I'm a member over at the WriYe forum and found something that could prove extremely useful for users and guests alike here at TP. What I'm thinking about are workshops. WriYe provides workshops written by those knowledgeable in their area in order to help those seeking to improve those skills. WriYe is about writing, and the current workshop (Jan 2012) is about writing good beginnings, if you'd like to see their example for what I'm suggesting.

By providing workshops and putting them in one place, we can have information for those wishing to get better with making their own puzzles readily available for those who'd like it. Properly designing a hand-modification, for example, is a possibility for one session, while cutting, filling, and plating are other chances for workshop sessions. Endless questions exist about designing, printing, stickering, molding/casting, dying, lubricating, breaking in WSF, tolerances, collecting, solving, etc. Many of those questions have been answered in detail and threads like those can be made into Workshops if they are just linked.

This is different from articles. Workshop threads allow for feedback, discussion, and questions for that specific topic. On the WriYe workshops, the 'host' of the workshop ends each session with a question or exercise to help get the juices flowing, which is different than articles and tutorials, because these questions aren't actually rhetorical. Answering them is advised so that others who come to the thread see where it can be going. Workshops are also useful over tutorials because they offer advice that a tutorial doesn't. One experienced at modifying or designing puzzles needs only know what the finished product's main goal is, and then that one can work his or her own creative juices (or know who to ask for help or collaboration) to come to the solution. A direct tutorial is nothing more than just someone else's approach to making that design with some general advice often thrown inside. A workshop, however, can be helpful advice because if multiple people give their own advice, even the most experienced can learn from each other.

What I am describing is also very flexible. We don't have to do what I'm suggesting to the dot, but I'm sure we can agree that it can't hurt to try. Even if the workshop idea doesn't end up following through, at least we'd have a thread or more based on offering advice to fellow 'cubers'.


This workshop idea is a great way to address this goal as seen in the About page.



What are your thoughts on this suggestion?

First I thought "Why do we need workshops when there can be articles?" but you already answered this question.
Indeed it won't hurt but we need
* Someone to start this workshop which seems to be a lot of work.
* Enough members to activle follow this workshop to satisfy the maintainer.
Honestly I doubt that both conditions can be met.

I was just reading Sandy's post about usage and the site outgrowing his current host. I wonder in view of that, if we NEED yet another section. I think the search button and puzzle building and articles should cover it. Not everyone who reads TP builds puzzles, and those who do well, they post for help and get replies....

My vote would be to NOT make another section.

Naturally these can just be put in the Puzzle Building and Modding instead of having a section dedicated specifically to this.