Ever had one of those moments when you really wished you knew how to do something specific? If only there were someone you could ask…
Thanks to the social web, particularly niche blogs and expert-driven communities, it’s easy to find knowledge, insights and guidance direct from the pros, no matter what the topic area. In fact, online tutorials and how-to sites have been around almost as long as the web itself.
Here’s a run-down of more than 60 great how-to sites and guides covering everything from building a mashup to being more productive, creating a website and more.
Have a great how-to site that will teach us something new? Add it to the comments and tell us more about it!
General How-to
wikiHow – A huge collection of how-to guides edited by the community.
eHow – One of the largest collections of tutorials on the web. eHow is a 2008 Open Web Awards Blogger’s Choice winner.
How To Do Things.com – Find articles from experienced contributors on how to do just about anything.
WonderHowTo – A human-edited collection of video tutorials from more than 1700 websites.
Instructables – A community that creates tutorials on an enormous variety of topics, some practical, some not-so.
Expert Village – A collection of more than 130,000 video tutorials.
Howcast – Find how-to videos on a variety of topics. Howcast is the 2008 Open Web Awards Blogger’s Choice runner-up.
MindBites – Watch how-to videos or create your own to earn money.
VideoJug – How to videos for just about everything in life.
SuTree – A collection of how-to videos covering everything from beauty & fashion to language.
Technology How-To
Wired How-To Wiki – Get information on how to do technology-related things from linkbaiting your blog to surviving a nuclear blast.
The Java Tutorials – A collection of Java tutorials from Sun on using various components.
the How-To Geek – A collection of computer tutorials covering everything from protecting your children online to using different wallpapers on dual monitors.
How to Make Your Own Web Mashup – A short tutorial outlining the steps necessary to build a mashup.
How to Podcast – A complete, free tutorial that teaches you how to set up your own podcast.
HowtoForge – A huge collection of user-friendly Linux (
) tutorials.
PCWorld – A huge collection of tutorials for PC users.
HowToJoomla.net – A collection of Joomla () tutorials.
Screencasting: How To Start, Tools and Guidelines – A guide outlining why you should screencast and how to do it.
How to get traffic for your blog – A huge list of things to do to get traffic for your blog from marketing guru Seth Godin.
How to design a website layout in Photoshop – A complete tutorial showing you how to create your website layout in Photoshop.
Tutorialized – A collection of tutorials and how-to guides on a variety of tech-related topics.
How to design a website – A comprehensive tutorial on how to design using HTML and CSS.
How to Design a Website – A web design guide from About.com.
Good-Tutorials – A large collection of web-design tutorials covering Java, HTML, CSS, PHP (), Ruby, and more.
Video-Tutes.com – Free video tutorials for a variety of software programs including Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and MS Word.
A Beginner’s Guide on How to Install Linux Software – A basic guide to installing Ubuntu ().
PSDTuts – A huge collection of Photoshop tutorials and other resources.
PhotoshopStar – How to Photoshop articles and tutorials on a variety of different techniques.
Gimp-tutorials.net – A collection of tutorials on everything from photo manipulation to text effects in GIMP ().
Tutorial Blog – A blog filled with how-to guides and tutorials on design topics.
Blog Tutorials – A blog offering how-to advice for blogging.
Noupe Tutorials – A blog that focuses on web design and development and offers a large repository of great tutorials.
CBT Cafe – The Computer Based Training Cafe offers free tutorials and how-to guides on Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and more.
Niche Blogging Tutorials – How-to blog posts from DoshDosh covering niche blogging techniques.
Productivity and Efficiency How-To
How to be More Productive – A guide from the Blog Herald that focuses mostly on how to be a more productive blogger.
How to GTD – A small collection of blog posts covering how to get started with Getting Things Done.
How to Start with GTD – A basic 10-step guide to starting out with GTD.
How To Be More Productive – A very complete guide to becoming more productive, covering everything from technology to dietary changes.
Business and Career How-To
Inc. How To Guides – A collection of business guides for just about every topic.
How To Write A Resume.org – A complete resource for writing resumes and cover letters.
How to Blog Your Way to Small-Business Success – A short guide on using blogging to promote your business.
Startup How-To Guides – A collection of business how-to articles from Entrepreneur.com.
Score – Find how-to articles on a variety of business topics from advertising to management to starting a business.
How to Market in a Recession – A how-to guide from Harvard Business school.
