I always like to try and say something positive about resources that I take a look at, but sometimes it's very difficult. Such is the case with ThinkTutorial which is a great idea - tutorials based on a variety of different computer/internet related subjects.
It describes itself as "a database of simple, easy to follow tutorials covering all aspects of popular computing." There are currently 383 tutorials available, covering subjects such as Facebook, Google, Word, Firefox, Twitter and so on. I have no idea who actually creates the tutorials - that's simply just not referenced and consequently I'm unhappy right at the start. If I don't know who created it, how do I trust that they've got it right? And if a tutorial is pants, is it because that particular person didn't know what they were doing, and are they better in other subject areas or what? Consequently I'm not trusting the data to begin with.
Second point - the search option is rubbish. I ran a search for 'Twitter' and got 6 tutorials. However, going through their 'topics' option I got 15. The tutorials themselves are also pretty dire. This is the full text of the tutorial on 'How to send a tweet on twitter' - Type your message into the What's happening box on the top of your screen. [Image] Click Tweet. [Image] Seriously. That's it. Nothing about 140 characters even!
The one for Facebook chat is just as sparse: Click on the Chat button at the bottom right of your screen. [Image] Double click on the friend you wish to chat to. [Image] Enter your message into the bottom of the chatbox and hit enter. There were a few Facebook tutorials, but nothing on privacy, which is the hottest topic related to Facebook.
A real disappointment, and I don't really think this site/search resource has anything to recommend it at all.
It describes itself as "a database of simple, easy to follow tutorials covering all aspects of popular computing." There are currently 383 tutorials available, covering subjects such as Facebook, Google, Word, Firefox, Twitter and so on. I have no idea who actually creates the tutorials - that's simply just not referenced and consequently I'm unhappy right at the start. If I don't know who created it, how do I trust that they've got it right? And if a tutorial is pants, is it because that particular person didn't know what they were doing, and are they better in other subject areas or what? Consequently I'm not trusting the data to begin with.
Second point - the search option is rubbish. I ran a search for 'Twitter' and got 6 tutorials. However, going through their 'topics' option I got 15. The tutorials themselves are also pretty dire. This is the full text of the tutorial on 'How to send a tweet on twitter' - Type your message into the What's happening box on the top of your screen. [Image] Click Tweet. [Image] Seriously. That's it. Nothing about 140 characters even!
The one for Facebook chat is just as sparse: Click on the Chat button at the bottom right of your screen. [Image] Double click on the friend you wish to chat to. [Image] Enter your message into the bottom of the chatbox and hit enter. There were a few Facebook tutorials, but nothing on privacy, which is the hottest topic related to Facebook.
A real disappointment, and I don't really think this site/search resource has anything to recommend it at all.
Hi Phil,
Thank you very much for your feedback.
For the search engine we are just using a simple Wordpress plugin. We will definitely work on making sure our users are getting the most relevant results.
Also in regards to the tutorials, we will work on adding more explanation as well.
The Facebook privacy related tutorials are a great suggestion. Any other tutorials you would like to see there?
Thank you again!
Do you have any suggestions of
Posted by: ThinkTutorial | August 23, 2010 at 06:13 PM
UPDATE: We installed a new Wordpress plugin called Relevanssi which display much more relevant results. Keep on getting us feedback on things that you us to improve to serve you better. Thanks again for pointing this out!
Posted by: ThinkTutorial | August 23, 2010 at 10:29 PM