How to Learn WordPress Online

In today’s world, when you want to know something—tomorrow’s weather or how many cups of frosting you need to ice a 9” two-layer cake—you turn to the internet. You don’t even have to type in your query: click on the microphone icon and tell your phone what you want to know, and it will bring up a response. And that response, at least to simple queries, is generally reliable (you do indeed need the four cups of frosting the Voice on the Phone tells you that you need). There may be flaws to the system, but most people today regard the internet as all-knowing. The world wide web is crowded with live online classes, on-demand courses, and thousands upon thousands upon thousands of video tutorials of varying quality and value on YouTube alone. This guide will help you find the way to learn WordPress that best suits you, your needs, and your style of learning.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is an extremely versatile and powerful content management system (CMS) that is behind 43% of the sites on the world wide web. Yes, that’s well over a third of the internet. You can use WordPress for everything from constructing a simple blog to setting up a gigantic online emporium. It’s even being used today as a framework for creating new applications.

WordPress is open-source and free software. That means that the code is accessible to anyone interested, and you can download it without cost. (There are expenses involved in setting up a WordPress site, but WordPress.com makes it possible to create a blog or a simple website without any money changing hands.) Iif you wish to establish an online presence of any size, WordPress can help you.

Learn more about what WordPress is and the benefits of learning to use it.

What Can You Do with WordPress?

WordPress first came to digital life in 2003 as blogging software. It enabled people seeking to establish a voice for themselves on the internet to create blogs without the need for actual coding. As such, WordPress remains extremely popular with bloggers. Indeed, anyone seeking to set up a blog will probably find themselves directed to WordPress for its relative ease of use and wide variety of features that make it possible for lay users to create something “professional” in appearance.

However, 43% of all sites on the web can’t all be blogs, and, indeed, WordPress is currently employed for a great deal more than maintaining ongoing records of what its more casual users had for dinner. WordPress has grown exponentially over the nearly two decades it has been in existence and is used for a variety of purposes today. A range of software plugins allows WordPress to do practically anything. To choose one example from many, the WooCommerce plugin allows the user to turn a WordPress site into a store. As such, WordPress has become the internet’s leading ecommerce platform.

Perhaps the most salient aspect of WordPress is that the software is open-source and free. This has many ramifications, not the least of which is that it opens the software for use as anything a user can imagine. Thus WordPress has expanded beyond blogs and smaller websites and stores into major websites for major companies (zoom.us, indeed.com, and the cryptocurrency site coinmarketcap.com are all powered by WordPress; so is hairwrapsandbrading.au). The software’s server side has most recently begun to be employed as a framework for creating applications. And all these possibilities are within reach of anyone who knows how to make use of the software.

Live Online WordPress Training

The most up-close-and-personal way of learning to use WordPress without leaving your house is by taking a live online class. In a sense, it’s the next best thing to attending a class in person. While you’re not actually in the same physical classroom as the teacher when taking a live online class, there are advantages to counterbalance that. Not the least of these is the comfort of being able to learn in your own space. You can take the class from almost anywhere and needn’t even be in the same city from one session to another. It’s a great solution for busy people trying to get a class to fit into their schedules, and it fits right into the lifestyle of the ever-growing number of people who work from home. (One of the two “fathers” of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, set up his company Automattic with nothing but people working remotely. Thus learning WordPress from home definitely gets you into the spirit of the thing).

There is a large number of schools that teach WordPress classes online. A good place to start researching live online WordPress classes is Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me tool. A click on the above link will bring up a whole list of online classes available to you based on your geographical location. That will likely include major online IT education providers like General Assembly or Noble Desktop, along with some less obvious contenders. As an example, Noble Desktop offers its introductory class in WordPress for complete beginners with no coding background. There are also classes designed for students seeking to integrate their knowledge of HTML with their existing knowledge of WordPress. Beginner online classes are generally brief affairs that run one or two days, although there are also longer-length bootcamps that go into more intermediate topics, such as opening a store using WooCommerce. With all these options, the digital reality is that there is a live online WordPress class that will exactly suit your needs.

On-Demand WordPress Classes

By far the most budget-conscious way of learning WordPress is by using an on-demand online option. It is also the most convenient and adaptable way to learn for someone on a busy schedule. The way on-demand learning works is simple: the classes are basically a series of instructional videos that you watch and absorb whenever you like. For those from an earlier generation, on-demand learning is the 21st-century equivalent of getting the book and learning from that.

There are different kinds of on-demand classes, running from free webinars to more elaborate classes with some teacher involvement (like tests that get corrected or some general oversight of students). The on-demand courses with teacher involvement are obviously one step beyond the just-getting-the-book classes and can be very effective for independent people who prefer to learn on their own.

One thing is certain: there’s no shortage of on-demand WordPress classes available. They come in all flavors, from beginning to advanced, with stops along the way for classes designed for the code-literate and others for people who lack the ability or inclination to code. (If you do want to learn HTML, you’ll have no trouble finding on-demand courses in that as well.) There are on-demand classes for building free WordPress sites (probably the most basic of WordPress operations), and there are more advanced classes in everything from SEO for a WordPress site to how to make money using WooCommerce. You can click on the following link for further information on on-demand WordPress classes; you’ll find no shortage of attractive, affordable, and possibly free options at your fingertips.

Free Intro Courses & Tutorials

If signing up for a class (and paying the tuition) seems like more of a commitment than you’re willing to make at this stage in your WordPress education, fear not: in today’s online universe, there is no shortage of ways in which you can get your feet wet for free. That means free online courses and tutorials, some of which are even offered by leading online schools. An example of the breed is the Introduction to WordPress free seminar from Noble Desktop, which takes students from an explanation of how websites work through to the creation and editing of WordPress themes, all without recourse to code. It should prove a well-spent hour and a quarter and will prepare you for a longer class, should you decide to take one.

