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eg. the ability to create an article, put it in the right category and section and then publish it.
My guess is that the average office worker could probably get to that point within 3 hours (not all at once)
I'm also interested in trying to get a feel for the time it would take to train someone to go a bit beyond that.. ie. minor changes to menus, adding sections and categories and making changes to the homepage.
I'm figuring that might be another 2 to 3 hours total.
thanks.. I'd really appreciate any insight here.
chris
Isn't that a bit long?
Actually, I would guess Chris is right. I was shocked when I showed some non-techie people how to use Wordpress. One person has written three books on his computer, so it's not like he's uncomfortable there, but he just threw his hands up and said not one single thing about this made sense (and most people say I'm fairly good at giving clear instructions). Just understanding the client/server model is a huge hurdle for many people in my experience. I run across a fair number of people who don't know the difference between an application and an operating system ("I open the web page in Windows") and so getting them to just get the idea that stuff on their computer has to get on the server before other people can see it can be hard.
So if you're training people who already have Facebook accounts, I would think in 30 minutes you'd be done. If Rhonda still remembers how much easier it was to fill in forms on her IBM Selectric and doesn't know the difference between Windows and Internet Explorer though....
For a non-techie, an hour of on-site training will enable them to publish a text article in Joomla, assuming it is configured correctly.
If you are going to allow image uploads, add at least a couple more hours - perhaps even a full day.
Once you get into changing menus there is a 50-50 chance that the client can not be trained.
While Joomla documentation has gotten better, it is still too technical. I have routinely provided clients a step by step illustrated guide to cover the basics they need to publish an article.
I also set up a separate user account with manager (or sometimes admin) privileges and admonish them to avoid using the superadmin account, since they will invariably screw around with configuration settings here and there and then complain that the site is broken. It can be very difficult to track down exactly what they screwed up :(
They don't want to do everything. What they are lookin for is the ability to add regular content and most likely not get into changing structure or menus. They are willing to pay to have that done.
One thing that has me a little leery on quoting onsite training is that i'm quoting it as a job, not as time and materials. My experience with that is that you have to be careful that you don't get the "Oh, can you give me 5 minutes, I have to take this call" 25 minutes later they wander back in..
OTOH When you are billing as time and materials people suddenly seem to be much better about not yakking on the phone while you sit there staring at the ceiling.
I have put quotes out before where I break things down like "3 hours of training. Additional trianing, if necessary, will be billed at x dollars/hour"
One thing that has me a little leery on quoting onsite training is that i'm quoting it as a job, not as time and materials.
In such cases I offer X hrs of training/support as part of the job, with anything beyond charged at normal hourly rates.
If they want to burn their X hours having me drink coffee and flirt with the office staff while they talk to their stock broker, that is fine by me.
There's a free 15-page PDF eBook floating around called Joomla For Managers and it is geared to this situation (site is up, now to train content people). I've found it to be a big help for my content people.
I would have to write something like that myself, but I found it a year or so ago.
ANYTHING that involves creating/editing menu items is almost impossible to teach the average content provider. They just don't comprehend the "menu item settings dictate the page presentation" thing. If they are used static html pages on a server, they have a hard time grasping the dynamic page concept.
I have a non-profit client I did a Joomla site for 2 years ago, I'm still holding the webmaster's hand (and getting paid)...He's older, can barely check email. The previous site was a basic 1995 static html site with no pics that he could change content well enough. Going to a database-driven CMS has been culture shock for him to say the least.
