Training clients to use concrete5
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Hello all
I have a training session lined up with a client tomorrow and I wondered how other concrete5 developers approach it. c5 is obviously really easy and intuitive to use, but nonetheless clients do need some kind of hand-holding to begin with until they understand the ropes.
In the past I've used this hierarchy of topics as a 'framework' for what to talk them through:
I'd usually allow the client to sit at the machine and direct them as necessary as I went through those topics.
What's your approach to training clients in c5?
I have a training session lined up with a client tomorrow and I wondered how other concrete5 developers approach it. c5 is obviously really easy and intuitive to use, but nonetheless clients do need some kind of hand-holding to begin with until they understand the ropes.
In the past I've used this hierarchy of topics as a 'framework' for what to talk them through:
- concrete5 training - Introduction - Browsers - Logging in - Toolbar - Dashboard & what it's for - Editing pages - Edit mode - Areas and blocks - Making changes - Editing a block - Pasting from other programs - Adding links to other pages/websites - Adding images - Adding links to uploaded files
Viewing 15 lines of 27 lines. View entire code block.
I'd usually allow the client to sit at the machine and direct them as necessary as I went through those topics.
What's your approach to training clients in c5?
What I do is similar:
1) Wander around the site without being logged in, tada - it's a website.
2) Login, now "the systems knows who you are and what you have access to
do. Since you're an admin, you get the edit toolbar on any of these pages."
3) Show em edit mode. Typically I'll just edit a content block, show them
the difference between preview and publish (by previewing and them taking
them back into versions).
4) Show them the survey block. I don't go through each and every block,
just getting them the sense that "hey these are legos, there are simple
ones and complex ones."
5) By adding the survey (The form works well for this too) they'll ask
about "the backend"... someone almost always asks "where does that data
go?" ... "Great question," says I, "you can find anything in concrete5 by
using the dashboard. Lets just hit the tab key to get into the intelligent
search field and start typing 'survey'" Boom the survey form results show
up, tada. "When you can't do something from within the page itself, you can
always get to it from this dashboard stuff up here."
6) Then I show them the sitemap, explain their site is a tree, and show
them how to add a page by first going to the parent page and using add sub
page.
at this point I'm done. My experience has been that even the brightest
people get overwhelmed with too much information easily. I can get through
the above in about 10-15 minutes and people feel empowered but not drowning
in knowledge they're afraid they'll forget. I'm always trying to avoid the
furious note taking I used to see when training people on Mambo..That
horror of "omg, if i forget to hit this tiny button I'll break my site".
Generally I'm trying to make them feel comfortable experimenting on their
own, as its pretty easy to learn as you need to with concrete5.
I also agree that having them "drive" during this is the better way to do
it.
After we've done edits, added pages, and poked around a dashboard page or
two, I let them guide things with questions. Depending on the scale of the
project/demo they may have a lot of stuff they want to learn about some
stuff, and nothing about others. Better to drive it in a QA in my eyes.
Anything I can do to keep it under an hour is well worth it for both of us.
best wishes
Franz Maruna
CEO - concrete5.org
http://about.me/frz
1) Wander around the site without being logged in, tada - it's a website.
2) Login, now "the systems knows who you are and what you have access to
do. Since you're an admin, you get the edit toolbar on any of these pages."
3) Show em edit mode. Typically I'll just edit a content block, show them
the difference between preview and publish (by previewing and them taking
them back into versions).
4) Show them the survey block. I don't go through each and every block,
just getting them the sense that "hey these are legos, there are simple
ones and complex ones."
5) By adding the survey (The form works well for this too) they'll ask
about "the backend"... someone almost always asks "where does that data
go?" ... "Great question," says I, "you can find anything in concrete5 by
using the dashboard. Lets just hit the tab key to get into the intelligent
search field and start typing 'survey'" Boom the survey form results show
up, tada. "When you can't do something from within the page itself, you can
always get to it from this dashboard stuff up here."
6) Then I show them the sitemap, explain their site is a tree, and show
them how to add a page by first going to the parent page and using add sub
page.
at this point I'm done. My experience has been that even the brightest
people get overwhelmed with too much information easily. I can get through
the above in about 10-15 minutes and people feel empowered but not drowning
in knowledge they're afraid they'll forget. I'm always trying to avoid the
furious note taking I used to see when training people on Mambo..That
horror of "omg, if i forget to hit this tiny button I'll break my site".
Generally I'm trying to make them feel comfortable experimenting on their
own, as its pretty easy to learn as you need to with concrete5.
I also agree that having them "drive" during this is the better way to do
it.
After we've done edits, added pages, and poked around a dashboard page or
two, I let them guide things with questions. Depending on the scale of the
project/demo they may have a lot of stuff they want to learn about some
stuff, and nothing about others. Better to drive it in a QA in my eyes.
Anything I can do to keep it under an hour is well worth it for both of us.
best wishes
Franz Maruna
CEO - concrete5.org
http://about.me/frz
It's interesting that you've been holding back on adopting 5.5 because of the extra training involved -- I'm in exactly the same position. Trouble is that can't last forever, as bugs are fixed and features are added and 5.4.2.2 is left behind.
I wrote a beginner's manual which used tons of screenshots (from the per-5.5 interface) which are all out of date now, so I'll need to update that -- and get myself fully up to speed with 5.5 -- before I can confidently take clients through it.
On a different tangent, I did the training (5.4.2.2) last week and the clients were amazed (and continue to be) with how easy the editing interface is -- I was hearing comments that they'd never seen a CMS as intuitive before. That's the reason I chose c5 back in '09!
I wrote a beginner's manual which used tons of screenshots (from the per-5.5 interface) which are all out of date now, so I'll need to update that -- and get myself fully up to speed with 5.5 -- before I can confidently take clients through it.
On a different tangent, I did the training (5.4.2.2) last week and the clients were amazed (and continue to be) with how easy the editing interface is -- I was hearing comments that they'd never seen a CMS as intuitive before. That's the reason I chose c5 back in '09!
We start by the frontend, explaining login/logout, then go to edit mode of existing pages, discussing how areas and blocks are working.
Then we explain the content block (edit one, add a new one, delete one) and after this we do a quick explanation of all blocks existing (very quick explaining the use of each block only).
We then go in the backend, short blabla about frontend/backend. We explain the sitemap, show how to add/edit/delete a page/link and explain the different tabs/fields (metatags, alias, etc...).
At this point the user creates a testpage and opens it. We let him add a content block, go back to the backend, show the filemanager, let the user upload a prepared batch of 8 images. We explain how the sets work and he creates a new set in which the 8 images go.
Then he includes an image in the content block, we explain him what with uploaded content happens, how images behave in different modules (resizing, no resizing). He also creates a gallery.
We explain some more links (help button, quick access filemanager/sitemap, differences to backend relative, etc.....
And after this we usually go trough the process of letting the user copy normal content in the personal scrapbook and insert it, then in the global scrapbook, insert it on two pages and show him what he can do with the page defaults in combination with global scrapbook entries (e.g make an announcement in the sidebar of an event)
After this comes just some more quick flyovers (forms, view form entries,....).
That takes with a coffee and questions and notes of the user under normal conditions 1.5 hours and was always enough.
Of course, if you have additional modules, maybe multiple languages or ecommerce it takes longer, but for a basic site it's enough.
That was until 5.4.2.2. 5.5 needs usually 30 minutes longer, is a bit different and our regular clients (gardeners, carpenters, small offices,....) are a bit more confused, so we stick with 5.4.2.2 wherever possible.