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COMMUNITY : HELP : FAQS


How to Help Out Around Instructables


People often ask how they can help at Instructables, especially if they are too far away to come in person. Below are some things you can do to help.

Welcome new users
New users are often confused about Instructables and how to get the most out of it. I used to welcome people, and when it got to be too much for me alone, we turned it over to the Instructables Robot. Unfortunately, the Robot isn't that good at responding to questions, so that's where you come in. You can welcome new members to the site by introducing yourself and leaving a comment on their Orangeboard (found at the bottom of every member's profile page). Here's an example of what the Robot says:

Hello! Welcome to Instructables!
I am the Instructables Robot. My job is to alert you whenever someone leaves you a comment or sends you a private message. I spend most of my day sending email. I like sending email.
You probably want to upload an image to your profile. You can do that
here, as well as change some of your other account settings.
After that, check out
How to write an Instructable, The Guided Tour of Instructables, and the Help Forum if you have any questions.

Welcoming people can be very rewarding, and I really miss having the time to do it myself.

Leave/respond to a comment
For some, it takes some courage to make a first comment or post a first question, and it feels really good to have that question answered. So, a huge way to help out is to engage new members with a comment -- it shows them the strength of our community and gives new members a great first experience.

Help out in the Answers Section
You're smart, share your knowledge with others. You definitely know the answer to a question posted in our Questions & Answers section.

Help us fix Bugs
We're not perfect, and sometimes we break the site. If you find an issue with the site you can post a bug report in the forums. If you do a really good job of reporting a bug you can earn a free Pro Membership!

Help Authors with their Instrucables
Think you know what makes a good Instructable? You can share your insight and help authors make their work the best it can be by offering support in The Clinic.


Are you doing something more to help out around the site? Leave a comment below and let us (and other members) know what you are doing to help welcome people and keep the site awesome!

sort by: active | newest | oldest
3
the rocket says: Apr 20, 2013. 11:59 AM
i want to search for a member in instructables
165
Kiteman in reply to the rocketApr 21, 2013. 5:15 AM
If you know their user name, then the address you need is;

http://www.instructables.com/member/insert+member's+name+here

If you don't know it, or only know part of it, then you need to go to google, and type in the search string;

insert the bit you know here site:http://www.instructables.com/member/

3
the rocket in reply to KitemanApr 21, 2013. 6:14 AM
hahah i discovered yesterday that my adress is
http://www.instructables.com/member/the+rocket
so i typed their name :P anw thanks :)
bobna says: Dec 17, 2012. 3:04 AM
where and when does one meet...
165
Kiteman in reply to bobnaDec 17, 2012. 3:46 AM
Except for those employed at HQ, very few of us actually meet.

However, if you keep an eye out for Maker Faires in your area, there are often folk from the site in the crowd, or running stalls.
bobna in reply to KitemanDec 17, 2012. 12:51 PM
is there a list of fairs...
cordially. bobna
165
Kiteman in reply to bobnaDec 17, 2012. 1:10 PM

http://makerfaire.com/

269
sunshiine says: Sep 6, 2012. 1:33 AM
I tried to give a pro membership coupon to someone but the form ask me for a credit card. I don't use my credit card online. Is there a way around that? Thanks in advance and I hope your day shines!
Sunshiine
117
mikeasaurus in reply to sunshiineSep 6, 2012. 10:45 AM
you just need to give them the "code" which will be something that looks like smile38shell. You can access this my going to your You page and click on the Pro Membership tab.
269
sunshiine in reply to mikeasaurusSep 6, 2012. 2:18 PM
I forgot to mention I wanted to give this anonymously. Thanks for taking the time to answer this. Have a great day!
Sunshiine
269
sunshiine in reply to sunshiineSep 6, 2012. 8:48 PM
Thanks again your answer helped me!
Sunshiine
9
Hack42Moem in reply to sunshiineSep 6, 2012. 2:24 PM
If you know the user's email address, you can send an email from an address that s/he doesn't know.
If not, I can't think of a way to do this. Well, except for the obvious way: writing the code on top of a cake with chocolate, and having that cake delivered to hirs house, but you would need a snailmail address for that...
269
sunshiine in reply to Hack42MoemSep 6, 2012. 8:46 PM
Thanks for the input, I think I have it taken care of! Have a great day!
sunshiine
3
Isaac Eglash says: Jul 26, 2012. 10:56 PM
how old do you have to be to intern
17
canucksgirl in reply to Isaac EglashJul 26, 2012. 11:12 PM
You must be at least 18 years old. 

Here's more information about the Artist In Residence (intern) Program.

