HOW TOdo training and support for

WordPress users

WordPress Day, NTC 2015Jason King

Twitter: @jasoncsking

Jason King

Freelance WordPress developer who works with UK and Australian non-profits

NetSquared London co-organiser

Twitter @jasoncsking

My clients: Ectopic Pregnancy Trust, Economic Security 4 Women, Law for Life, Advice Services Alliance, Breast Cancer Care, Social Research Unit, Brent Advice Matters, Worshipful Company of Turners, Harlington Hospice, And Other Stories, Social Impact Analysts Association

if WordPress is so easy to use, why bother to train users?

Yes, but easy does not = no effort

Much easier than learning code

A CMS has to balance ease-of-use with flexibility

WordPress is not always as intuitive as it could be

More plugins installed = more to learn

A well-built theme might have customised the dashboard

is WordPress easy to learn?

A beautiful, accessible website can be spoilt by careless content editing

There's a lot of outdated information about using WordPress that users can pick up online

Prevent bad habits by teaching good practice

A badly built theme can make it harder for users

WordPress can be misused

who needs to be trained?

understand the organisation

Who are your trainees?

What is their role in the non-profit?

What responsibility do they have for the website?

How techie are they? Many non-profit workers are not confident with technology

trickle down training

When you teach one person, then they teach the others.

Useful for when there are multiple content editors ✔

Especially if they can't all make a training session ✔

Can reinforce the wrong as well as the right ways X

Not everyone is a good trainer X

different user roles have different training needs

● Contributor● Author● Editor● Admin

Do these WordPress roles correspond to the users' website responsibilities?

what do different users need to learn?

editor role needs to learn

How to login

The WordPress dashboard

Creating and editing posts and pages

Basic accessibility (but don't make them read WCAG)

Categories and tags

The Media Library

should you teach editors how to

Write simple html? If so, which tags?

Change menus? By default this is restricted to Admin role

Use widgets? Again, restricted to Admins

the Admin role needs to learn

Widgets

Menus

Managing users

Approving comments

Gravity Forms and other plugins are admin only by default

should you teach Admins how to

Upgrade WordPress ?

Upgrade plugins ?

Install and change themes ?

Make backups ?

Use the theme / plugin editor ?!

Is knowledge dangerous or empowering?

things that confuse usersDifference between a post and a page

Images (alt text, aligning, featured images, galleries)

Uploading and linking to PDF documents

How to use subheadings (h2, h3 etc)

Excerpts

How the home page is edited

choose appropriate training methods

how do you train your WordPress clients?

I suggest books, blogs etc 2 %I use the WordPress codex 2 %I use a premium video library 8 %Training? What training? 14 %I walk them through the dashboard 74 %

http://code.tutsplus.com/articles/readers-poll-how-do-you-train-your-clients--wp-21428

poll of 510 developers:

Can be read in trainee’s own time ✔

The most up-to-date resource ✔

Likely to overwhelm and confuse them X

the codex: new to WordPress section

http://codex.wordpress.org/

Can be read in trainee’s own time ✔

Plenty of titles available ✔

Not aimed primarily at content editors X

Can be overly focused on blogging X

Books get outdated fast X

books

Can be rewatched in trainee’s own time ✔May not match their own website’s features X

wp101.com 45 videos, one-off payment, accessible via dashboard

Lynda.com 64 courses, 1500 videos, most aimed at developers

sidekick.pro 190 videos PLUS you can create custom walkthroughs

wordpress.tv Many free videos for content editors in How To section

premium video tutorials

walkthroughs

Trainee can ask questions ✔

Can be tailored to specific website ✔

Good to meet client face-to-face ✔

Can be done using remote tools ✔

Useful for ironing out bugs ✔

Likely to be forgotten within days X

tips for a good walkthrough● Ideally teach more than one person at a time

● Don't huddle a group round a laptop - use a projector

● Insist on no interruptions

● Use actual real-life content as examples

● Discuss where it should be published (page or post etc)

