The Clinic
Welcome to the clinic, a place to get help and constructive criticism on your projects. Here's a brief intro on what it is, written by AngryRedhead:
"Some Instructables don't get the attention that they deserve. Many times the reason boils down to presentation, and if the presentation is off in one way or another, an Instructable might flop no matter how wonderful the project is. The presentation of an Instructable requires a certain set of skills which involve story telling, technical writing, planning, and photography. Even the most experienced technical writers and photographers still benefit from an edit or an outside opinion. As an author, it's difficult to see the flaws and errors because your thoughts and experience fill the gaps that might leave readers puzzled. It happens to every author.
If you feel you have an Instructable that isn't getting the attention that it deserves and you would like some ideas on how to improve its presentation, please post a link to it! We're not here to tear it apart or to tell you that you're the most horrible, stupidester person in the whole wide world. We're here to give you ideas for improvement and hopefully get you more attention and recognition for your project ideas. Think of this like editing or proofreading which is something everyone needs regardless of experience, intellect, and knowledge.
If you would like ideas on taking your idea to the next level and making it bigger and more awesomer, please say that you would like this extra advice. You can even post a link to an unpublished instructable if you like, but just remember, please check out the featuring checklist first since this will tell you all of the things that the best instructables have."
So... that's what this forum topic's for. There's a team of seasoned Instructables authors watching this topic, waiting to give you help!
"Some Instructables don't get the attention that they deserve. Many times the reason boils down to presentation, and if the presentation is off in one way or another, an Instructable might flop no matter how wonderful the project is. The presentation of an Instructable requires a certain set of skills which involve story telling, technical writing, planning, and photography. Even the most experienced technical writers and photographers still benefit from an edit or an outside opinion. As an author, it's difficult to see the flaws and errors because your thoughts and experience fill the gaps that might leave readers puzzled. It happens to every author.
If you feel you have an Instructable that isn't getting the attention that it deserves and you would like some ideas on how to improve its presentation, please post a link to it! We're not here to tear it apart or to tell you that you're the most horrible, stupidester person in the whole wide world. We're here to give you ideas for improvement and hopefully get you more attention and recognition for your project ideas. Think of this like editing or proofreading which is something everyone needs regardless of experience, intellect, and knowledge.
If you would like ideas on taking your idea to the next level and making it bigger and more awesomer, please say that you would like this extra advice. You can even post a link to an unpublished instructable if you like, but just remember, please check out the featuring checklist first since this will tell you all of the things that the best instructables have."
So... that's what this forum topic's for. There's a team of seasoned Instructables authors watching this topic, waiting to give you help!
















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Starting your first Instructable?
Then you need to read this how-to guide.
a direct link
and
a direct link
Thank you in advance for your comments
EZ
Again Thank you in advance for your comments.
EZ
http://www.instructables.com/id/Purple-Sweet-Potato-Rounds-with-Walnut-Fig-Jam-Tap/
I'm grateful for any help I can get!
3 min lighting studio- http://www.instructables.com/id/3-Minute-Lighting-studio/
portable solar usb charger- http://www.instructables.com/id/portable-Solar-Charged-USB-charger/
Canned drinks prank - http://www.instructables.com/id/Canned-Drinks-Prank/
clap switch (wall switch mountable)- http://www.instructables.com/id/Clap-Switch-wall-switch-mountable/
Thank you i am looking forward for the suggestions and comments please PM me
http://www.instructables.com/id/Spotty-changeable-paper-necklace/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-DIY-your-own-Magnetic-Stirrer-V2-better-th/
Please take a look here too.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-grow-great-crystals/
http://www.instructables.com/id/DSLR-Camera-Backpack/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Coin-IQ-Test-Prank/
Thanks!
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-fool-your-friends-with-a-TV-remote-Jammer-1/
It is my first one and I would like some feedback :)
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Driving-Simulator/
http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-MP3-to-Cassette-or-Instrument-to-Cassette-Adap/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Root-Lamp/
Thanks
http://www.instructables.com/id/Super-Glue-Fingerprint-Lifting/
And see if you can get your own title image. The one you've got at the moment is good, but it would be better if it was your own. Perhaps you could compose and shoot a similar photo? Or at least credit the original photographer.
Thanks.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Creating-Animation-and-Games-Chapter-3-Lightcycle/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Powered-Clock-Hack/
Could you please check are these okay for the featuring? I have made some changes to all four. All comments are welcome.
Disc Golf Basket
Cardboard Coin Bank
Tripod Clamp
Cardboard Coasters
I entered my i'ble in the citizen sci contest as I really wanted the telescope for my deep interest in astronomy, but couldn't get it featured.
