In Episode 8 of the WP Elevation podcast I spoke with Shawn Hesketh from WP101. “What?” I hear you ask. “Isn’t he a competitor of the Video User Manuals plugin” I hear you continue to protest, befuddled. Well yes he is. He is also a genuinely awesome dude and we happen to get along very well, so we spoke about WordPress, being in the education business and building communities.
We're giving away a $50 Amazon voucher so you can buy your favourite book and get some inspiration for your own entrepreneurial journey. Watch the interview to learn how you could win.
Congratulations Tracey! Shawn has chosen you as the lucky winner of the competition! Thanks for your contribution and keep elevating! (November 2013).
I interviewed Shawn while I was in the Netherlands attending WordCamp Europe and I got the episode number wrong. This is actually episode #8, not #7 as I say at the start of the interview.
You can reach out and thank Shawn at his website WP101.
Shawn suggested I interview Bill Erickson. Bill, I’m coming to get you.
Hint: to enter the competition, leave a comment below telling us what kind of video training you’d like to see offered at WP101.
17 Responses
Video training on building themes with object oriented design in mind.
Respect!
Definitely videos on successfully implementing SEO in WordPress – particularly with Schema – no matter what theme or framework you are using.
I’d like to see a training on best practices in email capture – like how to entice people with e-books, etc – and what plugins to use. Also, I represent some truly boring industries – like insurance, for instance – how can people build lists when they never want to hear from their insurance agent? Thanks.
I’d love to see a video informing new website owners of the basics of website promotion, this could cover the basics like putting your website address in your signature within your emails, using a proper domain name email address, etc… etc… the more basic and detailed the better… aimed specifically at new website owners so that they can load the video up and start to do the tasks many people automatically do… but many still don’t as they feel overwhelmed with the whole new website thing.
I enjoy these video podcasts, Troy, because it’s really nice to know the folks behind the company names I’m familiar with. I’m more interested in working with someone who has a sense of humor and smiles throughout an interview than someone who doesn’t. I particularly liked Shawn’s t-shirt and reminder that our knowledge and experience is valuable and that we need to charge accordingly. I’d love to see a sample of his checkbox roadmap or get an idea of how he implements that on his site — and why do that in addition to the Basecamp usage?
In terms of features, I vote for @fxdigital:disqus ‘s idea. I get so many questions from clients that seem like no-brainers to me and it would be great to have a “next steps” video to point them to as a part of their site launch.
Thanks for the suggestion, Chinara. You’ll be happy to know that we’ve got the topic of building themes on the list! We’ll likely begin with child themes, since that’s more approachable for beginners.
And just to clarify, since the phrase, “object oriented design” can mean different things to different folks, what do you mean by that?
Thanks, Angela. Since Yoast’s WordPress SEO plugin is by far the most popular, and includes support for schema, we’ve got it on our list. It’s also theme/framework independent, so is probably the easiest way for beginners to dive in, wouldn’t you agree?
Yes, I should have been more specific. In terms of OO, I meant not interspersing HTML templates/code within PHP functional files. I guess this more relates to plugins.
I do agree, child themes are the way to go, since if you upgrade to parent theme, you won’t lose any customization done in the child.
Thanks for your comments, Tracey. Glad you enjoyed the podcast; I always have a blast chatting with Troy!
With regard to my client-facing roadmap (a real-world sample of which is attached below), I’ve found that my clients prefer this format — a simple, one-page checklist that simply communicates where we are in the project, and what’s needed next — over Basecamp, because they don’t want (and we shouldn’t require them to) learn an entirely new system that they’ll likely only use one time, during your project.
I often ask the client if they’re already using Basecamp. Many agencies with whom I’ve worked do, so if they’re already using Basecamp, we’ll stick to that. If not, I’ll create a simple roadmap like the one below.
FWIW, I just use a simple HTML document, with a CSS class for “todo” or “complete” for the checkboxes. I’m sure someone could easily create a simple backend to power something this simple, but sometimes, the “jankiest” solution is the easiest solution. 🙂
Thanks for this suggestion, @fxdigital:disqus. I agree there is a huge need for this type of über-basic training, and we’ve had requests for similar topics like content strategy, that fall outside the scope of WP101, but still need to be addressed. So you’ll be happy to hear that we are planning an extension of our site that will offer a “track” for just such topics. Stay tuned in the coming year. 🙂
Thanks again!
Absolutely! Yoast seems pretty easy to get started – and so many people recommend it. I’ve been looking at different plugins, like the All in One Schema and a Schema plugin from Raven. I’ve read articles that suggest using two plugins – one being Yoast – for the best results.
Awesome news 🙂 can’t wait
Hey Tracey – you will be pleased to know that Shawn picked you as the winner of the competition! Keep your eyes on your inbox for a voucher from Amazon very soon 🙂
Eeeeeeee!!! What an exciting thing to wake up to today! Thank you Troy and Shawn! You guys rock!
Thanks for sharing this, Shawn. I do feel badly “forcing” client to use Basecamp when they aren’t totally into it. This is a great alternative. Thank you for sharing!
Love VUM but WP101 would be wise to add WooCommerce and iThemes Exchange tutorials.