Tutorials, A Step Too far?

[csn-uk]

Myself and a number of programmers I work with outside of the webhosting scene have always been interested in coding, as the design principles and project management side are fairly similar.

Most probably because designing and placing a site online doesn’t take a degree and once you have learnt and understand one syntax it is fairly simple to at least read another language and understand it (correct me if I’m wrong there).

So most of the guys I work with dabble or dive headfirst into coding, some of whom also work for CSN-UK, more to the point we always get asked “how do I...” or “what does... do?” or any derivative of that you can probably imagine. A common one that comes up is around the integration of CMS’s: phpBB, WHMCS, Wordpress the list goes on... we are considering doing a series of tutorials not entirely idiot proof as we don’t want to be doing the 123 guide to html or php as there are many good and free guides out there, but we do plant to provide enough detail and background that it is understandable.

More specifically we want to detail how to integrate CMS’s into existing templates, id expect most hosts to have a vague if not detailed idea already but we are debating whether this would be a step too far? By this in particular we mean those who do this online and throughout forums as a business who may not particularly agree to a number of detailed tutorials on how to integrate several CMS’s into a single site.

As we haven’t seen many around if any in some cases so it’s something that sprung up during a discussion and we couldn’t make our minds up on it. any ideas or opinions?

 

[SenseiSteve]

I think how-to's and tutorials are a value add. I actually blogged this week that we'd be doing this ourselves. My perception is that there's great interest. Looking forward to your tutorials.

 

[handsonhosting]

Tutorials and KnowledgeBases are vital to any host. The video tutorials by the various places have been key for our users in just learning how to use cPanel.

What I've found with tutorials however is that (like you said) many people skip the basics part, but the problem is, the users that are usually reading the tutorials are the ones that need all those basis. Most scripts come with an install guide that many seasoned webmasters can hammer out in 10-15 minutes. It's the user with NO php or HTML experience trying to get programs running that are often the ones asking the questions.

The various install programs such as Fantastico and others have been a huge asset to the hosting world taking most of the installation steps out of the hands of the average user.

I'm all for tutorials, the more the better! Even today I found myself going through a tutorial that someone had written about a shopping cart system that I'm implementing. The INSTALL went fine, but it was bringing the cart from install to 100% functional with all the necessary permissions and protections for security that was holding me back. Had the general idea, but having a step by step guide is very helpful.

Looking forward to see what tutorials you come up with and how we as a community may be able to contribute to the tutorials with you.

 

[siforek]

Tutorials and KnowledgeBases are vital to any host. The video tutorials by the various places have been key for our users in just learning how to use cPanel.

Agreed. IMO one important thing is how they're delivered to customers. They're a great resource, but only if you can get customers to use.

 

[SenseiSteve]

Agreed. IMO one important thing is how they're delivered to customers. They're a great resource, but only if you can get customers to use.

Exactly. Let them know via opt-in email broadcasts or periodic newsletters. Encourage participation.

 

[csn-uk]

id agree with the participation side of things especially for our customers and many of those who ask I’m sure will pick them up from the word go and begin but those who haven’t yet asked will be those more likely to be still unsure about the whole affair in my opinion.

However I think something that I didn’t mention if it wasn’t picked up already is that these tutorials are going to be a public resource as far as they will be available via a public blog, or at least this is the method of delivery we are considering taking forward.

Which brought forward the concern for those who do this as a business in a sense, obviously a professional service will be less time consuming and potentially more costly (dependant on your time) but you wouldn’t get as much out of it, or potentially know how to modify it in the future.

Just an idea but it’s nice to see there is interest in tutorials, can’t say that I haven’t and still don’t follow a few from time to time. :shh:

 

[beastserv]

well , there are 2 types of tutorials.
copy paste tutorials

and informative Guidelines tutorials

so its kind of 50/50
im against the copy paste way , because you never learn from it.