If you have been coding static Websites or even using another CMS then wrapping your head around WordPress can be a bit of a learning curve. I am not so bold as of this writing to jump in and start barking out very technical information about the functions and files used however, I don’t mind sharing how I have gotten started and what resources have been the most useful to me.
Installation
I assume that most people are hosting their site remotely either on a shared server or a dedicated one. Many hosting companies now have one click installations of WordPress. I think that it is better to do the install manually. It may take a bit longer but it is really not that difficult and it gives you a better idea of how WP works with your host server and how it uses a database.
Videos and blogs
If you are reading this then you probably started learning about WordPress the same way that I did which is searching the Web. The WP community is really wonderful with so many people writing blogs and offering answers in the forums. The first thing that I was interested in was creating my own theme so that my site (and those that I created for others) would be unique in appearance. The first thing that I came across that really helped me was video tutorials on CSS-tricks which is a small Web community created by Chris Coyier. Although the videos are a bit dated, I still found them to be extremely helpful. The videos start with WP installation and end with completing a theme from a Photoshop mock-up. I find CSS tricks to be a great resource for all sorts of information and I really appreciate the time that Chris puts into it.
Test server
When I first started building this site I wasn’t using a test server but I’ve found it to be very useful. I installed XAMPP on my local computer for this purpose. It is free and very easy to set up. It is good to have an environment in which to play. I also found that writing a theme locally is much faster for me because I am not constantly moving files to another server. Also, I have broken themes and taken quite a while to figure out what I did! In this case your site won’t be broken for any length of time and you can wait to upload your theme until it is to your liking.
Use books
In the end I found books to be my best resource. I am glad that I started with Chris Coyier’s videos because I think that a book would have seemed overwhelming to me at first. I have two reasons to use books as a resource. First, it is nice to peel your eyes away from a monitor for a while. You are going to be staring at style sheets and php files so much that the occasional break to reference a book is a relief. Second, the information you get from a book is more comprehensive and well structured. A good WP book will offer up information that you never thought to ask. The best book that I read was Professional WordPress. This book is also a little dated because it is based on WP 2.9 but it is very helpful. I decided that the latest book is not necessarily the best. WP is growing so fast that it is near impossible to produce a well written book without having another version of WP come out by the time it is published.
As I continue to work with WordPress I will continue to write about the things that I learn and hope that others will contribute with comments. For those just starting out with WP I hope this helps!
Tags: resources, test server, wordpress