Scratch

CURRENTLY THIS IS NOT FINISHED. YOU MAY POST ARTICLES STILL.
The Ultimate Guide to Scratch

Table of contents:=chtoc
IMPORTANT! How to find different chapters: works on most browsers.
Click Command-F or Control-F. A little text box should pop up. Enter the key word, and it will lead you to the chapter. THERE ARE NO SPACES IN THE REAL THING THOUGH, THAT IS JUST TO MAKE SURE IT DOESN'T LEAD YOU HERE.
Table of Contents: c h t o c
Introduction: c h i n t r o
Chapter 1-The Front Page: c h o n e
Chapter 2-Downloading Scratch: c h t w o
Chapter 3-Viewing Projects: c h t h r e e

Things coming up in the future: f t t a
Credits: t y h

Introduction=chintro
Let's start off with some questions.
What is the Ultimate Guide to Scratch?
This guide will tell you everything you need to know about Scratch varying from the forums to the projects.
Is this an official guide?
No, this guide is user-created, but that doesn't mean that it's bad!
How can the community help me make this guide?
You can submit articles or topics that I missed, or ask questions that I will answer and add to the FAQ.

Chapter 1-The Front Page=chone
First things first, the front page. When you go to the scratch website, at scratch.mit.edu, you see the front page. The front page should look like this if you aren't logged in: If you are logged in, it should look like this:
What's the difference between these two and why are they different?
When you are not logged in, there is a banner of Scratch, with several pictures. The first row of projects is featured, so they do not show the Newest Projects row or Friends' latest. When you are logged in, it shows these rows. The projects in the two rows mentioned above are not always of very good quality, so it is not displayed for people might mistake those for them supposed to be their best projects.
What is each row for?
Newest Projects-displays random projects that were uploaded in the last several minutes.
Featured Projects-displays projects that were chosen. You can submit projects if you want to try and get them on the front page. You can submit them here: Propose Projects to Get Featured
Friends' Latest-when you befriend several people, their latest project will appear there. (give it an hour or so, and it'll be updated.)
Projects Chosen by [current curator name here]-a curator (see Scratch Terms below) will choose projects to put there. He/she can choose any appropriate project he/she wants.
Scratch Design Studio-there is a Scratch Design Studio where you can enter your project that follows their topic, like books, songs, or maybe even recipes! The latest gallery's topic is displayed on the side.
What the Community is Remixing-the top remixes projects that are recent. They will leave the front page after a while.
What the Community is Loving-same as above, but is for Love-it's amount
What the Community is Viewing- same as above, but is for view amount
More info on the above three is here: More info
FAQ for the front page
Q: Can the Scratch Team disallow projects from getting on the front page?
A: Yes, if a project is unfair (like "if you love-it, you'll get a request") the Scratch Team can disallow it from reaching the front page.

Q: Why won't my project show up in the Newest Projects section?
A: The server cannot handle to update it every time there is a new project. It is changed every five minutes or so. The projects with the least views, love its, comments, and other things will be put up.
Q: So that means we have to upload it at the exact right time?
A: No, actually the Newest Projects row is not that useful sometimes. After projects leave that row, they hardly get any views. If you have a really good project, it would make it to the other sections of the front page. You could also try advertising. See the chapter on getting more views. that chapter is currently in development

Chapter 2-Downloading Scratch=chtwo
The only way to make new projects is with the Scratch application available for windows, mac, and ubuntu. The download link is at the bottom of the page, and in other locations. The Scratch 2.0 version will most likely be online, and there will be no need for downloading.
FAQ for downloading Scratch
Q: My computer can't handle Scratch 1.4 (the latest version of Scratch). What can I do?
A: You could download earlier versions of Scratch, like 1.2 or 1.3 available on the same download page.

Q: Can I download Scratch 1.1?
A: No, unfortunately not. Scratch 1.1 was the beta testing, so it was not available for public download.

Chapter 3-Viewing Projects=chthree
All you need to view projects is internet connection and java. Try viewing this project: Hungry Shapes. Can you play the game? If you can, good. That means everything is working. If not, you probably don't have java. Let's examine the page. This is what it looks like: TBC

Things coming up in the future=ftta
Projects:
-making them (just a simple tutorial)
-viewing them
Forums:
-posting
-new scratcher stuff
-TBG
--what to do and what not to do
-signatures
-bbcode
-different topics
Bans 
Different rewards (love its, stickies)
and more
YOU can contribute to just topics if you want, you don't have to write articles.

IF I HAVE AN INACURATE FACT, PLEASE TELL ME. Just make sure it doesn't start a fight.

Credits=tyh
vortex19

Last edited by kayybee (2010-11-03 22:21:44)