Instructables are the reason this site exists.
There are many ways of presenting your work here, and everybody finds their own style, but there are things that good instructables have in common, and that is the purpose of this Instructable.
Pay attention, there may be a test.
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Signing UpStep 1: Subject Matter
The first question from every new Instructabler is "what should I write about?"
The simple answer is... anything. If you have enough passion to create a project, then you have the passion to share it. You should preferably publish something original, but with tens of thousands of projects already published here, it's possible that somebody else has already had a go at your idea, even if you thought of it by yourself.
Don't let that put you off. It's quite likely that many people will prefer your style of writing, or find your instructions easier to follow.
You should use an Instructable to...
- Show us what you have made.
- Show us how you made something.
- Show us how to do something (demonstrate a skill, rather than produce an object).
- Show us somebody else's work (if you've found something cool online, start a forum topic).
- Try and sell us something without telling how to make our own.
- Post something inappropriate. "Inappropriate" is a hazy thing to define, but please remember that this site is used in schools. Generally, if you wouldn't show your teacher, don't publish it here.
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You can then add the names of the members with whom you wish to collaborate. They will then be able to edit the text and add pictures, just as you can, but only you will be able to hit the "publish" tab.
The best way to start is to make your "thing", and take photographs of everything you do.
Upload those images to the site, start creating an instructable, and then describe what you are doing in the photos.
Click that, then choose the kind of Instructable you want to write.
(Thank you for reminding me that this needs updating!)
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When you click the Create tab, you get three options turn up, Photos, Step-by-step and Video. It is the second option you need to use, which will look like the screenshot below.
Don't worry about the photos you have already uploaded to the slideshow, they are freely available to you in your library, and you just add them to your step-by-step.
People often say things like "See picture below" because when you are creating your instructable the pictures are added into a box below the text. Remember that when viewing a published instructable the picture is actually shown above the text.
I know this doesn't seem that important, I just figure it's another way to make an instructable the best possible instructable it can be.
A question: I've tried using Google Translate to translate Instructables, but can't figure out how to get Google Translate to view Instructables in the "Allsteps Preview" mode. Any suggestions?
I think that's because it's a within-site option, not part of the URL.
However, once you've created an instructable, there's nothing stopping you editing it to include a link to a google translated version of the page, like this.
As far as including a translate link in my own Instructable, that wouldn't really work, as I have not idea what language(s) other users might prefer to read it in...
(I tried your link, and it still defaults back to a "step-at-a-time" view, with ads, even though I'm logged-in and have preferences set to "Allsteps" view).
That's just my two cents... and theory. Thanks again for the fine Instructable!
translate.google.com/$$|##
$$=Translate FROM: I suggest entering #auto.
##Represents the other launge:
en=English
es=Spanish
it=Italian
fr=French
ja=japanese
For English to spanish, for example, type:
translate.google.com/en|es
TRUST ME
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/
I'm assuming google doesn't have that option for cut and paste text? At any rate, it's not ideal but it works well. Hope it gets you by.
Both Google Translate and Babelfish work fine if you want to translate a paragraph or two, but if you are trying to generate a PDF of a multi-step Instructable, with photos, doing this a step at a time is incredibly time consuming.
As I mentioned earlier, I believe what is required is for the Instructables website recognizing my IP address (and my user preferences, i.e "Allsteps" mode) when I log in via Google Translate, so I can view all the steps at once in Google's translation.
But thanks for the suggestion!
I hope the fine folks at Instructables can figure this out someday;-)
Avoid potatoes!!! Watermelons work fine.
Um, what do watermelons do exactly?
What is the difference?
o3o
Simply start a new step-by-step: all your photos can be added from your library, and you can even copy/paste text from your slideshow.
Question: Would it be impudent to submit a Video for the contest, and a Photo 'ible for more thorough coverage (including a schematic)?
Thanks much for the 'ible on 'ibling!
In this day and age of automated "everything" via computer programming, this art is either lost or dismissed. You, as the author, are so close to the writing that you can easily miss words that are spelled correctly, but are not the word you want to use (note the myriad of mistakes when people use "there, their and they're" - if you don't see problems with these, please go back to school). This is why you should have someone whom you trust read over your text and look for obvious errors after you have used spell check and grammar check. Grammar not only includes correct usage but also punctuation and capitalization, to name two, additional, major points. Do your best and then let someone else read it over.
Two examples of where proof reading went wrong.
The first is: my son's guitar magazine had the word "THE" spelled correctly on the cover but was spelled "TEH" on the spine. A good proof reader would have caught this.
The second is right here, and may have been a Freudian slip. See if you can find it in this fragment - "...saved in your lust of Unpublished instructables...". I think you meant to use an "i" instead of a "u" in that 4th word. (Great 'ible, notwithstanding)
Take Kiteman's advice and save your instructable before you publish it. Come back to it after a short break and re-read it. Look for any silly mistakes. Computers aren't perfect. Don't rely on them to be your sole "checker" as they will miss things.
Qa