Posts Tagged ‘guidebooks’

Many folks don’t realize it, but most of the services we provide–Depot, Dossier, Coaching Calendar, etc.–have accompanying Guidebooks. Each guidebook includes tutorials to help you get up and running with our stuff and make the most out of it in professional development and strategic instruction.

Of course, I’m never one to leave well enough alone, and when a new tool called ScreenSteps came along, making documenting procedures on a computer incredibly easy, Amber and I sat down, went through our materials, and essentially developed entirely new versions of our Guidebooks. And since Stratepedia.org just got a fresh coat of paint, we’re treating the new guidebooks in kind.

The result: It’s very pretty, and much easier to navigate. All guides are available in HTML format, for viewing in your web browser, as well as PDF format, for saving a local copy and/or printing (some of these are lengthy documents, though–I think the Coaching Calendar Guidebook is upwards of 40 or 50 pages–so think about a tree before printing, OK?).

Without further ado, here are a couple of screen shots:

First, the front page makes it simple to select the guide and format of your choice. Since these guides can can change, we include the dates each was last updated for your convenience.

Next up: Here’s a table of contents, HTML version. Select what you want to do, and click the tutorial for it.

Here’s an individual tutorial or lesson. We’ve gone back and broken steps into their simplest, most concrete forms to make it easy for newcomers to follow along.

Here’s a look at the PDF version of the same tutorial, using the Preview PDF viewer built into Mac OS X. Some nice features: Each PDF version also has a browsable table of contents (see the right-hand column here; this will show up along the left in Adobe Acrobat) and is keyword searchable.

Want to see a real, live preview?

We’ve got the new site up and running while we finish the remaining guides and final touches. You can see it for yourself, right now, but you have to visit our Twitter feed to get the address. Twitter is a great way to keep up with what’s going on at Stratepedia, so check it out and add us to the feeds you follow!

Don’t forget you can get help immediately with the Stratepedia tools (notably Depot, Dossier, and the Learning Labs) via our handy Guidebook Series. It’s not that we don’t like helping you by e-mail or phone–we do–but you’ll probably find that checking out these pages online is quicker, so you can go about your business rather than wait for one of us to reply to your e-mail (which can take up to a full business day!). Each guidebook is broken down by tasks you’re likely to need to do within each tool, and the how-to for each task is provided in a step-by-step manner.

So, when in doubt, visit the Guidebooks first–and if what you see there doesn’t make sense, or you need help with something that’s not there, then by all means, contact us via the usual methods.

I’ve moved the easy-to-miss Content Enhancement Library users’ manual to a more convenient place–it now resides alongside the Learning Labs Guidebook (released last week) on the Stratepedia Guidebooks site.

Like the Learning Labs Guidebook, the Content Enhancement Library Guidebook is structured in a just-in-time-style format, indexed by activity and keyword searchable. It’s worth a look whether you’re new to the Library or a seasoned veteran.

Content Enhancement Library Guidebook

We will probably be making some updates to this new guide, but we’re more interested in getting the new SIM Library wrapped up and out the door for you by the end of the year.

Amber and I have completed the first edition of the Learning Labs Guidebook. This step-by-step guide to getting things done in the Learning Labs, from setting up an account to sharing information in a database–is available online at http://guides.stratepedia.org/doku.php?id=learning_labs_guidebook.

The Learning Labs Guidebook features plenty of screen captures and is keyword searchable and cross-referenced, making it easy to follow along from task to task. If you need a printed version just go to File -> Print as you would any web page to automatically get a clean, printer-friendly version.

Since the Learning Labs Guidebook is online we’ll be making changes regularly as the Learning Labs are enhanced or as clarification is needed. Click the Recent Changes button to see what’s new, or track changes via RSS. Please let us know what you like or don’t like about the Learning Labs Guidebook by dropping us a note at help@stratepedia.org.