Rules for Tutorials?

Hello all, sorry if this is the wrong place to post this but I am wondering if there is a way to report tutorials that are not really tutorials? Once in a while a spam post slips in, while these usually seem to get removed, there are still some items that end up there that I don't feel qualify as a tutorial, especially when they are not directly about Construct and simply post links to sites offering resources.

I would love to see some type of rules in place for tutorials or at least a method to report those that do not really fit the description of tutorial. We have forums for resources, tools and help wanted for linking to resource packages, etc... I don't think we need these types of posts diluting the pool of excellent tutorials that are up there.

I was also thinking that we may need some rules around having tutorials reviewed before they are posted as there are times when there are submissions from those who are not yet familiar with the tools and post tutorials on ways of doing things that are not efficient and will lead to bad performance in your games. This leads to frustration and misconception on the part of new users who are trying to use the tutorials to find the recommended ways of doing things. I love the tutorial section of this site and don't want to see it diluted or filled with tutorials that teach bad habits. I don't mean to sound over zealous, but the tutorials are the number 1 place for beginners to learn and making sure the tutorials are as accurate or useful to help everyone get up to speed with making the game of their dreams as quickly as possible.

The other side benefit of the tutorials having some quality control would be a (hopeful) decrease in the amount of "How do I make a game..." questions we get that make it obvious that no initial research was done in the manual or tutorials...

Anyway... sorry for the rant. I just feel strongly about the forums and tutorial sections of this site and want to assist in making sure they are the best they can be. I love this place, and of course Construct 2 itself. Thanks again Scirra, you rock!

I agree, spam posts are embarassing in tutorial section

Well the design of the tutorial part is being worked on.

There was an option to report tutorials which apparently hasn't made it back yet in the design (@Tom).

In the meantime if you feel the need to report a tutorial, send a PM to a moderator (either myself, Arima or linkman2004, we seem to be the most active at the moment).

I know what tutorial you're referring to that lists resources and I'm not sure it's that bad. Sure it seems like a cheap technique to get a bit more rep, it's not that useful, especially if you're familiar with the forums' structure but after all, it's not the end of the world either (as long as the resources linked are valid and not just rip off or whatever).

And as you mentioned too, there are waves of "already answered" questions.

It's kind of common in online communities, and quite common in the forums too. It's more obvious since recently though with the influx of people coming from Steam.

But tbh, a review of tutorials before they are published, it's pretty much unbearable.

We had a review process for games in the arcade, and it resulted in long time for reviews.

I'm afraid it would be the same for tutorials. Sure, "cheap" tuts wouldn't get published, but massive (multi pages) tuts would be long delayed which is not good either.

The idea with tutorials has been so far that the better tutorials would get upvoted and stand in front compared to poor tutorials.

Also, sometimes no matter how poor a tutorial might seem, it actually is helpful to a certain set of people, so it is really hard to judge the quality and efficiency of a tutorial in the end.

The best way to make front to the "how do I" questions that populate the forums is to link to the available/helpful resources. People who do search will finally end on those resources (tuto, manual, etc...) anyway and for others, well at least you're not wasting your time posting yet another big answer.

Thanks Kyatric all very helpful info. I guess having a report feature would allow for more of a community policing of tutorials. And you are right the upvote does seem like the way to sort them. Thanks for your feedback.

Great post Kyatric, thank you! New tutorial system is getting there, have added report onto my to-do list so it wont be forgotten.