a minor update, I won’t go into detail about all that the extension has to offer. I’ll just stick with the short list of improvements. To read more about the extension, see the original post here. Or go to the release notes of the newest version here.

The extension at work. Fun fact: this image is pulled from the original post. The one that was distributed has gained the most views in the meantime. Screenshot by me. Poor stats by me as well ($1.10 lifetime earnings on those three as of today!)

New and exciting features

Summary row

If you scroll all the way down, then you will see the totals of your views, reads, etc in an additional summary row. You no longer need to rely on other extensions for that.

This row is pretty self-explanatory, except maybe for the Distributed column. This column shows the number of articles that were Chosen for further Distribution.

Support for Medium Next Generation Stats

In addition to support for Medium Enhanced Stats, my extension now also supports Medium Next Generation Stats. If you don’t use either one of those, check them out. They are way cooler than my little extension.

My extension now augments the summary row of these extensions by providing the number of Curated articles.

How to install/update/download

If you already have the extension installed on Chrome, then you don’t need to do anything. It’s probably already updated.

If you haven’t installed the extension before, then head here to download and install it.

Medium Distributed in Stats

Shows which stories are currently Chosen for Distribution on Medium.com in your stats-page!

chrome.google.com

Read about the newest version here:

Distribution Extension 2.1

What’s New in Hovercraft

muffinimal.medium.com

Bug reports & requests

Currently, I am unaware of any bugs. If you find any, please let me know in the comments. With my poor coding skills there sure must be some.

Want to request a feature? Also, let me know in the comments. I am not sure when I will find the time to work on it again, though.

I might do a future update on:

showing all of the tags the article is Distributed in
showing the status (as explained by Ben Ho)
a great nickname for the upcoming release. The current version is called ‘1.1'. You probably wonder where I get the inspiration to come up with such things, right?

What is ‘Chosen for further Distribution’?

Chosen for further Distribution is the new name Medium came up with for the status known earlier as Curated. Medium describes it as follows:

In addition to reliable relational distribution, it’s also possible for a story, writer, or publication to be recommended across additional Medium surfaces via algorithmic or human featuring — in “Your Daily Read,” for example. Editors are seeking out the best from the platform every day to promote in a variety of ways. Subject-matter experts may be featured in a topic collection. Individual stories may be requested for a Medium-owned publication. A blog may link to your story as a recommended read.

So, basically, it makes sure your story gets more exposure. For example, they are included in emails and more likely to show up in a reader’s feed.

Note: Medium used to call this Curated.

I hope this extension saves you some time while staring at your stats. Thank you for reading and have fun writing wonderful stories. I hope they get Chosen for Distribution. Stay curated out there!