WordPress is free web software you can use to create beautiful websites, blogs, or apps. If you want to learn WordPress development, you're in the right place!
We've built a comprehensive guide to help you learn WordPress development online, whether you're just getting started designing and building your first theme, or you want to explore more advanced topics such as creating plugins or using the WordPress REST API. This Learning Guide will help you:
- Design and build your first WordPress theme.
- Customize your themes to suit your needs or sell online.
- Add eCommerce features into your themes using WooCommerce.
- Develop and use WordPress plugins.
- Build apps that harness the power of WordPress.
If you prefer to watch a series of videos that take you through similar topics, try our WordPress tutorial with Adi Purdila. You'll get two hours of video instruction aimed at WordPress beginners, taking you through everything from installation to creating and managing content. By the end, you'll know how to use WordPress to create sites you're proud of.
1. What Is a WordPress Theme?
A WordPress theme is a group of files that determine the look and presentation of the content on your website. WordPress themes have been instrumental in driving the success of the platform and allow users to quickly and easily change the way their website looks and works.
What Are WordPress Plugins?
WordPress themes are perfectly complimented by WordPress plugins. WordPress themes are for presentation, and WordPress plugins are for functionality.
To learn more about WordPress themes and plugins, check out our tutorials.
2. How to Build Your First Theme
Designing WordPress Themes
Before you can build a WordPress theme, you need to design it (or have a design to work with). In our course Designing for WordPress, you’ll learn the fundamentals of WordPress theme design and all the design considerations you need to think about, from the smallest widget to the largest and most complex page.
Building on a Foundation
If you're building a theme for the first time, you'll want to start with a strong foundation. We've got two courses that cover building a theme using different foundations:
- Bootstrap: Bootstrap is an open-source framework that's designed to give you a head start in developing responsive, mobile first projects on the web.
- Underscores: Underscores is a starter theme by the makers of WordPress themselves. It's designed to give you a “1,000-hour head start” on WordPress theme creation.