● Let trainees have a go themselves

● Trainees should start doing content editing asap

write your own manual

Can be read at user’s own pace ✔

Relevant to user's own website ✔

Written for their tech level ✔

Can link to video and other tutorials ✔

Time consuming (=costly) to write X

Unlikely to answer every question X

how I train WordPress users

1. Write a manual on Google Drive, share it and allow comments. It has links to various tutorials including videos.

2. Individual or small group walkthrough of WordPress

3. Ongoing email/phone support as part of annual contract

4. Catch-up meeting two months after launch, which checks they're doing it right and also looks at SEO

how long should a training session take?

For an individual or small group session, 60 - 90 minutes should suffice. After 90 minutes the brain is full. Some brains fill up quicker than others.

Consider a follow-up training session, perhaps combining it with SEO training or a content review meeting.

before you start the training

reassure them

You can’t break the website

(not necessarily true, but very reassuring)

Pages you delete can be retrieved from the Bin

Previous versions of pages can be restored

The website gets backed up daily/weekly

WordPress is easy to use (mostly true)

teach content editing, not just WordPress

writing for the web

Can the person with responsibility for content editing spell, punctuate and write convincingly? If not, good luck!

Be concise. Use the language (and jargon) your audience uses. Chunk your content. Use short sentences and paragraphs. Use clear subheadings. Use calls to action. Etc.

http://www.usability.gov/how-to-and-tools/methods/writing-for-the-web.html

inverted pyramid style of writing

News of Abraham Lincoln's death in 1865 was one of the first reported uses of the Inverted Pyramid.

Write the conclusion first.

The first paragraphs should say who, what, where, when, why and how.

www.skilledup.com/articles/about-the-inverted-pyramid-writing-style/

what's a style guide?

When there are multiple content editors, a style guide helps ensure consistency. It lists preferred terminology and gives guidance on the organisational writing style, usually giving examples.

Some style guides are freely available online:

www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-a

follow branding guidelines

The non-profit may have a branding guide, outlining the

correct use of fonts, colours, logo(s) and images in print

and on the web.

Trainee content editors should be made aware of it.

Sometimes there's a single guide for branding and style.

apart from WordPress, what else website related do non-profits need to be trained in?

it’s not just the website

Promoting a website

SEO

Social media

Google Analytics

Writing persuasively

Telling a story … and so much more.

make WordPress simpler to use, so there’s less to teach users

tips for WordPress developers

These code snippets go in the functions.php file in your WordPress theme.

No plugins required.

dictate which headings they can use

http://calliaweb.co.uk/modify-tinymce-editor/

reorganise the post editor toolbar

www.kevinleary.net/customizing-tinymce-wysiwyg-editor-wordpress/

use your site’s CSS in the editor

http://codex.wordpress.org/Function_Reference/add_editor_style

a hidden button: Style Formats

http://codex.wordpress.org/TinyMCE_Custom_Styles

default Screen OptionsBecause most new users don’t even notice it’s there.

https://www.vanpattenmedia.com/2014/code-snippet-hide-post-meta-boxes-wordpress

disable the theme & plugin editorsThis goes in your wp-config.php file:

define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT',true);

DO IT ASAP!

support

support / maintenance contract

Could be annual, six monthly or quarterly – needs to be budgeted for.

Could include:● Upgrades to WordPress and plugins● Automated weekly backups● Fixing bugs and restoring from a hack● Email and phone support ● Minor changes but NOT major new features

doing support well

Often it's sufficient to simply write a sentence plus a link to a video or tutorial on the codex

Support is not an alternative to a training session

Be pro-active, have a routine: login in weekly to check for updates and do backups, and take a quick look at the site.

Set up monthly Google Analytics email reports because clients forget to check stats.

Jason King

Freelance WordPress developer who works with UK and Australian non-profits

NetSquared London co-organiser

Twitter: jasoncsking