Hello from a self-made builder who has been lurking for a year

Hi there. I've been reading Product Hunt on a regular basis for the past year without ever commenting, so this post is definitely overdue.

I am an autodidact software developer creating little tools for freelancers, tools that help with invoices, remind you of something, or eliminate one unnecessary task from your day. Not many of them actually get out of my computer.

The thing that drew me here was the forums. Threads in which people tell about making a mistake in their decisions are way more valuable for me than launch threads.

At the moment, I am learning how to communicate with users before writing any code, and it is much more difficult for me than coding.

I would like to hear how you managed to find your place in this community. Were you first communicating through comments, launches, or threads? Who do you recommend to follow if I need practical advice about building and launching small projects?