And FAQ's...
1
schumi23 says: Jan 15, 2012. 10:19 AM
Is it impossible to do this now? Because it looks like a great thing to do, but (as a lot o people have said before me, the links do not work.) Are there any other ways?
117
mikeasaurus in reply to schumi23Feb 3, 2012. 4:00 PM
This forum posting has just been updated, the links all work now!
1
schumi23 in reply to mikeasaurusFeb 3, 2012. 9:27 PM
OK, Thanks! Though, i guess that the answer is no, as i see no easy way to find new Instructablers
117
mikeasaurus in reply to schumi23Feb 4, 2012. 11:42 AM
Though you might not be able to directly search for new Instructable members it's pretty easy to see who's new by simply hovering your mouse over any of the avatar pictures or by clicking on a member and viewing their member page. Another easy indicator is to look at the number/colour under the profile picture, this denotes the number of projects that person has authored.

As this updated forum topic shows, there's plenty of other ways to help out making new members feel welcome beyond the original Robot greeting.
1
schumi23 in reply to mikeasaurusFeb 4, 2012. 12:20 PM
OK,
Thanks for you reply!
1
GyroGearLoose47 says: Feb 1, 2012. 7:03 PM
So....,Hire me already!
1
trker says: Sep 16, 2011. 6:44 PM
because I would very much like to greet new members
1
trker says: Sep 16, 2011. 6:43 PM
Do you have to sign up for greeting new members or can you just greet them?
6
LoneWolf says: Mar 4, 2010. 7:51 AM
The link to new members isn't working.
9
kelseymh in reply to LoneWolfMar 4, 2010. 8:59 AM
Did you need to repeat the same comment, less than twelve hours later (and therefore guaranteed to have not even been read yet?
6
LoneWolf in reply to kelseymhMar 4, 2010. 9:00 AM
No, I guess not. I'm just bored right now.
9
kelseymh in reply to LoneWolfMar 4, 2010. 9:46 AM
Ah, I see ;->  Perhaps you should make something, like a paper wallet :-)
6
LoneWolf in reply to kelseymhMar 4, 2010. 9:47 AM
Haha, that's not a bad idea :) You never know when you'll need a wallet that will desenagrate when it gets wet.
azntrooper93 in reply to LoneWolfFeb 4, 2011. 10:22 PM
that not a bad idea trying to hid something let it dissovle not being sarcastic you wouldnt have to eat it or burn it to get rid of it
6
LoneWolf in reply to azntrooper93Feb 7, 2011. 1:11 PM
True.
ALiveOne in reply to LoneWolfApr 1, 2010. 7:57 AM
I find this exchange really amusing considering it's in response to a post about being friendly and helping new members...

The only thing I have to say in response is - Laziness is the only possible cause of boredom.  Oh yeah and - paper comes from trees and is a valuable natural resource, I'd have to agree that applying it to purposes for which it is horrifically unsuited is DUMB (oops was that not nice?).
165
Kiteman in reply to ALiveOneApr 4, 2010. 11:25 AM
(ALiveOne - click on Kelseymh's name...)
ALiveOne in reply to KitemanApr 5, 2010. 7:11 AM
I've moved on with my life, this is days old...
9
kelseymh in reply to ALiveOneApr 20, 2010. 9:30 AM
Pity you couldn't have moved on before you responded to the wrong level of a post that was a month old at the time you jumped in.
6
LoneWolf in reply to ALiveOneApr 1, 2010. 9:21 AM
Haha, yeah it's kind of a pointless conversation.

Despite your comment, I am not lazy. The reason I spend so much time on instructables is cause' I homeschool and my parents let me go on instructables while the questions load and when I have spare time. But they DON'T let me run off and go work on my latest project or drawing during school. Thus I'm not lazy, I would perfer to spend at least some of my time on instructables drawing or building.
49
lemonie in reply to LoneWolfApr 1, 2010. 3:36 PM
You should really get down to making some  things - popping comments all over the place isn't the same as doing something great and having people comment to you.

L
6
LoneWolf in reply to lemonieApr 2, 2010. 7:05 AM
I am working on an instructable at the moment. Though I'm trying to make my own drawing to illustrate almost every step of the instructable,thus, I've been working on it two weeks and it's only halfway done.
49
lemonie in reply to LoneWolfApr 5, 2010. 1:34 PM
I did take my own advice:
www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-milk-chocolate-peanut-butter-cups/

L
6
LoneWolf in reply to lemonieApr 12, 2010. 7:03 AM
Haha, nice :)
9
kelseymh says: Apr 20, 2010. 9:29 AM
It is now essentially impossible to find new members in any way in order to welcome them.  The URL above has not worked for months.  The old "graphical search" also had the "People" option removed.  The new Google-based search is unsorted in any way, neither by date nor even by relevance.

