WordPress Crash Course

Lesson 1 • What WordPress Is and Does

Covers the distinction between WordPress.com and WordPress.org and core CMS concepts. Sets the conceptual foundation for every subsequent technical decision.

Lesson 2 • Core WordPress Settings Configuration

Covers general, reading, writing, discussion, and permalink settings. Correct configuration here prevents common SEO and functionality problems later.

Lesson 3 • Choosing a Hosting Environment

Explains shared, managed, and local hosting options with their trade-offs. Guides students to select an environment suited to their project goals.

Lesson 4 • Installing WordPress from Scratch

Walks through manual and one-click installation methods step by step. Students leave with a fully operational WordPress site.

Lesson 1 • Posts vs. Pages Explained

Clarifies the structural and functional differences between posts and pages. Understanding this distinction drives correct content architecture decisions.

Lesson 2 • Categories, Tags, and Taxonomies

Explains how taxonomies organize content and affect navigation and SEO. Students apply categories and tags strategically across their content.

Lesson 3 • Publishing Workflow and Scheduling

Covers draft, review, scheduled, and published statuses and their practical uses. Students manage a content calendar using native WordPress scheduling tools.

Lesson 4 • Working with the Block Editor

Introduces the Gutenberg block editor interface, toolbar, and block library. Students gain fluency in adding, arranging, and configuring content blocks.

Lesson 1 • Uploading and Organizing Media

Covers bulk upload, folder-style filtering, and attachment detail editing. Organized media reduces search time and prevents duplicate asset problems.

Lesson 2 • Featured Images and Thumbnails

Demonstrates setting featured images and how themes consume them. Consistent featured image use strengthens visual branding across the site.

Lesson 3 • Embedding External Media

Covers oEmbed support and manual embed codes for video, audio, and social content. Students integrate third-party media without hosting large files locally.

Lesson 1 • Building and Managing Menus

Covers creating navigation menus, assigning locations, and adding custom links. Well-structured menus improve both usability and site crawlability.

Lesson 2 • Understanding WordPress Themes

Explains theme architecture, template hierarchy, and the role of parent and child themes. This knowledge prevents accidental overwrites during theme updates.

Lesson 3 • Full-Site Editing with Block Themes

Introduces the Site Editor, template editing, and global styles for block-based themes. Students build complete page layouts without a page builder plugin.

Lesson 4 • Finding and Installing Themes

Covers the official theme directory, premium marketplaces, and manual ZIP installation. Students apply quality criteria to select reliable, well-supported themes.

Lesson 1 • Essential Plugin Categories

Surveys must-have plugin types: SEO, security, caching, forms, and backups. Students map each category to a specific site need rather than installing blindly.

Lesson 2 • How Plugins Work in WordPress

Explains the plugin API, hooks system, and how plugins interact with core. Understanding this prevents poor plugin choices that degrade performance.

Lesson 3 • Plugin Updates and Maintenance

Covers update best practices, staging-first workflows, and changelog review. Regular, informed updates keep the site secure and stable over time.

Lesson 4 • Diagnosing Plugin Conflicts

Teaches a systematic deactivation method to isolate plugin conflicts. Students resolve common white-screen and functionality errors independently.

Lesson 1 • Configuring an SEO Plugin

Walks through setup wizards, XML sitemaps, and schema markup in a leading SEO plugin. Correct configuration automates many technical SEO requirements.

Lesson 2 • Image SEO and Accessibility

Explains alt text, file naming, and lazy loading for images. These practices improve both search ranking and screen-reader accessibility simultaneously.

Lesson 3 • Caching and Page Speed Optimization

Covers browser caching, server-side caching, and asset minification techniques. Faster pages reduce bounce rates and improve search engine ranking signals.

Lesson 4 • On-Page SEO Fundamentals

Covers title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure, and keyword placement. These elements directly influence how search engines index and rank content.

Lesson 1 • Backup Strategies and Restoration

Teaches full, incremental, and database-only backup types with offsite storage. Students execute a complete site restoration from a backup under pressure.

Lesson 2 • Hardening WordPress Core Settings

Covers file permissions, disabling file editing, and protecting sensitive files. These low-effort changes eliminate a large share of common vulnerabilities.

Lesson 3 • SSL and HTTPS Configuration

Covers obtaining and installing an SSL certificate and forcing HTTPS site-wide. HTTPS is a ranking signal and a baseline trust requirement for visitors.

Lesson 4 • Common WordPress Security Threats

Surveys brute-force attacks, SQL injection, XSS, and outdated software risks. Knowing the threat landscape motivates and prioritizes every hardening step.

Lesson 1 • WP-CLI for Command-Line Management

Introduces WP-CLI commands for updates, database operations, and user management. Command-line proficiency dramatically speeds up repetitive admin tasks.

Lesson 2 • Staging Environments and Deployment

Covers creating staging sites, testing changes, and pushing updates to production. A staging workflow prevents live-site breakage during development.

Lesson 3 • WordPress Multisite Networks

Explains multisite architecture, network activation, and subdomain vs. subdirectory setups. Students evaluate when multisite is the right solution for a client.

Lesson 4 • Troubleshooting and Debugging Techniques

Teaches enabling debug mode, reading logs, and using health check tools. Systematic debugging reduces resolution time for any WordPress issue.