Take a tour of Instructables!

There's so much cool stuff here, I thought people (new and old) might enjoy a guided tour.

Instructables is a web-based documentation platform where passionate people share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others. These awesome people make it all happen. The seeds of Instructables germinated at the MIT Media Lab as the future founders of Squid Labs built places to share their projects and help others; more history is here.

Instructables is the combination of a number of things. First, there are the Instructables themselves. These are step-by-step descriptions of things people want to share. They are educational, inspirational, and often replicable.

The Dachshund Wheel chair is my favorite. A passionate user shared something close to his heart, and has had a positive impact on many lives.

There's the whimsical: Magnetic Acrylic Rubik's Cube. And, of course, the whimsical inspired by the whimsical: Magnetic Rubik's Dice Cube. And, the plain ridiculous: How to Get a Free Yacht and its complete saga.

A cornerstone of what makes Instructables great is the comments. People ask questions, give praise, or offer improvements; this sets up a conversation between the project author and the community. Check out this cookie recipe where the author responds to a question about substitutions for someone who wants cookies now.

Many of the best Instructables have won one of our contests: Show Your Heart Valentine's Day Contest, Holiday Homemade Gifts contest, Take Thanksgiving to the Next Level contest, Halloween Project contest, and The Magnet Challenge.

Instructables has a lively forum for opinion and discussion. Really smart and talented people hang out here. Have a look at a forum topic on water tunnel testing complete with Reynold's number equations.

Finally, what really makes Instructables great is the community surrounding it. These are passionate people that want to share what they did and how they did it. In recognition of this, Instructables won the 2006 Wired Rave Award for industrial design. Instructables gave power to the individuals so they could positively impact the world. Also, check out some of the news articles about Instructables.