Theory

A block explorer is a tool that is used to view all blockchain transactions online. Specifically, to view all current and past transactions on the blockchain.

In other words, a block explorer is an online blockchain browser which reveals the data of individual blocks and transactions. With this tool, we can monitor transaction histories and balances of addresses.

The SORA mainnet has 2 block explorers:

  1. SORAscan based on Polkascan. The code of SORAscan is open source. You can find the source code on the GitHub.
  2. Subscan block explorer. The SORA network block explorer is supported by the Subscan team.

You can find any information that you need on:

  1. Bock details
  2. Transaction details
  3. Transaction events
  4. Account information

Practice

We recommend using the SORA testnet for practice exercises. Here are the Testnet links:

  1. Polkaswap test application
  2. Polkadot js SORA testnet application
  3. Android testnet application
  4. iOS testnet application

The limitation in this lesson is that Subscan only supports the SORA mainnet. If you're doing an exercise on the testnet, only SORAscan will be available.

SORAscan

Open the testnet SORAscan https://test.sorascan.com/sora-staging

Untitled

Here you see the main dashboard that contains:

  1. The search box where you can put the block number, transaction id, and account address as search fields