Foxland

Curriculum of WordPress School

Written by Sami Keijonen

I wrote in WP Daily about WordPress Curriculum and now that they have closed they site I feel like I should back up my writing here. I know that original post is now re-directed in torquemag but I don’t feel that comfortable about it. So here is the orginal article.

WordPress School

What if there were WordPress School? Would you take courses in there or would you like to teach in there? Or both? I know I would. John Saddington wrote an article about it and asked us to dream a little. Well, let’s go off road!

One of the first thing we need to do is curriculum of WordPress school. There are many sources where you can read (Codex, WPTuts+, Pippins Plugins, Theme Hybrid) and learn about WordPress. You can attend WordCamps, local meetups and (future) training workshops but that’s not we’re after. Our goal is to study WordPress basics and more advanced things and finally have a WordPress degree. Learning something in depth takes time and we need a plan how to structure our learning.

Let’s focus more in WordPress.org in this article but naturally there are some similarities with WordPress.com also. I’m just going to let my mind flow and list some of the courses I would like to see in WordPress School.

All courses have classroom teaching, tasks you need to do and online teaching in internet.

1. Basics I

Goals

After first course you should have basic understanding what is WordPress and how you can publish content with it.

Main contents

  • What is WordPress
  • What kind of websites WordPress is for
  • What is the difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org
  • How to install wordpress.org software
  • How to write content
  • What is the difference between post and page
  • What are categories and tags
  • What are themes and plugins
  • How to install theme or plugin
  • Media uploader
  • How to write some more content
    • Sticky posts
    • Schedule posts
    • Draft posts
    • Password protected

2. Basics II

Goals

In second course you get more understanding how WordPress work and how to use it in more efficient way.

Main contents

  • Picking up your host and domain (WordPress requirements)
  • How to install wordpress.org software
  • Setting up your site after install.
  • Picking up your theme. What are wordpress.org themes and commercial themes
  • What is a Child theme and how to use it
  • What are widgets
  • How menu system work in WordPress
  • What are Post Formats
  • Comments and spam management
  • User management and roles
  • Most common plugins

3. More Advanced I

Goals

In third course you learn firsts steps how to become WordPress developer. You already need to know basics of HTML, CSS and PHP before taking this course.

Main contents

  • How to translate a theme or a plugin
  • How to work on localhost using tools like XAMPP/MAMP
  • What tools to use in development
  • Anatomy of a WordPress theme
  • The loop
  • Template hierarchy
  • Hooks and Filters
  • Creating a simple WordPress theme
  • Creating a simple WordPress plugin
  • Taking backups
  • WordPress security

4. More Advanced II

Goals

In this course we continue learning more how we can extend WordPress. You already need to know basics of HTML, CSS and PHP before taking this course.

Main contents

  • WordPress SEO
  • Custom Post Types
  • Custom taxonomies
  • Create a WordPress site for customer
  • Troubleshooting WordPress
  • License issues, GPL
  • Contribute by helping others
  • Extending Live Theme Customizer
  • Custom backgrounds and header images
  • Installing and using Multisite
  • Internationalization a theme or a plugin

5. More advanced III

Goals

This course is for high level students who like to learn more advanced stuff and bend WordPress to its limits.

Main contents

  • WordPress API’s
  • Roles and capabilities
  • Coding standards
  • Using Metaboxes
  • Contributing in WordPress Core
  • Marketing your work
  • Showcase: how to run a membership site
  • Showcase: Advanced plugin anatomy
  • Debugging and testing
  • Using Javascript and Ajax in WordPress
  • Cron

6. Creating a WordPress Theme

In short this course is for making solid WordPress theme which can be accepted in WordPress.org site.

We can actually take a look at the WordPress Theme Developer Handbook.

7. Creating a WordPress Plugin

In short this course is for making solid WordPress plugin which can be accepted in WordPress.org site.

We can actually take a look at the Plugin Developer Handbook as well!

8. Graduation work

Graduation work can be setting up a customer e-commerce site, creating a plugin or theme and so on. But you need to write in depth documentation how and in what way you did it. Consult with your teacher what would the guidelines be in your work.

So, what do you think about this first-pass outline? What would you like to learn or teach in WordPress School?

Categories:

Tags: