Hi!
I know this is a long shot but I was wondering if there was anyone out there that would be kind enough to mentor me when it comes to using/coding/developing with Umbraco?
I've got my own website which runs Umbraco which I tend to use as a testing ground but I'm just poking around and not really fully understanding what I'm doing.
Even if someone could advice me on a path to follow i.e. learn this first by doing this. Then move on to building on this by making X or Y do Z.
I work on my own as a web developer and have a C# .Net background but the past year I've been working more on front-end tech (html, css, javascript) and would like to bounce ideas of someone and be challenged but with support if I needed it. I want to keep developing in C# and maybe one day land an Umbraco Developer job, so I've got a long way to go but that gives you a bit of background.
I plan to use my lunch hours to work on things within Umbraco but it's such a big subject I have no idea where to start and it all seems a bit daunting.
Do I read all the documentation which is on this site first or just use parts of it as and when I need it?
Hi!
I'm based in Edinburgh, Scotland but unfortunately there aren't any Umbraco groups here. The closest is in Glasgow which isn't ideal.
I did have a subscription to Umbraco TV but let it lapse as, actually, I can't remember why I did let it lapse. I think it might have been because I didn't find any practical examples. I like to do something to learn it. I could be wrong and maybe just didn't watch enough of the videos.
I guess I'm looking for a developer path to follow or tasks to do which will help me understand Umbraco in a step by step method.
Something like, install Umbraco via Visual Studio, do an upgrade via git, create a search box with Lucene then work on customising the results page to show x, y,z.
Meetups are a great way to meet likeminded developers and share experiences. If you can get to a festival as well, like the UK Fest or even Codegarden, you'd learn a lot from them and just being around the other people attending would be a bonus.
Give yourself a genuine problem to solve
At least for me, trying to learn something just for the sake of learning it is really difficult. However, if I set myself a challenge - something that I couldn't possibly do without learning - then I'm more focused in my approach.
You've already mentioned you have your own website, and that's how I started too. Try adding functionality to it. Take photos? Try developing a page that brings together a list of photos, displays them and uses JavaScript to integrate some sort of gallery viewer, for example. Like to blog? Develop your own doctypes, design the pages and build up the back-end, even adding in functionality to automatically move nodes into a date-based folder structure.
I've found things like that - small problems - have been a great way to learn little bits of Umbraco. And coming back to the forum here, you'll always find an answer or some advice!
Courses?
Another option could be the training courses. Of course, these aren't cheap and they're certainly not the only way to learn. But they do give you valuable time with people that really understand Umbraco, while the courses themselves go through practical examples that you can then take away and build on. On top of that, becoming certified would likely help as you mentioned you might one day like to work full-time with Umbraco.
Cheers Ed.
I think you have given me some good tips there. Just now I do have a website which does have a blog on it and I do pull in instagram photos but they were all just add-on packages. I guess an option would be to strip them out and build my own blog engine? Build my own instagram reader or as you say, build a gallery.
Hmmm, that's given me something to think about.
The courses I'd love to go on, but just checked out the prices. Not too bad if I could get my employer to pay for them but on my own I reckon I'd need to use a credit card and also use some of my own annual leave.
I'll see if I can find any other groups around Edinburgh, maybe not official Umbraco ones but there has to be something, right? :)
Glasgow is 40 miles and 45 minutes away, I went to as many meeting as possible when I worked in Edinburgh, it's only every second month so it's not too much of a hardship, and the natives are friendly. There's one this Tuesday, and it's free (as is the beer and pizza).
All good points Tom but I work about 20 mins away from the train station and don't finish work until 5:30pm which makes a 6:15 meeting difficult to get too :(
I can't really add anything new to what's been said all ready, but what I can simply agree that the advice given by everyone is great.
From my experience there isn't really a "step by step" approach to learning Umbraco, often sites are different, require different features, configurations etc.
I'm like Ed I think, I find it easy to have a real world problem to solve when I'm trying to learn so I'd say try and do the same. You mentioned that you have your own Umbraco site that you use as a test. Is that a public site that visitors can visit or simply one you use on your own machine and test with?
If it is the former, then why not just gradually expand that. Add things like a blog, a configurable slider etc. It could be a good way to develop you skills with a semi-practical approach. However, the hard part is deciding what you want to add to add value to your site.
