Month: March 2014

I had the pleasure of being a guest on WPwatercooler today, where we talked about where to go to learn WordPress. I thought I’d share more in a post here.

How I learned

My perspective as a learner is centered around development — mostly theme development. I was introduced to WordPress in 2008 and by 2010 I knew it was something I wanted to do full time.

Today, I often learn WordPress by writing about it. I started Post Status partly as a way to keep learning about WordPress. When I write about a topic, I dig in deep to make sure I understand it. Writing helps me learn and learning helps me write.

My college degree was in industrial engineering, which was a great way to learn to think, but I didn’t really learn anything about programming. So when I started, I had to start with the absolute basics.

I devoured blogs and other resources to learn my craft. Below is a list or resources and communities that I recommend for new and experienced developers alike:

Free Communities

There are many helpful communities around WordPress, and the point is to get involved somewhere you can meet other people with similar goals to your own. Here are some places you may want to check out:

• WordPress.org — WordPress.org support forums are full of questions and answers for others that have been in the same situations you’ll find yourself in. Moderated by a number of excellent volunteers, don’t forget about this official community resource.
• WordPress Development on Stack Exchange — An excellent developer-centric community where some of the most advanced WordPress developers help others.
• WordPress on Reddit — The WordPress subreddit is a consistent community of folks that help one another.
• ProWordPress on Reddit — Similar to the WordPress subreddit, but a smaller community on more advanced topics.
• AdvancedWP – AdvancedWP has quickly become a must-visit page for me. It’s a Facebook group, which was tough for me to swallow, but it’s so good and so active that I find myself going back again and again.
• ManageWP.org — Like Hacker News for WordPress, ManageWP.org is a niche but good community.
• CSS-Tricks Forums — Chris Coyier’s excellent CSS-Tricks site has a forum component that often has WordPress topics pop up. It’s good to keep a toe in the more general web community too, and this is a great community to do so with.
• WordSesh — WordSesh is a free online conference organized by Scott Basgaard. It’s 24 hours of live streamed content, but it’s also all available after the fact. WordSesh’s first two conferences have been amazing, and I look forward to this continuing for a long time.
• Twitter — Twitter is the watercooler for many professional WordPress folks. Envato evangelist Japh Thomson’s WordPress list is a great place to start if you’re not already embedded there.
• WordPress meetups — Most midsize and large cities have WordPress meetups. They are typically free, and they’re a great way to get to know folks in your own town working with WordPress. Go, get involved, and learn from one another. You can search for a meetup near you on Meetup.com.

Free Resources

Here are some of the blogs that I recommend for learning WordPress.

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