This great forum topic probably needs to be edited to comment out the "Welcome new users" section, since it cannot be accomplished except by happenstance.
6
kcls in reply to kelseymhJun 1, 2010. 1:58 PM
Well, how does the instructables robot do it? Oh, wait... it's his special amazing robot powers, isn't it.
9
kelseymh in reply to kclsJun 1, 2010. 3:06 PM
SQL
6
kcls in reply to kelseymhJun 1, 2010. 3:09 PM
?
9
kelseymh in reply to kclsJun 1, 2010. 3:25 PM
Robot has direct access to the database, and can use Structured Query Language to interrogate the database directly, rather than going through Web pages and URLs.  Robot is the backend server, after all.
6
kcls in reply to kelseymhJun 22, 2010. 6:40 AM
So... other then answering questions, is there any other way to help out around the site since helping new members doesn't work anymore?
6
kcls in reply to kelseymhJun 1, 2010. 3:44 PM
Ah. That lucky robot :)
andre rezende says: Mar 3, 2010. 9:53 PM
The link for new users doesn"t work
porcupinemamma says: Feb 15, 2010. 11:51 PM
LoL-All my Canadian friends have heard me talk about Instructables! :0)  I always tell them it is the most creative and informational DIY site in cyber space, full of kind people, where no negativity or nasty comments are allowed. I empthafise that they will be welcomed.  My hope is to make it to Maiker Faire and meet some of you fun people!!!!
5
M4industries says: Dec 28, 2009. 10:07 AM
 The link to new users doesn't work.
33
=SMART= says: Dec 16, 2009. 7:12 AM
Damn schoolwork gggrrrr, i will do some of this in the holidays, i need to write a welcome message :)
shawntherobot says: Nov 25, 2009. 2:17 PM
i must welcome new people i must so i will!!!!!!!!!!!!
shawntherobot in reply to shawntherobotNov 25, 2009. 2:39 PM
hurray i just welcomed 3-5 people (i forget).
4
Seanex says: Nov 3, 2009. 1:21 PM
so can we just start doing that type of stuff or do you have to say its alright for us to do it
49
lemonie in reply to SeanexNov 4, 2009. 11:49 AM
The message is along the lines of "It's your site as well as mine/ours" - anyone can say "hi" or help someone out, go ahead if you can it's supposed to be like that.

L
143
ewilhelm (author) in reply to SeanexNov 4, 2009. 9:12 AM
You can just do it.  Thanks for helping!
2
Berkin says: Apr 8, 2009. 7:53 AM
Oho!!! If only I found out about this earlier...

Goes off to welcome new users
33
egbertfitzwilly in reply to BerkinJul 22, 2009. 8:14 PM
Good opportunity to create an instructable on welcoming people to instructables. "I love recursion, its better than doing things over and over"
1
csmiler says: Feb 26, 2009. 8:06 AM
Hello there, can you give me a sample welcome message?
9
kelseymh in reply to csmilerFeb 26, 2009. 8:27 AM
Did you follow the three links above? Eric wrote, "and you can see some example welcome messages from me, and from GorillazMiko and Dr. Cool" etc. The link to Eric's comment takes a while to load; if you scroll about half way down you'll see a huge chunk of "Thanks for posting and welcome to Instructables". Those are the examples to which he's referring.
16
Lithium Rain in reply to kelseymhFeb 26, 2009. 8:45 AM
Don't forget to manually add the links!
Rock Soldier in reply to Lithium RainMay 28, 2009. 5:56 PM
No thank you!
2
spiritwolf7984 says: May 28, 2009. 3:13 AM
There I just did the first page of new members for today =3
143
ewilhelm (author) in reply to spiritwolf7984May 28, 2009. 4:47 PM
Thanks! You're awesome!
4
I3uckwheat says: Sep 14, 2008. 11:09 AM
could i be a welcomer too pls
143
ewilhelm (author) in reply to I3uckwheatSep 14, 2008. 11:25 AM
Yes, anyone can just start doing it.
33
Plasmana in reply to ewilhelmApr 17, 2009. 10:16 AM
Thanks
4
I3uckwheat in reply to ewilhelmSep 14, 2008. 12:06 PM
ok thx
2
Berkin says: Apr 8, 2009. 8:14 AM
Am I allowed to use these links in my Welcome Comments?

Guided Tour of Instructables
Instructable for making Instructables.
Instructables For Dummies
143
ewilhelm (author) in reply to BerkinApr 9, 2009. 10:24 AM
Sure.
9
kelseymh in reply to BerkinApr 8, 2009. 8:23 AM
(Speaking as non-staff) Why not? You might want to use the "plain text" URLs rather than the hashed versions since all three of them are published. Those are excellent and highly appropriate :-) starting points; the second one has a different title, "How to make a great Instructable".
2
Berkin in reply to kelseymhApr 8, 2009. 8:28 AM
Alright. Thanks for the help.
9
kelseymh in reply to BerkinApr 8, 2009. 8:34 AM
BTW -- joining the small group of Welcomers is a really great idea! You've been contributing really well in several places, and have a pretty cool perspective on things. G*d that sounds patronizing; it's not meant to be. Just chalk it up to me being Old :-/
6
Kryptonite in reply to kelseymhNov 14, 2009. 1:24 AM
I always like seeing you around, you always contribute to conversations well.
2
Berkin in reply to kelseymhApr 8, 2009. 8:47 AM
I've been contributing??? Where??? LOL
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