This is some very good points ! We expected you'd want to have the featured image to be on top because it's also on top on your actual wordpress article, I'll add a checkbox to handle that soon.
As for the link, not yet although it's planned. Having a banner instead of text is a good idea ! We'll look into it as well.
Thanks a lot for your feedback :)
Sorry for the long winded comment before! I was trying to make sense of the whole thing myself. And still trying...haha. With my WordPress theme and custom post type the featured image actually does not appear on the top...so in order to make it look the same as Steemit I need to add the cover image in manually as part of the template.
I haven't gotten around to creating two different thumbnails...so that is where the duplicate comes in. But I also don't need two different images with the same details on the top of only the Steemit post before delving into the actual content...looks really funny...so the check box to disable the thumbnail carrying over to Steemit would be wonderful to make both posts look the same! As long as it still picks up the first image.
Also still hope to see a badge type banner linking to the plugin directory in the near future...might seem like an insignificant detail but since we can't control how that bit shows up...it would help make the post look more polished and finished. Also...any chance for branding is a good one!