Kiteman

People keep asking me how to get their Instructables featured: check this list by Canida...

General checklist for any featured project:

- title fits and explains the project
- intro step explains reason/motivation for the project
- intro image is informative
- intro image is clear and in-focus
- project is detailed enough to be repeatable
- project is broken into enough steps
- every step has at least one paragraph of text
- every step has at least one useful picture
- most steps have multiple pictures
- pictures use image notes as needed
- spelling and grammar don't distract
- parts/materials/ingredients list included, with links to sources as needed
- tools list included, with links to sources as needed
- includes links to references as needed

Bonus checklist: (for Homepage and Cateogry features)
- excellent intro picture
- the author tells a story through the Instructable
- the project is interesting to someone not already familiar with the subject

Channel feature: the Instructable meets at least 10 of the 14 general checklist items. The remaining 4 are either partially met, don't apply, or don't distract from an otherwise well-done project.

Category feature: Instructable meets at least 13 of the 14 general checklist items, plus the bonus checklist. The remaining items are partially met, don't apply, or don't distract from an otherwise very good project.

Homepage feature: Instructable meets all of the 14 general checklist items, plus nails the bonus checklist.

The bonus checklist covers some of the things that we think really make Instructables. The ability for an author to tell a story through his/her Instructable is unique - it's a direct conversation, and you learn about the author as you're learning about the project. A strong author voice usually means a better, more compelling Instructable that's worthy of a category or homepage feature. This personal storytelling aspect also increases the chance an Instructable will be interesting to someone not already familiar with the subject. While some topics are more generally interesting by their nature, a high-quality, detailed, awesome project will grab almost anyone's attention. These are the sorts of things that really earn a feature to categories and the homepage!

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