Community and Training Sites

Almost as soon as Keynote was announced, people began gathering online to discuss the program and to help each other with how to use it. You can now find several Web sites, a mailing list or two, and discussion boards where you can go to slake your thirst for all things Keynote.

Apple's Keynote Discussions page

http://discussions. info .apple.com/webx/keynote/

Apple's discussion board ( Figure A.1 ) allows you to send feedback to the Keynote team at Apple (they read it, but they won't reply), and lists Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and their answers. You can also post your own questions, and chances are a Keynote expert will have an answer for you within a few hours.

Figure A.1. Apple's Keynote Discussions page is an excellent place to get your questions answered .

One politeness rule to follow on this board: Before you post your question, use the Search function to see if your question has been asked and answered before. In many cases it has, and there's no need to take up people's time answering the same old questions again and again.

KeynoteUser.com

http://www.keynoteuser.com

This site, produced by Brian Peat of The Peat Group , Inc., provides Keynote news and reviews of Keynote- related products, including presentation hardware and themes from companies other than Apple ( Figure A.2 ). You'll also find tips, tutorials, and links to other Keynote sites around the Web.

Figure A.2. KeynoteUser.com has a good mix of news, themes, and reviews.

This site is a good source for themes that you can download, and free extras that can enhance your presentations. Peat also creates his own high-quality themes, both for sale and as free downloads from the site.

Keynote Yahoo! Group

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/applekeynote/

KeynoteUser.com sponsors a Yahoo! Group devoted to Keynote, which is primarily used as a mailing list for Keynote aficionados ( Figure A.3 ). The mailing list can be delivered via email, or you can read and post messages from the Web site. The site also has a Files area, which contains tutorials contributed by the group's members , and a selection of free themes.

Figure A.3. The Keynote Yahoo! Group delivers Keynote talk to your email box, or you can read the discussion on the Web.

Keynote HQ

http://www.keynotehq.com

This was the first of the Keynote sites to appear ( Figure A.4 ). You'll find Keynote tips, themes, tutorials, and a forum where you will find friendly people who can answer virtually any question you might have about Keynote or presentations.

Figure A.4. Keynote HQ is chock-full of tips, downloadable themes, and a user forum.

Atomic Learning

http://www.atomiclearning.com/keynote2

This Minnesota-based company produces training classes broken up into bite- sized QuickTime movies for a number of products, including Keynote 2 ( Figure A.5 ). Each of the dozens of Keynote movies is between 30 seconds and two minutes long, and covers just one topic. You won't find advanced techniques here, but the basics are well covered.

Figure A.5. Atomic Learning's Keynote tutorials can be viewed in just a few minutes each.

The site provides access to all of its contents (not just the Keynote stuff) for a yearly individual subscription of $80, with reduced rates for schools , organizations, and businesses. If you have training needs that span several programs (on both Mac and Windows), it's worth a look.