Finishing off the trio of shows all about iWork '08, this weeks show brings you up to date with the newly revised Pages'08, Apples flexible, yet powerful, word processor and page layout application.

Addressing the major complaints about Pages'06, mainly that it wasn't a "proper" word processor, Apple have completely revised Pages '08 to include a brand new "word processor" mode, in addition to its original page layout mode. To make it even easier to use, Apple have also introduced the context sensitive format bar in line with the other iWork applications to allow for less reliance on the inspector panels and give you control of the common elements right within the application window itself.

Following on from the previous show I did on Pages '06 (nearly two years ago!), this show will bring you up to speed on lots of the new functions and capabilities of this outstanding package!

This weeks show is a free show, but there is an extended show available for ScreenCastsOnline Extra! members with an additional 10 minutes of content and chapter marks. Extra! members will receive the extended show automatically as usual.

The show covers:

• Introduction to Pages '08
• Using the Format Bar
• Paragraph, Character & List Styles
• Page & Section Breaks
• Tracking Changes in Documents

The Extra! members extended show also covers:

• Working with Images in Pages
• Instant Alpha
• Wrapping Text around images
• Masking Images and Picture Frames
• Text Flow in Page Layout Mode
• Exporting

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

---

ScreenSteps is a great application from Blue Mango Learning Systems that makes creating, annotating and publishing instructions or task based documentation a breeze. Now although ScreenCasts are a brilliant way to get across complex information, sometimes there's no substitute for step by step instruction manuals with clear screenshots and good, consise instructions. The problem with creating "printed" documentation is that it can be difficult to assemble and can go out of date very easily requiring Herculean effort to update. And as for trying to keep on top of changes to videos - forget it!

Screensteps is cross platform application for both the Mac and Windows, which allows you to create libraries of "lessons", each lesson being a step by step process covering whatever tasks you want to document. Available in both a free version and a pay for version, the application has comprehensive tools built right in for screen capture and image annotation to easily and quickly build up step based documentation. Once you've created your lessons, ScreenSteps also has some powerful export functions that allow you export your lessons in either customised PDF or HTML format (in the pay for version) or even directly to a hosted ScreenSteps Live web service (included in the free version as well as the paid for version).

As well as exporting individual lessons, ScreenSteps allows you to organise your lessons into topics and sections, allowing you to create individual PDF files or HTML output containing an entire Library of lessons complete with a table of contents and easy navigation. The PDF version collates all your lessons into a multi page PDF whilst the HTML output provides all the code you need to upload to your website for online documentation.

If you're not sure about uploading HTML files to your website (or if you don't have a website) be sure to check out Part 2 of this ScreenSteps show where I'll be taking a look at ScreenSteps Live, a free service to host your ScreenSteps lessons. ScreenSteps Free and ScreenSteps Live are tightly integrated and it's really easy to export your lessons directly and automatically to ScreenSteps Live from within ScreenSteps.

As well as the free options, there are Standard and Pro versions of ScreenSteps which allow you to export locally to PDF and HTML so once you've tried the package, you can upgrade to get the full features. There's a ScreenCastsOnline discount code available for both the Standard and Pro versions of ScreenSteps giving you a massive 25% discount off the normal online price. The discount code is:

SCO25

and is valid up until the 1st May 2008 - NB - ScreenCastsOnline will also get some commission for every copy sold via this special promotion!

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

Part 1 - ScreenSteps Desktop Application


Part 2 - ScreenSteps Live

---

[Extra Only Show] As promised, this week concludes the two part show all about Bento, the personal database from Filemaker.

As mentioned in the previous show, Bento is a very powerful application that harnesses the power of database creation and sophisticated data manipulation in a very stylish and easy to use package - the epitome of a mac application!

As well as allowing you to create your own databases (or libraries in Bento terminology) from scratch or via imported data, Bento also gives you direct access to your Address book data, along with your iCal tasks and events to design your own forms to view and manipulate your data. Eye candy is plentiful with the use of pre designed themes and the ability to create your own special views of your data via easily customisable forms. Even if you don't feel the need to dabble with a database, Bento allows you to access, view and amend your Address Book and iCal data with a great new interface, straight out of the box.

In this final show I take you through some of the more advanced aspects of using Bento to manage your personal data including:

• iCal Event and Task Integration
• How you might use iCal integration
• Additional Bento Fields
• Printing Tables and Forms
• Creating Mailing Labels
• How to import Data into Bento
• Backing up Your Data

Hopefully parts 1 and 2 of this tutorial will have you well on the way to managing your data more effectively and give you a fresh outlook on address book and iCal.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

---

By popular demand, this weeks show is all about Bento by FileMaker. Bento is a very flexible and elegant database package that many people consider to be the application that was missing from iWork.

It's a very powerful application that harnesses the power of database creation and sophisticated data manipulation in a very stylish and easy to use package - the epitome of a mac application!

As well as allowing you to create your own databases (or libraries in Bento terminology) from scratch or via imported data, Bento also gives you direct access to your Address book data, along with your iCal tasks and events to design your own forms to view and manipulate your data. Eye candy is plentiful with the use of pre designed themes and the ability to create your own special views of your data via easily customisable forms.

This weeks show takes you through the basics of Bento and even if you've no database experience, should give you enough information to start creating your own databases with ease. The show is an Extra members show and covers:

• Introduction to Bento
• The Bento Interface
• Core Concepts - Libraries and Collections
• Address Book Integration
• Records & Table View
• Form Views
• Creating a Library
• Adding Fields
• Form Customisation
• Themes
• Advanced Find
• Smart Collections

More than enough to get you started! This is the first of a two part show on Bento and we'll look at some of the more advanced features in part two.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

---

More iWork 08 goodness this week as I take a look at some of the new features in Keynote 08, Apples fantastic presentation application.

