11 Awesome Online Places Where You Can Learn WordPress

Blogs, forums, online courses, webinars, conferences, videos. These are just a few of the ways to learn WordPress. But where do you start? How can you be sure a blog or online course is the right skill level for you?

After all, a skilled developer has no business reading through a beginner’s WordPress forum. The same goes for beginners. Some WordPress tutorials look inviting, but you can get into some pretty advanced information if you’re not careful.

So, you have plenty of options for how to learn WordPress. The big question is, which ones are the best?

Which Aspects of WordPress Would You Like to Learn?

This is the first question you need to answer, since there are so many WordPress skill levels and topics that you might not have any interest in. Are you simply trying to launch a basic WordPress website? If so, a beginner’s course would do just fine. Would you like to learn about WordPress theme and plugin development? That’s a far more advanced course load than the average user would be interested in.

From topics like building an eCommerce website to fixing common errors, it’s important to understand your motive as a WordPress learner. That way, you’re not overly confused or paying for an online course that’s too complex or too simple for your skill level.

What Makes a Good Online WordPress Course?

Not all the online resources we outline below are in course format. Some are blogs, while others are YouTube channels. Some are free, while others you must pay for. Regardless of the cost, it’s nice to have some sort of criteria to go over when evaluating whether or not the WordPress resource is any good. Although this isn’t an exhaustive list, here are the criteria that we feel allow for us to thoroughly examine each WordPress resource:

• The cost, and value, of content you’ll receive for that price.
• The skill level it teaches.
• Whether or not the resources and courses are provided as videos, articles, or both.
• The quality of the WordPress content.
• Whether quizzes are provided or not.
• How well-structured the course material is.
• How easy it is to follow and understand the person teaching.
• Whether or not there’s useful, downloadable materials.
• Is the course content up-to-date?
• Is learning available on all devices?

Naturally, you’d like as many of the above criteria to be checked off. So, a course with both video and articles would most likely be better than a blog with only articles. We’ll use all these criteria for each of the resources below. This way, you’ll see which one is best for when you’d like to learn WordPress.

1. Learn WordPress with Udemy

Udemy provides the largest collection of lesson plans and courses when you’re attempting to learn WordPress. It’s somewhat of a marketplace environment, where any teacher can make their own course and sell it on Udemy. Therefore, you’re not limited to the views or formats of one individual or organization.

Not only that, but Udemy offers beautiful course pages with support for video, downloadable content, and outlines so that you understand what you’re getting into before pulling the trigger on a course.

Evaluation Criteria

• How Much Will it Cost You? It depends on the course. You might find a deal for $10, but most of them range from $100 to $200. 
• Skill Level? Everything from beginner to advanced.
• Do You Get Videos, Articles, or Both? Videos.
• Are the Courses Professionally-Made? Yes. Just make sure you find some highly-rated ones.
• Are Quizzes Available to Test Your Progress? It depends on the teacher, but yes, quizzes are supported through the platform. 
• Is the Course Material Well-structured? Yes. Especially if the course ratings are high. 
• Is the Presenter/Writer/Teacher Easy to Understand? High course ratings usually mean yes, the teacher is solid. Since anyone can make a course, you might stumble upon some pretty bad teachers. Good thing the ratings help you filter these out. 
• Is There Any Downloadable Material? Yes. Most courses I’ve done on Udemy have a few downloads.
• Is the Course Content Kept Up-to-date? It depends on the teacher. Follow the higher ratings. 
• Can You Learn on All Devices? All videos have mobile device and TV support. 
• Overall Value to Learn WordPress: High. As long as you complete research to find the right topic and teacher. 

2. Learn WordPress with Lynda.com

Lynda.com parallels Udemy in quality, but it’s only one organization instead of a hodgepodge of different teachers selling their videos. Lynda.com has been around for quite some time, and it focuses on developing insanely professional videos for all sorts of topics. Want to learn how to become a photo retoucher? Lynda has you covered. The categories on Lynda include the following:

• 3D + Animation
• Audio + Music
• Business
• CAD
• Design
• Developer
• Education + Elearning
• IT
• Marketing
• Photography
• Video
• Web

There’s an entire collection of “how to learn WordPress” courses, and all of them are packed with downloadable materials, beautiful videos, and guidance from teachers who know what they’re talking about. Lynda.com has never claimed to be inexpensive, since the amount of content you receive through Lynda is unparalleled.

