LEARNING WORDPRESSSUCKSSo what’s a person to do?

Is this you?

AND IT STILL DOESN'T DO WHAT YOU WANT IT TO DO.

WORDPRESS IS PAC-MAN FOR THE WEB: EASY TO LEARN BUT NOTORIOUSLY DIFFICULT TO MASTER.John James Jacoby

SO WHAT'S NEXT?

Do what?

You're not a coder

You need to know

• HTML• CSS• SASS• JavaScript• PHP• JSON• AJAX• JQuery

• MySQL• DNS• Git• Local install• Deployment• Photoshop• ALL THE THINGS!

Four levels of knowledge• Know nothing• Know enough to be dangerous• Know enough to be afraid• Know enough to be confident

You can stop at any level. It’s up to you.

IF YOU KNOW NOTHING…

Where to begin

Learn

• WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

• Set up a self-hosted WordPress site

• Explore themes and plugins

How / Where

• WordPress.org• YouTube.com• Lynda.com• WordPress for Dummies• BobWP.com

IF YOU KNOW ENOUGH TO BE DANGEROUS…

Learning more

Learn

• Judge a good theme/plugin

• The template hierarchy• Backup a website

How / Where

• WordPress for Web Designers

• WPbeginner.com• WPmayor.com• TeamTreehouse.com

IF YOU KNOW ENOUGH TO BE AFRAID…

The gauntlet

Learn

• Check out frameworks• Write a child theme• Write a single-function

plugin• Migrate a website• Version control• Explore managed hosting

How / Where

• Read the codex• Professional WordPress

Design and Development• Boulder Digital Arts• YourWebsiteEngineer.com• WebDesign.com• WPengine.com

IF YOU KNOW ENOUGH TO BE CONFIDENT…

Rock star

Do

• Write some posts• Speak at a WordCamp• Contribute to core• Write an extension for an

existing plugin• Write a plugin for a theme

framework

Keep Learning

• Post_status.com• Torque.com• ChrisLema.com

OTHER RESOURCES

Podcasts

• Dradcast• WP Watercooler• Your Website Engineer• Shop Talk• WP Plugins A to Z• Apply Filters• WP Elevation• WordPress Chick

• Matt Report• Week in WordPress• PressThis• WordPress Weekly• WP Bacon• PleaseAdvise.fm

Networking

• WordPress.org forum• WordPress meetups• WordCamps• Twitter• Google+• Co-working spaces• Coffee shops

Mentor

• Worth every penny

Mentor

• Worth every penny beer

Now that you’re a WP ninja

• Find a group or team to collaborate with

Job Titles

• Implementer

• Web Designer• Web Developer

• Content Strategist• Front End Developer• UI / UX Designer• Marketing• SEO Specialist• Copywriter• Graphic Artist

But

• I'm not interested in learning all of that• My site doesn't need all that stuff• I don't have a site to work on

Three approaches

1. Find a sad, sorry website and build a good one

2. Find a great site and copy it

3. Make it up

Books Videos Tutorials❖ ❖

You can't learn WordPress from …

Flickr: John PannellFlickr: kennymatic

You gotta...

And when you’re feeling stupid and overwhelmed

(because you will)

Just remember how far you’ve come

And know that the people you respect and

admire…

Feel the same way too

You can do it

But you can’t do it overnight

You don’t have to do it alone

Ride Your Own Ride

Ride What You’ve Got

Julie Kuehl

• @juliekuehl• www.juliekuehl.com• (it’s pronounced “keel” but I’m good with “cool” too )

• http://www.slideshare.net/JulieKuehl

• http://chrislema.com/wordpress-ninja-1400-days/• http://winningwp.com/six-superb-books-learning-wordpress/• http://www.bobwp.com/wordpress-podcasts/