Project of the month bragging rights - collecting your ideas here

Fri 2018.11.23

While we have a link page to 'Useful forum posts'

http://forum.espruino.com/conversations/324978/
Home Official Espruino Boards General
Useful forum posts
Posted on Wed 29th, August 2018

and a specific 'Projects' forum

http://forum.espruino.com/microcosms/139/

it dawned on me that there really isn't much visibility from the main site.

There are several really cool projects going on right now,

'Simple digital clock'
'Espruino USB HID GamePad'
'Espruino on your watch!'
'Magnetic Door Lock with Secret Knock'
'Tinydash Widgets'

to name just a few.

It would be nice if there was a 'pinup' calendar page (massive image) for the (voted maybe?) current selected project, along with accessible (smaller image) previous months pages.

The submission would include the finished project image, a description along with the source code to create that project. The page would remain up for a minimum of one month, or longer, until the next completed project is posted.

Not trying to minimize the tremendous amount of work put into the underlying tutorials and examples, as there is a ton of excellent stuff there too. Just trying to add a bit of spark of the successes of others, which really aren't getting the visibility that shows off what Espruino * is * doing.

Could even be run as a contest. Adds a bit of excitement and bragging rights to those putting in extra effort.

Add your thoughts below, please . . . .

Sun 2018.11.25

Over one hundred views in forty eight hours and,


As you have read this far, please at least have the common courtesy of indicating either a 'yea or nay' as why would you even bother to open this post with 'collecting your ideas here' in the title, if the intent wasn't to leave your comment?

There's http://www.espruino.com/Tips+and+Tricks (which is what http://forum.espruino.com/conversations/324978/ was about).

That page was added specifically because you requested it, so it's a shame you weren't aware that it already contains a bunch of the forum posts that you mention above :/

I agree thumbnails would be better, however...

The submission would include the finished project image, a description along with the source code to create that project.

We have that already at https://github.com/espruino/EspruinoDocs/tree/master/examples

Projects that get added to that directory are put on the Espruino website (eg. http://www.espruino.com/Asteroids+Game), sorted by newest first, and automatically linked to from the parts that the project uses - so for instance that Asteroids game is linked from http://www.espruino.com/Pixl.js#tutorials, the Graphics lib, and even http://www.espruino.com/Reference where it uses built-in functions.

It was added specifically because I thought writing a separate Markdown file would be too much of a hassle...

So submitting a project is one GitHub PR away, or even just a forum post with the image & JS on would enable me to add the page so nobody had to learn how to use Git (and occasionally I have added links to users' code myself - for instance http://www.espruino.com/RYLR).

I'd considered adding something right at the front of the Espruino website containing the latest tutorials, but until there are more user-submitted ones it doesn't seem worth it.

So really it's just trying to make it more appealing for folks to post up their projects. Does anyone have suggestions?

• Making it more obvious - for instance a tutorial on submitting a project, and linking at the top of the Projects section of this forum?
  
• Half price Espruino boards for those posting projects? This might have to be for posting on the Espruino site and something else like Instructables, hackaday.io, hackster, etc.
  
  

Any other ideas? Would half price boards convince any of you to post up what you'd done? I know there's some awesome stuff going on with Espruino, but very little of it gets posted up :)

Mon 2018.11.26

'That page was added specifically because you requested it'

Again, Thank you.

Yes, I suggested and requested a 'Tips+and+Tricks' page with the delivery intent of limiting that help to that of code snippets that are frequently used or might not be readily known. A snippet Tip help for an improved coding practice or a snippet Trick to solve an unknown situation.

ref from #2 #7: /conversations/­324978/

'so it's a shame you weren't aware that it already contains '

So if I missed it, . . . . other's might also?

and exactly how does one get notified when content on that page changes?

as 'Interesting Projects' was added after the last time I last visited that page.

IMHO, projects really don't fall under that umbrella of help assistance. So why would I go there to determine if a projects page existed? Which brings up the visibility issue, spent the weekend assisting forum requests with those users that were having some difficulty navigating to locate specific help, so how does one learn of the 'Tips+and+Tricks' page to start with, unless they read the specific forum conversation link above or stumble across it from a forum reference like this one? Even a Google search falls short unless one uses that exact text 'tip' and the 'site:' qualifier. Might it make sense to at least put a link on the FAQ's page, or beneath the 'Documentation' menu item perhaps?

'We have that already at https://github.com/espruino/EspruinoDocs­/tree/master/examples'

Yes, but that is a summary of all examples. My suggestion is to sensationalize just one for a month at a time.

I also indicated in #1 above,

'Not trying to minimize the tremendous amount of work put into the underlying tutorials and examples'

Maybe there is a need for a sister successes site along side the get started development site?
Just trying to find a way to get new eyeballs to the site so that more authentic boards are placed in front of those eyeballs. "Hey Fred, did you see what Joey did with an Espruino Pico? He is on the winning feature's page this month. Wow, yeah, I've got an even better idea that beats that! Let me get one." Does the wallet hear me now?

'I thought writing a separate Markdown file would be too much of a hassle'

It is quite possible that to add this idea, will fall into that same scenario.

Several vendors get the end user engaged right from the home page. Pulled this one out of the air:

https://www.sparkfun.com/

Example solutions of what one might do at the sparkfun web site are smack in your face, so there is no doubt what can be learned at going to that referenced link or what the encompassing web site is all about.

' some awesome stuff going on with Espruino, but very little of it gets posted up'

IMHO 'bribing' someone with hardware, to post their project, defeats the purpose and diminishes the efforts of those that 'want' to show off their work. The idea of the 'Featured Project' page was to give those that actually follow through some visibility and credit. My suggestion would be to give that hardware away as a contest, or best voted over (the last year) time, winning entry, not a bribe.

Amazing, nearly another hundred views, and still not a single other reader comment.

more edits soon . . . .

I like the idea, also 'ring sized watch' :-)

and this was a holiday weekend for some of us, might explain the lack of response