The Courses are a great option, I personally was taught the basics of Umbraco by a colleague who hadn't been on the training and a lot of incorrect (more not ideal, they worked so incorrect isn't exactly right) approaches were my norm to start with. Taking the fundamentals course was an eye opener that I can't recommend highly enough.
On top of there, there is a community slack channel along with this forum where you can discuss ideas, ask questions and generally interact with fellow Umbracians. All of which are pretty friendly and here to help :-)
You can also install one of the starter kits (if you choose the custom install, Umbraco lets you choose from one of three starter kits). Look at the code to see how the starter kit is accomplishing things.
I like to write articles in response to questions, so if you shoot me a question, there's a good chance I'll respond in the form of an article. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MrMarsRed
You might consider signing up for Umbraco Cloud if you don't want to worry about deployment/hosting nuances (which will allow you to focus more on the coding).
I also recommend you make good use of Visual Studio (it's free). The intellisense alone is super valuable as an instructional tool.
Thanks everyone. Some brilliant tips and advice here. I'll try and answer the questions but I've already got some questions!
Nik:
I have two sites running Umbraco, one is a working site which is a blog about my running / training which I tend not to play around with too much due to it being in constant use. The other is a test site which is 'live' but not advertised anywhere if that makes sense. This is where I plan to play with Umbraco. Maybe even build a blog to talk about my learning curve with Umbraco.
Question: When building a blog, should I look at creating a package or just building on top of Umbraco using doctypes etc? I guess it would be useful to build my blog but then be able to use it on another site after time.
I'll check out the slack channel. Thanks.
Dave:
Thanks for the Youtube link, I'll check it out.
Nicholas:
Loads of links there so I'll spend some time looking over them all. Sounds like some great content there so I look forward to checking them out.
Question: Is it worth reading the documentation on here from the start or just dip in and out of it when required?
I really appreciate everyone taking the time to answer this thread. I thought it might have been a bit of a shot in the dark but you guys have really helped.
Just to quickly jump back in on your two questions there!
Building a blog - I would start by building it for yourself, tailoring it to your site and your requirements. Then when you have something that works, you can see which parts of it could be packaged up separately and then learn how to create a package with what you have. When you get to that stage, you'll notice it can be quite straight forward to create simple packages in Umbraco, so having something already in place will give you a head start.
Reading the documentation - I'd be tempted to just use it when you need it. The sources linked by others in this thread would be good things to read through, but you'll learn a lot by just getting things to work. And when you do, you can always post what you have back here and ask "how could this be done differently?". There's rarely a single way to do things, and by engaging with other people rather than documentation you'll pick up those little tips and tricks that often end up making the difference!
Personally, I'd go through the documentation* first, then build something. That's how I typically learn new technologies. I read a book or two on it, then once I really get my hands dirty I find that I can recall that there was a recommended approach, but I can't remember the details of it. At that point, I open the book back up and read about the details so I can use them in practice, which helps me remember the information.
There were no useful Umbraco books back when I started, so I watched Umbraco TV instead. It was OK, but a little hard to stay awake through after listening for hours continuously. Still, if you have the time, Umbraco TV can be a valuable learning resource.
* When I say "the documentation", I actually mean things like that "LearnUmbraco7" repo. I treat the official documentation on this "our.umbraco.org" website as referential (i.e., I only read it when I need to know something specifically).
Looking for an Umbraco Mentor...
Hi! I know this is a long shot but I was wondering if there was anyone out there that would be kind enough to mentor me when it comes to using/coding/developing with Umbraco?
I've got my own website which runs Umbraco which I tend to use as a testing ground but I'm just poking around and not really fully understanding what I'm doing.
Even if someone could advice me on a path to follow i.e. learn this first by doing this. Then move on to building on this by making X or Y do Z.
I work on my own as a web developer and have a C# .Net background but the past year I've been working more on front-end tech (html, css, javascript) and would like to bounce ideas of someone and be challenged but with support if I needed it. I want to keep developing in C# and maybe one day land an Umbraco Developer job, so I've got a long way to go but that gives you a bit of background.
I plan to use my lunch hours to work on things within Umbraco but it's such a big subject I have no idea where to start and it all seems a bit daunting.
Do I read all the documentation which is on this site first or just use parts of it as and when I need it?