I now do not want to leave any thing, and want to do every possible thing I can to improve my i'ble.So, I in every respect I want to improve it.
As I really really need to win the contest, please comment upon my work and tell me how to improve upon my piece of work, and make it worth being featured.
I would be grateful to you.
http://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO-SAVE-YOUR-SUNFLOWERS-FROM-CRITTERS/
Please can you review this so that i can make it worth of getting featured please comment upon it-
http://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO-SAVE-YOUR-SUNFLOWERS-FROM-CRITTERS/
I certainly wish to make some changes but need an opinion to find any loopholes i had missed.
Thanx
http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Astounding-Advent-Calender-in-a-Book/
I have consulted the many guides and advice to help get "Featured". I've since made many improvements (including the title, photos, motivations...); and I hope that you can help me bring it to the next level of Instructability.
Many thanks.
Please can you review this so that i can make it worth of getting featured please comment upon it-
http://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO-SAVE-YOUR-SUNFLOWERS-FROM-CRITTERS/
http://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO-CALCULATE-RESISTOR-CERAMIC-CAPACITOR-VALU/
Calculating resistance is quite a well covered topic and so any Instructable related to it (in my opinion) would need to be exemplary to earn a feature. A couple of things that let your Instructable down... none of your images are your own and you don't give credit to those that created them. The introduction to what a resistor is and does is very brief. The formatting of the examples in step 3 is very hard to read, perhaps a HTML table would improve readability?
Also remember that the featuring guidelines are highly subjective. Even if an Instructable meets all of the criteria it doesn't guarantee it will get featured, they're just guidelines. Often a wow factor or something new, clever or pretty will entice one of the community team or staff to feature it.
I made a few changes wat about it know-
http://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO-CALCULATE-RESISTOR-CERAMIC-CAPACITOR-VALU/
Thank you very much and I will do my best to make it better.
Anyway thanx
Please can you review this-
http://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO-SAVE-YOUR-SUNFLOWERS-FROM-CRITTERS/
http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Darkroom-Liquid-Light-Emulsion/
I made a few changes wat about it know-
http://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO-CALCULATE-RESISTOR-CERAMIC-CAPACITOR-VALU/
It never got featured, but its still had some good views (I even got a comment for it in July, and its for a Christmas Ornament!!!)
If there's something I should change, I'd like to fix this soon since Christmas is just around the corner, and I had a request to make someone an ornament.
Personalized Ornament From An Old Bulb
James
http://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO-CALCULATE-RESISTOR-CERAMIC-CAPACITOR-VALU/
http://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO-MAKE-DANCING-LEDS/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Add-Headphones-To-A-Toque-Great-For-Skiing-Snowb/
Is toque a regional/Canadian term? I've never heard it before. Is it the same as what we'd call a beanie in England? Perhaps a more generic term like "winter hat" or "hat" might make title that more people would understand? "Snowsports Headphone Hat"? or something similar.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Solar-Powered-Clock-Hack/
http://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO-TEST-YOUR-TRANSISTORS-WITH-YOUR-MULTIMETERS/
http://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO-CALCULATE-RESISTOR-CERAMIC-CAPACITOR-VALU/
http://www.instructables.com/id/crochet-heart/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Fishtail-yarn-bracelet/
Being a guy I don't wear many wool bracelets, but I've never seen one like that, with high contrasting wool it'd look quite interesting compared to just a normal plait.
James
http://www.instructables.com/id/HOW-TO-MAKE-DANCING-LEDS/
Other than that, I'm afraid that it somehow lacks that undefinable "wow" factor I (personally) look for in projects, especially from an experienced author such as yourself.
I hasn't been featured yet and I would like to know how I could improve it.
Btw do only featured instructables show up in the profile? I can't see it here: http://www.instructables.com/member/BrittLiv/
- Start by solving the sodium alginate...
- mix the Licor, the milk...
- Carefully pure the banana mixture into it
Individually, not a problem, but the effect sort of adds up.If words that sound the same are a problem, you might find this website useful.
The rest: the pictures are clear and well composed as ever Britt and the written English is better than a lot of native English speakers I know.
One final question, why didn't you make us cocktails when you visited? Tskk.
And you've got a beer ;-)
Adding the UV light pictures is a good hint, I will do so.
http://www.instructables.com/id/MACHINE-GUN-DOORBELL/
- the title doesn't match the description. In the title you describe it as a door bell but in the introduction there is no why or how and it says you're going to demonstrate how to make a machine gun noise.
- a video of your modification in action might interest people
- there are quite a few spelling mistakes.
