With WordPress clearly now one of the most popular website platforms, and almost every hosting company offering some level of managed WordPress services there is a ton of information to weed through.
As with most things online search and ye shall find. However, with that comes information overload, right? So many resources, so much information -- which are accurate and trustworthy -- worth your time?
WordPress Help from the Source
The best resource of all is WordPress.org and areas within that are neatly categorized based on your area of interest. Here's the rundown:
- WordPress Blogs: Development Blog and WordPress Planet is an aggregation of blogs talking about WordPress from around the world.
- How Tos and Documentation: including the most asked for How to Install WordPress and How to Upgrade WordPress
- Support Forum: If you are wondering if something is possible or just need a little assistance from those who are more experienced and willing to help, check out the forums. Here is where you can find out how to customize or edit WordPress. Make an effort to really seek out what you are looking for before jump to post and blurt out your questions. While searching you may notice questions that are asked and that go unanswered. When you see this you can bet that the question has most likely been asked and answered before. So dig deeper!
- Plugins: including the most asked for WordPress photo gallery plugins, WordPress shopping carts.
- Themes: Many beautiful themes are listed however, do your due diligence and be sure to check out the developer's site to see how experienced they are and if they keep their themes updated, debugged and supported. I have a list of my favorite WordPress theme developers that I trust and use for my own sites. You can even investigate How to Develop Your Own WordPress Themes too.
So you've wrapped your head around WordPress and have a nice site. Now what?
WordPress and Marketing Newsletters
I receive so many newsletters, RSS feeds and updates even I wonder how I keep up! So below are just a handful of the newsletters and websites I subscribe to that I believe could help you with your WordPress and online business journey. These guys and gals are in the thick of WordPress, SEO and Marketing and offer info, tips and trends worth following:
- Bruce Clay's Blog: Bruce is what a "real" SEO looks like. I have followed for years.
- WP Tavern: WordPress Tavern is a site focused on all things WordPress including BuddyPress, bbPress, and any project under the Automattic umbrella.
- WPMU Dev: WPMU Dev initially was known for WordPress Multi-User, but has since branched out to be everything WordPress. Informative blog (and a members only newsletter The WhiP that rocks).
- Torque: "All the Word that's fit to Press" says it all. From beginners to developers you are only limited by how much you want to learn when you land on this site.
- GrowthHackers Blog: A Community for marketers to share and discuss useful growth resources and to exchange ethical growth tips.
On this site...
While we are talking about what is valuable, I thought I would share with you the "Top 10" pages on this site. Being the most visited means they must be worth a read!
- How to Update to the Latest WordPress Version
- 5 Questions to Ask a WordPress Consultant
- 7 Online Copyright Myths
- Subscribe: Maintenance, Security, Optimization and Consulting Program
- How to Have a WordPress Website Like Mine
- Online Marketing: All Talk; No Listening
- WordPress How To: Do the Mother of All Backups
- Choosing the Right WordPress Premium Theme
- Premium WordPress Themes
- Code of Ethics
You are now armed with some great resources I know you will need -- and that you can rely on. To your success!
I knew that if I failed I wouldn’t regret that, but I knew the one thing I might regret is not trying.
–Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO
At your service,