The answer to SQL Server training problems

Last Monday, I talked about the problems with SQL Server training as it existed last week.

Starting today, things are changing.

Today, you can get a sneak peek at the new SQLServerPedia, but I’m not going to give you the link until the end of the post because I want you to read what – HEY – WAIT – QUIT SCROLLING DOWN!  Finish reading this, you cheating cheater.

Okay, where was I?  Oh yeah, I want you to read what’s different about this site.

Real experts “own” each section and put their name on it.

Each topic area of the site, like Performance Tuning or Architecture & Configuration, has a name and a face.  That person is responsible for the accuracy and quality of the content in that section.  These people aren’t sitting around copy/pasting content from Books Online like some other SQL blogs I’ve seen out there – these are real SQL Server experts with real jobs and real experience solving really big problems.  This isn’t “BigDaddy31″ or “TriggerzRool” on Experts Exchange – every one of our experts has at least 10 years experience with SQL Server.

If you’ve got something to say about a page, you can say it.

Every page in the wiki has a “Discussion” tab where you can give your feedback straight to the editors – and to other readers.  You can talk about your experiences with a particular topic, suggest things the editor should do to enhance the page, or trash talk, I suppose.  But if I was you and I had something to say, I’d read the next feature…

If you want to enhance a page, you can do that too.

If you want to add content to a page, just create an account on SQLServerPedia.com and click the Edit button on a page.  Add your information.  Hit Save.  It’s just that easy.  An editor will moderate your changes, make any improvements they want, and then approve your content to go live.  That’s what makes us different – real people are double-checking the answers before they go live, because we don’t want a bad solution misleading a lot of DBAs.  When you see something in the SQLServerPedia wiki, you’re going to know that it’s passed the BS test: all of the editors have been working with SQL Server for at least a decade, and they know what’s the right thing to do and what to avoid.

We’re hosting video and audio podcasts of SQL Server training presentations.

You can subscribe to our SQL Server podcasts using your iPod or Zune, or you can just watch streaming versions in your web browser.  We’ve got video and audio copies of lots of technical presentations that we’re starting to push through our podcast feed, with new ones coming out twice a week.  If you’ve got a presentation that you’d like to record, let me know and I’d love to help you record it and host it.  There’s so many DBAs that are desperate for training and knowledge, and this is our chance to make a difference.

Everything is free – no registration required.

That’s right, free SQL Server training.  Why should you have to pay to access the work of the community?  If you want to join in and help the wiki, then you’ll need to register, but as long as you’re reading, you can keep your tin foil hat on your head and your credit card in your pocket.

Here’s to the Editors, the people making a difference.

These are the people who are pushing the buttons to make it happen: the editors at the new SQLServerPedia.com.  These are seriously experienced database experts who are taking the time out of their lives to help build community knowledge.  None of these guys are getting paid for this – they all volunteered because they believe in giving back to the community.  I can’t emphasize enough how thankful I personally am to these guys, and how thankful our readers should be.  They’re helping us all become better DBAs, and nobody’s charging admission.

And here’s to the people who helped get it off the ground.

We couldn’t do this without the dedicated contributions of Andy Grant and Christian Hasker of the Quest Software SQL Server team.  Andy and Christian pulled strings to get the entire SQL Server training content from our former product KnowledgeXpert ported over into the wiki.  If you wanted this content before, you had to pay to get it, and now Quest is giving it away for free in the wiki.  That’s the kind of commitment Quest has to getting DBAs trained, and that’s why I came to work for them.  The SQL Server business unit is about one thing: making DBAs look good, and that’s where the new SQLServerPedia comes in.

Okay, okay, here’s the link.

To get a sneak peek, go to http://SQLServerPedia.com/wiki.  We’re doing a soft launch right now, and a full launch at PASS – at that point, the main pages on SQLServerPedia.com will have the same top navigation bar as the wiki does right now.

One thing you need to know: during the soft launch, the “Search” box at the top right only shows results from the blog, not the wiki.  That’s on purpose – we don’t want to be in Google’s indexes just yet.  We’re giving the editors time to poke around in their content, and we’re working with a search engine team to optimize our HTML.

Every day this week, I’ll blog about a particular area of the site that stands out for me – something we’re doing that takes training to the next level.  Tomorrow, I’ll be talking about our vision of what a good wiki article means.

Go check out the site and let me know what you think!