I’m currently using Carrington Blog, which has a layout structure I like, but will be switching to Twenty Ten once 3.0 is officially released. I’m using the 3.0 release candidates on my test sites, but this one drew the short straw for me to use as a sample of what 2.9 looks like.
I’m misusing Carrington as a finished theme when I think it’s really a theme framework. I had thought about Thematic, which is also a framework with maybe a more standard file structure. It also has some nice resources for modifying it, generally and using child themes.
Nothing against Carrington or Thematic; just don’t have the time right now for frameworks as I’m concentrating more on content and content types.
More on using videos for help and explanation.
Some examples:
Communicating user experience through video telling stories
Taking a cue from science fiction movies (Star Wars, Starship Troopers) using holograms of people sending messages, CNN used a holographic analyst on election night
How well does a 1930s short movie work as an online video?
Creative and innovative uses of online video
Working on getting the implementation part right:
Usability and interface design issues
In case you wondered, Why Do Adobe Flash Videos Slow Down?
To me, the very watchable WordPress.tv seems to have smoothed out such problems
FYI, people watch at all times, except during dinner: online video viewing has no ‘peak times’
Hybrid use of video with written materials or a personal touch:
Chrysler combines a dvd of longer explanations with a shorter than before car manual
A WordPress consultant points clients to WordPress.tv even while remaining their “central support mechanism”
Thought pieces
Sergey Brin on the potential of YouTube
The question of how videos are like or unlike explanatory comics
Dealing, as a communicator, with the explosion of new media
Local online news video: what types of content work best (features, local, breaking rather than national news or talking heads)
Cool Posters about Design via whatconsumesme.com
Fun to sort into what their messages really are.
Posted on July 6, 2009 by Doug |
Help works well when it is seen as answering real questions. Users look for solutions to those concrete problems they encounter using software.
Answers can be shown visually as well as verbally. (Pet peeve: “verbally” means with “words” and does not mean the same as “orally.”) The technical communicator can do this with videos, quick start guides, screencasts, or infographics. ( Apparently, tech writers do infographics better than copywriters )
When WordPress.org released its latest installation, 2.8 or Baker, on June 19, it also put out a video. This video answers an implicit question, “How does this version provide a cooler, smoother ride, like the music of Chet Baker sounds?” Quick reply: with an automatic theme installer, code highlighting PHP editor, and widget and interface improvements in the administration panel. It is an aural as well as visual answer and it hits its point in a nifty video package.
More on video’s potential as help:
Video, documentation, and you
Interactive YouTube videos
Seeing if this posts from the iPhone…
Yes, it does…
