Intro

This is part of a series track of classes developed by New Work City. 

*Purchase tickets by October 4th to receive an early bird discount*

Entry Level Track

Course 1: Setting up a self-hosted Wordpress site
Course 2: Mastering the Wordpress dashboard
Course 3: How to Choose the Right Theme for your Site
Course 4: Finding the Right Plugins

October 5th: Setting up a self-hosted WordPress site

So you've heard Wordpress is the way to go for building and managing your website. Great! But where do you start? In this session we'll discuss the differences between wordpress.com and wordpress.org. What you need to look for when deciding on a host. We'll also look at the famous 5-minute install. We'll also answer some tough questions like do you need to learn HTML, CSS and PHP.

October 12th: Mastering the Wordpress dashboard

You've got Wordpress up and running. Now what? Understanding the dashboard is key to your website's set up. Discover the power of plugins. Configure your sites sidebars with widgets. See what a theme does and how it operates. Learn about the editor. Find out some hidden features that you didn't even know were there. 

October 19th: How to Choose the Right Theme for your Site

Now that your Wordpress site is up and running and you've got the basics down discover the world of themes. What is a parent theme and a child theme? How much can you customize a theme? Where's a good place to look for them? We'll answer all these questions and more in this 2 hour session.

October 26th: Finding the Right Plugins

One of Wordpress' greatest strengths is in its plugin architecture. You can use plugins to great effect to add functionality to a site. In this course we'll take a look at different plugins that are available and where to find them. See how being able to find plugins can change the whole dynamic of your site by taking it to another level. 

About the Instructor

Nate Cooper has been a WordPress advocate and user since 2003 and a teacher for longer. He prides himself on taking on challenging topics in a way that is approachable by beginners. While he honed this skill during his years running workshops at Apple Inc, he now runs his own consultancy firm and teaches Website Bootcamp for Creative Professionals at New Work City where he is also the director of Education.

Should I bring my computer with me?

Great question! While it’s always nice to have a computer to take notes they can often be a distraction to others and yourself if you are perhaps not looking up when important information is being given out. Bringing your computer should be fine provided you are respectful of the time of others and aren’t too distracting from the topic at hand. The class shouldn’t have to come to a halt if you are trying to build your webpage instead of listening to the discussion. So the answer is yes, you can bring your computer but please be respectful when using it during class time.

What if I need additional help or can't follow along?

There will be a lab attached to this course. A lab is a 1 hour study hall that you can attend following the class where you can ask questions about your particular problems with WordPress and work alongside beginners in an informal environment. Think of it as group consulting.