Videohelp.com Tour

[Shadowmistress]

As some of you may know, I've been thinking that videohelp.com ought to have a tour for newbies to help them learn the ropes a little faster.
After alot of crappy trial software and several cram sessions of tutorials, I've come up with the following presentation.

This file is currently in powerpoint .pps format so I don't know if it will play for everyone. If it does, great. If it doesn't, I don't know how to fix that. I have no clue regarding flash programs or html scripting so this is the best I could do. If someone else can convert it for me while still keeping all the graphics and effects in tact, I'd appreciate it.

View The Tour

I'm posting it here as it is a draft copy in order to troubleshoot and get feedback before finishing it. I'd appreciate everyone's input.

Please look for spelling mistakes or incorrect information. Thanks.

[jimmalenko]

For those that don't have PowerPoint, get the free PowerPoint Viewer from Microsoft:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=428d5727-43ab-4f24-90b7-a9478...displaylang=en

[pacmania_2001]

Looks good.

[HatchetMan]

very nice, good work

[bazooka]

Excellent job, SM

[Capmaster]

Very nice presentation 8) 8) Nice work 8)

[pyrate83]

Very nice presentation. That will be a big help to a noob. :P

[Ripper2860]

Excellent. I thought it might be a "prank" and kept waiting for a STFU or RTFM, but excellent none-the-less !!

[makntraks]

Yes, very nice job indeed SM

If it could be converted to a format that hopefully could be viewed by a majority of new users / n00bs, I say it should be sent to the new user just after registration.....

makntraks

[Shadowmistress]

I was thinking Baldrick could do this, while at the same time linking the register url to pointing to this instead. That way they can't register without going through the tour.

[pyrate83]

Where is that Baldrick? He hasn't made an appearance in this thread yet.

[AlecWest]

Your PPS tour is great, SM. The only thing I'd add to the first page would be a mention of it being a PowerPoint presentation ... with links to download free viewers. The one Jim gave earlier is great for PC people ... and here's a link to a free viewer for Mac people:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/powerpoint98mac/viewer/1/macos/en-us/ppt98vw.hqx

For Linux users, the Windows viewer supposedly works in conjunction with a utility called WinE.

[offline]

Excellent. Thats a lot of work SM.
Works great in Open Office btw

[MackemX]

excellent work Shadowmistress

wish I knew a little more about Flash to also convert it but I'm sure someone here will in time

[Dr. DOS]

Most excellent... should be manditory viewing for all new registrants

[MackemX]

no frills basic snapshot html jpg version HERE . I couldn't be bothered to type out all the text so just took some snapshots instead. The picture size could have been a lot smaller as the borders wouldn't really be required if it was made into html

yes I am bored and have plenty of time on my hands

[p_l]

Please look for spelling mistakes or incorrect information. Thanks.

In the No Spam section, "original posters matter" takes an apostrophe.




Great job!

[yoda313]

Hello,

Macemx is right in suggesting an animated version. But other than that good job shadowmistress

Though I would like to add again my suggestion of a SUPER FAQ to be mailed out during registration to answer super basic questions (under a megabyte so as not to freak out dialuppers ).

Kevin

[Capmaster]

Please look for spelling mistakes or incorrect information. Thanks.

In the No Spam section, "original posters matter" takes an apostrophe.




Great job!

Nope. Not unless it's possessive like "it's the poster's choice", or a contraction like "poster is - the poster's here now". Plurals don't take one

It's not "many car's on the road", it's "many cars on the road", right?

Don't offer corrections unless you're sure you're right

[jimmalenko]

Don't offer corrections unless you're sure you're right

IMO it's the poster's matter, because it is the matter of the original poster, singular, and therefore it indicates possession - it's not original posters (as in plural) AFAIK, although the context in which it is intended plays a big part, I must admit. I am by no means the grammar police, but my understanding was that it is in reference to "the original poster's problem", and not "what the original posters were discussing". the original poster (or OP), is singular by definition, isn't it ? There's only ever 1 original poster AFAIK.

JMHO though

BTW, nice job SM

[ViRaL1]

There's no STFU page?

[p_l]

Don't offer corrections unless you're sure you're right

Yup. All due respect, Cap, but "posters" isn't a plural noun in that sentence, but rather a possessive adjective modifying the object noun "matter." It takes an apostrophe.

Again, nice job, SM.

[Capmaster]

Don't offer corrections unless you're sure you're right

Yup. All due respect, Cap, but "posters" isn't a plural noun in that sentence, but rather a possessive adjective modifying the object noun "matter." It takes an apostrophe.

Again, nice job, SM.

Time for night school p_l:

Plurals and Apostrophes
We use an apostrophe to create plural forms in two limited situations: for pluralized letters of the alphabet and when we are trying to create the plural form of a word that refers to the word itself. Here we also should italicize this "word as word," but not the 's ending that belongs to it. Do not use the apostrophe+s to create the plural of acronyms (pronounceable abbreviations such as laser and IRA and URL*) and other abbreviations. (A possible exception to this last rule is an acronym that ends in "S": "We filed four NOS's in that folder.")

Jeffrey got four A's on his last report card.
Towanda learned very quickly to mind her p's and q's.
You have fifteen and's in that last paragraph.
Notice that we do not use an apostrophe -s to create the plural of a word-in-itself. For instance, we would refer to the "ins and outs" of a mystery, the "yeses and nos" of a vote (NYPL Writer's Guide to Style and Usage), and we assume that Theodore Bernstein knew what he was talking about in his book Dos, Don'ts & Maybes of English Usage. We would also write "The shortstop made two spectacular outs in that inning." But when we refer to a word-as-a-word, we first italicize it — I pointed out the use of the word out in that sentence. — and if necessary, we pluralize it by adding the unitalicized apostrophe -s — "In his essay on prepositions, Jose used an astonishing three dozen out's." This practice is not universally followed, and in newspapers, you would find our example sentence written without italics or apostrophe: "You have fifteen ands in that last paragraph."

Time to dust off the book bag buddy

Source:
http://webster.commnet.edu/grammar/plurals.htm

[Ripper2860]

Ditto what Cap said!

[Baldrick]

Very nice job shadowmistress. Your tour will help lots of newbies and some old members too(some have never noticed the secret menu with the hidden guides ). But I don't want it as a powerpoint tour though...maybe several gif animations or maybe flash...shouldn't be too difficult to convert to.

should be manditory viewing for all new registrants

Sounds like a good idea...you get a "registration code" at the end of the tour or something.


Yoda: just send me the superfaq and I can add it to the registration email...

[jimmalenko]

@Cap:

See my post above

[jackal70058]

Very nice.
Power Point is easiest format for me. I don't view Flash. (the computer becomes slow)

[BJ_M]

i will convert it to flash tonight if you want ..

[BJ_M]

or as a video -- or even as a gif file ....

or anything

[ViRaL1]

Text? :P