Feel free to ask questions etc. Cheers.
Hi Owain,
where are you based? It's worth getting along to an Umbraco meetup if there's one nearby (ohh, and watch Umbraco TV)
t
Hi! I'm based in Edinburgh, Scotland but unfortunately there aren't any Umbraco groups here. The closest is in Glasgow which isn't ideal.
I did have a subscription to Umbraco TV but let it lapse as, actually, I can't remember why I did let it lapse. I think it might have been because I didn't find any practical examples. I like to do something to learn it. I could be wrong and maybe just didn't watch enough of the videos.
Hi Owain,
If you get stuck or need help on something in particular, you can always just ask here or on Twitter, people are usually quite helpful.
I'd recommend doing the fundamentals course, I found it really helpful.
http://percipientstudios.com/training/schedule
Thanks Dan. I'll look into the course.
I guess I'm looking for a developer path to follow or tasks to do which will help me understand Umbraco in a step by step method.
Something like, install Umbraco via Visual Studio, do an upgrade via git, create a search box with Lucene then work on customising the results page to show x, y,z.
Hi Owain!
I'd break it down into two tips at this stage:
Find nearby events
Meetups are a great way to meet likeminded developers and share experiences. If you can get to a festival as well, like the UK Fest or even Codegarden, you'd learn a lot from them and just being around the other people attending would be a bonus.
Give yourself a genuine problem to solve
At least for me, trying to learn something just for the sake of learning it is really difficult. However, if I set myself a challenge - something that I couldn't possibly do without learning - then I'm more focused in my approach.
You've already mentioned you have your own website, and that's how I started too. Try adding functionality to it. Take photos? Try developing a page that brings together a list of photos, displays them and uses JavaScript to integrate some sort of gallery viewer, for example. Like to blog? Develop your own doctypes, design the pages and build up the back-end, even adding in functionality to automatically move nodes into a date-based folder structure.
I've found things like that - small problems - have been a great way to learn little bits of Umbraco. And coming back to the forum here, you'll always find an answer or some advice!
Courses?
Another option could be the training courses. Of course, these aren't cheap and they're certainly not the only way to learn. But they do give you valuable time with people that really understand Umbraco, while the courses themselves go through practical examples that you can then take away and build on. On top of that, becoming certified would likely help as you mentioned you might one day like to work full-time with Umbraco.
Hope some of that helps! Happy to chat :)
Cheers Ed. I think you have given me some good tips there. Just now I do have a website which does have a blog on it and I do pull in instagram photos but they were all just add-on packages. I guess an option would be to strip them out and build my own blog engine? Build my own instagram reader or as you say, build a gallery.
Hmmm, that's given me something to think about.
The courses I'd love to go on, but just checked out the prices. Not too bad if I could get my employer to pay for them but on my own I reckon I'd need to use a credit card and also use some of my own annual leave.
I'll see if I can find any other groups around Edinburgh, maybe not official Umbraco ones but there has to be something, right? :)
Owain,
Glasgow is 40 miles and 45 minutes away, I went to as many meeting as possible when I worked in Edinburgh, it's only every second month so it's not too much of a hardship, and the natives are friendly. There's one this Tuesday, and it's free (as is the beer and pizza).
regards
t
All good points Tom but I work about 20 mins away from the train station and don't finish work until 5:30pm which makes a 6:15 meeting difficult to get too :(
Hey Owain,
I can't really add anything new to what's been said all ready, but what I can simply agree that the advice given by everyone is great.
From my experience there isn't really a "step by step" approach to learning Umbraco, often sites are different, require different features, configurations etc.
I'm like Ed I think, I find it easy to have a real world problem to solve when I'm trying to learn so I'd say try and do the same. You mentioned that you have your own Umbraco site that you use as a test. Is that a public site that visitors can visit or simply one you use on your own machine and test with?
If it is the former, then why not just gradually expand that. Add things like a blog, a configurable slider etc. It could be a good way to develop you skills with a semi-practical approach. However, the hard part is deciding what you want to add to add value to your site.
The Courses are a great option, I personally was taught the basics of Umbraco by a colleague who hadn't been on the training and a lot of incorrect (more not ideal, they worked so incorrect isn't exactly right) approaches were my norm to start with. Taking the fundamentals course was an eye opener that I can't recommend highly enough.