There ain't much more that I can do, really, I mean it's not like I can install neon signs, searchlights, a ginormous inflatable gorilla, a fireworks display, host a rave in the parking lot.
New Title: 555 Timer Hacks: Cable Testers, Magnetic Stirrers, and Lego Grabbers Oh My!
link: http://www.instructables.com/id/Hack-Your-Snap-Circuits-a-Minimalist-Very-Few-Co/?ALLSTEPS
http://www.instructables.com/id/MACHINE-GUN-DOORBELL/
Let me know how to improve it to make it a featured instructable. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
http://makeprojects.com/Project/Hack+Your+Snap+Circuits+With+Frickin%27+Laser+Beams%21+Build+a+Laser+Tripwire+and+Alarm+Out+of+Snap+Circuits/2674/1
I will leave it active here on Instrucatbles for a few more days, but will delete it if there are no suggestions for improvements to make it a featured instructable.
I'll leave it up for a couple more days, maybe someone migh have some suggestions. Otherwise I will take it down. No point in leaving it up if no one is ever going to see it.
That is, people get sent directly to the project page by a search engine. Yes, featuring gets you an initial burst of views, and a dash of viral marketing doesn't hurt, but the real, long-term traffic comes when your project matches other folks' searches. My highest-hit project is over four years old, but still gets a steady stream of hits because its title and keywords happen to closely match a very common search-string.
If people want or need to see a project like yours, they will see it because they look for it, not because they have looked at the front page of this website.
Now, back to the paperwork :-(
Personally, I still don't see that as a reason to take it down... who knows, someone may look at it tomorrow or next week and decide it's just what s/he needs!
http://makeprojects.com/Project/Hack+Your+Snap+Circuits+With+a+555+Timer+IC/2657/1
I will need to reshoot photography and reshoot video and provide links to the videos for the 555 Timer IC Make:Project with the 9 volt power modifications for the following:
Practical joke lie detector.
Does adding salt to water decrease it's resistance?
Use a magnet to alter the picth of the 555 timer circuit.
Make a pencil lead (graphite) organ.
Use the 555 circuit as a cable tester.
I will also add two more videos/photos demonstrating using the 555 Timer as Pulse Width Modulation to drive the motor for a DIY centrifuge and DIY magnetic stirer.
I hope to complete the Make:Project some time this week--time permitting (no later than next Monday). Once it is completed over at Make:Projects, I will then delete the Instructable from this site.
Make are good people, and if you're just looking purely for hits on your projects I think broadening your avenues is better, but I think the community here is better. There are no rules about re-making and re-posting improvements and upgrades on your work (it's encouraged!).
From working behind the scenes here at HQ I can say that some of our best performing projects posted on Instructables are from page views over time, not initial page views.
I get it. Most of my ibbles are for a niche audience, but the difference between featured and not featured is like night and day. My last featured Instructable was posted on Sep 13, 2012 and, as of this writing, it has had 1105 views. The next one after that I posted five days later on Sep 18, 2012. It wasn't featured. And it has only had 286 views. Even for a niche audience I can expect, on average, about 1000 views in the first month. Then the views trail off and that's ok.
Now I could be lazy and just throw together a slapdash Instructable, but I go out of my way to follow the featuring checklist. The editors here at instructables like things just so. I follow the featuring checklist, I jump through all the hoops, I make everything just so. All for one, admittedly, very silly little reason:
To borrow a quote from the movie You've Got Mail, I turn on my computer. I wait impatiently as it connects. I go online, and my breath catches in my chest until...I see the "FEATURED" banner in the upper corner of my new Instructable.
Ok. So, I'm easily amused.
It's disappointing to put in the extra effort to make everything just so, to jump through all the hoops, to follow the featuring checklist and not get the ding dang thing featured.
Actually I posted the same project on both sites at the same time 9 November 2012. As of this writing (16 Novemeber 2012), it has gotten 803 views in just eight days. Compare 803 views with my oldest non-featured instructable: http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-a-Grabber-Bot-Out-of-Legos-Snap-Circuits-an/ posted on 22 Decmeber 2011. It has languished in obscurity for well nigh almost a year and only gotten 947 views.
I was surprised it wasn't featured since it was good enough to get a write-up on Hack A Day: http://hackaday.com/2011/11/03/bomb-disposal-robot-with-lego-gripper/ and several other sites like Dangerous Prototypes, and Hacked Gadgets.
Anyway, I've just signed on as a blogger at Society of Robots and hope to be able to work on an infrared remote controlled robot this weekend--time permitting, since the in-laws are visiting. I'm also writing a series of electronics tutorials for the other website. That Instructables and I will part ways for a while is not at all a pity.