How to Twitter your way to marketing success – A guide to using Twitter (
) as a marketing platform.
Mashable How-Tos
HOW TO: Build Community on Twitter – Build a loyal following and engage those followers.
HOW TO: Market to Bloggers According to Timothy Ferriss – Techniques for marketing to bloggers from the New York Times bestselling author.
How to Track 500 Business Blogs in 10 Minutes a Day – A great guide for all of us who need to keep up with tons of incoming information.
How to Manage Your Social Profiles and Create Virtual Business Cards – A must-have guide for anyone who uses multiple social media sites.
How to Build Your Online Brand – Covers how to use social media and Web 2.0 tools to create a name for yourself online.
How to Know if You Should Fire Your Social Media Consultant – A guide to some tell-tale signs that your social media consultant isn’t all they’re cracked up to be.
How to Develop a Social Media Plan for Your Business in 5 Steps – A simple guide to creating an effective social media marketing campaign.
How to Live Blog a Conference – A guide to live blogging preparation and execution.
Miscellaneous How-To
How To Meditate – A complete online guide to teach you how to meditate in the Buddhist tradition.
How to Draw Manga – Manga University has a great collection of how-to articles on drawing different elements of manga characters.
Sushi Eating HOW TO – A complete guide outlining how to eat sushi and sushi bar etiquette.
How to Go Green – A collection of guides to green your life on topics ranging from investing and hybrid cars to workouts and weddings.
The Storque How-To – The how-to section of Etsy’s blog covers all sorts of topics from cooking to selling on Etsy.
How to Clean Stuff – Tutorials for cleaning everything from old photos to ballet flats.
Lowe’s How-To Library – A huge collection of home improvement how-tos.
PopPhoto HowTo Archive – A collection of photography how-to articles covering image editing, composition, lighting, and more.
How to Photograph… – A series of tutorials on photographing a variety of situations and subjects from weddings to urban landscapes to zoos.
Earlier this week, Facebook promised a number of changes to appease user concerns about the latest homepage re-design. Users have been noticing these improvements being pushed live to their homepage over the last day or so, and this morning, I finally got them enabled on my account.
After doing a bit of tweaking, I’m definitely enjoying my Facebook homepage more than I was the past couple weeks with version 1 of the redesign. I thought I’d share with you a few of these tweaks – designed primarily to reduce information overload – so you can try them on your own account, unless of course you’re happy with the new, new Facebook as-is.
Custom Friend Lists
This problem probably only applies to those of us that add hundreds of friends, but let’s face it, if you’re reading this article, that’s probably you! I’ve always used Facebook’s custom friend lists, but now, since they’re front and center, it’s time to really take advantage of them.
What I’ve done is create lists for “People I Know” (folks I could actually identify if I ran into them walking down the street), as well as “Colleagues,” “Close Friends,” and “High School,” which, should be self-explanatory. You can create new lists from the “Create” link at the bottom of your list of friend groups on the left side of the Facebook homepage.
One thing you can do – which isn’t immediately obvious, is make any of these groups your default, so it’s what comes up every time you open Facebook. To do that, just drag the list you want as default to the top of the list of groups on the left of your homepage.
If you don’t do this, Facebook will just default to “News Feed,” which shows updates from everyone you’re friends with.
Tweaking These Lists
With the newest rollout, Facebook has also made it easy to tweak these lists at any time. To do so, just click the little icon next to the Group name, select the list you’d like to add someone to, and then start typing in their name. Facebook auto-detects who you might be trying to add. You can do all of this without leaving the page.
Hiding Application Notifications
One common complaint with the new Facebook () was the influx of information from third-party apps like Flickr (), YouTube (), and Last.fm, ala Friendfeed (). With the homepage improvements, you can now hide not only people from your feed, but specific application alerts as well.
In this example, I’ve decided to hide alerts from Last.fm, so I no longer see the songs that my friends are loving:
Other Improvements
Facebook has also moved “Requests” back to the top right of your homepage. This creates more real estate for friend updates above the fold, which is pretty nice once you’ve tweaked the other settings.
Still Missing
What’s still missing from my homepage are updates featuring photos that my friends have been tagged in (though some of these show up in “Highlights” on the right), as well as the promised “live updating” that will restore the functionality people miss from the former Live Feed feature. These are both in the works and expected to launch in the next few weeks.