Introduction: Better Way to View/Document Files on Instructables

By Me at one of my favorite web
About: For now see me at: http://www.opencircuits.com/User:Russ_hensel

People often include there files for project via Instructables uploads.

Often this is software source files that may even be the beating heart of the instructable. But Instructables does not give the reader an easy way to read and review the code. ( typically you would need to download the code, possibly unzip, then find the right viewing program. ) Often the code that I have found then turns out not to be worth the effort. How about a one click ( +- 2 ) method for viewing the programs? This is how.

( Above image from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kepler_EQ.svg )

Tools and Supplies:

  • Computer
  • GitHub public free account

Step 1: Viewing Old Style

Quite a while ago I wrote an instructable on a Smart Terminal for use with Arduinos and other microcontrollers. You can see it here: Python Terminal for Cheap Pi Arduino Connection

The file section mostly looks like the above picture, if you click on the files you get a download with a mangled file name and need to do a little computer dance to open it and read it. Then you need to keep track of the file on your computer.

Step 2: Viewing New Style

Here your code files look like code. PNG files look like pictures, PDF files look like documents. I think other types are correctly rendered but I have not found a reference.

How to do it:

Just add a link to your github repo. and once rendered by instructables it looks like:

Project's GitHub Files

In the next step we have some detailed pictures of adding the link from the instructables editor.

Step 3: Insert the Link ( Details )

  • Picture 1: Click on the Link Icon ( highlighed ).
  • Picture 2: You get the link dialog box.
  • Picture 3: Fill out the dialog box.
  • Picture 4: And you get a nice link in your instructable.

If everyone would do this it would be so much easier to view code ( and other file types, and even download the whole set of files as a nice zip file with internal names and directory structure preserved.

I like this so much I am going to go back and fix all my old instructables!

Step 4: Related Links