[XB] Guide Threads: Structured How-To Guides & Tutorials

[XB] Guide Threads: Structured How-To Guides & Tutorials [Paid] 1.0.4

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Overview Updates (4) History Discussion
Painbaker

Painbaker

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Painbaker submitted a new resource:

[XB] Guide Threads: Structured How-To Guides & Tutorials - Create step-by-step how-to guides, tutorials, instructions, and knowledge base content

View attachment 344573

Create step-by-step how-to guides, tutorials, instructions, and knowledge base content as native XenForo threads.

Guide Threads adds a dedicated guide forum and structured guide thread type where authors can organize instructions into sections and steps, list required tools and supplies, estimate time and cost, and present tutorials using multiple layouts. Readers can follow their progress step by step and rate guides when ratings are enabled.

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Click to expand...

Read more about this resource...
 
Thanks for the demo. Some suggestions:
  1. The post Thread page has a big text field at the top. Most users will just dump everything in there unless there is a instructional prompt in or under the field.
  2. The user needs to choose between: timeline, guide cards, compact checklist. But there is no explanation. Some users will abort here.
  3. Add an optional warning field to the steps. Or option to make the tip a warning.
  4. Add a result / conclusion field to the end of the steps tab.
  5. If I click on NEXT STEP button, then the steps counter does not go up from 0/3.
  6. You cannot mark the last step as completed. It seems Something is buggy here.
  7. I cannot rate guides.
  8. Add a sidebar widget for forums to display the top X guides in that forum.
 
Last edited:
Painbaker updated [XB] Guide Threads: Structured How-To Guides & Tutorials with a new update entry:

1.0.1

  • Added a Top Guides forum sidebar widget with compact ratings and configurable display styles.
  • Added an option to display a step tip as a warning.
  • Added settings for Next Step completion behavior and the minimum guide length for showing the button.
  • Added an optional the current step copmpetion on clicking Next Step button.
  • Added an optional rich-text result/conclusion field after guide steps, displayed after the final step.
  • Added forum settings to allow an empty guide...
Click to expand...

Read the rest of this update entry...
 
Alpha1 said:
Thanks for the demo. Some suggestions:
  1. The post Thread page has a big text field at the top. Most users will just dump everything in there unless there is a instructional prompt in or under the field.
  2. The user needs to choose between: timeline, guide cards, compact checklist. But there is no explanation. Some users will abort here.
  3. Add an optional warning field to the steps. Or option to make the tip a warning.
  4. Add a result / conclusion field to the end of the steps tab.
  5. If I click on NEXT STEP button, then the steps counter does not go up from 0/3.
  6. You cannot mark the last step as completed. It seems Something is buggy here.
  7. I cannot rate guides.
  8. Add a sidebar widget for forums to display the top X guides in that forum.
Click to expand...
Added in last update

Alpha1 said:
  1. You cannot mark the last step as completed. It seems Something is buggy here.
  2. I cannot rate guides.
Click to expand...
Unable to reproduce this
Ratings work correctly with the demo account as well. And checking the last element works too
 
  1. I see the ratings now. On dark mode its black on black if there are no ratings. Its not clear that there is a rating interface. Please consider to use the same interface as XFRM reviews.
  2. I don't know what changed or if there was a cache issue, but now the steps are recorded and displayed.
  3. Consider to place a Start with step 1 / Continue with step X button at the top of the Guide.
 
Alpha1 said:
  1. I see the ratings now. On dark mode its black on black if there are no ratings. Its not clear that there is a rating interface. Please consider to use the same interface as XFRM reviews.
  2. I don't know what changed or if there was a cache issue, but now the steps are recorded and displayed.
  3. Consider to place a Start with step 1 / Continue with step X button at the top of the Guide.
Click to expand...
Added in last update
 
We have many thousands of How-To threads. It seems that this addon would be a very nice addition, but there is a concern that could be alleviated with functionality. If this addon for some reason will no longer work with a future version of XF, then we need to be able to batch/inline convert Guide threads to Article / Discussion Threads. BBCode can be used to make article/discussion threads still look good. Each step can be a LIST entry.

If its easy to convert threads back, then that makes it much easier to start using this addon. Knowing that we are not locked in.
 
Alpha1 said:
We have many thousands of How-To threads. It seems that this addon would be a very nice addition, but there is a concern that could be alleviated with functionality. If this addon for some reason will no longer work with a future version of XF, then we need to be able to batch/inline convert Guide threads to Article / Discussion Threads. BBCode can be used to make article/discussion threads still look good. Each step can be a LIST entry.

If its easy to convert threads back, then that makes it much easier to start using this addon. Knowing that we are not locked in.
Click to expand...
I can add a converter to regular threads, though reverse (thread > guide) conversion would be difficult

However I don’t think there’s much reason to worry about future XF versions breaking the add-on , there is no strong dependency on upcoming XF 2.4 functionality, so it should continue working unless XenForo introduces a major backward incompatible change
 
Last edited:
Alpha1 said:
We have many thousands of How-To threads. It seems that this addon would be a very nice addition, but there is a concern that could be alleviated with functionality. If this addon for some reason will no longer work with a future version of XF, then we need to be able to batch/inline convert Guide threads to Article / Discussion Threads. BBCode can be used to make article/discussion threads still look good. Each step can be a LIST entry.

