Overview

Producing training manuals. The very thought conjures up images of spending days (and nights) slaving over a word processor. Join us tonight and we’ll show you how you can produce a training manual in just one hour.

Date and Time

16 September 2010, 20:00 – 21:30 BST

Presenter

Elaine Giles

Review

If you’re anything like me, you prefer to spend your time being creative rather than documenting the processes that got you there – and, based on the attendance at tonight’s event, it appears that there are many of you out there just like me!

Elaine took up the challenge of “producing a training manual – Fast” and passed with flying colours. Of course this was helped by the fact that she was using ScreenSteps to produce the manual. ScreenSteps, to quote their website, is “the fastest and simplest way to create visual documentation” – and it’s cross-platform so it works on Windows and a Mac!

Elaine took us through all the key features including how the Library works, how to make best use of Tags and how to capture and annotate images. She then explained and demonstrated how ScreenSteps can help teams to collaborate a lot more efficiently, especially when they are working in multi-platform environments. The individual lessons that she created were pulled together into a single manual – hence the title of the presentation.

It’s not only images that can be embedded in ScreenSteps lessons, you can embed video clips too. A great example of this is the Excel 2010 New Features article in the Tips for Trainers section on the NWIITT website.

We like to encourage participation at our events and tonight’s was no different. There were plenty of questions including a couple about screen capture on Windows. We’ve also had a number of positive comments from all those who attended – thanks to you all for your feedback. The ScreenSteps website also took a massive hit as everyone went off to download the 30 day trial.

So, roll on Part 2 in a fortnight when Elaine will be demonstrating how to repurpose ScreenSteps lessons and manuals to create PDFs, HTML pages, Word documents and more

If you missed out on attending the event, you can catch up by watching the recording.

Available From: http://screensteps.com
Platform: Mac and Windows
Price: Standard – $39.95 for a single licence
Price: Pro – $79.95 for a single licence
Comparison: Standard v Pro

Review by Mike Thomas

Written by The NWIITT Team

The Institute of IT Training is the world’s first professional body for IT training professionals. Launched in 1995, the Institute has made significant progress in developing and promoting high standards of excellence within the profession.

The North West Group (known as NWIITT) is the most active of the Institute’s regional groups. Our monthly events, social events and website provide you with some fantastic learning and networking opportunities.