On top of there, there is a community slack channel along with this forum where you can discuss ideas, ask questions and generally interact with fellow Umbracians. All of which are pretty friendly and here to help :-)
Nik
Hi Owain,
I see most things have been already mentioned here.
In addition to these I recently saw some tweets about somebody doing video's on building a website with Umbraco : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCvWcP8GIYl6l2lJ1Z5-s4ew
Haven't watch them myself.
But for me the best way is to learn by doing things...and making mistakes...because you will learn most of your mistakes.
And when stuck...just ask here. I'm sure you will find help.
Dave
I wish I had this when I was learning Umbraco (basically, an e-book): https://github.com/kgiszewski/LearnUmbraco7
You can also install one of the starter kits (if you choose the custom install, Umbraco lets you choose from one of three starter kits). Look at the code to see how the starter kit is accomplishing things.
You could read this article I wrote on one way of building Umbraco sites: http://skrift.io/articles/archive/building-umbraco-websites-with-archetype-widgets-and-ditto/
I also occasionally write other articles on Umbraco here: https://code101.net/
I like to write articles in response to questions, so if you shoot me a question, there's a good chance I'll respond in the form of an article. Feel free to reach out to me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MrMarsRed
Here's a really short video I made that shows how to install Umbraco: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iK8YM3JBgwM
You might consider signing up for Umbraco Cloud if you don't want to worry about deployment/hosting nuances (which will allow you to focus more on the coding).
I also recommend you make good use of Visual Studio (it's free). The intellisense alone is super valuable as an instructional tool.
Thanks everyone. Some brilliant tips and advice here. I'll try and answer the questions but I've already got some questions!
Nik: I have two sites running Umbraco, one is a working site which is a blog about my running / training which I tend not to play around with too much due to it being in constant use. The other is a test site which is 'live' but not advertised anywhere if that makes sense. This is where I plan to play with Umbraco. Maybe even build a blog to talk about my learning curve with Umbraco.
Question: When building a blog, should I look at creating a package or just building on top of Umbraco using doctypes etc? I guess it would be useful to build my blog but then be able to use it on another site after time.
I'll check out the slack channel. Thanks.
Dave: Thanks for the Youtube link, I'll check it out.
Nicholas: Loads of links there so I'll spend some time looking over them all. Sounds like some great content there so I look forward to checking them out.
Question: Is it worth reading the documentation on here from the start or just dip in and out of it when required?
I really appreciate everyone taking the time to answer this thread. I thought it might have been a bit of a shot in the dark but you guys have really helped.
Just to quickly jump back in on your two questions there!
Building a blog - I would start by building it for yourself, tailoring it to your site and your requirements. Then when you have something that works, you can see which parts of it could be packaged up separately and then learn how to create a package with what you have. When you get to that stage, you'll notice it can be quite straight forward to create simple packages in Umbraco, so having something already in place will give you a head start.
Reading the documentation - I'd be tempted to just use it when you need it. The sources linked by others in this thread would be good things to read through, but you'll learn a lot by just getting things to work. And when you do, you can always post what you have back here and ask "how could this be done differently?". There's rarely a single way to do things, and by engaging with other people rather than documentation you'll pick up those little tips and tricks that often end up making the difference!
Have fun!
Personally, I'd go through the documentation* first, then build something. That's how I typically learn new technologies. I read a book or two on it, then once I really get my hands dirty I find that I can recall that there was a recommended approach, but I can't remember the details of it. At that point, I open the book back up and read about the details so I can use them in practice, which helps me remember the information.
There were no useful Umbraco books back when I started, so I watched Umbraco TV instead. It was OK, but a little hard to stay awake through after listening for hours continuously. Still, if you have the time, Umbraco TV can be a valuable learning resource.
* When I say "the documentation", I actually mean things like that "LearnUmbraco7" repo. I treat the official documentation on this "our.umbraco.org" website as referential (i.e., I only read it when I need to know something specifically).
Cheers Nicholas.
I'm going to read the docs today.
I've got a todo list:
I think that's my starting point anyway - open to suggestions though.
is working on a reply...
This forum is in read-only mode while we transition to the new forum.
You can continue this topic on the new forum by tapping the "Continue discussion" link below.