I don't claim to be the world's foremost expert on Build Diaries (although if this web site takes off maybe I will become one). But I have read enough build diaries to know what makes a good one. The following is a list of things both obvious and not so obvious that I think make up a good Build Diary.

• Pictures -- You can never take enough of them. The one thing you do not take a picture of will be the one thing everyone looking at your diary will want to see. No process is too simple, no milestone so minor that it shouldn't be accompanied by a picture. On the other hand, if you are putting 50,000 rivets into your airplane, don't take a picture of each one.


• Humor -- Humor is always a good thing, especially when it's at your own expense.


• Mistakes -- Show them! Mistakes are to be learned from. It also shows that you are not perfect, and that building something complex does not require perfection. More people would take on these sorts of projects if they realize it does not require perfection or consumate skill to do them. You might also save someone a trip to the hospital, or worse.


• Procedures -- Repetitive tasks can kill a complex DIY project, so if you figure out a system for making a laborious task go faster, share it with the world.


• Tools -- Readers are always interested in which tools work and which do not. Nobody wants to spend $500 on a power tool that is going to break before it's time.


• Links -- Link to everything you can think of. If you found it useful, inevitably your reader will too.


• Navigation -- Try to provide navigation for readers who want to look at your diary starting with the first entry and reading through to the end, and also provide a mechanism for people who want to go to a specific entry. This sounds obvious, but I have seen more than a few sites that only allow serial viewing. I like sites that have a navigation bar on the left and next/previous links on the bottom, this provides the best of both worlds.


• Dates -- Date your diary. This allows readers to get a feel for how long it's taken you to do something. It also lets the long term reader find the latest updates to your diary.


• Updates -- Update frequently. You will lose readers if you only add to your website every 6 months. Lack of activity on a diary usually means that the author has given up on the project. If you do give up on a project that you have written a diary for, leave it up and inform the reader that you are not working on the project.