This simple, easy to read WordPress manual will guide you through the process of editing and maintaining your site content. Let’s learn about WordPress, open-source software used to power ~40% of all websites. You won’t find any talk of code, creating themes or plugins here.
In this guide suitable for WordPress beginners we will focus on:
WordPress Basics
Understand what WordPress is and how it works
- What is WordPress?
- What does a WordPress website cost? – free, cheap, custom
- WordPress vs Wix vs WordPress.com vs Custom code
WordPress Installation
Minimum requirements to run a WordPress powered site include:
- Domain – what users type to find you e.g. mysite.com.
- Hosting – a place to store the website files (including images) and run server
- WordPress – the software that runs the website (needs a server that supports PHP and MySQL)
Creating Content
WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS), the best. The WordPress Editor uses blocks to help you create content: each post or page is just a collection of blocks.
With blocks, you can quickly add a heading, a paragraph, a list or embed images, videos. They make it super easy for you to create well designed visually pleasing landing pages and posts.
Beginner WordPress User Course
Here are selected videos from https://learn.wordpress.org/course/beginner-wordpress-user/
- Getting started with the WordPress Dashboard
Get acquainted with the WordPress Dashboard, your website’s control centre. Discover its key features and streamline your site management. Mastering the Dashboard is the gateway to effortless control and customisation. - Understanding the difference between WordPress posts and pages
Differentiate between dynamic posts and static pages so that users know when to use each. - Creating posts and pages with the WordPress Block Editor
Delve into the effective utilization and navigation of the Media Library. - Using the Media Library
Introduction to the Block Editor. We’ll cover the essentials: understanding the Block Editor, navigating its interface, editing content and settings, and creating pages and posts. We’ll also explore using blocks, patterns, and the List View. - Using block patterns
Use a pattern to add a beautifully designed, ready-to-go layout to any WordPress site. In this lesson, we will explore how you can utilise patterns to save time and enhance design and creativity. We will also take a closer look at creating custom patterns, accessing patterns, and managing template part patterns. - Embedding media and third-party content on your website
This lesson will explore integrating media or external content into your website. This will be achieved by utilising embed blocks, the HTML block, and the direct insertion of pertinent URLs onto your site.
SEO
- How to improve SEO rankings
This lesson will cover ten tips you could implement to improve your SEO rankings. SEO is essential if you want your website to rank higher in search engine results. - How to use headings for accessibility and SEO
This lesson will cover how to use headings correctly across your website’s posts and pages for readability, accessibility, and SEO purposes.
Write an SEO optimised page or post the easy way using the WordPress block editor and SEO plugin. Just add awesome content in 10 steps!
Maintenance
WordPress sites get hacked or get infested with malware. It makes sense to protect your investment by backing up your site and keeping WordPress, theme and plugins updated.
WP 101 Series on YouTube
Each of the pages in this WordPress guide will include a link to the relevant video in my YouTube channel.
