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Writing a Succesful Tutorial
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Writing a Succesful TutorialPosted:

Bayrock
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Introduction:
Having trouble writing a good Tutorial? Don't know how to make yours better? Or even unsure how to make one? Well I am going to tell you the ins and outs of what people look for, and how to make your guide look like a master piece.

This guide includes the following:

    * Choosing your topic
    * Guide language
    * BBcode (text formatting, underlining, internet links etc)
    * Pictures
    * Important Tips



Press alt + F to jump to the subject you want to.




Choosing your topic:

The topic you write about is the most important thing, before choosing, consider the following, what topic is popular on the forum? What hasn't been done before? Is the subject interesting? Considering these before you write, as you can write and layout a guide perfectly but if it's already been done or no one cares about the subject you wrote about, then it was all for nothing.




Guide Language:

In a guide you must word and "talk" in a way that informs the reader, a guide is not a conversation with a mate, it is a source of information and guidance on the subject you are talking about, but you can have some fun as well.

Also they way you "talk" is important, what i mean is the person you speak in. Never speak in 1st person, I do this, I did that. People will think you are talking from guess work and that you have made up the information, talking in 3rd person gives you a sense of professionalism and makes the people trust what you are saying.

for example: -

BAD - What I would do is open Modio first

GOOD - The best thing to do is open Modio first

It's not a lot but it makes a big difference.

Finally you need to explain like the person has never modded before, explain things that might seem obvious to you, but if a person has never played the game before they will not know what you are talking about.




BB code:

BB code is the code used in forums, and is VERY important when writing a guide as it makes it look readable, but most importantly it sets the guide out professionally.

What is BBcode used for? It's used for (in guides): -

    * Underlining
    * Horizontal rule
    * Text formatting (Bold, italic, text colour and size)
    * Internet Links/Urls
    * Bullet points/Lists



There are many other things it can do, though they are not relevant to creating guides. You can write out the code or you can use the sources provided by me, I'll explain both so it's up to you

Underlining
Titles and subsections are very important in your guide as it breaks up the wall, making it easier to read and most importantly more interesting to read, as people can skip to the parts they want to read rather than giving up after the first paragraph.

How to underline
Type your title out, when finished highlight the text and click the underline button or type the code

[u] Enter your text here [/u]


Horizontal rule
This feature places a solid straight line across the page. It is very useful when you want to break up a guide into sections or to add off topic information at the bottom.

How to create a horizontal line
All you have to do is type

[hr][/hr]


It's that easy.

Text formatting
Things like bold & italic text makes words or sentences stand out, so if there is a point you want to express use bold or italic instead of capitals as NO ONE LIKES TO BE SHOUTED AT.

How to make a word bold
Type your title out, when finished highlight the text and click the bold button
or type the code

[b]Enter your text here[/b]


How to make a word italic
Type your title out, when finished highlight the text and click the italic button or type the code

[i]Enter text here[/i]


Different sizes or colors

Different sizes help separate sections from subsections,
where as colors can be another way of making a word stand out, though be careful some colors make words unreadable which is not what you want.

How to change text color and size

Size- Highlight the text you want to change and click the button then choose the size you want, the smaller the number the smaller the font size. If you would prefer to type it out then you need to type this

[size="Number"]Enter text here:[/size]


You would change the number to the size you wanted.

Color- Highlight the text you want to change and click the button then choose the colour you want. If you would prefer to type it out then you need to type this

[color="Color"]Enter text here[/color]


You would change the color to the one you wanted.

Internet Links/Urls

If you have a link to a youtube video or website that helps your guide, instead of copy and pasting the link you can, hide the text of the link and replace it with another word.

for example: -

thetechgame.com

can be changed to
TheTechGame

to do this click on the insert link button , copy and paste your link in the box and press enter, then enter the word/sentence that is going to replace the link or type the code

[url="Enter link here"]Enter replacement name here[/url]

Bullet points and Lists

Bullet points and lists help break up the wall of text associated when writing a guide

How do start a list
First click the either number list or bullet point button . Once you have clicked the button enter in one at a time, clicking enter after each point, the points you want to make/list. Once you have finished click cancel on a blank box. If you want to type the code out, u need to type

[list][*] Enter list item[*] Repeat as many times[*] As you like
[/list]





Pictures:

Pictures in a guide are Very important, they not only inform the reader but also keeps them reading. They should be placed in appropriate places that are relevant to the subject you are talking about.

If you are having problems finding a picture for your guide try google images, try using the normal search and search web pages. If you still have problems just ask around.

So, Now you have pictures, what do I do with them? Well if you have it on a website like photobucket or imageshack then they will give you the IMG code, if not then ill tell you

Entering Pictures
Click the insert picture button then just copy and paste the image link, or if you want to type it out, you need to type

[img] Enter picture link [/img]





Important Tips:

- To help with spelling copy and paste the whole of the guide into a word document, there you can use the spell checker to check for any mistakes.

- Cant think of anything to write or got writers block? Just ask, there is always someone to help

- Use spoilers wisely, too many will make a person not care to open them

- Read through your work, and check and re-check again




Hope This Helped,
Bayrock


Last edited by Bayrock ; edited 8 times in total

The following 7 users thanked Bayrock for this useful post:

-Recklesss- (11-04-2010), Aznboy38 (11-01-2010), streamzz (10-18-2010), defender190 (10-17-2010), Cez (08-18-2010), TTGnizzle (08-11-2010), HouseOfBalloons (08-03-2010)
#2. Posted:
LOG_Insane
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Thank you Bayrock. :]
#3. Posted:
HouseOfBalloons
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F*cking awesome thread. Thanked and +rep'd.
#4. Posted:
Tricks
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Motto: Ya momma
Motto: Ya momma
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Motto: Ya momma
Nnice post dude. Keep it up
#5. Posted:
Bayrock
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iTRiiCKz wrote Nice post dude. Keep it up


Working on becoming more active with Helpful posts

Thanks for the feedback.
#6. Posted:
TTG_UK
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good post nice 1 lol
#7. Posted:
iBullet
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Very helpful topic.

Stickied
#8. Posted:
Bayrock
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iBullet wrote Very helpful topic.

Stickied


Thank you Bullet <3
#9. Posted:
bcfcAnt
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nice tutorial man, +rep for you!
#10. Posted:
BadKushh
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Nice to see you have gotten sticky!
Being Helpful is Good.
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