Guides by the kind of help they give

Every guide on the site is one of four kinds, and the kind says what you will get before you open it. A how-to takes one task from start to finish with the configuration and the numbers it produced. A fix starts from something you can observe — a layout that jumps, a build that runs out of memory — and works back to the cause. A comparison puts two or more options side by side against criteria that were measured rather than asserted. A concept explains how something works and when it matters, without a single task at the end of it.

Pick the kind that matches the question in front of you. If you are deciding, start with comparisons and concepts; if you are doing, how-tos; if something is already wrong, fixes are filed under what you saw rather than what caused it.

Choosing a kind of guide from the question you have The root question asks what you are trying to do. Deciding between options leads to comparisons. Understanding how something works leads to concepts. Doing a task leads to how-tos. Something already broken leads to fixes. Which kind of guide do you need? What is the question in front of you? Deciding between options Comparisons measured side by side Understanding how it works Concepts mechanism and trade-offs Doing a task How-tos config plus measured result Something is broken Fixes symptom to cause to fix
The four kinds are also the four hubs linked below.

How-tos

A task, end to end, with configuration and measured results.

All 245 how-tos →

Number of guides of each kind Horizontal bars counting guides by kind: How-tos 245, Fixes 55, Comparisons 35 and Concepts 12. Guides of each kind How-tos 245 Fixes 55 Comparisons 35 Concepts 12
How-tos dominate because most guides end in a task with a measured result; concepts are kept few on purpose.

Fixes

Starts from a symptom and ends at the cause and the fix.

All 55 fixes →

Count of each kind of guide per section A matrix with one row per kind of guide and one column per section. How-tos: 75 in framework selection, 68 in performance, 102 in deployment. Fixes: 18 in framework selection, 24 in performance, 13 in deployment. Comparisons: 17 in framework selection, 11 in performance, 7 in deployment. Concepts: 11 in framework selection, 0 in performance, 1 in deployment. Where each kind of guide is written Kind Framework selection Performance Deployment How-tos 75 68 102 Fixes 18 24 13 Comparisons 17 11 7 Concepts 11 0 1
Read across a row to see where a kind of guide is concentrated, and down a column to see what a section is made of.

Comparisons

Weighs two or more options against measured criteria.

All 35 comparisons →

Concepts

Explains how something works and when it matters.

All 12 concepts →