How I Learned WordPress & How You Can Learn Best
About me
I am Zarko, Zak Jovic, and I have been a WordPress designer and developer for quite some time now. I started working with WordPress 10 years ago, but unfortunatelly I didn't realize then that it was going to be such a popular technology. If I knew that then I would probably start creating some themes or plugins or the like. But anyway, I have found my way through the WordPress world.
Why I wanted to learn WordPress
If you have ever wanted to learn a bit more about WordPress you have realized how big and open the WordPress community actually is. And you are right. It is huge. That's why I thought it would be a breeze to learn it.
Besides the great community, I have realized that it is possible to make great sites in WordPress. When I started getting better at a few things, I started receiving requests to build more sites. That hit me like a brick — the better I get in this area, the more chance I'd get to work on much better projects. That's exactly what happened.
How I approached learning WordPress
Well, since the WordPress platform powers more than 27% of the websites, you can expect to find lot of learning materials on the web. There is just an abnormal ammount of WordPress knowledge out there — you can just imagine how happy I must've been.
Challenges I faced
After the initial high of finding free knowledge on the web, you might start to get confused because lot of the information you find can contradict each other. From my experience, it was just a nightmare. Where do I start learning with all this mess?
Key takeaways
I decided I would start easy by only following WordPress Developer and Codex sections on wordpress.org and start working on some imaginary projects. So, as a designer, I just started by creating a few rudimentary web designs and making them in WordPress. I think that is one of the best possible paths to go about it. Just find yourselves some designs on the web and start working on them. And do not forget that you have the possibility of getting mentors to guide you through the process — this is something that I wish I had because it can significantly reduce your learning time.
Tips and advice
Bottom line:
- Get familiar with WordPress Developer and Codex sites
- Find some easy web designs
- Learn about simple and effective local web development environment
- Just start builidng your sites
After several sample or practice sites, you will be ready for your first project!
Useful resources
You can use these resources to get deeper knowledge about the WordPress:
Few additional resources:
Final thoughts and next steps
Once you master your skills in WordPress, it can be a joy to work with. Just remember, with WordPress, you can build very effective and fast efficient site of any complexity. Don't be intimidated when your first few sites just fall appart. As any other skills, you need time and practice to master it. If you need some help or want to get knowledge faster, just write to me and I will guide you through the process of learning WordPress.
Happy coding!
