"Information is wealth", a famous dialogue from one of the Indian movies is so true when it comes to sharing information. It is wealth when one knows how to apply it? Where to apply it? and When to apply it? :huh:
Lot of us learn new things everyday and things which we learn may differ from one person to another. Things which I learn today, you might learn it tomorrow, next week, may be a month or even years later. Such infomation might be new and really useful for others who cos of some fate happened not to read or get to know just when you came across it. In sucha case, being Techie altruists we tend to share our knowledge by some means and of late often by writing online tutorials. But WAIT! How do I go about doing it? Lot of us due to lack of knowledge of writing tutorials tend to curb our instincts of penning down our thoughts, rather nowadays we can say, "Typin' in our thots" :bleh:
Okie, now lets get down to business. :director:
Tutorial
1. What is it?
2. Things to do
3. Others stuff I might need
1) What is it?
As in related to technology, answers.com defines tutorial as "An instructional book or program that takes the user through a prescribed sequence of steps in order to learn a product". Perfect. What more to explain? If you can't crack it, may be this one might make it a bit more clear - "a tutorial is a computer program whose purpose it is to assist users in learning how to use (parts of) a software product such as an office suite or any other application, operating system interface, programming tool, or game".
2) Things to do
Somethings you need to do before you kick off.
> The first thing to do
= select the topic. Choose a topic which ppl might like and relate it with. Either choose the topic for the audience or chose the audience for the topic you chose. Your call
> What do you want to tell your readers?
= Put urself in the reader's shoe and try to understand what they need? How they need? Collect your thots.
> To wat depth you would like to cover the topic?
= There are 3 types of readers: novice, virtuoso and inbetween. Make sure you keep in mind all three types of readers. This is where a good intro will be useful. Always start with an intro! novice gets benefitted here, the others will not mind a recap
> Use attractive stuff where ever you can,
= Links to appropriate pages would be really good. Don't try to explain tini little stuff. for ex. What is a comp?
= Images. As the famous saying goes, "One picture is worth a thousand words", very true. Pictures used as examples will surely help the reader understand better. These things will leave behind an everlasting impression and the reader will never forget the concept that easily. Use ImageShack or something similar and embed the images on ur tutorial.( A short tutorial on how to use Imageshack is on its way
)
> Make the readers get involved
= Ask simple questions to the readers. Make them use their mind as they read. This will also make them get involved
> Use common words, don't try to show off your language skills
> Maintain constant tone, speed and style
= Constant flow of ideas is very important.
> For a start, stop looking too much into grammer and spell checks.
= Many of us read our work a 1000 times before posting it online. Here we might lose track of what we want to say and it might end up as junk. Be careful, thats enuf! As your write more, things will fall in place automatically
> Overall, keep it simple, short and sweet.
3) Others stuff you might need
Nothing much here, Just read point 2 once again. If you still find it difficult to put down ur thots, just give it a shot man, write what ever you feel like, ppl will reply asking a few questions. Ppl might curse you, mock at you. Write them down. It will help you build on understanding what readers expect. You will grow for sure. trust me.
I would like to sign off by saying a few words,
"Communication is all 'bout exchange of ideas. Grammer, Style, Attitude comes along with it. If you don't possess any of these, just exchange your ideas, you'll get these soon. Its just a matter of time"
(Okie it was not few, a bit long... forgive me)
Good luck and Good day folks! :hap2:
happy tutorin'
Adios!
> S.I.M
Lot of us learn new things everyday and things which we learn may differ from one person to another. Things which I learn today, you might learn it tomorrow, next week, may be a month or even years later. Such infomation might be new and really useful for others who cos of some fate happened not to read or get to know just when you came across it. In sucha case, being Techie altruists we tend to share our knowledge by some means and of late often by writing online tutorials. But WAIT! How do I go about doing it? Lot of us due to lack of knowledge of writing tutorials tend to curb our instincts of penning down our thoughts, rather nowadays we can say, "Typin' in our thots" :bleh:
Okie, now lets get down to business. :director:
Tutorial
1. What is it?
2. Things to do
3. Others stuff I might need
1) What is it?
As in related to technology, answers.com defines tutorial as "An instructional book or program that takes the user through a prescribed sequence of steps in order to learn a product". Perfect. What more to explain? If you can't crack it, may be this one might make it a bit more clear - "a tutorial is a computer program whose purpose it is to assist users in learning how to use (parts of) a software product such as an office suite or any other application, operating system interface, programming tool, or game".
2) Things to do
Somethings you need to do before you kick off.
> The first thing to do
= select the topic. Choose a topic which ppl might like and relate it with. Either choose the topic for the audience or chose the audience for the topic you chose. Your call
> What do you want to tell your readers?
= Put urself in the reader's shoe and try to understand what they need? How they need? Collect your thots.
> To wat depth you would like to cover the topic?
= There are 3 types of readers: novice, virtuoso and inbetween. Make sure you keep in mind all three types of readers. This is where a good intro will be useful. Always start with an intro! novice gets benefitted here, the others will not mind a recap
> Use attractive stuff where ever you can,
= Links to appropriate pages would be really good. Don't try to explain tini little stuff. for ex. What is a comp?
= Images. As the famous saying goes, "One picture is worth a thousand words", very true. Pictures used as examples will surely help the reader understand better. These things will leave behind an everlasting impression and the reader will never forget the concept that easily. Use ImageShack or something similar and embed the images on ur tutorial.( A short tutorial on how to use Imageshack is on its way
)> Make the readers get involved
= Ask simple questions to the readers. Make them use their mind as they read. This will also make them get involved
> Use common words, don't try to show off your language skills
> Maintain constant tone, speed and style
= Constant flow of ideas is very important.
> For a start, stop looking too much into grammer and spell checks.
= Many of us read our work a 1000 times before posting it online. Here we might lose track of what we want to say and it might end up as junk. Be careful, thats enuf! As your write more, things will fall in place automatically
> Overall, keep it simple, short and sweet.
3) Others stuff you might need
Nothing much here, Just read point 2 once again
. If you still find it difficult to put down ur thots, just give it a shot man, write what ever you feel like, ppl will reply asking a few questions. Ppl might curse you, mock at you. Write them down. It will help you build on understanding what readers expect. You will grow for sure. trust me. I would like to sign off by saying a few words,
"Communication is all 'bout exchange of ideas. Grammer, Style, Attitude comes along with it. If you don't possess any of these, just exchange your ideas, you'll get these soon. Its just a matter of time"
(Okie it was not few, a bit long... forgive me)
Good luck and Good day folks! :hap2:
happy tutorin'
Adios!
> S.I.M
