It’s no secret we’re big fans of WordPress. And yet every time we write about it here we get the inevitable question from readers: What is WordPress? Given that over 25% of all websites are built with WordPress, the question is always a little surprising (unless you’re in the other 75%, I suppose).

At any rate, our sister site WP Apprentice is the best place to learn more about WordPress. The free Quick Start course is probably the best place to start. Truth be told, many of you will learn all you need to know form the free course.

If you still want more, WP Apprentice offers several paid courses, all designed to help non-technical business users to build and manage their website.

It’s been awfully quite around this site lately. That’s mostly because I’ve been busy working on a never-ending stream of client projects. An increasing number of those projects involve using WordPress in some context.

After coaching numerous clients on the intricacies of WordPress, I started to wonder if there might not be a better way to approach training. Eventually, I decided that training videos might be the solution. My new site, WP Apprentice, includes a WordPress tutorial for just about every challenge you can imagine. It’s designed to be a beginner-friendly learning environment for all things WordPress.

My hope is that the site will appeal to both novices and experienced WordPress users. Whether you’re looking for a comprehensive overview of the entire WordPress system or simple insight into a single administrative page, WPApprentice.com should help you get the most out of your WordPress blog.

I’ll be adding new videos as time allows, and, of course, updating the videos as new versions of WordPress are released.

The current collection of videos focuses on what I refer to as Core WordPress training — a detailed overview of the various blogging features and administrative options.

I look forward to receiving constructive feedback from the community. If there are specific topics you’d like to see covered in future videos, drop me a note, or leave a comment below.

I’d like to talk for a moment about what I call the Content Migration Fantasy. In this fantasy, an experienced team lead by a tough-yet-wise project manager ports legacy content to a new system. This being a fantasy, the work is done quickly and efficiently, due, in no small part, to a brilliantly executed content inventory and information architecture. In this fantasy, not only do the items that should be moved end up in the right place, but the items that shouldn’t be moved stay right where they are.

And, of course, the migration phase of the project comes in on time and under budget. No, better, it’s done early and under budget. The content migration team is celebrating at the local pub while other teams are sweating deadlines.

In the real world, we all go into content migrations with high hopes and solid plans. Depending on the size of the site and the culture of the organization, you can expect delays, misunderstandings, and more than one last-minute “uh oh”. There is a lot of good advice relating to managing the migration portion of a CMS project, and I’ve linked to some favorites below. In the meantime, here’s my short strategic plan:

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The sad truth about many CMS implementations is that not nearly enough time is spent working with content. All too often, organizations get wrapped up in issues related to technology and design, forgetting what the system is supposed to be managing.

It’s easy to avoid focusing on content when you have no idea what it is or where it is. CMS vendors focus on the user-friendly aspects of their software; rarely do they address the complexities of content migration. Since the system you’re implementing is supposed to make content management a breeze, there’s a temptation to avoid thinking about content until the very last minute. This flawed assumption has doomed all too many CMS projects.

Our first article defined content in all of its many forms. This article focuses on the nuts and bolts of identifying content and coralling it in such a way that you have what you need when it comes time to populate your CMS. The key to achieving this goal is a process called the Content Inventory.

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