What we publish
We cover problems that recur: the drain that slows down every autumn, the toilet that starts running after a year, the phone that fills up every six months. A good Howloop topic has three properties — it happens to lots of people, it has a physical mechanism that can be drawn, and it can be fixed by a careful non-expert with ordinary tools.
We turn a topic down when the fix is genuinely dangerous, when it varies so much by region or model that a single animation would mislead, or when the honest answer is "call someone".
How a guide is researched
- Mechanism first. Before writing a single step we work out why the thing fails. If we can't state the cause in one sentence, we don't understand it well enough to draw it.
- Cross-check against primary sources. Manufacturer instructions, published standards and building or plumbing codes take priority over other how-to sites. Where regions differ (fitting sizes, voltages, terminology) we say so rather than quietly picking one.
- Storyboard, then draw. The fix is broken into four to six states. Each state has to be understandable as a still frame. If a step only makes sense in motion, it's usually two steps.
- Text and animation are written together. The written steps are not a summary written afterwards — they are the same script. If one changes, both change.
Accuracy and limits
Every guide states what it assumes (typical fixtures, common models) and where it stops. Guides that touch on safety carry an explicit "stop here" line. We would rather lose a reader to a plumber than keep one in a flooded bathroom.
We do not publish guides that help people bypass safety devices, defeat copyright or licensing protection, or circumvent security measures.
Review and updates
Guides carry a published date and, once reviewed, a "last reviewed" date. We re-check guides when a reader reports a problem, when a referenced standard or app interface changes, and otherwise on a rolling basis. Device guides age fastest and get looked at most often.
Corrections
If we get something wrong, we fix it in place — animation and text together — and update the review date. Substantive corrections (ones that change what you should actually do) are noted at the foot of the guide. Send corrections to hello@howloop.how with "Correction" in the subject line.
Use of AI tools
We use software tooling, including AI assistance, to help draft and to generate the vector artwork behind our animations. Nothing is published unreviewed: a human decides the mechanism, checks every claim against sources, and signs off the final animation and text. Errors are ours, not a tool's, and we treat them that way.
How we're funded, and the line we don't cross
Howloop is funded by display advertising. Ad slots are clearly labelled and separated from content so you always know which is which.
Advertising does not influence:
- which problems we choose to cover;
- which product or method a guide recommends;
- whether a guide tells you to stop and hire a professional.
Advertisers get no advance sight of guides and no right of review. If we ever publish sponsored or affiliate content, it will be labelled as such at the top of the page, before you read a word of it.
Independence from manufacturers
We are not affiliated with any manufacturer whose products appear in guides. Product names are used descriptively so you can identify the part in your own home.