Other providers of free online WordPress courses include Coursera and Udemy. The latter has offerings such as How to Make a Website Step by Step and a more advanced Learn SEO for WordPress Websites. It also has a selection of mini-lessons available that last around 15 minutes each and teaches single, simple WordPress skills.

Learn more about free WordPress videos and online tutorials.

Comparing Online Learning with In-Person Learning

The possibility of using the internet as a means of education dates back almost to the earliest days of widespread use of the world wide web as a means of communication. Online learning received a substantial boost thanks to the necessities of the COVID crisis when people had no choice but to study from the safety of their own homes, but it is far from a teaching modality to be used only in tempore plaga. It was around before the pandemic and has only been energized post-pandemic for its usefulness, convenience, and adaptability.

A live online class has a great deal in common with learning in a classroom setting. Indeed, quite a few live online classes take place simultaneously with in-person classes so that in-person and virtual students get to have the same classroom experience. Even when the students are all virtual, the experience has a great deal in common with a live class: there is a live and in-person teacher with either a whiteboard or a screen that is shared with the students. The teacher has a view of all the students in the class (most schools keep their virtual classrooms small to make sure of that), and the latter are able to interact with the instructor just as in a “real” class.

In addition to that, there is the added convenience of being able to study in your own space without the need to drag yourself to a school. Your classroom can be anywhere. It needn’t even be the same place from class meeting to class meeting: very little can beat being able to go to class without having to go to class.

That’s not to say that learning online is all academic rainbows and unicorns. There are a few drawbacks to be considered, not the least of which is the danger of distraction. You can be immersed in some arcane WordPress operation and suddenly find that the dog has snuck into the room and needs to go out. And it needn’t be the dog. There are kids, phones, and other minor interruptions that can get in the way of studying from home. But the reality is that there are distractions to be found in in-person classes as well. The person next to you may be unable to sit still, keep asking you dumb questions, or endlessly text under the table.

There is also the unfamiliarity of learning online for those who have not experienced it as yet. While it will be strange at first, and you’re probably going to want at first to reach through the screen as though it were Alice’s looking glass so you can be present in the classroom, that’s a normal feeling that quickly passes as you get used to the teaching modality of the future. People have earned college degrees by learning online, proving that the system works. If it does feel strange at first, give it a little time. It’ll soon be second nature. You needed your first few weeks of kindergarten to get used to learning in person, remember.

Tips to Succeed when Learning WordPress Online

If you have the equivalent of £500 a year and a lock on the door, you’ve got it made as far as learning WordPress online is concerned. All you really need is a space to set up your computer and settle down to learn.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to possess Virginia Woolf’s paradigm for being able to work effectively and independently, but you can still learn successfully online. There’s really only one essential key to success: finding somewhere you can operate free of distractions for however long the class lasts.

Regardless of where you are, you should approach a virtual class with the seriousness you’d bring to an in-person class in a brick-and-mortar school. Be on time to class, have what you need ready and available, and come alert and prepared to learn. If your class is in the morning, get up with plenty of time to get ready, and don’t forget your morning coffee. If your class is in the evening, maybe consider a quick nap before it’s time to report to your computer. Charge your laptop or tablet to 100% and do yourself the favor of getting a headset. It will help to block out background distractions.

There are a few other tricks to learning online successfully. You’re in your own space, so make yourself comfortable. Have a coffee as well as a bottle of water to hand, as, especially if your class is in the evening, you may need a pick-me-up. Ensure that the room temperature is comfortable for you and conducive to paying attention. On the other hand, don’t make yourself too comfortable: sitting at a desk or at a table is far preferable to lying on a bed or a couch. And don’t forget a pad of paper and sharpened pencils for taking notes.

Key Insights

• Learning online bears many similarities to attending a live class: the teacher is with you in real time, you’re always able to ask questions, and, should it become necessary, you can share your screen with the instructor.
• Beware that it’s easy to want to slack (or, worse, doze) off when you’re studying at home or in a familiar, comfortable space.
• Successful online learning requires taking steps to ensure a peaceful learning environment free of distractions.

Learn WordPress with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

A highly effective way of learning to make the most of WordPress would be to take a class in the subject at Noble Desktop, a leading purveyor of live in-person IT training in New York City. Noble teaches extensively online as well, which puts its classes within reach of anyone in the world with internet access. Noble Desktop prides itself on its hands-on learning model, small class sizes, experienced and talented instructors, and a free retake option that makes it possible to cement or refresh your knowledge of what you’ve learned within the space of a year. Noble Desktop offers a wide variety of WordPress classes and bootcamps, one of which is sure to further your goals in using the CMS.

Noble Desktop’s WordPress Bootcamp is designed for students with a background in HTML and CSS who are seeking to learn how to use the system whilst bringing their knowledge of coding to the WordPress table as well. The course of study runs for three weeks, two nights a week for three hours a session, and takes WordPress novices through to customizing a website in ways that aren’t possible if you are limited to communicating in English with the software.

While WordPress can be used to create impressive websites, there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in WordPress’ philosophy. For those interested in learning about WordPress in tandem with other tools for front end web development, Noble Desktop also offers its students a Front End Web Development Certificate program that teaches not only WordPress but also HTML, CSS, and the language so essential to the creation of interactive and dynamic websites, JavaScript. Or, if the design aspects of website creation interest you as well, Noble offers a Web Design Certificate program that teaches, in addition to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WordPress, the underlying principles of UI (user interface) design.