Evaluation Criteria

• How Much Will it Cost You? $19.99 or $29.99 per month.
• Skill Level? Beginner to Advanced.
• Do You Get Videos, Articles, or Both? Videos and transcripts.
• Are the Courses Professionally-Made? Yes.
• Are Quizzes Available to Test Your Progress? Yes.
• Is the Course Material Well-structured? Yes.
• Is the Presenter/Writer/Teacher Easy to Understand? There are different instructors, but each of them is great.
• Is There Any Downloadable Material? Yes.
• Is the Course Content Kept Up-to-date? Yes. Lynda is your best bet for up-to-date content. 
• Can You Learn on All Devices? It supports all devices, along with internet-free viewing for offline learning. 
• Overall Value to Learn WordPress: High.

3. Learn WordPress with WP101

WP101 has a professional look and feel, and it has the bonus of only focusing on WordPress. It doesn’t have nearly as many WordPress topics covered (compared to Lynda and Udemy,) but it’s a clean and welcoming environment for beginners.

The current tutorials to learn WordPress include:

• Intro to WordPress
• WordPress 101
• Jetpack Tutorials
• WooCommerce Tutorials
• Yoast SEO Tutorials

Some of the “coming soon” options include:

• iThemes Security Pro
• Backup Buddy
• Beaver Builder
• WPForms Tutorials
• Gravity Forms
• Child Themes

Compared to the other courses we’ve looked at, the course selection looks pretty sparse. But WP101 does cover most beginner details within each of those tutorials. The membership works on an ongoing basis, so you get all the current tutorials, along with anything that gets released into the future. You can also use the help forum to talk with other WordPress users.

It takes the WP101 team awhile to release new courses. The good news is that they’re always really high quality. The main reason I’d choose WP101 is because of the pricing. It’s a small one-time fee for lifetime access. Lynda has the same price for one month. If you’re a beginner, this is a much better deal.

Evaluation Criteria

• How Much Will it Cost You? $19 (one-time fee). It also has $39 and $79 plans.
• Skill Level? Beginner. A few intermediate courses. 
• Do You Get Videos, Articles, or Both? Videos and a decent blog with articles.
• Are the Courses Professionally-Made? Yes.
• Are Quizzes Available to Test Your Progress? No.
• Is the Course Material Well-structured? Yes.
• Is the Presenter/Writer/Teacher Easy to Understand? Yes.
• Is There Any Downloadable Material? No. There are some recommended resources though. 
• Is the Course Content Kept Up-to-date? Yes, but newer videos take a while to get released. 
• Can You Learn on All Devices? Yes.
• Overall Value to Learn WordPress: High, especially for beginners who don’t want to pay much for great videos.

4. Learn WordPress with WP Sessions

If you’d like to learn WordPress as an advanced or intermediate user, WP Sessions should be more up your alley. WP Sessions is a community and collection of videos for those working in the industry. It’s great for launching your new development business or for honing your craft.

The VIP package is your best value, since it provides over 78 hours of training content, member-only videos, and several discounts on WordPress products. You can also pay for the videos, or sessions, individually. But that doesn’t make much sense if you’re already running a development business. Simply deduct the VIP expense during tax season and use the videos for yourself and for training clients.

Evaluation Criteria

• How Much Will it Cost You? From free to around $20 for one session/course. A VIP plan (for access to all training) costs $299.
• Skill Level? Intermediate to Advanced.
• Do You Get Videos, Articles, or Both? Mainly videos.
• Are the Courses Professionally-Made? Yes.
• Are Quizzes Available to Test Your Progress? No.
• Is the Course Material Well-structured? Yes.
• Is the Presenter/Writer/Teacher Easy to Understand? Yes.
• Is There Any Downloadable Material? Yes. Primarily the videos.
• Is the Course Content Kept Up-to-date? Yes.
• Can You Learn on All Devices? Yes.
• Overall Value to Learn WordPress: High value for advanced users. Low value for beginners. 

5. Learn WordPress with WP Apprentice

WP Apprentice has a decent blog and some solid courses. It’s a beginner training website, with the absolute basics for those who probably don’t have any experience with WordPress. WP Apprentice sticks to a system of ensuring that you get your website up and running without any hitches.

For example, the courses are organized as follows:

• WordPress Quick Start – Ten videos for WordPress beginners.
• WordPress Essentials – 50 videos for beginners and intermediates.
• Business Website Blueprint – For business owners and professionals.
• WordPress Business Blueprints + eCommerce Training Bundle – For those looking to sell anything on their website.

Even the WordPress Essentials bundle is more of a beginner course, but it kind of gets into intermediate material. Regardless, the whole point is to launch your website fast. The only problem is that offerings like WP101 give you similar same material for less money.

