User's Guide

If you are unfamiliar with wiki syntax, check out the WikiSyntax page.

First Screen: Introduction ¶ 

1. Choose from the dropdown menu whether your entry is a Project or Technique.

2. Name your Topic. The Topic is a sub-category that then gets pulled into an "Area." At the top-level organization, there are 16 main subject Areas (each Topic can get classified under up to 2 Areas).

Here are the 16 major subject Areas:

  • Craft
  • Electronics
  • Fabrication
  • Flight and Projectiles
  • Food
  • Home
  • Microcontrollers
  • Motors and Engines
  • Music
  • Photo and Video
  • Reuse
  • Robotics
  • Science
  • Toys and Games
  • Transportation
  • Workshop

So when you're naming your Topic, what we're looking for here is a sub-category of one of the 16 above. A drop-down menu in this fields will show all of your options.

For example, "Electronic Embroidery" is both Craft and Electronics, and the sub-categories (Topic) may be Soft Circuits and Embroidery. You have the option of adding only one topic or adding a secondary Topic.

3. Next, fill out the "Guide display title" field, which is the title of the project or technique. Make it as clear, short, and simple as possible.

4. Before you drop in your introductory paragraph, add a one-line summary (DEK) for the piece in the Summary field.

And then add the introductory paragraph. Make this paragraph as concise as you can while still retaining the voice.

5. Below the intro, choose the flags that apply to the project you're entering. Be sure to flag "in Progress" if you intend not to finish it in one fell swoop, or if you have missing elements.

6. Save.

NOTE: At this point, you will be taken to the screen for the first step. Click the link at the top left for "Meta information" to complete this screen first.

Second Screen: Meta Data ¶ 

7. Estimate the time required. You can give a range. The unit of measurement should be capitalized. Example: 2–3 Hours

8. Estimate the difficulty of the project from the drop-down menu.

9. List any prerequisite guides (which at this point is almost always none).

10. List any required tools and parts in these next two fields.

Start typing the name of each part or tool, and the dropdown menu will give you options of similar items already in the system. If you don't see your item as an option, go ahead and add it as new.

The key here is to distill the part or tool into its basic name and then add more information by clicking Details. Details will give you Type, Quantity, and Notes fields. For example, if your item is 8 Medium balsa sticks, 3/16" x 3/16", 36" long, enter Balsa sticks as the item, 8 as the Quantity, and medium, 3/16"x3/16", 36" long as the Type. Any additional information you have would go under Notes.

To edit an individual part or tool after you've bulk-imported a list of them, go back to the Meta Information page and click on the pencil next to the item.

11. Add any concluding messages you may have. This is a great place to add pointers to more resources, variations, etc.

12. Click "Bulk-import steps" to import all steps at once or hit save and move on to the Step 1 screen to enter steps individually.

To bulk-import steps, steps must be formatted with "Step 1: Blah blah blah." followed by separate paragraphs. You can simply copy and paste all of the steps and the appropriate fields will be populated. Here is a sample format for copying and pasting:

Step 1: Make the LED mount.
To hold the LEDs, use some scrap translucent plastic. Using a drill press, mark an outline on the plastic sheet by cutting partway through with a 1 1/4" hole saw.
Drill three 5mm holes inside it for the LEDs, then finished cutting out the disk with the hole saw.
Trim the edges of the disk until it fits snugly in the rubber side of the hose adapter, stretching the rubber a bit. I used a grinder, but you can also use a file or sandpaper.

The body doesn't have to be formatted as bullets but should be separate paragraphs.

13. Save. A step screen will be populated for each step you entered, and on the right-hand side under Guide Steps, there will be a box for each step.

Images ¶ 

14. Now is a good time to upload your images. Click the blue "Images" box at the bottom left of your screen. Then click Upload and Choose Your Images.

Bear in mind that:

  • Images must be at least 800x600 pixels.
  • You'll be prompted to crop images to 4:3 if necessary.
  • Documents (not images) should be PDFs.
  • Make sure your images are not CMYK. They must be RGB.
  • Choose multiple files with the shift key.
  • Images cannot be over 10MB.

When your images have loaded, you have the option of going through and cropping now or individually, each time you choose one for a step.

Note: Refer to the Photography Guidelines page for detailed information.

15. Choose a main image for your project, preferably a shot of the project done and/or in action. Drag the image up to the image placeholder box in the upper right.

16. Save.

Third Screen: Step 1 ¶ 

17. In the Guide Steps grid under the main image you just dropped in, click on the first box and you'll be taken to your first step.

Each bullet itself is clickable and gives you the option to add an icon for Caution, Note, or Reminder. The very first bullet also has the option of "Make title" if you choose to name your step. If you do name it, use sentence style with punctuation. For example: "Embroider the scene."

To edit text, simply click on it and edit.

18. Each step is allowed up to 3 accompanying images. If you have more than 3 images per step, break your step into smaller steps.

Drag and drop accompanying images. When done, save and move on to the next step until your project is complete, making sure to hit Save when you're done with each step.