How-To Guides
Which How-To Guide Do I Need? A Starter Path
A decision guide for newcomers facing 30+ guides and wondering where to begin. Pick the path that matches your goal and follow the recommended order.
Brand New to AI?
Get comfortable with how AI assistants work before you build anything on top of them.
StartChatGPT Projects & Custom Instructions — save your context once and reuse it for repeat tasks.
NextWrite a Good System Prompt — structure effective prompts for specific use cases.
NextConnect AI to Your Documents — make AI work with YOUR files.
ThenChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini — pick the right AI for each task.
Want to Protect Your Privacy?
These guides layer on each other — do them in order for compounding privacy.
StartSet Up a Password Manager — generate, store, and auto-fill strong passwords.
NextBrowse Privately with Mullvad Browser — anti-fingerprinting, no telemetry.
NextEncrypt Your Devices — full-disk encryption for laptops and phones.
ThenSwitch to Private Email — end-to-end encrypted email with ProtonMail or Tutanota.
Want to Self-Host Services?
Start with the foundations, then add the services you need.
StartGet Started with Docker — the foundation for running self-hosted apps.
NextUse Tailscale for Secure Access — reach your server from anywhere.
NextSelf-Host Cloud Storage — your own private Google Drive.
ThenBuild a Media Server — stream your own movies, TV, and music.
ThenSet Up Pi-hole Ad Blocking — block ads for every device on your network.
Run a Small Business?
Put AI to work — save time and look professional without scaling headcount.
StartAI for Customer Service — draft responses, categorise feedback, generate FAQs.
NextAI for Invoicing & Admin — automate invoices, extract receipts, triage email.
NextBuild a Team AI Policy — a simple one-page usage policy for your team.
ThenAutomate Tasks with n8n — self-hosted workflow automation, free alternative to Zapier.
Want Local / Private AI?
Run AI on your own hardware — no subscriptions, no data leaving your machine.
StartInstall Ollama for Local AI — run LLMs locally with full privacy.
NextRun a Local AI Model — Ollama + Open WebUI for a ChatGPT-like experience.
NextShared Team AI Interface — run Open WebUI as a shared interface for your team.
ThenSet Up Hermes Agent with DeepSeek — the open-source AI agent that takes action.
Securing Your Network?
Layer these defences for a home or office network that's hard to compromise.
StartSecure Your Home Router — change default passwords, disable WPS, set up guest Wi-Fi.
NextSet Up Pi-hole Ad Blocking — network-level ad and tracker blocking.
NextUse Tailscale for Secure Access — mesh VPN to reach your services securely.
NextUse Cloudflare for DNS & Security — DNS management, SSL, and WAF protection.
ThenSet Up Automated Backups — encrypted, deduplicated, scheduled backups.
Tips
- •Pick one category that matches your situation right now. Don't try to do everything at once.
- •Do two or three guides from that category in the order shown — they build on each other.
- •Come back when you need more. There's no rush, and these pages aren't going anywhere.
- •Bookmark this page so you always have your roadmap to hand.
Need More Help?
StarCaller Academy offers 1-to-1 sessions to help you with any of these topics and more.