EE Insider

2 New Train-ee Classes Announced

This week Mike Boyink of Train-ee announced two new training classes that will take place in March in the great state of Texas.

Both the Beginner to Intermediate Training class and the Add-on Development Class will take place in San Antonio, Texas the week of March 21, 2012.

The main EE class will be taught by Mike and the add-on development class taught by Erik Reagan of Focus Lab.

Learning ExpressionEngine Resources

Couchable put together a list of beginner EE resources, which includes dozens of links that will help you install ExpressionEngine and get started building your first site.

I’ve put together a collection of tutorials, books, articles and videos for ExpressionEngine newbies and novices. Smashing Magazine had a similar collection but it is now pretty dated being from 2008. I tried to find as many free examples as I could but ultimately I went with the resources I felt were the best, paid or otherwise. So this list will have some paid stuff but you can learn ExpressionEngine for free if you so choose.

Missing from the links is my free HD video on installing ExpressionEngine (also available on YouTube).

Great list and if you need help learning about ExpressionEngine, check out the weekly EE Help Chat.

ExpressionEngine Videos Now in HD

I first released my series of ExpressionEngine video tutorials in 2008. That was back before EE2 was released and even before the infamous “Summer of 2008” came and went.

Last year, I released an updated version of the videos, with a brand new example site, under my own Mijingo imprint and redid them for the ExpressionEngine 2.1 public release.

Today marks another milestone in the videos that helped countless people learn EE. This update to the series includes completely redone videos in HD size (1280x720) The larger sized videos will make it easier to watch them at fullscreen or on bigger screens.

The videos still only cost $48 for about 4 hours of training over 8 different videos. That’s a tremendous deal to quickly get up and running with EE.

Read the announcement at the Mijingo blog and if you haven’t tried the videos before, today is a great time to get started.

Build a Portfolio with ExpressionEngine Tutorial

Back in March I posted about my beginners ExpressionEngine article in the May print issue of Net Magazine. The article is a guide to building a simple portfolio website with ExpressionEngine. My description of the article:

The article is definitely aimed at people newer to EE, who are looking for a real-world application of this ExpressionEngine CMS they’ve heard so much about. It includes all of the template code and assets you need to build the simple site on your own. But there’s certainly something there for everyone, even if you wanted to reaffirm how you approach building EE sites.

Up until now you could only get the article by buying a print copy or their digital version of the magazine, which is only available through Zinio. Today Net Magazine graciously published the article on their website for everyone to enjoy.

As web workers, we need to have a portfolio that puts on display our website designs and development projects. One of the best CMSes for handling this type of content is ExpressionEngine 2. Its flexible data containers (‘channels’) and customisable input fields enable you to use it to power just about any data-driven website.

For old hands at ExpressionEngine, this article won’t do much for you, but if you’re new to EE you might find it helpful. The project includes all of the templates and assets you need to follow along as you build the portfolio site in ExpressionEngine.

Read the entire article: Build a portfolio with ExpressionEngine

Add-on Development Basics from Erik Reagan

Over at his company blog, Erik Reagan has kicked off a cool new series that will help people approach building their first add-on. It’s not a how-to in the sense that you’ll build an add-on. Instead, Erik will drop some knowledge on everything you need to know to get started building your first add-on. A good idea because the initial context of building an add-on is usually missing for most people.

I thought it might be handy to come up with a list of tools or concepts you’ll need to be familiar with when approaching add-ons. Some of these items are specific to EE while others are more general to PHP or CodeIgniter. The list will be delivered in a series of posts in which we will encourage you to look at the new terms and post any thoughts or followup questions in the comments.

The series will be in the ABC format, so there will be one concept for each letter of the alphabet. I’m really looking forward to this and hopefully it’ll be a good resource for anyone undertaking their first EE add-on.

Erik starts off with the letter “A” and the topic of…wait for it…“Add-on.” Read his first post: The ABC’s of EE Add-on Development

Free EE Class in VA

Zac Gordon is leading a free ExpressionEngine class in Falls Church, VA on June 18, 2011. The class will take place at the offices of Viget Labs and run about 4 hours total (10-3 with a break for lunch).

In this one day workshop you will learn everything you need to know to start building easy to update web sites with ExpressionEngine, often called the most flexible CMS on the market.  We will will start with an HTML5 and CSS3 template for a freelancer portfolio web site and learn how to build it out into a site that you can fully manage from the ExpressionEngine control panel.

The class will cover all of the basics you need to know when getting started with ExpressionEngine. You only need to know the basics of building websites (with HTML and CSS), so any web professional can easily follow along during the class.

There are only 20 seats available, so Zac is taking applications to make sure the seats are filled up with people enthusiastic about being there. Is that you? Learn more and apply to attend.

San Francisco Train-EE Class

Mike Boyink is teaching another of his Train-ee classes and this time it takes place in San Francisco from June 14th to June 17th. 

The class takes place at the Sandbox Suites Union Square and runs four days. It’s a great way to focus on EE and meet others who are doing the same.

Early bird pricing is good until May 20th. Learn more: ExpressionEngine, the San Francisco…Delicacy!

Boyink on EE Developer Training Class

Mike Boyink wrote up his thoughts on the Train-ee EE developer class that Erik Reagan taught earlier this month in Phoenix, AZ. Mike sat in on the class and came away with this:

One of the things I’ve always liked about working with ExpressionEngine is that I don’t ever feel like I’m done learning it. New addons aside, there are always interesting new ways to string together it’s native functionality to either solve new puzzles or better solve old puzzles.

