I usually try to solo first and if on the last day I've had no luck I'll jump online or invite a friend. If I don't get a raid by early evening of the last day, then I'm offline until I can get together a winning solo strategy.
agreed, they're good starting points, but rarely ready for soloing as given by the site. I've been able to modify a few of their suggestions and get raid soloing beasts, though.
You're certainly right about that when going into an event raid with others, you need to be aware of the typing you choose, how it will be affected by the raid Pokemon, and how it will affect your raid mates.