I Want To Be A Wordpress Expert - How?

You don't really need to know php. You just have to know where to paste in the code.

Having a basic understading of html and css should be enough to customize themes.

I have a pretty good understanding of codes in general, and where to paste things. But it doesn't make me a wordpress expert. I can't write code etc.

I'm not able to customize everything when I make a site, which is what I want to learn. Avoiding problems like the one I have in the future etc.

Well, the best way to learn is to just start changing this and see what happens. Trial and error.

lol, that's what I've been doing, and it have worked pretty well until lately.

I have been able to make quite a lot of sites I would consider to be good, but I now I have no clue on how to fix this, and it's for a client.

The best would be if I learned how to create my own themes, but I don't know how.
Also, by trial and error, I have learned quite a lot, but not how to write code etc, and I don't think I ever will unless I actually try it.

Creating wordpress themes is pretty easy. You just just have to split the template in 4 parts and paste some php code and you're done. There are many guides that explains this pretty well. Do a google search.

You make many valid point here Eric.
Although the value of outsourcing depends on many things.
Price,profitability, and if it's something you will use a lot in the future or not.

If you outsource, you pay for mastery. I know all basic things myself, but I don't intend on learning application programming etc.

BUT if it's something I know I will use a lot in the future, learning it myself is definitely the best! It removes human error through comminication, as I will be able to get it any way I want it myself, not needing to explain it in great detail. Also, the time it takes to get a project finished is reduced, as I can do it myself.

In addition to all of this, I'm pretty good at SEO, especially with wordpress, and my marketing skills, creativity and everything I've learned through my 3 years of IM will increase the overall value of what I'm able to do by A LOT.

And what you say about design is also extremely important. It's easily misinterpreted when it comes to outsourcing design.
It depends on cultural backgrounds and many other factors. A website considered beautiful in Africa, might be considered ugly in Asia etc.

And when I'm able to create my own plugins, themes etc. I can also sell them myself, taking advantage of my marketing skills. - And I have plenty of idea's, so being able to develop them myself will be awesome.

Oh, IDEA! How about creating an awesome,free wordpress template that goes viral, with a link back to a money site that sells a product? Can you say effective, viral backlinks??? Way easier than outsourcing linkbuilding or doing it yourself. Perhaps even with a custom "Anchortext change script", making you able to change it when you rank well for a keyword, to rank for a new one.

Anyways, thanks for your input guys. Will take a look at the books you recommend Eric.
- Preben

You may want to take a look at Jason John's site here:

Wordpress Demystified : The Most Complete Wordpress Tutorials Ever!

He's got lots of good stuff and if you sign up for his list he even shoots out some tutorials.

Check Alex's program over at ExpertWordpress.com

You can also check my signature. There is a series in there on Wordpress.

The Wordpress site itself has many tutorials and even an entire section on creating themes for Wordpress.

Not to mention forums dedicated to talking about how to design Wordpress blogs.

Matt

One way to really become familiar with wordpress is to start adopting it for uses other than blogs. I've converted wordpress over to recipe websites, article directories, as well as full blown multi-author content management systems. You learn by doing, and when you can think outside the box, so to speak, and implement it with wordpress, you start to become extremely facile with it and can do alot more than just build blogs or themes.

Interesting question.

Most people think that becoming a WP expert means being able to tweak and modify themes or, as a top achievement, to be able to build your own theme. Actually, it's a bit more than that.

Modifying the look of a theme and/or building themes is pure XHTML/CSS - any good web designer should be able to do it; as it was said, you just need to place the small PHP code snippets (called template tags in WP lingo) into the html code. Plus, learn the template hierarchy and you are good to go.

To become a real expert you should understand the way how the WP engine works: the behind the scene processes. E.g. the above mentioned template tags are PHP functions defined in the core files, and when they are used in a template file, they trigger certain actions. The default behaviour of these functions can be modified, altered in two ways: by plugins and by the functions.php file of the theme you are using. E.g. you can define your own "template tags" in your theme's functions.php file and replace the original tags in your template file with your own "tags".
(Note: the "template tags" have nothing to do with what is generally known as 'tags' for your content!!! A template tag example would be <?php the_content(); ?> to display the body of an entry, be it post or Page.)

Do I know PHP code? Nope... I can read it and understand what it will do but cannot write one single line (well, I can make small tweaks ). However, and here comes the twist about outsourcing, knowing how the engine woks, I can order exactly the code what I need from a knowledgeable PHP/WP coder because I know what to ask for.

I hade a client with a huge blog, with many posts going back for years and a big number of authors. We knew that this template tag
<?php wp_list_authors( $args ); ?>
would display all the authors with their full name in a list. What this function does: goes to the database in the wp_authors table and looks for all the existing data, retrieves it and display in html. Because we had quite a number of inactive authors we wanted to display only those that posted in the last 3 months. So, I told the coder to write a small plugin or function that would alter the default behaviour and display only those authors that have made posts in the last 3 months. In a day it was done for $25.

Just as WP is a good example of separating the engine (=WP cores files), the content (=all in the MySQL database) and the layout (=in the XHTML/CSS files of the themes) - we should also "separate" what kind of "expert" do you want to be?

Making a "flashy" web design with spectacular images, colours and whatnot - is a web/graphic designer's job that might be even completely code illiterate... (once I made a theme just based on a big picture that the "designer" provided). Being familiar with the WP theme system, you can turn any website design into a theme.

What would make you - or anybody else - an expert would be to know exactly how to change the default behaviour to satisfy your needs (the client's needs) and to harness the existing features to work for your advantage.

Just my $0.02 (Canadian), based on more than five years of WP experience.

The answer has more to do with what you want to do on a daily basis. Do you want to sit around and make mods to WP? Does that sound like fun? If yes then knuckle down and learn it. Otherwise get the immediate problem fixed and move on.

I get sucked into learning stuff that I'll never use and never make money at, so I know the problem.

Start with page 1 with wordpress.org and keep reading, LOL.

Read the forums, the mail lists, the extends areas -- read it all.

There's tons of great information on the wp site (and you can also start to discover what's NOT covered on the wp site -- yes, there are a few things. Hidden and/or poorly documented functions, for instance.)

Personally, I think knowing how to code php can be handy because, when you see someone has done something nifty in a plugin, you can read it. But then I belong to the Don Knuth school of software known as "Literate Programming" (which is why he started playing around with TeX (? -- anyway, that's supposed to be a Chi. No, not Chinese Qi, LOL )

You can also find plugins that can be vastly improved, too. (Especially if you read my recent rant on the pareto rule (20/80) in writing software that I wrote here on the forum recently...)

I like that idea -- "what is it that you WANT to do, besides be a wp expert?" What does that mean? Who do you want to help? How do you want to make money (or do you?). Answers to these questions will help you narrow down the most appropriate answer for you.

In the meantime, if you want to know wordpress for knowing wordpress, because, for some insane reason you've just fallen in love with wordpress -- then make hanging out on wordpress.org your hobby, your recreation, your pastime.

Live JoyFully!

Judy Kettenhofen, Copywriter, Marketer's Geek and Wordpress aficionado...