Getting Started with WordPress for Site Owners
What You'll Learn
Important context about this class. Please read before registering. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have!
This class is designed to introduce students to the basics of WordPress for site owners / content creators - not developers. We will be using/teaching the newer, Gutenberg editor which became the default editor starting with WordPress version 5.0. If you are working with an older version of WordPress this may be a new way of editing pages for you and a worthwhile upgrade from the older editor which is now called the "classic" editor. If you're brand-new to WordPress you'll start off right with this modern, Gutenberg editor. In addition, this class will NOT cover "page builders" which are used by some WordPress themes/environments to extend the standard page editing capabilities of WordPress to create more complex page layouts. This class will NOT cover coding or development so you don't need to have any web development experience with HTML/CSS/JavaScript. Finally, it's important to know that there are actually two completely different ways of using WordPress. One is to have your website hosted and delivered by WordPress.com. The other is to use the self-hosted version of WordPress - often referred to as WordPress.org. This class will be covering the self-hosted version.
- What the "classic editor" looks like
- What the "Gutenberg editor" looks like
- Comparison of the WordPress-hosted vs. self-hosted versions of WordPress
If you happen to be using WordPress.com, you can still learn from this class, but the user interface will be somewhat different. In addition, you will not be able to use plugins, scripts, or 3rd party tools unless you are on the WordPress.com "Business Plan".
Are you looking to launch a WordPress-powered website or need to maintain an existing one? Do you need suggestions on plugins, widgets and themes (or even just want simple explanations of what they are and which to use)? Do you want to feel comfortable changing content (such as text, images, and videos) on a standard WordPress website/blog? If so, this 2-afternoon workshop can teach you the essential ins & outs of the WordPress interface for beginners. Explore the tools that create the pages & posts, so you can make content changes (on your own, without your developer/designer). Though this is a lecture-style workshop, the speaker provides instructions on a way to get a demo site up and running prior to the class. But you definitely don't need to have one set up, you can simply follow along as the instructor shows you how to create pages and posts with the Gutenberg editor (see above).
Day One Will Cover
- Introduction to WordPress
- Glossary of terms
- Understanding Hosting Providers
- Getting around the Admin Section of WordPress
- Logging in - where to go
- Best Practices for User Name and Passwords
- Customizing your Dashboard
- Finding help and inline documentation
- Newer (since version 5.0) Gutenberg Editor Tools
- Inserting external and internal links
- Draft, Preview and Publish options
- Uploading/Inserting images
- Title, caption, alt text and descriptions
- Align, link to and size
- Cropping, rotating and flipping
- Simple gallery option
- Uploading vs. Embedding Videos
- Pages, Posts, Categories and Tags
- Action Step Ideas
Day Two Will Cover
- Widgets - What are they
- How to add them
- What is a plugin?
- How to find them & what to look out for
- Standard plugins you may need
- A quick overview of why to back up, keep updated
- Appearance options
- Custom Menu
- Themes, themes, themes
- Default themes
- Choosing themes - what's important
- Why to pay for a theme
- Why use a page builder
- Where to find free and paid (premium) themes
- Action Step Ideas
Other WordPress Workshops at BDA
- Building Modern Websites with WordPress
- Improving Your WordPress SEO
- WordPress Web Development Certificate Program
Who Should Take This
People who will be creating and managing content on a WordPress site, as well as web developers who need to train their clients.
Presented By Bethany Siegler

Bethany Siegler of UniqueThink helps build your complete online presence and find cost-effective marketing solutions. Bethany has created online marketing campaigns for musical artists as distinct as Frank Black (Pixies) and David Wilcox, software developers as diverse as Wild Divine and OfficeTime, and local independent businesses like The Video Station and Boulder Weekly. She has represented major corporations like SONY and Budweiser, yet prefers to find solutions for smaller companies, often by building sustainable websites and blogs in WordPress.
BDA Members
Non-Members
Registration:
BDA Members: $149.00
Non-Members: $169.00
Available Dates
Sorry, we don't have this event scheduled right now but we'll probably be adding it again soon! If you're interested in this event, we recommend using our follow feature to be notified the next time we add it to our schedule. You can also email us to request that we add it soon.
Customer Comments
Very knowledgeable, helpful allowed for questions, made sure you kept up with class.MariaRead All Comments