Help is typically unhelpful (I've said that before too). When I get a new computer it typically comes with a "quickstart" type guide. This ginormous piece of paper comes glossy and in full color. Unfolding it reveals a schematic of how to attach your keyboard, mouse, and monitor to your computer... it also often has a helpful reminder to plug your system in.
Computer Setup Diagram
Cool. If I were blind and could still see the paper in my hand, it might be helpful. But color coding, distinctions in shape, and nice little coordinated graphics could get me that far. I guess, if I was really worried about breaking my new machine, it would offer comfort that I was doing it right.
The problem is that if something that isn't painfully obvious goes wrong, I'm stuck... and it is far beyond the scope of Help to offer assistance.
And so my first few stumbled steps into Joomla have been. Download? No problem. Install? Cake. Test? Absolutely. Use?
...wait... how do I use this thing?
Nothing.
This is why I am so passionate about mentoring. With a mentor you have someone who sits down next to you (figuratively, in some cases), and walks you through the first steps.
I've been working on a GIMP tutorial that does just that (based off a conversation I had with my dad last week). Tutorials that approach learning from a mentoring standpoint are awesome. They are easy to follow, helpful, and get you going.
I just wish Help was that way sometimes.
~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor
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