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!
It was made for me - I started with a tiny, low-resolution image of the scientist, which I took from a website just as they stopped using it for a button.
After a while, I got bored of being pixellated, so I re-drew it myself in black and white. A lot of people didn't like the change, so one of them, a graphic artist, fixed it for me.
I added the orange myself, in memory of the site's old colour scheme, and then different folk have tweaked it for special occasions over the years, as you can see at the top of the page.
Oh, and the frame is added by the iOS version of the Instructables app - I liked it, so I took a screen-grab.
PDF Downloads As a Pro member, you will gain access to download any Instructable in the PDF format.
You also have the ability to customize your PDF download.
Comment: That's a nice idea, plus it will cure jingling keys.
Comment: *covet* (Especially the rocky landscape.)
Comment: The idea reminds me of "wire recordings", where the sound is indented into a reel of wi…
Comment: Oh, can you do a step-by-step, how you prepare and mount the bones etc?