But in my years with EE I’ve played mostly at the EE template level, only once in a while looking at ways to tweak addons to do what I needed. I was probably bringing up the rear of the short-bus in terms of existing PHP skills to build on, but after taking this class I have a much better understanding of the various files that comprise addons and the courage & direction to start poking around in them to tweak & learn more. I will also be much more confident in being able to scope out and specify custom addons for client projects.

Overall though? I came away with a newfound respect for the EE developer community. I’ve been in and around the software and web world for over 15 years now and am ever amazed at the skillz you folks have.

Read Mike’s entire write-up on the class: A Student, A Host, A Business Owner

Two New Train-ee Trainings

Yesterday, Train-ee announced two new opportunities to attend classroom training for ExpressionEngine:

• The first class is another installment of Mike Boyink’s basics of ExpressionEngine class. This class takes place from March 29th to April 1st.
• The second class, a brand new offering, is an advanced class that teaches you everything you need to know about developing add-ons for ExpressionEngine.

Both classes take place in sunny and warm Scottsdale, Arizona and include a non-commercial license for ExpressionEngine.

40% off ExpressionEngine Book on Friday

Just like years past, the publisher of my ExpressionEngine book is running their Black Friday sale. What does that mean? A whopping 40% off almost all of their books and other learning materials. This includes my ExpressionEngine 2: A Quick-Start Guide. From their announcement:

Get your wishlists ready! This Friday is BLACK FRIDAY, and we’re having a store-wide 40% off sale for 24 hours only (midnight to midnight PST) on this Friday, November 26, 2010. Use the coupon code “turkey.”

It’s a great deal on so many well-respected learning materials and too good to pass up!

Train-ee Coming to Atlanta

Michael Boyink is bringing his Train-ee classroom training to Atlanta, GA. This time it’s called “ExpressionEngine on my Mind” and looks like it will be a great program.

The dates are January 11-14, 2011. Early Bird registration price is $1195. The price after Friday, December 10th, 2010 is $1495. Registration isn’t open yet and the venue hasn’t been announced, but if you’re in the Atlanta area, definitely keep your eyes peeled for the rest of the info. For schedule and more information, check out the details at the Train-ee site.

EE 2 Screencasts Available

Today I launched a brand new site, Mijingo and the new ExpressionEngine 2 Screencasts.

Mijingo is the new home for my training materials (minus the ExpressionEngine book, which is still available from my awesome publisher) and those of future authors at Mijingo.

Learning ExpressionEngine 2

That’s the title for the new series of screencasts on ExpressionEngine 2. They’re beginner-level screencasts that walk you through, step-by-step, how to build a basic website in ExpressionEngine 2. The sample site we build this time is for Channel University. Is it real? No. But fake schools need websites, too!

This series is 8 episodes and runs more than 4 hours. I went through the first series and distilled it down to only the most vital information needed to get up and running with EE 2.

If you’re looking for more advanced material, don’t worry, all of that will be coming soon!

Learn more: ExpressionEngine 2 Screencasts

CodeIgniter and MojoMotor Workshops

Thomas Myer is offering two different workshops next month; the first is on CodeIgniter and the second is on our new little brother, MojoMotor.

The CodeIgniter workshop is a high-level overview of CI and takes place over the course of 3 hours. At the end of the session you should be able to build a very simple CI application. Thomas wrote a great book on CodeIgniter (it’s the one I bought and sits on the bookshelf in my office), so you couldn’t ask for a better teacher.

The second session covers MojoMotor development. This isn’t about how to build a website with MojoMotor but instead how to developer extensions (add-ons) for it. This class does ask that you come with an “understanding of CodeIgniter and OO PHP in order to get anything out of this class.”

Early bird tickets are on sale now for the classes, both of which take place on September 13, 2010.

Upcoming ExpressionEngine Training

There are a couple of upcoming ExpressionEngine training opportunities, I wanted to let you know about.

First, there’s the classroom training by Mike Boyink of Train-ee. The next installment of Mike’s 4-day intensive class on building websites with ExpressionEngine takes place September 13-16 in Holland, Michigan. This is also the first class Mike will teach exclusively on ExpressionEngine 2. The class takes place at the City Flats hotel, which is also where you will be staying while in Holland.

Mike has been doing these trainings for a while and has a well-formulated plan for helping you learn all about EE in four days.

Up until August 13th you can get the early bird price of $1195 for the 4-day training. Get all of the details at Train-ee.

Second, is a webinar class by Creat-ee, which is offering an 8 session (twice per week for four weeks), online-only class on ExpressionEngine. The class is taught by Jae Barclay and costs $499 for the 8 sessions. You can learn more about it at the Creat-ee website.

Train-ee in July

If you’re looking for classroom-style training to get up-to-speed on ExpressionEngine, then you might be interested in another EE training event by Mike Boyink and Train-ee:

Train-ee is again hosting the world’s only public ExpressionEngine classroom training back where it all started in Holland, Michigan.  Enjoy 4 days of hometown hospitality, great scenery and tasty food while learning about EE elbow to elbow with other like-minded folks.

Days will be spent in an informal yet informative learning environment, and evenings we’ll get out on the town and see the sights.

Mike taught a condensed version of his class during an EECI 2010 master class. The full class runs four days from 9 AM to 5 PM and cost $1495 (which includes breakfast and lunch each day). In my experience, these intensive, immersive learning environments are a great way to quickly get up and running with a new skill.

Interested? Learn more about the Train-ee class this July in Holland, Michigan.