Focus Lab, LLC is proud to announce a partnership with Train-ee.com. We have been working with Mike Boyink to develop and offer an Advanced course alongside his already excellent Beginner to Intermediate classroom training for ExpressionEngine. The class aims to give students a deep understanding of how ExpressionEngine and CodeIgniter work in the background of an EE site. Students will also learn to plan, build, test and deliver their own add-ons for ExpressionEngine. For more details about our first class check out the advanced class page on Train-ee.com.

“The goal...is to incorporate as many aspects of add-on development into a single add-on.”

In early 2010 Mike and I began discussing the need for an add-on focused class for Train-ee. The interest was there but Mike needed someone to develop and ultimately teach the course. Because I love showing people how things work I was instantly attracted to the idea.

The timing last year seemed a bit odd simply due to the state of ExpressionEngine's transition into 2.x. I didn't want to start a class that could potentially need to cover EE1 and EE2 add-ons. (Anyone who has built for both versions knows that it wouldn't be fun.) So here we are, nearly a year after the 2.x release, ready with this new class.

Introducing Train-ee Toolkit

The class will primarily center around planning, building, testing and delivering a single add-on which we're calling Train-ee Toolkit. The purpose of this add-on is to aid developers as they build and maintain EE sites over time. A few tools that I released for EE1 will be rolled into this add-on (like ER Developer Toolbar, CP Active Members and Cache Buster).

The goal of Train-ee Toolkit is to incorporate as many aspects of add-on development into a single add-on. We'll cover the ins and outs of the new CodeIgniter foundation of EE along with each type of add-on and how to build them. I've been very excited putting the material together!

Other Training & Consulting Opportunities

One of the reasons Mike came to us about this class is simply because we've already been teaching it. Focus Lab, LLC already does private training and consulting on a number of levels for ExpressionEngine. If you or your organization is in need of an instructor for EE we would love to talk with you. Here are a few ideas of practices we've consulted on with other companies:

• Add-on development
• ExpressionEngine site IA
• Multi-environment configurations
• Source control management and deployments

If you see yourself fitting in one of the areas above, but aren't sure that a public classroom setting is what you need, please drop us a line and we'll talk.

Any Questions?

So, our fun announcement is done. Be sure to take a look at the class details and if you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments below. To stay up to date on class details follow us on Twitter, follow Train-ee on twitter, or subscribe to our feed.