Introduction: How Not to Make a Bad Instructable
In this instructable I will teach you how not to make an instructable. Let's get started!
The first thing to remember when creating a bad instructable is to never use correct punctuation and grammar. Like this:
hey guyz. today ima gonna make this real cool ball rapped in thiz cleere tape stuff the ball iz made ov paeperz and stuffz.
Note the lack of periods and extra z's.
Step 1: Pictures
Pictures are a major part of all instructables. Therefore it is a good idea to have very few images. It also helps to have blurry and/or washed out pictures. Badly rendered versions of your project can also be made via microsoft paint as seen on the title page. here are some good examples of bad images.
Step 2: Content
Try to keep content to a minimum. Both project and writing wise. Here the project is a ball of cardboard fished out of the recycling bin with packing tape wrapped around it. Try making instructables that are completely self explanatory such as this. set a time limit of about five minutes for all projects. As for writing it is usually a good idea to copy content from Wikipedia as shown below.
first start by making a crumpled piece of cardboard.
Cardboard is a generic term for a heavy-duty paper. It may refer to:
- Card stock, heavy paper used for making cards
- Display board, Poster board
- Corrugated fiberboard, a combination of paperboards, usually two flat liners and one inner fluted corrugated medium, often used for making corrugated boxes
- Paperboard, a paper-based material often used for folding cartons, set-up boxes, carded packaging, etc.
Step 3: Presentation
It is always a good idea to rate your own instructable so as to tempt unsuspecting people with a good rating even if the thumbnail picture is bad. Not much else to say about this. Mostly because there isn't much you can do to make a bad instructable look decent. Anyway thank you for viewing Steampirate's guide to bad instructables. Leave a comment saying what the worst and most grievous instructables sin is. Thanks!
13 Comments
12 years ago on Introduction
But even more important: You forgot the "rickroll" hyperlink...
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
because everyone enjoys a dead meme! trololololololololololol!
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
Oh! And the ubiquitous "sales pitches" - links to one's blog, links to one's internet stores, etc. - that have little to do with anything in the instructable. Also, on pictures, putting hundreds of embedded comment blocks, or overlapping blocks - I hate when I cannot read the little block - clearly visible - behind the larger ones.
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
lol i hate those too. or when the pictures have absolutely nothing to do with the project. like someone just puts their avatar or a logo.
12 years ago on Introduction
Yes, the correct English is very important for we non anglophone. Captions on videos are imprescindible, too. We can understand reading English, but we can't understand hearing it.
12 years ago on Introduction
>You forgot to tag it with KNEX and K'NEX
>You didn't lift any watermarked images off the internet
>You forgot the pointless awful image in the last "well-done/congratulations" step.
>But most of all, you missed the "This is my 1st (or 3rd) Instructable so don't give me a hard time" disclaimer.
L
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
https://www.instructables.com/id/hoW-to-createz-a-crapy-intsuctable/
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
One I found in my many bookmarks:
https://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-make-a-bad-Instructable-by-The-Duchess-of/
L
Reply 12 years ago on Introduction
*Cough* Made mine first. *Cough*
12 years ago on Introduction
OH THE IRONY. An instructable about bad instructables, which contains the tip of using bad grammar, leaves off the capital letters in step 2. I just can't stand it!
12 years ago on Introduction
You also have to make the steps a few words long, and have no pictures whatsoever, and should link to your other pitiful instructables. Nice job.
12 years ago on Introduction
You forgot 3 things: adding random tags that have nothing to do with the project so as to make it come up in searches more often, add pictures of Lolcats or demotivational posters that have been around since web 1.0, and a last step of "Thanx 4 reading its my first instructible so be nice plz XD"
12 years ago on Introduction
I thought you were going for an example of a bad instructable. This is actually pretty good. Cheers.