If its easy to convert threads back, then that makes it much easier to start using this addon. Knowing that we are not locked in.
Click to expand...
Added in the latest update
The way back is simply to change the thread type via the ACP Batch update threads tool
Converting them back to Guide threads is not supported
 
This is pretty awesome. Thank you!


Painbaker said:
I can add a converter to regular threads, though reverse (thread > guide) conversion would be difficult
Click to expand...
Yes, this is something I need to dive into. We have thousands of How-To threads that would need to get converted into Guide threads somehow. I think that this cannot be completely automated and will always require some manual labor (or AI work)
Maybe part of it can be automated, like optional list bbcode to to steps conversion. Not sure yet.
 
I tried it out on my site. Here are my initial findings:
  1. Reputation ratings are not displayed. I use @kick Reputation system. HowTo threads often have many positive reputation ratings.
  2. Vaultwiki autolinks do not display. @pegasus
  3. Conversion of existing threads is too hard to do. Especially if there are step pictures as attachments. Too tedious for a human. LLM gets stuck on the attachments.
  4. Numbers and step title are horizontally misaligned.
  5. Unfurl and embed do not work. Please add it to the conclusion template.
Suggestions:
  1. Starting the Guide should start with getting the requirements. i.e. Users should be able to check off the list, so its clear what they have and what they still need to acquire.
  2. At the bottom of the Guide, place a NEXT GUIDE button to send the user to the next guide in the node.
  3. On conversion of a thread with attachments, easily allow us to attribute attachments to steps. So that no downloading and uploading is needed.
  4. Let step photos upload during "Change thread type". The permission check treats the thread as "not a guide yet" and refuses every upload, which forces a second pass through "Edit steps". One condition in the attachment handler fixes it.
  5. On conversion of a thread with list bbcode, ask if the list(s) are requirements or steps and if so convert as such.
  6. LLM suggests: Import steps from the first post. Split on numbered lines, list items and bold headings, take "You will need" lists into requirements, and attach each photo to the paragraph it sits next to. The add-on already has the reverse mapping (guide back to BB code), so the logic is half written.
  7. Each step requires both a title and a description, but often steps are just one line. Please allow us to disable this requirement.
  8. Step images need a caption.
  9. If the guide has a lot of attachments, there is a wall of attachment thumbs at the top, pushing the guide way down below the fold. Instead hide the default thumbs and add a scrollable gallery.
  10. SEO: Emit the HowTo markup on every page of the thread, not only page 1; include the result as yield; build the description from the intro paragraph instead of a raw 500-character cut.
  11. Cap the cover image. A small photo is stretched to full width and looks blurry.
  12. Per-step photo galleries. When a step has several photos, they are stacked one under the other at full width, so one step becomes a very long scroll. Suggestion: show them as a row of thumbnails that open in a lightbox.
  13. Add optional step time. i.e. bake the cake for 20 minutes.
  14. A "step 3 of 7" indicator. While reading, nothing tells you how far along you are except the timeline graphic. Suggestion: a small counter that stays visible as you scroll.
  15. Add a rating comment to the guide reviews.
  16. Similar Guides widget.
  17. Guide index pages. A page per forum and per tag listing guides with cover, step count and rating, plus a site-wide "Guides" hub. The forum view of the Guide forum type does this only inside one forum.
We also have thread ratings. It would make sense to migrate thread ratings to guide ratings, as these are basically the same thing.
 
Last edited:
I think WikiHow is a good platform to pull inspiration from in terms of functionality and layouts, because its one of the most popular platforms for HowTo articles.
www.wikihow.com

How to Make Zobo Drink: 10 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow

West Africa is a region with many delicious foods and drinks. A favorite across many countries is a drink called Zobo (also known as Sobolo or Bissap). If you have ever wanted to try something from a different culture or if you are a...
www.wikihow.com www.wikihow.com

Functionality it has:
  • Ratings with comments.
  • Autoplaying video snippets.
  • Q&A so the community can post questions.
  • PDF download brings up purchase modal (One time purchase or Paid Membership)
  • Tips, the community can submit.
  • Things you'll need checkbox.
  • Related guides.
  • References / citations block. (Important for EAT).
 
Alpha1 said:
I think WikiHow is a good platform to pull inspiration from in terms of functionality and layouts, because its one of the most popular platforms for HowTo articles.
www.wikihow.com

How to Make Zobo Drink: 10 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow

West Africa is a region with many delicious foods and drinks. A favorite across many countries is a drink called Zobo (also known as Sobolo or Bissap). If you have ever wanted to try something from a different culture or if you are a...
www.wikihow.com www.wikihow.com

Functionality it has:
  • Ratings with comments.
  • Autoplaying video snippets.
  • Q&A so the community can post questions.
  • PDF download brings up purchase modal (One time purchase or Paid Membership)
  • Tips, the community can submit.
  • Things you'll need checkbox.
  • Related guides.
  • References / citations block. (Important for EAT).
Click to expand...
I like WikiHow design as well. It is pretty clear and easy to understand.
 