Evaluation Criteria

• How Much Will it Cost You? Starting at $47 for a lifetime pass. It also has $99 and $147 bundles. 
• Skill Level? Beginner. A few intermediate videos.
• Do You Get Videos, Articles, or Both? Videos in the courses and articles in the blog.
• Are the Courses Professionally-Made? Yes.
• Are Quizzes Available to Test Your Progress? No.
• Is the Course Material Well-structured? Yes.
• Is the Presenter/Writer/Teacher Easy to Understand? Yes.
• Is There Any Downloadable Material? Yes. There are some downloadable worksheets in the Blueprint course. 
• Is the Course Content Kept Up-to-date? Yes.
• Can You Learn on All Devices? Yes.
• Overall Value to Learn WordPress: Medium.

6. Learn WordPress with Kinsta

As many of you know, we share a lot of information here at Kinsta, everything from easy how-to guides to in-depth learn articles. We have a new Resources section where you can find everything.

Because we are a managed WordPress hosting company we also focus a lot of our content around optimization and performance as these are things we have a lot of knowledge about and can be instant wins for your business in terms of increasing your revenue.

Here are a few articles we recommend checking out:

• A beginner’s guide to website speed optimization
• A deep dive into the Pingdom speed test tool
• WordPress security – 19+ steps to lock down your site
• How to optimize images for web and performance
• 60 WordPress SEO tips to increase traffic by 280%

We also provide in-depth video courses. Develop your skills and grow your business by taking advantage of the free online training courses that are all done by industry professionals. Here are a few we recommend checking out:

How To Speed Up Your WordPress Website

The Basics of Maintaining Client Sites at Scale

How To Optimize Your WooCommerce Store

Evaluation Criteria

• How Much Will it Cost You? Nothing.
• Skill Level? Beginner to advanced.
• Do You Get Videos, Articles, or Both? Mainly in-depth articles and guides.
• Are the Courses Professionally-Made? All of our in-depth content is created by actual WordPress developers that have decades of experience with the topics.
• Are Quizzes Available to Test Your Progress? No.
• Is the Course Material Well-structured? Yes.
• Is the Presenter/Writer/Teacher Easy to Understand? Yes.
• Is There Any Downloadable Material? Yes.
• Is the Course Content Kept Up-to-date? Yes. We spend hundreds of hours updating our content.
• Can You Learn on All Devices? As long as you have a browser.
• Overall Value to Learn WordPress: High value for beginners.

7. Learn WordPress with the Official WordPress Guides

It’s smart to at least see what the folks behind WordPress have to say. That’s why we recommend at least browsing through the official WordPress guides. These guides outline the basics, such as the differences between WordPress.org and WordPress.com. you’ll also learn how to customize your site, pick a theme, and choose the right plugins.

The most advanced guide you’ll find is one that helps out with creating a homepage. Therefore, the official WordPress guides are for the ultimate beginners out there. The one cool thing about this website is how you can subscribe to a guide to receive little assignments to advance your knowledge in one or two topics.

Evaluation Criteria

• How Much Will it Cost You? Nothing.
• Skill Level? Extreme beginner.
• Do You Get Videos, Articles, or Both? Mostly articles. 
• Are the Courses Professionally-Made? Yes.
• Are Quizzes Available to Test Your Progress? No.
• Is the Course Material Well-structured? Yes.
• Is the Presenter/Writer/Teacher Easy to Understand? Yes.
• Is There Any Downloadable Material? Yes, if you signup for email notifications. 
• Is the Course Content Kept Up-to-date? Yes.
• Can You Learn on All Devices? Yes.
• Overall Value to Learn WordPress: Medium. It’s only for beginners, and even for them, the amount of content is low. 

8. Learn WordPress with WordPress TV

WordPress TV is like YouTube for WordPress videos. It’s a mess of courses, tutorials, interviews, lectures, and classes. Many of them are extremely helpful and inspirational, but you do get a large percentage of low-quality videos taken right from a lecture hall.

For instance, it’s rather common to see WordPress TV videos with projectors in the background. It’s not always easy to read what’s on the projector.

Regardless, the videos are free, and you receive more than training modules. My one complaint would be that some I’ve stumbled upon some videos with extremely boring interviews.

Evaluation Criteria

• How Much Will it Cost You? Nothing.
• Skill Level? Beginners to advanced.
• Do You Get Videos, Articles, or Both? Mainly videos, but there is an okay blog. 
• Are the Courses Professionally-Made? Most of them are not.
• Are Quizzes Available to Test Your Progress? No.
• Is the Course Material Well-structured? Not at all.
• Is the Presenter/Writer/Teacher Easy to Understand? Sometimes. It’s tough to hear many of the interviews and tutorials.
• Is There Any Downloadable Material? No. 
• Is the Course Content Kept Up-to-date? There’s new content all the time. You can also go back into the archives.
• Can You Learn on All Devices? Yes.
• Overall Value to Learn WordPress: High value for learning about the industry. Low for training and how to learn WordPress. 

