Just this past Friday I had the opportunity to talk to Ryan Smith of RapidWeaver Classroom, the original, longest running RapidWeaver tutorial/screencasting website. In light of the recent relaunch of RapidWeaver Classroom for it's 1st anniversary, I thought it would be nice to sit down with Ryan and talk about the last year and what the future has in store for the popular resource.
seyDoggy: When did you start RapidWeaver Classroom?
Ryan Smith: May 1, 2008. So it's just been a year
seyDoggy: What was your initial inspiration?
Ryan Smith: I had been doing one-on-one training and consulting with RapidWeaver users for about 6 months at the time. I thought there had to be a better way to teach users without having to do it individually and scheduling meeting times. I picked-up on the screencasting idea soon thereafter and it took-off from there!
seyDoggy: Tell me then what RapidWeaver Classroom has to offer RapidWeaver users?
Ryan Smith: RapidWeaver Classroom's video tutorial library is currently at around 130 screencasts totaling about 17 hours of instruction. I cover every feature of RapidWeaver (versions 3.6 and 4.0) in detail, and my approach is to assume that there is no familiarity with any of it. This is so a brand new RapidWeaver user, with no website design experience, can get very comfortable with the application, having each feature thoroughly explained. Beyond the program itself, I cover the 3rd-party plugins and even some 3rd-party themes. Most of the major plugins are already available, though I am posting weekly updates with new plugin screencasts.
Beyond the instruction available through the website, I want to provide a service that has great value, where with little expense, a person can learn how to create and maintain their own website, or even offer website design as a service. I want everyone who subscribes to become confident in their abilities to use RapidWeaver and design a website.
seyDoggy: Do you handle certain tutorial requests, and if so, what are some of the most frequently asked questions?
Ryan Smith: I do have subscribers request specific tutorials on occasion, and I keep a list of these for future consideration. I am most likely to fulfill requests on subjects that I receive more inquiries on. For example, a popular subject is SEO, and so I am planning an entire section on the subject. For those who have very specific project-specific needs, it doesn't make sense to publish a screencast on the topic, but I do still provide my consulting service, and I can even create personalized screencasts for those individuals.
seyDoggy: In the last year RapidWeaver has seen a lot of changes and the user base has grown significantly. How has this effected your overall approach?
Ryan Smith: I think it confirms the approach I take as I create my tutorials. Instead of just "showing" how to do something, my intention is to actually teach. So it's not about seeing how something works, but seeing and understanding why. With all of these new users adopting RapidWeaver as their development platform, it's important to me that they understand the value of the application, its strengths and capabilities. This is also why I continue to release tutorials on the 3rd-party plugins and themes, to help users understand how RapidWeaver can be enhanced to do even more for them.
seyDoggy: I have heard many users say you have a measured, patient approach and your technique makes no assumptions as to the users ability. What are the things you try to keep in mind about your students when preparing a new video?
Ryan Smith: That's great you've been told that, because that is absolutely my intention. I have an I.T. support background, and I.T. support people have a tendency to be too technical when speaking with the average user who is needing support. I think through that experience I developed my methods of explaining and teaching - to make no assumptions and to explain things accordingly, without antagonizing someone at the same time. So this is my approach as I create my tutorials. I might provide too much detail for some users, but I'd rather be accused of doing that then take the chance of skimming over crucial details.
seyDoggy: So you've recently relaunched your site and service in celebration of 1 year in service. What was the motivation for this?
Ryan Smith: In all honesty, when I first launched RapidWeaver Classroom a year ago, I was more focused on the content (screencasts) and didn't put enough effort into the design of the website. I think the original design of the website was average, and since I am teaching people how to use RapidWeaver, I needed to do a better job of showing-off its capabilities. I spent a lot of time in choosing the design, the layout of my content and which plugins I should utilize to achieve what I wanted. I'm especially thankful to you for your help with the theme, and to Isaiah (YourHead) for the Stacks plugin - which I have used heavily in the new design.
seyDoggy: How has the decision to make some tutorials available on DVD been received and will you make the rest available at some point?
Ryan Smith: There have been some sales of the DVD, but it's not "flying off the shelves" by any means. The intended audience for the DVD is those who have bandwidth restrictions imposed by their ISP, those with poor or unreliable connections, or those who travel a lot and don't always have Internet access. I am always open to feedback from students and visitors, so I am kind of "playing it by ear" in regards to the DVD.
seyDoggy: What great things can we expect from RapidWeaver Classrooms in the next year?
Ryan Smith: Lots of things, and I hope they are considered great! There will continue to be the weekly updates of new screencasts, with the goal of exceeding 200 screencasts by the end of 2009. In addition, I am in the planning stages of something completely new, and I expect to have an announcement on this by the end of June.
seyDoggy: What are some of your favorite RapidWeaver innovations since you've started using RapidWeaver?
Ryan Smith: Well I absolutely loved the entire overhaul that was done to the interface with the 4.0 upgrade. Browsing themes became so difficult with the narrow theme drawer and the horizontal scrolling in 3.x, so the theme drawer in 4.0 was a very welcome improvement. I think that the overall usability really improved with 4.0, though the built-in pages haven't seen many major changes. The 3rd-party community has really taken the application to a whole new level since I started with RapidWeaver back in November of 2005. Blocks and now Stacks, PlusKit, Accordion, Carousel, Collage, e-commerce with PayLoom, GoogaLoom and the new RapidCart, and ExtraContent-enabled themes now take content layout to a whole new level. I don't know what RapidWeaver would be without the 3rd-party developers - I don't even want to imagine it!
seyDoggy: And one final question... you are stranded on a tropical island and have to choose between a hot model or a Macbook Pro (solar powered of course). Which one gets sent packing?
Ryan Smith: I suppose my wife is not with me so I'd have to take the MacBook Pro to communicate with her. There's also that email thing that could probably be beneficial in getting me off the island. Besides, how would I keep RapidWeaver Classroom updated without a computer?
