Posted by liabo on January 28, 2009 at 4:09pm
What educational materials do you use for training writers, editors, photographers, etc. on using a new Drupal newspaper site? I was thinking about Lullabot's "intro to drupal" video, but thought it might cover too much, since sometimes making people aware of other stuff that's available in the site can end up 10x worse than just showing them one little part.
What have you all done in the past?
Comments
finetuning the back-end
One thing that's often forgotten is that a lot of training is actually superfluous if you take enough time to make the back-end user-friendly.
For those parts of the site that you do want to explain more carefully, I'd definitely consider writing/recording your own, because every drupal site will be different anyway.
Hands On
Cant beat a bit of hands on training. I have never wrote a document yet for anyone, but literally gave them tasks to complete after some face to face training e.g. create a page, update a page, upload an image etc etc
I normally find that they dont want to know HOW it works but jsut how to do it as quickly as possible
ps
PS I bought the intro to drupal video, very nice but probably not that useful for someone who wont be making, rearranging blocks etc. Probably more aimed at someone starting of wanting to learn a little drupal, rather than manage content on the system . I love stdbrouw's dashboard idea though, cant believe I never thought of that before
Make the process as simple as possible
Streamline the workflow as much as possible not just to make the task easier for them, but also to eliminate the potential for silly mistakes. The users often view the web stuff as yet another extra job getting dumped onto them as newsrooms keep shrinking so they don't always put the attention and care into it that you think they will.
They also aren't always that computer literate, especially if you have those older editors who didn't grow up using computers and the Internet. I find screenshots with notes and arrows indicating what they need to be changing/entering good.
Layered training
Here's how we're approaching it:
Mandatory basic training, 60-90 minutes. The basic training provides an overview of the objectives of the project, a tour of the new site, creation of each user's account, and a walkthrough of the story creation process. If possible, this should be done in a training room where each user can have access to a computer, and in small groups (10 or so).
Advanced training for anyone who might produce content beyond simple stories, or manage sections, or create topics pages. This involves creating database views, laying out panels pages, etc.
Separate, special training for Web producers with specific responsibilities having to do with community group management, forum and blog oversight, and community wiki/book module.
It's critically important that everyone end up with a clear understanding of the business objectives. We're not just providing new tools for old processes. For us, the objective is to fundamentally change the roles and responsibilities of every person in the newsroom. A good deal of the conversation isn't about technology at all.
I've used the Lullabot video for training of Morris DigitalWorks folks as a first step toward Drupal development literacy, but not for newsroom training. I don't think it's particularly helpful for the latter.