Author Archive
See all content for this category
Trouble finding Print and Save As in 2007?
Tuesday, July 12th, 2011I enjoy a mystery as much as the next person (presuming of course that the next person likes to dig for information only when they are not under stress, a time crunch, or both). Because learning software is my job, a certain amount of digging and testing is normal for me. However, for the vast majority of people, spending time digging around in software to find what you need is comparable to a long, slow root canal.
In the last few years, whenever I teach a “Migrating to 2007″ class, I meet people who are extremely frustrated with the new layout. I understand why the software is all new but I don’t have the same frustration because of one simple fact – I don’t have to do the same tasks for a demanding boss today (on alien software) that I did yesterday, at the same speed.
If you are moving from office 2003 to 2007 there are a few things you need to know that will make the transition much, much easier! The next few posts will cover the “survival skills” that I give all my migration students.
Let’s begin
“where the heck did they move Print and Save As?
- Click on the image
- Look in the upper left corner
- Do you see that cheezy, 80′s drop-shadow monstrosity of a button? Click it
- Voila, meet “The Office Button”, essentially the file menu in disguise
Some people find this with no trouble, but many people don’t think of using office the way they use a website. Why click on a logo?
I assume that the people who designed this thought the web-like aspects would make things easier to find, not harder. If not, then they apparently feel hiding critical features would be no biggie and are either nuts or really miserable with the jones to spread it around. Is this a website? No, it’s an office application! (sounds of forehead hitting desk )
Next Post… Office’s Scooby-Doo Mystery Tabs
You are cordially invited to kick my butt
Wednesday, July 6th, 2011I am willing to bet serious coffee money that you have never read a post like this one. I am asking, in all seriousness, for your help in the form of a semi-regular digital butt kicking.
I am looking for bloggers and readers to give me feedback on my content. Right now this means opening the flood gates and asking anyone who reads this to play. The people I will reply (and listen) to are the ones who actually help. I need actual guidance and feedback not just the bloggers equivalent of “you’re ugly and you smell”. The criticism is fine as long as it’s constructive. I can be reached in comments, on the contact page of my site, or on twitter as @rourketraining.
Why? Because I’m trying to learn and it’s taking too damn long with me teaching myself. I started a blog years ago but never did anything with it. There were many months where there were 0 visitors (yes zero, even I didn’t go to my site).
And to make a long story a little longer, I finally want to get good at this. I have found wonderful sources of advice like the website Copyblogger and the book “Content Rules” – however while my list of blog post ideas is growing pretty long, I don’t post tutorials, book reviews, or advice for other software trainers because once I’m done writing and read it over, it just seems “meh”.
So… I’m going to start posting the content I’ve been sitting on and I’d like for it to go from “meh” to “now, THAT’S cool!” in record time. The starting bell has rung people. I’ve posted this … feel free to start kicking!
.
-Kirsten
eLearning Resources Everyone Should Know
Monday, May 23rd, 2011This is NOT a “Top Ten” list because there are a ton of great resources out there. These are simply the bare minimum that I think you should check out.
- Adobe – Adobe’s Rapid eLearning Blog and RJ’s Adobe in ELearning and MLearning are great places to start
- LinkedIn – Would you like a chance to make eLearning for a real group? Work on your skills and help people who need it at the same time! Check out The eLearning Global Giveback. There are a ton of groups on LinkedIn that I could list – If you want to see who I’d recommend look on my public LinkedIn profile
- YouTube’s eLearnChat by Rick Zanotti and Terrence Wing and Adobe’s eLearning Channels are both good channels to subscribe to
- Twitter – Start with following @CatMoore and go from there. Many of the other people in this list are on twitter as well
- Blogs – Be sure to visit Tom Khulmann’s Rapid eLearning Blog and Lieve Weimeis’s Blog “Lilybiri’s Posterous“.
- While you’re saving bookmarks in your browser, be sure to add… CP Guru, Flash Factor, CaptivateDev, The Widget King!, and Captain Captivate!
Enjoy!
Why is Copyblogger Hiring Psychics?
Tuesday, May 17th, 2011Psychic Power and Blogging
Why isn’t the New York Times onto this?
