About Pivot Table Guide

What changed, and what it changed for you

When this site began, it was a half-finished notebook of tech fixes I’d scribbled down after helping friends. The tone was inconsistent, the advice was often outdated by the time it went live, and half the links broke within weeks.

Readers would write in frustrated—they’d follow a guide step by step, only to hit a dead end because the software or hardware had changed since I’d written it.

Now, the site works like this: every guide is built around a specific problem (e.g., *‘Why does my Windows update keep failing?’*), tested on multiple systems, and updated whenever a reader reports it doesn’t work.

The structure is simple: 1) What’s breaking, 2) How to fix it, 3) What to do if it still doesn’t work. No fluff, no assumptions. If you open a page today, you’re getting the latest version—even if that means admitting we got something wrong last month.

The one that took years

The biggest waste of time was not testing. For years, I’d write a guide based on my own system—say, a Windows 10 PC with an SSD—and assume it would work for everyone. It didn’t. Readers with older hardware, different OS versions, or even regional settings would get stuck.

The comments were full of variations like *‘I did steps 1–3, but my BIOS doesn’t have that option’* or *‘This fixed my laptop, but my desktop still crashes.’* I’d ignore them, or worse, dismiss them as ‘user error.’

The turning point came when a reader named Jamie sent a 12-page Word doc detailing every step they’d tried to fix a printer driver issue, including screenshots of error codes I’d never seen.

It took me three hours to realise the problem was a conflict with a third-party antivirus—something I’d never considered because my own system didn’t use one. That doc became the template for how we now handle troubleshooting: list every possible variable, then test for them.

Now, every guide includes a ‘Compatibility Check’ section listing the systems it’s been tested on—and a note if it *won’t* work on others. That costs time: testing a single guide now takes 10–15 hours instead of 2.

But it also means when you open a page, you know whether to follow it or skip to the next. The alternative—ignoring reader reports—would’ve meant the site stayed a graveyard of half-broken advice.

Meet the author

I used to believe tech writing was about explaining things clearly. That meant writing like a manual, with no personality, no humor, and definitely no ‘I don’t know’ moments. If a problem was too complex, I’d skip it or pretend it was simple.

Once, I wrote a 1,200-word guide on fixing a blue screen that didn’t mention the most common cause—a failing RAM stick—because I’d never had to replace one myself. A reader sent me a video of their PC rebooting mid-guide, and I realised: I was teaching them to fail.

I also treated readers like they were stupid. Too many guides assumed you knew terms like *‘registry editor’* or *‘command prompt’* without explaining what they were. I did the same. The worst was when I’d write *‘If that doesn’t work, try restarting in Safe Mode’* without saying *how*.

Safe Mode wasn’t even an option on some of the older laptops people used.

What changed: I stopped pretending I knew everything.

Now, I run this site with Desmond Novak, and my job is to make sure every guide answers the questions people *actually* have—not the ones I think they should ask. If a step is confusing, we add a screenshot. If a fix doesn’t work for everyone, we say so.

And if I don’t know the answer? I’ll tell you where to find it—or admit we’re still figuring it out. The site exists because tech doesn’t have to be intimidating, and if it is, it’s usually because someone wrote a guide that assumed you were already an expert.

What did not change

The core rule hasn’t wavered since day one: if we can’t fix it ourselves, we won’t write about it. That means no fake ‘top 10’ lists, no affiliate-heavy reviews, and no guides that send you in circles.

The site started as a way to document my own fixes, and it’s still that—just with more people involved. Another constant? No ads. Ever. The only way this site makes money is if you buy something after reading a review or fix a problem with a guide.

If that doesn’t happen, we don’t profit—and that’s by design.

We also still believe in one thing at a time. Every page has a single focus: *‘How to speed up your PC’* or *‘Why your printer won’t connect to Wi-Fi.’* No fluff, no upsells, no ‘you might also like’ banners.

If you open a guide, you should be able to close your laptop after reading it and have the problem solved—or at least know why it’s not.

What is still being fixed

Right now, we’re working on two big things: first, adding a ‘Difficulty Rating’ to every guide (so you know if it’s a 5-minute fix or a weekend project), and second, a search tool that filters results by your exact device specs.

Neither is easy—hardware and software change too fast to keep up manually—but they’re coming. If you’ve got a tech problem that’s been driving you crazy, or a guide you think could use an update, the contact page is where to tell us about it.

We’re also testing a new way to track fixes: if a guide you used actually worked, you’ll see a prompt to confirm. That helps us retire old advice and double down on what’s useful.