If you’re a new blogger, navigating WordPress can be a daunting task. From installation to theme and plugin selection, dashboard navigation, and other details, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But don’t worry, there are plenty of WordPress success tools available to help you become well-versed in no time. In this article, we’ll explore some of the best video hubs and resources for WordPress beginners.
WordPress.tv is a premiere online resource for learning WordPress basics. Initially geared towards veteran WordPress users, WordPress.tv now has a growing library of beginner tutorials. Here are a few videos you may want to start with:
1. Your WordPress Profile – This video explains how to set user profile preferences within your WordPress dashboard. The preferences you select determine how your profile is viewed in your posts and pages.
2. WordPress General Settings – This page within your WordPress dashboard houses some very specific settings. There are a dozen settings in total, one of which includes determining user access. From this page, you can determine whether anyone can register as a user on your website and if so, which role they’ll be automatically assigned.
3. WordPress Permalinks – Permalink settings determine how your URLs are displayed in web browsers. Your post or page URL can include the post or page name, category, or tag. It can also incorporate the month, day, and even second that the post was created.
Lynda.com is an online resource now owned by LinkedIn that offers educational videos surrounding topics like technology, creativity, and business. A number of WordPress video courses have been uploaded to the website and are updated frequently. Full-length courses are available for a fee, but previews can offer a quick solution to burning WordPress questions. Here are a few videos to pay attention to:
1. WordPress: Essential Training – This video explains the ins and outs of this web publishing application in one of the most informative ways possible. You’ll learn how WordPress fundamentally works, how to create posts and format their text without a hitch, how media files are handled, the role of pages, and more.
2. Start With A Theme: Twenty Thirteen – This video covers one such theme, Twenty Thirteen, which was released in 2013 but is still a great option. If you just created your WordPress site, the Twenty Fifteen theme will be active, but this Lynda video is still a good reference point for learning how to determine which theme features and functions might best suit your needs.
3. WordPress Plugins: SEO – Gaining at least a fundamental understanding of SEO is essential for any website owner. This video discusses two SEO plugins that can help you optimize your website.
WP101.com has been the go-to WordPress resource for novices and developers alike for the past seven years. WordPress beginners learn the basics through short, informative videos while developers use these resources to educate their clients. Basic videos for Getting Started with WordPress offer detailed (yet short) overviews about each topic. But there is a full tutorial library available with a membership, covering additional topics like the WordPress dashboard, managing comments, and even implementing the Yoast SEO plugin.
WPExplorer TV is another video tutorial resource for WordPress beginners. Some of our tutorials cover plugins like the Visual Composer, or simple how-to’s like enabling font option in the WYSIWYG editor, but stay tuned (and be sure to subscribe) for when our new videos are posted!
ShoutMeLoud is a website and blog that covers multiple topics to get your blog going. One video that stood out for us was How to Use Broken Link Checker WordPress Plugin (2m 58s). The last thing you want is for broken links to be peppered throughout your website. This video shows you how to effectively use the Broken Link Checker plugin so that search engines know that they can trust your website.
TheWPChick is run by blogger Kim Doyal. She offers lots of tips for bloggers who create all forms of content: text, video, podcast episodes, and more. Her videos on the Beaver Builder plugin (17m 36s) and The Shortcodes Ultimate plugin (12m 52s) are two top-notch demonstrations. These videos and more are a great place to start for any WordPress beginner!
In conclusion, if you’re annoyed with WordPress, you don’t have to seek alternative content management systems. There are plenty of WordPress beginner videos to get you on track. You can spend a few minutes a day watching video tutorials that clearly explain how to build and operate your website. You can start with the more basic tutorials, like the ones found on WordPress.tv, Lynda.com, and WP101.com, and then progress to websites like TheWPChick and ShoutMeLoud.com.