As some of you know, I’m new to the universe of content marketing and social media. When I knew I would be diving into this world, I approached it the way I do any new learning task – Full Monty, only with clothes on (…does that still qualify as a Full Monty? Probably not, but “all-out” is less snarky).
Knowing I had a huge amount of information to filter thru, I went to look for those people and organizations who already knew a ton about the subject and read, and read, and read. Eventually, I read enough to decide if they would be good to listen to or not.
Does that seem backwards? It’s not really.
I do a lot of research when teaching a new topic, even if I’m just going to be teaching it to myself. Often, even if it isn’t “for” a specific class, that information leaks into my teaching. I regularly give students suggestions on websites, videos, and books that they should check out. Those resources are generally ones I’ve been reading or using for a while. I don’t want to say “this seems useful” if I could say “this is good in these ways.. and not so good about this…” instead.
One of the best finds for me is a website called “Copyblogger”. They provide a great service. Easy to follow information on online marketing that makes a lot of sense and isn’t expensive – not that easy a thing to pull off.
But, in life, there are often two sides to any story. Copyblogger may be stunningly useful for people learning online marketing, but subscribing to their email feed is not an unbridled joy. An unexpected side effect to their service is a regular dose of “the willies” due to their unfortunate habit of writing posts that are so prescient as to be downright creepy.
It’s unnerving to be thinking “No one visits my website” only to open your email and see “Why nobody cares about your content (and what to do about it)”. It’s equally odd to start looking at advertising for your website at 9am only to read an email at 9:30 titled “Why Advertising Doesn’t Work for Bloggers”. *shudder*
I think I’ve learned a lot from them, however, my blog has been gathering dust with lots of good intentions and no actual writing. Today was my “write for the blog” day for this week. As I sat down to type, my brain froze. I am very, very skilled… at procrastination. I should teach a mastery course to those less talented, more productive souls looking for help. When I opened my email to begin the time suck that is reading and sorting my mail, I saw “5 ways to Quickly Write High Quality Content” from… guess who.
OK, I give!
Brian Clark is clearly an evil genius and the people at Copyblogger are obviously all masters of blog-fu. I’m totally prepared to name myself after a chirpy bug if it will get me producing actual content rather than the many, many posts I’ve written in my head at 11:30 while trying to fall asleep.
Yes, you – the one reading this post (nice shirt by the way).
Please take 90 seconds out of your day and comment.
Which post do YOU think I should tackle next?
- The second part of the InDesign CS5 eBook introduction
- The five things I every Office 2007 user should know
- Something else, software related please. I do not know how to defeat a horde of Ninjas
Thanks!
Lessons learned
Saturday, May 14th, 2011If you get the feed for my site you might have just seen a post about Jeff Zeldman that was only a few lines and make little to no sense. This is what happens when you start writing a post, decide to finish it later, and then instead of saving it as a draft (like you’re supposed to do)… be a total nob-head and schedule it in the future (“I KNOW I’ll finish it this week”).
Well, DUH! Ok, clearly I was focusing on things other than the website because I just found two other things patially finished, though at least these were drafts.
Sorry all!
The Five Rules for Software Trainers
Wednesday, April 27th, 2011Here are the “five rules” I talked about in my chat with Rick Zanotti and Terrence Wing on eLearnChat this week.
- The Trainer Should Never Lie And The Student Should Always Cheat
- There is NO “Bippity Boppity Boo”
- Software Is A Hammer
- Students Just Want To Have Fun
- Be Prepared To Go Backwards
By themselves, these don’t make much sense. Watching the video will put them in context.
Quick Overview of CS5.5
Thursday, April 14th, 2011Russell Brady wrote on the Adobe Blogs about CS5.5. It’s a fast read and will give you a good idea of what is happening.
New Site, basically
Thursday, April 14th, 2011The theme and database turned evil a few days ago and everything had to be reinstalled and fixed. The bright spot is I was able to change the old theme with one that is easier to navigate and less busy.
What do you think?
Please use the contact page or my twitter account to let me know your opinion.
From the Blog
- Photoshop CS6 Preview
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012 - Photoshop compositing and the never ending road
Sunday, November 6th, 2011 - What is rule one?
Thursday, November 3rd, 2011