Alpha1 said:
  1. Reputation ratings are not displayed. I use @kick Reputation system. HowTo threads often have many positive reputation ratings.
  2. Vaultwiki autolinks do not display. @pegasus
Click to expand...
This is likely because Guide Threads uses its own pb_guidethreads_post_macros and pb_guidethreads_post_article_macros templates
Make sure the template modifications from these add-ons are also applied to these templates

Alpha1 said:
Conversion of existing threads is too hard to do. Especially if there are step pictures as attachments. Too tedious for a human. LLM gets stuck on the attachments.
Click to expand...
I’ll see what can be done here. Automatic conversion will be reliable only if your existing threads have a sufficiently consistent structure
Alpha1 said:
  1. Numbers and step title are horizontally misaligned.
  2. Unfurl and embed do not work. Please add it to the conclusion template.
Click to expand...
will be fixed

Alpha1 said:
Suggestions:
  1. Starting the Guide should start with getting the requirements. i.e. Users should be able to check off the list, so its clear what they have and what they still need to acquire.
  2. At the bottom of the Guide, place a NEXT GUIDE button to send the user to the next guide in the node.
  3. On conversion of a thread with attachments, easily allow us to attribute attachments to steps. So that no downloading and uploading is needed.
  4. Let step photos upload during "Change thread type". The permission check treats the thread as "not a guide yet" and refuses every upload, which forces a second pass through "Edit steps". One condition in the attachment handler fixes it.
  5. On conversion of a thread with list bbcode, ask if the list(s) are requirements or steps and if so convert as such.
  6. LLM suggests: Import steps from the first post. Split on numbered lines, list items and bold headings, take "You will need" lists into requirements, and attach each photo to the paragraph it sits next to. The add-on already has the reverse mapping (guide back to BB code), so the logic is half written.
  7. Each step requires both a title and a description, but often steps are just one line. Please allow us to disable this requirement.
  8. Step images need a caption.
  9. If the guide has a lot of attachments, there is a wall of attachment thumbs at the top, pushing the guide way down below the fold. Instead hide the default thumbs and add a scrollable gallery.
  10. SEO: Emit the HowTo markup on every page of the thread, not only page 1; include the result as yield; build the description from the intro paragraph instead of a raw 500-character cut.
  11. Cap the cover image. A small photo is stretched to full width and looks blurry.
  12. Per-step photo galleries. When a step has several photos, they are stacked one under the other at full width, so one step becomes a very long scroll. Suggestion: show them as a row of thumbnails that open in a lightbox.
  13. Add optional step time. i.e. bake the cake for 20 minutes.
  14. A "step 3 of 7" indicator. While reading, nothing tells you how far along you are except the timeline graphic. Suggestion: a small counter that stays visible as you scroll.
  15. Add a rating comment to the guide reviews.
  16. Similar Guides widget.
  17. Guide index pages. A page per forum and per tag listing guides with cover, step count and rating, plus a site-wide "Guides" hub. The forum view of the Guide forum type does this only inside one forum.
Click to expand...
Alpha1 said:
I think WikiHow is a good platform to pull inspiration from in terms of functionality and layouts, because its one of the most popular platforms for HowTo articles.
www.wikihow.com

How to Make Zobo Drink: 10 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow

West Africa is a region with many delicious foods and drinks. A favorite across many countries is a drink called Zobo (also known as Sobolo or Bissap). If you have ever wanted to try something from a different culture or if you are a...
www.wikihow.com www.wikihow.com

Functionality it has:
  • Ratings with comments.
  • Autoplaying video snippets.
  • Q&A so the community can post questions.
  • PDF download brings up purchase modal (One time purchase or Paid Membership)
  • Tips, the community can submit.
  • Things you'll need checkbox.
  • Related guides.
  • References / citations block. (Important for EAT).
Click to expand...
I'll see what can be added
However, some of the larger ideas go beyond the scope of Threads and may fit better in a separate application similar to [XB] Recipes
 
Yeah, I know some of the suggestions are pushing the limits of what can be done with a thread. I have however been amazed that some developers do things I thought was not possible with threads and need a content type. Like rating comments, etc.

I'd not use a recipe addon as we do not have thousands of recipes and therefore not enough to have a dedicated section of the site for recipees. We do however have enough recipes to warrant a recipe thread type. In case you ever consider to release such.
 
I have guides on my forum and they use the [guide] prefix.
Suggestion: Guide threads are assigned a prefix that we can select in acp, this way when creating a guide thread the only prefix available to the user is the guide prefix (or perhaps allow a few to be selected for those that have different prefixes for guides, tutorials, DIYs, etc).

So in acp something like:

Prefixes available to users for guide threads:
[select from list]
Default prefix:
[select one]
 
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