I'm tired of "It's my first, be nice"

I realize this discussion is rather old so I thought I'd share this litle tidbit with everyone!

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Aoccdrnig to recheearch at a Elingsh Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprometnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by istlef but the wrod as a wlohe.

I disagree on one point. I've had several people beat me to worthwhile instructables.

Thing is, most newcomers are really nervous about what people will say. Nowadays Internet (MAINLY FORUMS) Flame the hell out of newbies for saying something they might consider stupid.

People think all sites will be like that. They're just nervous. WHen I started here......(_{pfft like three months ago}) I justified everything I did and said:

oops sorry I miswrote that because......its my first comment!!

-no its not

-yes it is

-bu

-YES IT IS FIrst COMMENT!!!!

Eh, it's no skin off my back. To be honest, I like knowing that this is their first. They just shouldn't expect the "be nice" part to have much effect, beyond the general "be nice" policy on Instructables.

Look at it this way: every person that says that is one more new Instructables poster - isn't that something to celebrate?

Well, my first attempt may leave things out, may have a bit missing here and there, but I won't apologize for that ahead of time. I DO want to know what I did wrong, so I can fix it (if possible) or at very least "not do it next time".

I dont like it when people do stupid stuff with dangerous things, tell you how to make explosives and then say " Now kids, Dont go and try any of this at home..." **cough** tetrenitrates flash powder instructable**cough**

Hello all, I am new to Instructables and even as a college grad, my spelling still is not what I would like it to be. Now with that out of the way, I have come to love Instructables and I know it is a place that I will be spending allot of time. When i have a project to create or an item to repair I search all over the internet to see if someone else has done it. One day I found Instructables. I had never heard of it before and I could not figure out why. I have to say I like the majority of the Instructables but some seem a waste. But wait, take a closer look at who is writing them. Most of the time it is preteens or teens. There are so many reasons that I would rather see these youngsters post poor looking Instructables than out committing crimes like vandalism to my car or stealing my car stereo (again) than I can think of. When reading Instructables you need to consider the "Totality of the circumstances" such as age, education, geographic location, and life experiences to name a few. I worked my but off to get an education it has helped me in all walks of life. It doesn't make me perfect though and it doesn't mean my spelling and grammar are any better. Instructables, from what I see, are about learning and teaching others, positive criticisms/ enforcement are the best educators inform others politely that they can make their Instructables even better by gong back through them and checking for errors. However when someone gets out of line it is the administrators job to take care of that. I myself like the "We have a "be nice" comment policy. Please be positive and constructive with your comments or risk being banned from our site". It's pretty straight forward. I posted my first instructable last night. I have received great feedback everyone likes it and it appears I have even inspired a 6th grader to use it as his science fair project. This kid will take and build this project and build on to his knowledge for the rest of his/her life off of one little easy Instructable. Now to the hard part sorry to single you out Andrew546 but from your comments on my first Instructable you were not very nice. I was insulted with your post. You were wrong all the way around and it came down to one little word that you did not know the meaning of and it is the word "Round" you thought it meant "Bullet". So whose ignorance is to blame not mine, the Author, but yours the reader. So if I am spelling my words correctly, my grammar is acceptable, and you are the one not understanding then don't blame me for it, blame yourself. I'll tell you what else if this page gets to the point where people are getting "high and mighty" (I really hate to say this) I will find a new type of insttructable page or I won't post at all.

there should be a editor group that has enough permissions to change only misspelled words in all instructables

I agree, but some people are total nubs and don't know how to make one, and they learn within their second or third. If they don't, they will get comments that say "this sucks". What I really hate is instructables that aren't proofread or spellchecked or anything. People who type "thisis the bedt instrucable evr! u will be amazzed!"

I think that as long as people are willing to contribute, who cares if they missed an apostrophe, or mispelled 'mechanism'? Heck, I just retyped an entire 8-page instructable for someone! People were burying the guy in 'learn to type, nub' comments because of his poor grammar. He had a great idea, but nobody seemed to realize it. I agree that 'first time instructable-ist' is no reason for bad ideas or sloppy work, but give them a break. It IS their first time. They'll learn the ropes eventually.

39 comments and we've hardly touched "this is my first instructable". It seems we're all more concerned with poor-quality postings? There's no need to advertise that this is one's first time, but people like to say "Hello, I'm new here". "My first instructable" is by way of an introduction, and it's inevitable. Perhaps etiquette would be to post a comment to the effect of "welcome to instructables, please follow this link (quote from ewilhelm on what a finished instructable is) and best wishes for future projects"? L

Spelling and grammar are far less important to instructragbles than the meaning of the entire project. The purpoose of the site is to share ideas and generate a common goal of increasing the technological scape of humanity in one way or another, not to spell-check. If someone has a good idea that may progress humanity to an upper level, this just might be the place that it may be found at; spelling/grammar has little to do with it. I'll take an exceptional idea from an illiterate far more than a mediocre idea from a genious any day.....

>Grrr!< Now you've mentioned it, I see it everywhere!