9. Learn WordPress with WPKube

WPKube is another blog you should consider, although the way they organize content could use some improvements. I’d suggest signing up for the email newsletter to occasionally read new articles when they’re sent to your inbox.

Otherwise, you’re better off finding a more well-structured online course.

Evaluation Criteria

• How Much Will it Cost You? Nothing.
• Skill Level? Beginner to intermediate.
• Do You Get Videos, Articles, or Both? Mainly articles. 
• Are the Courses Professionally-Made? Yes.
• Are Quizzes Available to Test Your Progress? No.
• Is the Course Material Well-structured? The articles are well-structured, but it’s hard to find the content you want.
• Is the Presenter/Writer/Teacher Easy to Understand? Most of the time.
• Is There Any Downloadable Material? No.
• Is the Content Kept Up-to-date? Yes.
• Can You Learn on All Devices? Any browser will do.
• Overall Value to Learn WordPress: High for people with some experience. It’s more for getting random tips, not exactly for training. 

10. Learn WordPress with iThemes Training

The iThemes company develops plugins for backups, security, and more. The iThemes Training is divided into a few sections, some of which are free. One section is the iThemes training community, where you can join and talk with other professionals.

There’s a collection of free live webinars, along with over 900 hours of recorded WordPress training tutorials. If you’re already using an iThemes plugin, or you think you might in the future, I’d suggest becoming a member so that you have access to the training materials.

Evaluation Criteria

• How Much Will it Cost You? Some webinars are free, but you have to buy an iThemes product to become a community member. 
• Skill Level? Beginner to advanced. 
• Do You Get Videos, Articles, or Both? Both.
• Are the Courses Professionally-Made? Yes.
• Are Quizzes Available to Test Your Progress? No.
• Is the Course Material Well-structured? Yes.
• Is the Presenter/Writer/Teacher Easy to Understand? Yes.
• Is There Any Downloadable Material? Some.
• Is the Course Content Kept Up-to-date? Yes.
• Can You Learn on All Devices? As long as you have a browser.
• Overall Value to Learn WordPress: High.

11. Learn WordPress with Smashing Magazine

Smashing Magazine is one of the most popular, comprehensive web developer magazines on the internet. It’s great for immersing yourself into other topics besides WordPress. For example, you can explore information on CSS, typography, and design patterns.

The WordPress section is well-organized, but it’s in blog format, so you’re better off signing up for the email newsletter as opposed to searching for what you need.

Evaluation Criteria

• How Much Will it Cost You? Free. But the company sells books and other training materials. 
• Skill Level? Beginner to advanced. 
• Do You Get Videos, Articles, or Both? Mainly articles.
• Are the Courses Professionally-Made? Yes.
• Are Quizzes Available to Test Your Progress? No.
• Is the Course Material Well-structured? It’s a blog, so it’s hard to find specific content. 
• Is the Presenter/Writer/Teacher Easy to Understand? Yes.
• Is There Any Downloadable Material? Yes.
• Is the Course Content Kept Up-to-date? Yes.
• Can You Learn on All Devices? Yes.
• Overall Value to Learn WordPress: High for when you need random tips sent to your inbox. 

Bonus Tip: Learning PHP

If you want to level up your skills learning PHP is another great idea! PHP is one of the best programming language to learn. To help you here is our curated list of the very best PHP tutorials you can use and start learning the programming language today!

Which Online Resource Should You Use to Learn WordPress?

The good news is that you’ll always be able to rely on Udemy and Lynda.com if you’re having trouble making a decision. Both of these cover all skill levels, and you know that the production value is going to be top-notch. Udemy has more affordable pricing than Lynda.com, but you have to do more research.

I like WP 101 for beginners who don’t want to pay much money but still desire great videos. Bud Kraus also does a great job. The Kinsta blog is great for free high-quality content, and WP Sessions comes out on top for advanced developers. If you have any questions about how to learn WordPress with online resources, feel free to drop a line below. Also, let us know if you have experience with any of the learning sites above.

Brian Jackson

Brian has a huge passion for WordPress, has been using it for over a decade, and even develops a couple of premium plugins. Brian enjoys blogging, movies, and hiking. Connect with Brian on Twitter.

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