Learn WordPress For Free With These 10 Great Resources

UPDATE: For beginner WordPress users, we’ve expanded on this article and created a new 7 day plan for learning WordPress – check it out!

The most inspiring thing about WordPress is that anyone can learn and master it, without spending a cent, in a relatively short period of time.

Much WordPress potential I sense in you, young padawan

If you’re fairly new to WordPress and feel like learning it would take a lifetime, remember that the software was only released in 2003 – eight short years ago. Plenty of people have become WordPress professionals since then. (As of this year, an estimated 20,000 people make their living with WP).

All those hotshot developers and designers who’ve built lucrative careers with WordPress started at exactly the same place: the beginning.

No matter where you’re at in your WordPress journey – rookie, rockstar, or anywhere in between – all you need is a bit of time and bit of patience, and you can teach yourself to do anything.

To point you in the right direction, we’ve rounded up 10 reliable, high-quality and 100% free resources for learning to build incredible blogs and websites with the world’s favorite CMS.

The WordPress Codex

It’s only fitting that a list of this nature begins with the Codex. The official WordPress wiki is a living, breathing repository that’s maintained by a network of passionate volunteers around the world.

If you ever get stuck with something in WordPress, there’s a very, very good chance that you’ll find the solution here. The Codex is the sum of all WordPress knowledge and you won’t find a more comprehensive source of information anywhere.

If you haven’t used the Codex much before, this is the best place to start.

WPBeginner

A sleek and well-designed site that enjoys a large following in the WordPress community. These guys have a comprehensive range of WordPress tutorials, aimed at beginner and intermediate users. They’ve also announced that they’ll soon be supplying free training videos. Visit the site here.

A Beginner’s Guide To WordPress Theme Development

This is a free eBook offered by the crew at WPShout, intended for WordPress newbies who want to venture in to the world of theme development. The eBook is laid out in five chapters and covers all the fundamental aspects of WordPress themes and how they are built. Download the eBook here.

Top 100 WordPress Plugins

This is a simple, straightforward list of 100 useful WordPress plugins, compiled in eBook format by Gary Nugent of webbizkb.com and released by the team at Netchunks. An excellent resource for people who haven’t yet explored the WordPress plugin directory in great detail. Download the eBook here.

Smashing WordPress

The super-popular Smashing Magazine now has a dedicated WordPress section, where you can find tutorials, tips and ideas from leading WordPress experts. Smashing Magazine is one of the most credible and respected sources of information on the web. Visit the site here.

SixRevisions

SixRevisions is an authoritative source of news and advice for the web design industry. The site features a WordPress category with a solid collection of tutorials, written by a diverse range of web professionals around the world. Visit the site here.

WordPress For Designers

A popular series of video tutorials from the blog Lost in the Woods. These 18 videos walk you through the process of designing a WordPress theme, from start to finish, with no prior design experience assumed. This will be right up your alley if you’re more of a visually-inclined learner. Watch the tutorials here.

ProBlogger

ProBlogger isn’t specifically about learning WordPress, but an important source for blogging tips in general, and particularly blogging to make money. Required reading for any serious web publisher who’s trying to make an impact. Visit the site here.

The Beginner’s Guide to SEO

Again, not a WordPress-specific resource, but a valuable all-round introduction to Search Engine Optimization. This free eBook is written by leading industry authorities SEOmoz, and all the principles discussed here can be applied to your WordPress site. Download the eBook here.

Right here!

I couldn’t round off this list without a little bit of shameless self-promotion. WPMU has been publishing quality WordPress wisdom for over two years now, and we’ve built up a pretty solid knowledge base in that time. Check out our Tutorials Page for a vast library of practical WordPress insight.

Where do YOU learn WordPress?

If you have any high quality WordPress resources that have helped you learn over the months and years, please let us know in the comment section below.

_{Thanks for the photos: Leo Reynolds, rgusick and holeymoon.}