I am relatively new to Instructables and rarely check on the Forums. But it is windy and raining outside, and the two hockey games on TV are both Eastern Conference games and of little interest to me. So I decided to kill some time here. This subject line immediately caught my eye (perhaps because of the missing apostrophe) and I have to say I agree with Andrew546. The Instructable on Instructables stresses the use of proper spelling and grammar, and gives plenty of guidance on how to do one properly. Yet some people who are providing instructions on working or playing with electricity, fire, explosives and other combustibles can not find the shift key, insert all three letters in the word "you" or correctly spell many of the nouns they recommend using, much less the verbs describing what to do with them. I agree that spelling and grammar establish creditability, and am reluctant to try anything (particularly if it might explode) recommended by someone too careless or sloppy to turn out a decent text. Besides, I am a blonde and therefore currently considered by society intellectually challenged (I do not know what knex is) and subject to countless internet cartoons like the Blonde girl's Geometry Test (which is really pretty funny). Still, I figured out how to run a text through spell check before posting it to an Instructable, and the system gives one ample time to check, recheck and edit before publishing. Ignoring those features seems to me to be an insult to the system and the people who developed it. I do not know what can be done about it, but I am glad to know that other people also see it for the irritating and tiresome situation it is. Thanks Andrew546.

My first project was http://www.instructables.com/id/EIMFOHPWRZEXCFHWVP/ - I made sure that I read up on loads of other instructables first, had a camera handy and the idea nicely laid out. I've probably made dozens of spelling mistakes - but I enjoyed making it and won a competition with it! = )

It was the competition that spurred me into making an instructable and I've always fancied being a bit inventorish. Now's my chance to unleash it upon the world!

Next instructable will be a straw bale shelter for my allotment constructed from waste materials = )

Correct use of language is extremely important to many of the instructables here. A misunderstanding could cause anything from wasted time making something that doesn't work, to serious injury or police involvement.

A case in point - I recently posted an Instructable for building a simple jet engine fuelled by a form of alcohol rendered undrinkable. The correct name of the fuel is "methylated spirits" or "denatured alcohol". However, here in the UK, it is usually known as "meths".

I referred to "meths" all the way through the Instructable, blithely unaware that, to American readers, "meth" is an illicit psychostimulant.

However:
There is context to consider. In my opinion, "sloppy" language is acceptable if the Instructable is intended to be humorous, and abreviated phrases like "IMO" and "AFAIK" are perfectly acceptable in the forum or comments.

I deeply appreciate that everyone cares so much about the quality of the site. It's too bad this is a printed and not a verbal, in-person medium -- I'd like you to see my eyes so I could easily convey the sincerity in this statement. Yes, poorly written Instructables are annoying, yes I do remove Instructables that cross a line. Perhaps that line is too low, but I tend to err on the side inclusiveness rather than exclusiveness. Having said that, three points: 1) Don't let the idea of a presenting an idea distract you on this issue. I agree that great ideas speak for themselves and, maybe, can transcend grammar and spelling. However, an Instructable is for sharing what you did and how you did it. Without the how, it's not an Instructable, and poor spelling and grammar seriously get in the way of showing the how. What you did, without the how is better suited for the forums. (Not to say poor grammar should be in the forums, though!) 2) If spelling and grammar are a serious impediment to sharing a great project (for non-native English speakers, who choose not to post in their native tongues, for example), the balance should be made up with great pictures. I'm guessing that this conversation wouldn't be happening if every poorly spelled Instructable had stunning pictures. 3) My personal approach to this problem is to lead by example. I try to set the bar high by posting well-written Instructables with great pictures (I hope). In terms of how we deal with this as a community, here at Instructables, we're desperately trying to finish a bunch of of new stuff, including more ways to bring to good stuff to the top and to get the junk off as soon as possible. You guys are telling us you don't want to be distracted by junk, and we'll soon have tools to make that happen. In the meantime, thanks for bearing with us while we get the new stuff out there. Also, in case it wasn't clear, I consider this a conversation and will always try to listen respond as I can. So, keep letting us know your thoughts.

I'd like to add something to what Andrew posted.... Everyone makes mistakes. And sometimes, proofreading yourself won't catch all of them. So, if someone says... "Hey, you misspelled XXXXXX" - don't take it personally. They're watching your back ;) This, of course, assumes that it's evident that you put effort into your work.... I say this, because I just realized that I misspelled "Pseudo" in the title of one of my instructables posted awhile ago when I went to use it in a link. And yes, I went back and changed it.

and who's spelling and grammer is going to be the standard? american english german translated to french translated to american english a great idea is a great idea even with misspelled words and bad grammer and if i can't spell does that make my ideas less

Maybe everyone should just get firefox, which checks your spelling automatically.

I Kind of agree with you, spelling and grammar is never excusable, but some people will mess up something because they cant understand a future...hell, for my first instructable it took me 10 minutes just to figure out the image notes. And of course we should always be nice to people, not just when its the first.