You’ve built something really cool….
You’ve just finished a website for a client that includes some custom functionality. The client needs to know how to use these amazing features you’ve added. Now comes the fun part.
Old School
Written documentation is helpful, but for some clients they often find the instructions confusing. What they really want is for you to show them how to use it. You could walk them through it on the phone or set up a video chat to demonstrate the features. That’s great, but the benefit is short-lived.
And when you write instructions, a few months later you’ll get a call from the client saying they’ve hired a new member to their team and they can’t find the document. I then have to find it, resend it, and then be ready for the inevitable questions that follow.
Even more frustrating – by now I don’t remember off the top of my head how to use the custom feature. I now have to go back and fresh my memory on what to do. This adds little value for my client and wastes valuable time for both of us.
I’ve struggled with these issues and have finally found a solution that provides the most value to my clients while helping me be as efficient and effective as possible.
A brief written document and embedded training video.
Add Training Videos to the WordPress Dashboard
I’m using a feature in the WP101Plugin that let’s you add a custom video to your client’s Dashboard.
Now if you’re not using WP101Plugin for your clients, your missing a huge opportunity to help your clients learn how to use WordPress in a convenient and easy to use way – right in their WordPress Dashboard. It covers all the basics of using WordPress. It will definitely make your job much easier and provide real value to your clients.
Now couple that with the ability to add my own videos right below theirs…. pure, awesome magic.
Record a video of how to use their custom feature
I use ScreenFlow to record my instructional videos. The latest version has a handy feature that let’s you choose what area of the screen you want to record. Once I’ve recorded the video, ScreenFlow automatically uploads it to my Vimeo account. In Vimeo, I set the link to private, so only someone with the link can see the video. I love using both ScreenFlow and Vimeo and highly recommend them.
Add your video to the WordPress Dashboard
This is where the power of WP101Plugin comes in. Along with the professional training videos from WP101 built right in, I can add my own videos right below them.
Be sure to add a descriptive title so your client will know what the video is about. Finally add the embed code for the video.
You can get the embed code from your Vimeo dashboard.
And then like magic, your video will appear in the Video Tutorial dashboard.
Wrap it up
That’s all there is to it. Now your client will have an easy reference with step by step instructions on how to use a custom feature. The cost of the WP101plugin and Vimeo account are well worth the benefits.
A note about WP101.com and WP101Plugin.com: WP101.com offers videos to watch on their site or you can license them for viewing on your own website. WP101Plugin.com is a plugin that offers some of the basic WP101 videos in the WordPress dashboard (the WP101 series and Yoast SEO videos). That plugin is what I am using to add my custom videos to my client’s dashboard.