TipToe Through ExpressionEngine
Tiptoe through the window
By the window, that is where I’ll be
Come tiptoe through the tulips with me
Train-ee is again hosting the world’s only 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.
The Location
This class will be in Holland, Michigan USA.
While being best-known for the annual Tulip Time Festival, Holland is nicely situated on Lake Macatawa, which connects to Lake Michigan. TulipTime officially ends a week and a half before the class, but there’s a good chance many of the flowers will still be in bloom for your viewing pleasure.
Besides tulips Holland offers beautiful sunsets, clean sandy beaches, lighthouses, historic shopping districts, microbreweries, coffeehouses, bikepaths—and I’m going to do my best to get you out of the hotel and enjoy the area with some after-hours activities.
Getting here is easy— you can fly into the Gerald R. Ford International Airport (a free shuttle is available), grab one of the daily Amtrak trains from Chicago (the Holland terminal is 2 blocks from the hotel) or drive from either Chicago or Detroit in less than 3 hours.
The Venue
This class will take place at the CityFlats Hotel.
CityFlats is one of those fun, funky spaces that will really inspire your creative side - I’ve never stayed at a hotel quite like it. CityFlats is a “green hotel” - it plans on being one of the first hotels in the United States to attain LEED certification.
CityFlats is offering a great rate of $109/night, discounted from $189, for the training. Train-ee is partnering with CollectiveIdea for this class - so if you book at CityFlats you’ll need to mention “CollectiveIdea” to get the special rate.
There are other local options as well.
The Instructor
This class will be taught by Michael Boyink.
I’ve worked on dozens of ExpressionEngine-based websites, wrote the first ExpressionEngine book, produced the first commercial EE screencasts, and offer the first (and currently the only) EE classroom training available.
The Schedule
This class runs from Tuesday, May 19th, 2009, through Friday, May 22nd, 2009.
The daily schedule is:
- 8:00 - 9:00 AM: Breakfast (provided)
- 9:00 - 10:30 AM: Instruction Time
- 10:30 - 10:50 AM: Break
- 10:50 - 12:00 PM: Instruction Time
- 12:00 - 1:00 PM: Lunch (provided)
- 1:00 - 2:30 PM: Instruction Time
- 2:30 - 2:50 PM: Afternoon Break (snack provided)
- 2:50 - 4:00 PM: Instruction Time
- 4:00 - 5:00 PM: Q&A
- 6:00 - ??: Optional evening activities (TBD, dinner may be provided, bring your friends/family)
Note: If you have any special dietary or physical requirements please let us know when registering so that we can accommodate you.
The Class Details
During the class we’ll cover the following:
- Brief history of EE
- Review of the “EEcosystem”
- Getting a conceptual understanding of EE
- EE Control Panel Overview
- Basics of coding in EE - tags and loops
- EE linking variables
- Loading an existing design template into EE
- Chunking the visual design into parent and embedded templates
- Passing variables to embedded templates
- Designing an ExpressionEngine architecture to power the visual design
- Implementing EE weblogs, custom fields and categories to hold content
- Building dynamic navigation menus
- Building page titles and setting navigation states dynamically
- Working with categories
- Working with relationships
- Using EE conditionals
- Using EE variables
- Troubleshooting tips
- Using plug-ins, modules and extensions
- Implementing different content types
- Setting up the site for client access and workflow
- Fighting SPAM
- Improving performance
- EE search engine - constraints and implementation
- Discussion forum module overview
- Wiki module overview
- Multiple Site Manager Overview
What If EE 2.0 Comes Out?
As of this posting, EE 2.0 has not been released in either beta or final form. What if EE 2.0 comes out between now and the start of this class? What version of EE would be used in the class then?
Here’s the deal: If EE 2.0 is out in beta form, I’ll work a preview/tour into the class. If EE 2.0 is through beta and has been released, I will try to gear as much of the class towards 2.0 as is humanly possible. Realize, however, that in order for all of the class materials to be ready on time I need to wrap them up roughly 2 weeks before the class, so depending on the birthdate of EE 2.0 there may or may not be time to work it into the course materials.
However - while EE 2.0 will have a redesigned Control Panel, and be re-implemented on CodeIgniter, and probably have some new features, the fundamentals learned in this class will still apply and be valuable.
The Testimonials
The Train-ee classroom training was excellent. The real life examples conveyed the best ways to extend ExpressionEngine’s capabilities. The environment was exceptional! The optional evening gatherings made the experience fun. We were able to brainstorm many of our ideas even after the class time was over! This allowed the formation of many relationships and extremely beneficial resources. If there is another session you are willing to teach, keep me posted!
Marianna Martinez
Mike’s Expression Engine class was a great experience. I came to the class with lots of questions about the CMS, and Mike, using lots of real-world examples from his extensive work with EE, showed us the potential of this great product, and how to go about implementing that potential in a very practical way. Plus, the Idea Foundry folks treated the class royally! This was easily the most enjoyable technical training I’ve experienced.
David Fenske, Colorado
Mike is one in a million. He genuinely cares for each individual in his class and wants them to succeed with their efforts to learn ExpressionEngine. Thanks Mike—EE is not a mystery to me anymore and I now have the tools needed to get the job done.
Bryan Juber, US Synthetic
The Train-ee ExpressionEngine classroom training was a great experience - it was insightful, interactive and fun. Mike is friendly, approachable and a great tutor who brings years of real world, invaluable experience into the classroom.
Tony Geer, Tony Geer Website Design and Development
Mike Boyink offers quality hands on EE training that makes you wish he’d hit the road and tour annually. I have never come across such a humble developer who has the patience and dedication that Mike gives to his students. EE is an amazing CMS tool and Mike certainly helps make EE more inviting and manageable. I highly recommend his training and his educational materials.
Josh Rubinstein
Class Prerequisites
- Working knowledge of (X)HTML and CSS
- A Laptop
- MAMP/WAMP installed
- ExpressionEngine installed
To Signup
This class has already taken place - visit the Classroom Training page for information on current classes.
