Not everyone can boast of solving a complex mathematics problem quickly all by themselves. Most will need help or will need time to solve it. But the joy of doing it yourself, whether it is solving a maths problem or re-modelling your house, on your own, is something that you yearn for after you experience it once.
Learning to Do It Yourself (DIY) is key in this modern competitive and often expensive hectic world and the less dependent you are on something or someone the better you fare in life. There are many websites with lots of “How To” guides and the preferences for these sites differs from person to person and also differs based on the kind of things the person wants to get done.
Hence formulating an exhaustive Top 10 “DIY” websites, will be in fact “exhausting”. Even so, there are some websites that are more preferred than others and they are the following:
1. WonderHowTo
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Most people who goes looking for DIY websites will be wondering how to do something, and this site will be the right place for them to go to. The site hosts a large number of videos that covers a wide variety of topics from Pranks and Cons to Weapons to Language and Arts and Crafts. The website presents all the videos in various categories using a very user-friendly interface.
The Website on its home page does not display the guides directly and a user will have to rely on the top left hand side pane to get access to these guides. On the home page the site displays news regarding recent developments in technology, health etc, which is a definite plus to anyone who wants to know something more than what he is looking for.
Website Link: WonderHowTo
2. Howcast
Howcast is also a video hosting website, similar to Wonder How To. It provides the user with video guides covering many topics from Basic Plumbing in your home to How to be an actor. What sets Howcast apart from Wonder How To is the fact that the guides, categorized under various heads is displayed on the home page itself within the framework of seemingly a much simpler user interface.
Howcast however has lesser number of categories. This combined with the fact that Wonder How To provides regular updates under a different section altogether gives it an upper hand and results it in enjoying a higher position in this list.
Website link: Howcast
3. WikiHow
Any list of Top “DIY” Sites without Wikihow will be, in all probability a total sham. Wikihow, arguably has the largest database of How To articles. These articles are written in a very simple manner, making it very easy to understand. The articles contain graphic images that usually helps in explaining things in much greater detail. Articles requiring specialized opinion such as an article relating to medicine or healthcare is reviewed by a doctor or another health professional and other articles are reviewed by registered members.
Wikihow has more How To guides than both the Websites mentioned above, but it features a lower position in this list solely because the other two sites use videos as their medium of instruction, which proves more useful in most cases. Wikihow is definitely the site to go to when you need guides you can’t find in the other two sites.
Website link: WikiHow
4. YouTube
YouTube??. Yes, YouTube. It might not be that apparent, but in fact, YouTube is a great How To website. It hosts a huge variety of How To guides, from How to sleep instantly to How to fix a corrupted SD card. The one major drawback of YouTube, as a How To website is that there is no categorization of guides into different heads. Getting distracted from your work is another drawback of using YouTube as a How To website.
Website link: YouTube
5. DIY Chatroom
Next on the list is DIY Chatroom. It is a discussion forum for discussing various topics. The forum is home to discussions on thousands of topics, thereby making the process of tracking down what you need very difficult. It also provides a number of How To articles. Registered members can ask questions in the forum, which others will reply to, allowing one to get solutions to specific tasks at hand.
Website link: DIY Chatroom
6. eHow
eHow, is the next DIY website to know of. eHow provides How To articles which are short and crisp. They are written by experts or community members. However these How To articles differ from that which is seen in Wikihow in terms of their writing style and also their presentation. Wikihow articles appear to be relatively more informational. eHow also has relatively lesser number of categories. However it is still a great How To site you can surely rely on.
Website link: eHow
7. Instructables
Instructables is another DIY website you will invariably come across when you surf the net for different guides. It is a site with a similar interface to Ehow and also similar articles. It also has categories very similar to that of EHow, except the legal category which is absent. The articles are more along the artistic lines with ones such as How to make a bird whistle (whistles in the shape of a bird of course !!!). It is definitely a site worth going to.
Website link: Instructables
8. How To Geek
DIY sites do not always present guides on all topics. Some of them focus on certain specific topics. One such site is How To Geek providing various technology based guides. The articles are very easy to comprehend and thus can be practically applied easily. This site features in this list because, most How To guides asked for concerns technology and this site provides solutions to most of the queries.
Website link: HowToGeek
9. The Natural Handy Man
It is always good for a person to possess certain handy skills which will be of use at home. Natural Handy Man is the site you go to, to learn these skills. The site contains a large database of articles dealing with topics ranging from solving plumbing issues to making a concrete counter top all by yourself. The articles also contain images which depicts the different stages and is fairly simple to follow and comprehend.
Website link: NaturalHandyMan
10. Make Magazine Blog
The 9 DIY sites featured here can address most of your How To and also creative needs. But addressing the sudden spurt of creative energy that you may get, is something that Make Magazine’s Blog should address. This site provides you with many project ideas and instructions, that can channelize that creative energy into something tangible and extraordinary. Projects include making 8 legged trottbots to turning on lights using gestured controlled Harry Potter wands and this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Website link: MakeMagazineBlog
As already mentioned, this list is in no way exhaustive. The sheer number of high quality How To guides is overwhelming. It is up to the people using these guides to make good use of them and to decide to Do Things Themselves.
That’s all from our side. Let us know if there is any other site that should be included in this list.
