Everyone learns differently. Some people thrive in a classroom, others become autodidacts.
Now, thanks to social media and streaming technology there are more ways to learn WordPress outside of school and without books. Those things still exist for WordPress, but since they often don’t fit into most people’s learning styles, it’s necessary to get training in alternative places.
If you want to become a professional blogger, here are the top 10 ways to learn WordPress outside of school.
WordPress Consultant
Private tutoring is the fastest, most efficient way to learn WordPress. As a WordPress Consultant and Tutor, I can give you a dashboard tour in an hour and have your site launched in two. For $50 per hour, I’ll meet you on Skype or at my local coffee shop. Or, I’ll come to your Vancouver office and tutor your employees. People are blown away after I bring them up to speed.
Lynda.com
The Cadillac of tech training, you can learn WordPress and almost everything about computers at Lynda. Vancouverite Morten-Rand-Hendrickson appears in most of the WordPress modules with style and aplomb. Subscriptions start at $25 month, which is long enough to soak up WordPress Essentials to get your feet wet.
YouTube Tutorials
YouTube has an extensive variety of amateur and professional videos that demonstrate the use of WordPress. Demos on how to do specific tasks can be very handy when trying overcome obstacles. Free.
Plugins
Plugins like WP 101Plugin puts built-in videos on your site to guide and tutor you and your clients on how to use WordPress. $24/month. Sidekick places walkthroughs on your site and is free until the end of October
Tech Sites
Blogsites like wpmu.org, smashingmagazine, and business2community post articles on the basics to building a site, plus all the “best themes”, “top plugin”-type reviews you can hope to read. And there is a never-ending supply of it. Free.
WordCamp.tv
The WordPress broadcasting network features videos of talks shot at WordCamps as well as high-quality How-To videos in multiple languages. It’s the closest thing to attending WordCamp. Free
WordPress Codex
The encyclopedia of WordPress knowledge. Written by WordPress contributors, Codex is a deep read, but sometimes it’s too thick for comprehension. Free
WordPress .org Support Forums
At the WordPress Support Forums you can find answers to your questions or log in to present your own issue. The board is manned by knowledgable volunteers who deserve a lot of gratitude for their contribution to the community. Free.
Meetup.com
There are WordPress Meetups in 298 cities around the world with 485 groups and 115,625 members whose single aim is to learn WordPress. My Meetup, WordPress Workshop, has 75 members around Vancouver. Chances are, there’s a WordPress Meetup near you. If not, you can start your own. Usually Free.
WordCamp
Everything WordPress is discussed at these community-organized and highly-affordable conferences. WordCamp is where users can rub elbows with developers and still feel a part of something big. $15- 25, sometimes including lunch.
Learn WordPress outside of school
So if you want to learn WordPress, think outside the classroom. Get thee online and into groups to take advantage of what the WordPress community has to offer. There will be a quiz on this next week.
What about you? How did you learn WordPress and where did it get you? How would you have learned differently if you could?
I’d love to know.