Keynote 3 was great but Apple have added in some additional features that really take Keynote to the next level. It's one of those applications that make you thankful you're a Mac user and might even just make those business users sitting on the fence make the final leap!

There is already a full ScreenCastsOnline tutorial on Keynote 3 covering some of the basic functionality so this week's show focusses on the new and improved elements within Keynote 08. The show also takes a more advanced approach on how you can configure the new features to create even more sophisticated and impressive effects!

This weeks show includes:

• Introduction & New Effects
• Smart Builds
• Integrating Smart Builds with Bullet Points
• Instant Alpha
• Creating Animations
• Presenters Display Setup & Usage
• Adding an Audio Narration
• Exporting & Printing

This weeks show is an Extra Members show and is available in Apple TV HD format (1280x720), Enhanced Desktop ED Format (960x540) and iPhone/iPod resolution (640x360). For full details on how easy it is to become an Extra! member and get this show along with the next six months worth of weekly shows PLUS access to over 110+ Mac based tutorials, just follow this link.

Discussions: Forum

Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
The free show (or trailer) is at a much lower resolution.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

---

Straight into the good stuff this week with an in-depth look at all the major features of Numbers, the spectacular new spreadsheet application included in Apples iWork '08 suite.

This weeks show covers all the bases including:

• Introduction to Numbers
• Data Entry and Formatting
• Charts, Text and Shapes
• Images, Masking & Instant Alpha
• Printing
• Exporting to iWeb

I'm really pleased how this weeks show turned out and judging by some of the comments on the ScreenCastsOnline forum, I'm not the only one....

"I just don't know how you do this; it is brilliant.  I probably got my iLife a day earlier than yours (I have a son who is a director in Apple!!) and I have spent a couple of hours with it but your skill in absorbing a brand new product and communicating its essence is really something special.  You have just saved me 'hours' of work!! .....
 
Again Don, just a wonderful show and an abolute eye-opener in Numbers.....
 
Great app, great show!! many thanks."

Ron - A ScreenCastsOnline Extra! Member

This weeks show is an Extra Members show and is available in Apple TV HD format (1280x720), Enhanced Desktop ED Format (960x540) and iPhone/iPod resolution (640x360). For full details on how easy it is to become an Extra! member and get this show along with the next six months worth of weekly shows PLUS access to over 110+ Mac based tutorials, just follow this link.

Discussions: Forum
Extra members get access to full versions of the show in AppleTV (HD), ED and iPod resolutions.
The free show (or trailer) is at a much lower resolution.
Click here for more details on becoming a ScreenCastsOnline Extra! member

---

Yes, the 100th show!

Thanks for all the support and good wishes from everyone which has made reaching this milestone possible!

This week is a double episode covering two very distinctly different product areas.

Elgato turbo.264 Video Encoder - The first is the new hardware based H.264 video encoder from Elgato. This innocuous and inexpensive piece of kit plugs into a spare USB 2 port on your Mac and turbocharges your H.264 video encoding with amazing results. If you do any amount of video encoding for your iPod or Apple TV you must watch this screencast!

You'll be amazed at how cheaply you can double, treble or even quadruple your video encoding speed, even on an older Mac!

Product Link

OmniPlan - The second part of the screencast is all about the Project Management application OnmniPlan from Omni Group. I don't usually cover business based applications in ScreenCastsOnline, so this is a bit of an experiment. If you like it, let me know and I'll cover some more business applications.

OmniPlan is another of those Omni Group applications that just works and make planning on the Mac a pleasure!

The screencast covers the basic UI and functions of OmniPlan and leads you through making a simple project plan. I also cover some of the exporting features on OmniPlan.

As mentioned in the screencast, you can get a 10% discount of the usual price of OmniPlan by using the coupon code SCREENCASTPLAN when buying via the online store (valid up to 15th July 2007.

Product Link

As mentioned in the show, as a celebration of the 100th episode, I'm releasing both the Hi Definition version (1280x720) and the Enhanced Definition (960x540) for freedownload together with a time limited offer of a discounted Extra! membership offer. Please follow this link to download the HD shows and check out the details of the discounted membership offer.

Discussions: Forum

---

Following on from an earlier show (a much earlier show - SCO0057), this week I take you through some of the common features and new functionality in Wordpress, the free blogging software. The previous episode covered installtion and configuration so this time we get to look at how to actually use Wordpress.

However, this weeks show is an Extra! members only show (there is one every month) so if you're not an Extra! member you'll only get edited highlights of the full 30 minute show. Extra! members get the full show in a choice of three super resolutions including HD (1280x70 - perfect for the Apple TV), Enhanced Definition (960x540) and iPod (640x360). Extra! members also get access to over 100+ screencasts on all sorts of subjects as soon as they sign up for a 6 month, low cost membership. Check out the details here to get immediate access to this and all the other shows.

This weeks full show includes sections on:

Installation Recap
Using the Administration Panel
Downloading and Installing Templates
Downloading and Installing Plugins
Wordpress Widgets
Installing and Configuring Wordpress Widgets
Tiger Administration Plugin for Wordpress
Wordpress Options

Once you've mastered Wordpress, you're on your way to creating your very own blog with this amazing free software.

Some links mentioned in this weeks show:

SCO0055 - Wordpress Part 1
SCO0071 - Using an Internet Hosting Provider - SiteGround
SiteGround Affiliate Link
SCO0085 - Speed Download - Part 1
SCO0086 - Speed Download - Part 2
Anaconda Theme
WordPress
WordPress Widgets Blog
MarsEdit
My Own Reality - My Personal WordPress Blog

Discussions: Forum

---