Learn WordPress – Educational Resource Smackdown

When it comes to WordPress, not all educational resources are created equal. I’ve gone through a lot of them over the last few years and landed on four formal training resources that have provided me with the most consistent benefit.

If you want to learn WordPress, look no further:

1. TutsPlus.com
2. Lynda.com
3. Learnable.com
4. TeamTreeHouse.com

Now, let’s figure out the right resource to help you.

Each site has their pros and cons, so we’ll start by taking a look at the basic stats and then get into the details.

Learnable.com – $15 a month

I’ve only been on Learnable for a short period of time, and they have the smallest WordPress collection of the bunch. I signed up for their $1 trial period because they use video and text tutorials in their courses.  So, while you’re working through the course, you will have a video to view, followed by a text and code examples. This site also offers quizzes and certificates, but, due to Learnable’s small collection, I will be canceling my subscription.

TutsPlus.com – $15 a month

Geared toward designers and developers, Tuts+ also includes a few beginner courses on WordPress. If you have searched for any topic on Web Design/Development, then chances are you have come across a tutorial from the Tuts+ site. For today, I’m focusing on the course side of their site and not the tutorial portion.

Tuts+ is a less expensive choice for only $15 a month, which includes a great collection of videos to learn from. I became a subscriber for Jeffrey Way’s tutorials which are worth way more than fifteen dollars.

Tuts+ has some nice in-depth tutorials on WordPress that will expand anyone’s knowledge. Tom McFarlin does a great job with his tutorials and covers everything from beginner plugin development to using Design Patterns in WordPress.

While there aren’t any unique features about Tuts+, the site is straightforward.  Just sign in, watch your videos, and learn new WordPress skills. I have been a subscriber for over a year now and will be keeping up my subscription.

Lynda.com – $25 a month

Get your first 10 days free.

If you want to learn anything, you’ll find a how-to on Lynda.com. With over 1,500 courses just in the web, design, and development categories, Lynda.com updates their library the most often.

They carry courses on everything you need to learn about WordPress. Related topics include SEO, Google Analytics, and basic Project Management. Lynda is great for Designers/Developers who want in-depth tutorials from getting started to advanced plugin and theme development.

Morten Rand-Hendrickson covers a big portion of their WordPress courses, and if you are a Genesis user, then you will be happy to hear Carrie Dills is teaching you the ropes. Lynda.com offers a browser editor similar to codepen.

TeamTreehouse.com – $25 a month

This site is my favorite! TeamTreehouse has unique features like badges for completing task and quizzes. You can also earn points for correct answers, and you can see where you stack up against other students on the leaderboards. Being a gamer since I was a kid, I like the competitive side of Team Treehouse for keeping me motivated.

Along with courses you also get access to Workshops, Workspaces, and a weekly podcast:

• Workshops –  short videos from 10-60 minutes that walk you through a specific task such as running Grunt, debugging in Chrome, using Git, etc.
• Workspace –  “a browser-based code editor” that can run Dependency Managers, such as Composer, within your browser and you do not have install anything on your machine. This lets you follow courses while using the same interface as your teacher.
• “The Treehouse Show” – A weekly podcast covering web design, web development, and more.

These four not enough for you?  Here are a couple more recommended sites to further your WordPress knowledge:

• https://wordpress.tv/
• https://udemy.com

Do you have favorite resources we’ve overlooked? Let us know in the comments below.