Put simply, the first principles take an evening; everything else on this site assumes you have them. On balance, you do not need prior knowledge here — that is the whole point of the groundwork, and why readers start there.
What Tattoo really costs
For what it is worth, a honest Tattoo budget has a line for the upkeep — leave it out and the number is fiction. In short, the realistic range for Tattoo is wider than headlines suggest, and anyone quoting one figure is being optimistic. Realistically, paying more in Tattoo sometimes buys something real and sometimes only buys a logo; our primers flag which is which, in plain words.
For some people, Tattoo repays attention many times over; for others the straight answer is “not yet”.
When Tattoo pays off
As a rule, give Tattoo two or three evenings and most the people who write in know which camp they are in. Whether Tattoo is worth it depends on what you can live with — and that is not a dodge, it is the frank answer. Honestly, we unpack the trade-offs in Tattoo plainly, so the judgement call comes from your situation rather than somebody else’s enthusiasm.
How we work
In practice, where we have not verified something about Tattoo ourselves, we say so up front instead of filling the gap with adjectives. We would rather publish one unvarnished piece on Tattoo than five that pad a word count.
Keeping the write-ups fresh
Dates on these pieces are real: a page marked this year was read again this year, clearly. In short, older Tattoo walkthroughs get reviewed as a standing habit, which is why the date you see means something here.
From the same corner of the site: Tattoo: a checklist we actually use and What nobody tells you about Tattoo.
