While I’m working on a WordPress 3.0 tutorial, I want to bring to your attention another really outstanding resource for WordPress Tutorials: the “WordPress 101” site created and maintained by Shawn Hesketh.

I just signed up for WordPress 101 myself to see what’s covered. I was familiar with these tutorials already. Now they have been updated to cover WordPress version 3.0. And you can “Pay What You Wish”, meaning you pay what you feel is appropriate / what you can afford.

Shawn’s video tutorial style is exemplary. Unlike some other WordPress video tutorial makers I know , Shawn does not shoot from the hip. His presentations are polished and precise. Think about the time and care taken to make these tutorials – and how much you will gain by following them – when you decide on an amount you want to pay. (Not to mention the fact that Shawn donates half to charity!) Paying a few dollars does not get much easier – and more win-win-win – than this!

So check out WordPress 101 Tutorials, and let me – and Shawn, of course – know what you think! After you have done that, I’m sure you’ll have some ideas about other things you would like to know about WordPress 3.0 – and Free, Easy WordPress Tutorials on Business Blogging 101 will be happy to deliver.

With all this going on, I feel a need to create some more easy WordPress Tutorials that will add to the growing list and help more people discover and learn to use WordPress.

Use the Poll above to vote or nominate your own WordPress tutorial topic. I haven’t tried this kind of WordPress/Polldaddy poll  before, but I’ll add your suggestions if several people list the same one or something similar.

Feel free to include your own ideas for WordPress tutorials in more detail using the comment form.

UPDATE: Votes for the next easy WordPress Tutorial topic are already coming in. Thanks, everyone!
I need more votes, so tell a friend!

I’m using a PollDaddy poll, which is really easy to do on WordPress.com. There’s also a PollDaddy plugin you can use to create polls and surveys on a self-hosted WordPress site. My poll has an option for “Other” so you can write in your own topic if none of my suggestions sounds good. Here’s how the poll results look when you view them in the WordPress Dashboard. Pretty darn cool!

Dashboard view of WordPress PollDaddy Poll on McBuzz.WordPress.com

Anyone who wants to learn WordPress, or learn more about WordPress – definitely check it out!

I will be doing the WordPress Search Engine Optimization presentation. You’ll get all you need to take your WordPress website from the basic default level of search optimization to a truly optimized level using the “All in One SEO Pack” plugin for WordPress. The SEO techniques I’ll talk about work on any website. I’ll just be showing you how to apply them quickly and easily to your WordPress site.

To sign up now, visit the Seattle WordPress seminar website.

The event is called “Explode the WordPress Learning Curve: An Evening with the Experts”. Here are the highlights of this awesome WordPress seminar:

After An Evening with WordPress Experts, you’ll understand:

• why so may businesses are choosing WordPress for their websites and blogs
• how to leverage the power and flexibility of a WordPress website to increase sales
• how easy it is to make the move to WordPress
• 5 techniques for optimizing your WordPress pages for better search engine rankings
• the key features of 3.0, the newest version of WordPress

What’s Included in this Event:

• 3 “mini-seminars” from WordPress experts
• 15-minute break with time for networking as well as time before and after the event
• Extended Q & A panel discussion with the experts: Get your questions answered
• Opportunity to meet the experts at the conclusion of the event
• Time to visit the presenters’ tables and exchange information
• Copies of all presentations
• Additional information on useful tips, plugin’s, themes and resources for WordPress users

Feel free to contact me with questions about the event. For tickets and more information, visit the Seattle WordPress seminar website.

Free, Easy WordPress Tutorials

These are all easy WordPress tutorials and they are all free! Whether you have a WordPress blog or a WordPress website, most of the tutorials are for beginners, but there are intermediate-level tutorials and discussion about advanced techniques for WordPress including how to customize a WordPress theme, recommendations about the best WordPress plugins and themes, hacks and workarounds for WordPress using Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), PHP and HTML – and much, much more!

There are a few advanced tutorials. The tutorials’ degree of difficulty is determined by the amount of skill and experience you need with HTML, CSS and in some cases PHP code. If you don’t have experience with these, don’t worry! That’s the beauty of WordPress.

On this site, you will learn about WordPress, Blogging and Online Marketing, including Search Engine Optimization. Ask questions, comment and connect with other WordPress users.

You can use the video player control bar buttons to watch in HD and to watch in full screen mode.

You can become a fan of Business Blogging 101 on Facebook. And follow Mark McLaren and McBuzz on Twitter.

My company, McBuzz Communications, helps business and individuals with WordPress websites in Seattle and around North Amercia. I had the honor of being one of the speakers at WordCamp Seattle 2009.

Thanks in part to votes from Business Blogging 101 fans, I also got to do a 5-minute Ignite-style presentation on WordPress and the Social Web. It was a blast. Really looking forward to 2010.

When I found inexpensive video-making software, I quickly switched to tutorials using that format. It seemed to me that – especially for beginners – using WordPress is a process that involves moving from one part of the Dashboard to another. It was much more helpful to be able to show where a button is located in the Dashboard and what happens when you click on it without having to make individual screen images of every step.

The complaint from Jaap and others is that they don’t want to have to watch a 10 minute video just to get one piece of information, like “What do I click to make a static page my home page?” That’s fair enough. No doubt some (or all?) of my video tutorials could be made shorter and get to the point more directly. I will certainly keep this in mind the next time I make one.

One solution would be to make available a text version or transcript of each video tutorial. This would require that someone on my staff of one write out the transcripts. You may be surprised to learn that making a 10-minute video tutorial, which I usually do with only a little preparation, can take up to 3 hours when you include time to correct errors or rerecord, save files, upload to YouTube, add descriptions and post to the Business Blogging 101 site. Writing out a transcript is going to add a considerable amount to that time.

That said, I am truly interested to learn whether you prefer video tutorials to text tutorials with screen captures. Please take a second to vote above. And please add any additional comments you may have using the comment form / link below.

McBuzz and Business Blogging 101 voted, have you?

In the Dashboard, under Appearance, click on Extras and check the box next to “Show falling snow on my blog. (Only until January 4th 2009.)” Don’t forget to click the “Update Extras” button.

If you want falling snow on a self-hosted WordPress site, check out this post or visit the plugin page where Aen Tan has updated his Falling Snow WordPress plugin. Thanks, Aen!

Happy Holidays!

You can read the full post over on the McBuzz.com website: WordPress Security: Create a New User and Delete the Default “admin” Account

(you will be taken to the mcbuzz.com website)

Or add your question to the comments on a specific post.

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The first installment of Business Blogging 101′s Answers to General Questions About WordPress has gotten rather long – 65+ entries and counting, including questions and replies – so here’s another post for Questions About WordPress. Keep ‘em coming!