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Oh come now pe-pole! Forum tutorial CD?

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Basil

Basil

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Hey guys, I recently got some software that lets me record whatever is on my screen and narrate what is seen. I was thinking that I could make a narrated how-to CD full of narrated videos that would provide help for how to use many of the forum features. The BCF forum has many features and things you can do, but often times people are unaware of some of the features of the forum because they are not always obvious.

So, what I was thinking was to create sort of a video tutorial that would show you all the different features of the forum.

It would be divided into separate videos that would show you how to do specific things on the forum. For example, just a few things that could be demonstrated:

1. How to add pictures to posts
2. How to modify your profile (and all the things you can modify)
3. How to add a signature to your profile (with picture)
3. How to use the Instant UBB codes to do things like modify text (bold, colors, etc), add links to other sites, etc.
4. How to set your prreference so that you only see the forums you are interested in.
5. How to ignore certain member's posts (in case someone gets under your skin and you'd rather not read their stuff).
6. How to use the Photo Gallery
7. How to use the classifieds
8. How to use the search system
9. How to receive email notification if you receive a private messages.
10. How to receive email notification if someone replies to a post you are interested in.
11. What to do if you loose your login info?
12. How to add an event to the event calendar.

These are just a few examples, off the top of my head, of the kinds of things that could be narrated with real-screen video showing exactly how to do certain things. ANd of course the best part is you'd get to hear my melodic voice /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif

Anyway, I could provide these CDs to members for a few bucks (probably less that $10). I was wondering what you guys think of this idea? Would it be useful?

Basil /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/computer.gif
 
Re: Forum tutorial CD?

One of our distributors (for our software) has done this for use in demos and as a learning aid. They made some of the videos available on their website.

As far as I can tell, it hasn't been worth the effort. People who won't take the time to read the Help files & FAQs won't take the time to view the tutorials either. For those who will spend a minute reading, the Helps & FAQs are a lot quicker, so they view the videos just out of curiosity.

I'm not sure if this experience would apply to the BCF site but that's been our experience.
 
Re: Forum tutorial CD?

I think it could be a great idea if you included basic web useage as well so it would help people to use the web in general. Maybe include simple photo alteration (resample, optimize) and some cool browser add-ons. I don't think people would pay $10 for it but maybe a couple to a few bucks.
 
Re: Forum tutorial CD?

If the clips were on the website they would probably be appreciated, not sure if folks would order CD's ... the price, to me, seems fine. $2, $5, $10 ... it's all affordable if it's what one wants.
 
Re: Forum tutorial CD?

[ QUOTE ]
If the clips were on the website they would probably be appreciated, not sure if folks would order CD's ... the price, to me, seems fine. $2, $5, $10 ... it's all affordable if it's what one wants.

[/ QUOTE ]

The problem with putting them on the web is that they are very large files and the bandwidth that would get sucked up downloading them would kill my server (I have a set amount of BW I pay for and these files would help to max that out in short order). I'd try to price it low enough to not be off-putting, but enough to make it worth doing. I may try a sample video and post it here just to give a demo (it would have to be a short one).

Basil
 
Re: Forum tutorial CD?

This is a sample video. I intentionally made this one short and sweet due to the file size of video files. But this will give you an idea. The videos I would put on the CD would have a bit more detail and explaination of things. Note that this file is about 6Meg so be patient (and if you don't have a high-speed connection, you might want to pass on this)
How to Add a Picture to your post

(Rather than click the link, recommend you right-click then "Save Target As..." to save the file to your hard drive first, then view it after you have downloaded it).

Basil
 
Re: Forum tutorial CD?

What about using Flash instead of real video? That would take the file size down considerably although it would be more work. Also, you could use captions instead of audio. Not sure how much file size you would save though and audio is nicer than captions.
 
Re: Forum tutorial CD?

[ QUOTE ]
What about using Flash instead of real video? That would take the file size down considerably although it would be more work. Also, you could use captions instead of audio. Not sure how much file size you would save though and audio is nicer than captions.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I'm sort of using the capabilities of the software I just bought /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
Re: Forum tutorial CD?

I like that, easy to see and understand. I do have to agree with Coldplugs about whether the casual users would bother. And most of the frequent posters are probably pretty much up to speed. I think the pic posting is probably the biggest knowledge gap. Thanks for the quick lesson.
 
Re: Forum tutorial CD?

Look’s like you’re having fun! I see that you are reducing frame rates on each post. You could also save space by using a smaller resolution, say 800x600. Saving as an mpg might get it smaller still. We’re into small potatoes now, going to 8 bit mono sound will squish it a little “bit” more. I think these visual examples will help people figure it out quicker. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif
 
Re: Forum tutorial CD?

Yes, I figured a slower frame rate would not hurt given the nature of the presentation. I tried using MS Mover Maker to save it as a WMF so I could add transition effects, etc., but the image quality was very much less than with .avi.

Basil
 
Re: Forum tutorial CD?

You may want to change your screen resolution to 800x600 to do the demo. Resampling the video smaller may make the text hard to read as opposed to encoding it initially at the final resolution. It would be worth a test anyway.
 
Re: Forum tutorial CD?

That'd be worth a try. Of course if I put these on CD then the file size won't really be much of an issue, but for online stuff it would probably help.

Basil
 
Surely there are more of you than 12 with opinions!

Basil /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/computer.gif
 
Mine won't be helpful, but since you've put it THAT way:

JohnC is correct, IMO. Not likely there will be much interest in it. The old: "You can lead a horse to water..." problem.

On the bright side; you now have more software capability!
 
[ QUOTE ]
Mine won't be helpful, but since you've put it THAT way:

JohnC is correct, IMO. Not likely there will be much interest in it. The old: "You can lead a horse to water..." problem.

On the bright side; you now have more software capability!

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually all comments are helpful, but so far the results of the poll don't support your opinion (but I would like a bigger sample size).

Basil /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/computer.gif
 
Press on! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
ok i tried to abstain....

dont waste your time and money....look at "whats his name" on the commercials....he has to give them away.

mark
 
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