As it goes, WordPress is one of the easier-to-use publishing tools available to not only install and configure, but to administer on a daily basis. This doesn't mean it's easy. However, after many years of constant development, today's WordPress is a powerful publishing platform without all of the unnecessary back-end confusion that plagues many other blogging and CMS systems.
At the beginning, mastering WordPress may be a daunting undertaking, but you have at your fingertips a huge range of free and premium tutorial aids, specifically designed to help you quickly learn WordPress. Whether you're a WordPress novice or a professional developer, there are resources available that allow you to master any or all areas of WordPress. In this article we shall round-up some of the best online learning resources, guides and tools, that you can use to learn more about WordPress, which currently is powering around 26% of the internet.
- WordPress Codex & Forums
- WP101
- Pippin's Plugins
- WP Apprentice
- WordPress TV
- Lynda.com
- Udemy
- BitDegree
WordPress Codex & Forums
As probably the most popular - and free - online source to learn WordPress, we would first like to mention the WordPress Codex. The codex is the WordPress user manual for bloggers, webmasters or WordPress web developers. It contains a vast amount of information detailing about every single aspect of WordPress, inside and out. There also are WordPress Developer Resources.
Although not strictly a tutorial or course based service, the codex provides you with everything you would ever need to know about the in's and out's of WordPress. Using the codex, and the Official Support Forums, you have access to thousands of developers. Both professional and hobbyists are answering a vast array of questions and solving problems for WordPress users around the clock. Usage of both the codex and forums, is of course, completely free of all charges.
WP101
As the name suggests, WP101 aims to provide its users with tutorial videos and courses about every aspect of WordPress. It is primarily aimed at beginners and novice users who are working with WordPress on a daily basis. WP101 offers a variety of free and premium courses covering a small range of WordPress topics, with several more on the horizon.
Topics Include:
- WooCommerce: A comprehensive 22-part course that will introduce you to this incredible e-commerce plugin for WordPress, as well as walking you through the installation and configuration process of your online shop with WooCommerce.
- Yoast SEO: A 13-part video course, created in collaboration with the Yoast founder, that will walk you through all aspects of installing, configuring and using the Yoast SEO plugin.
As you progress through the WP101 course collection, you are granted free access to the next level of courses, their slightly more advanced 201 courses. These advanced courses begin to cover features such as working with Custom Fields, or understanding Permalinks. However they are still primarily aimed at the WordPress beginner and presented as such. Membership charges start at $39 per year, although you are able to purchase individual courses with prices currently starting from $19.
Pippin's Plugins
You would be forgiven in thinking that Pippin's Plugins is exclusively dedicated to WordPress plugins. As the name suggests, this is the home for plugins created by the popular WordPress developer, Pippin Williamson. There are however, over 200 free and premium WordPress tutorials available to you covering a huge range of topics spanning across all levels of expertise.
There are 12 tutorial series in total, covering a range of topics including APIs, working with JSON, shortcodes and a variety of plugin development guides. Membership starts from just $6 per month.
WP Apprentice
Administering a WordPress website on a daily basis can be a challenge to newcomers, despite the simplistic WordPress dashboard. WP Apprentice provides a variety of video tutorials specifically aimed at outlining not only WordPress basics, but builds up to provide you with the skills required to create comprehensive, feature-rich websites with WordPress.
WP Apprentice offers three complete WordPress courses:
- Quick Start: Aimed at WordPress beginners who want to get their website online straight away.
- Essentials: Aimed towards beginners and intermediate users who want to master all of the core WordPress features that you will encounter on a regular basis.
- Website Blueprint: Aimed at professionals and business owners who want to provide their visitors with the best possible experience.
Membership charges vary depending on which course you undertake. With the Quick Start course being available free of charge. Both the Essentials and Website Blueprint courses are premium courses and are charged at $47 and $99 respectively.
WordPress TV
From the makers of WordPress itself, WordPress.TV is a collection of extremely useful and interesting videos covering all aspects of WordPress deployment, management and development. Many videos are taken from the various WordCamps that have taken place around the globe in recent years.
These videos contain vital information from a wide range of WordPress related topics. The topcis range from creating and using WordPress Hooks, to creating and getting the most out of Custom Post Types. As with most things around WordPress, the use of WordPress.TV is completely free of charge. That makes it an invaluable tool for learners of all skill levels.
Lynda.com
Another very popular platform for online WordPress learning resources on the internet is Lynda.com. This platform can also help you master every corner of WordPress with its many series of WordPress training courses. You can learn a variety of WordPress related topics, ranging from how to build your own online e-commerce site using WordPress, to building a paid membership website. Basic membership starts from $12.95 per month, with a free 10-day trial currently available.
Udemy
Udemy offers a large range of WordPress related courses developed from a wide-range of independent authors. Offering both free and paid courses, Udemy offers a comprehensive collection of learning tools and guides that allow you to administer and customize all aspects of your WordPress website. Individual course prices start from around $13.
BitDegree
BitDegree is a leading e-learning platform where people can acquire high demand skills at reasonable prices. On this platform, you can learn a variety of WordPress related topics from how to create a WordPress website to how to ensure its safety. Most of the courses are suitable for beginners, so you don't need to have any previous experience. Moreover, BitDegree offers free certificates after completing a course.
Conclusion: Online resources for learning WordPress
Regardless of the level of your expertise, whether you're about to install WordPress for the very first time, or if you're one of the lucky ones who work with WordPress every single day, you're never alone if you're faced with problems or daunting tasks. There are many tutorials, guides and courses available to you, sometimes for free, that will help you learn something new about WordPress.
With these services you do get what you pay for, so be thoughtful when it comes to choosing the right service for your needs and check before you opt in for certain WordPress learning courses. You really can't go far wrong with the resources we have rounded up for you in this article.
