Introducing Blogging U. On Demand

Become a blogging pro or explore new creative frontiers with a Blogging U. course. Enroll any time, and get education, inspiration, and support when you need it!

May 16, 2016

Michelle Weber

Over the past two and a half years, thousands of bloggers have used Blogging U. — step-by-step courses with manageable daily assignments and pro tips from WordPress.com staff — to get started with WordPress.com, grow as writers, push their photography skills, and more.

Now, accessing expert support is even easier: Blogging U. courses are available on demand, so you can begin whenever you’d like! We’ll be offering courses in four tracks, Blogging, Websites (coming soon), Writing, and Photography (coming soon) — all your Blogging U. favorites will be back, along with lots of new topics we’ve got up our sleeves.

There are five different courses currently available:

  • Blogging: Learning the Fundamentals (formerly Blogging 101)  — a solid grounding in the three big components of blogging: publishing, customizing your blog, and engaging with the blogging community.
  • Blogging: Commenting Basics (formerly Commenting Bootcamp) — a short course to get you comfortable with reaching out to other bloggers and commenting etiquette.
  • Blogging: Branding and Growth (formerly Blogging 201) — audit your brand, analyze your stats, explore social networks, learn about SEO, and more in this intermediate course.
  • Writing: Intro to Poetry (new course) — find your inner Dickinson with daily poetry prompts, and sharpen your verse by learning some basic poetic forms and devices.

Courses give you a daily assignment or writing prompt, along with the technical help you need to complete the task and insider advice from both our editors and the wider blogging community; each course has a handy resource page collecting everything in one place for you to refer back to whenever you’d like. Publish new posts using the course’s tag — don’t worry, we’ll tell you how! — and you’ll be able to connect with others working through the same course for support, feedback, and friendship.

Click on any course title for more detail on what it covers and to begin immediately (click the “Start” button on the course’s page to enroll) or read on to learn more about the changes to Blogging U. and what’s coming next.

FAQs

How do I start a course?

Visit the page for the course you’re interested in and click the “Start” button — that’s it! If you’re logged in to WordPress.com, you’ll receive an introductory email right away, and your first assignment a few minutes later. If you’re not logged in, we’ll prompt you to do so, and you’re off and running.

What if I want to stop?

No problem — every email you’ll receive includes an unsubscribe link at the bottom. Click it, and the course stops.

This won’t affect any of your other WordPress.com emails, like notifications. And if you want to give the course another try, you can register again.

How many courses can I take? Can I take them more than once?

As many as you’d like, as many times as you’d like. We recommend taking one course at a time — blogging is fun, but that doesn’t mean it can’t also be overwhelming! — but you’re free to take multiple courses simultaneously.

What happened to the other courses on writing, photography, and intermediate/advanced blogging?

We haven’t forgotten about them. We’re working hard to adapt them and will be adding them to the lineup as soon as we can, along with other, brand-new courses on building a website, advanced photography, and more.

Hey, the course names seem different! Are these the same courses that have been offered in the past?

We’ve updated the course names to make them clearer and more descriptive, so you can more easily decide what course is right for you. We’ll always let you know if a course is one we’ve offered previously, or new.

What if I need assistance during the course?

Every assignment includes expert advice from our staff as well as links to more resources and to our customer support folks, called Happiness Engineers. Blogging U. courses no longer have private sites for those participating — but that doesn’t mean there’s no way to get support when you need it!

How do I connect with other bloggers during my course?

Reaching out to other bloggers helps participants get the most out of Blogging U. courses. We encourage you to use the tag for your course when publishing posts (e.g., #bloggingfundamentals) and to browse that tag in the Reader to find and connect with other bloggers. If you don’t know what tag to use or browse, don’t worry — when you begin a course, we’ll tell you.

We also have a weekly Community Pool discussion thread where anyone can seek or give feedback on any aspect of blogging. A new thread opens every Monday. And each Friday, new bloggers are invited to share their first posts with the community in our First Friday thread.

What if I don’t blog on WordPress.com?

All general assignments (publishing posts, customizing your blog, leaving comments, etc.) are applicable to any blog, anywhere. However, you’ll need to have a WordPress.com account to register for a Blogging U. course, and any specific how-to guidance we offer will be specific to WordPress.com.

How much does each course cost?

Nothing. Blogging U. courses have always been free, and still are.

Ready to register? Head to the Blogging U. home page to get started!

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44 Comments

Comments are closed.

  1. Kathryn Grace May 16th at 4:21 pm

    In January I took Blogging 101 and found the camaraderie and new friendships through the private site one of the most valuable parts of the course. I’m taking a self-directed course now, and using the tools provided, including Community Pool and checking in on what others are posting through the hashtag, but that’s just not the same. I hope you’ll find a way to integrate the private site back into the courses.

    Liked by 12 people

  2. routid May 16th at 5:00 pm

    I have participated to a Blogging U session last January, I recommend it to you as it’s friendly but also you could learn a lot ;-

    Liked by 7 people

  3. The Analyzed Life May 16th at 5:14 pm

    Awesome post! Will be checking this out later.

    Liked by 7 people

  4. mamandanslezef May 16th at 5:21 pm

    Yes! Now I have to find time to do it 😉

    Liked by 6 people

  5. kosto68 May 16th at 5:57 pm

    A question: my blog does not have a comment possibility. How can I construct that? is there a WP help desk?

    Liked by 7 people

  6. rayparksjr May 16th at 6:02 pm

    Being a first-timer is quite difficult; however, I plan on pursuing my desire to become a writer on a regular basis. I’d love to see my wish to result in a kind of writing career to help me to stay above the financial water — it is not my idle dream, but rather a true piece of determination of mine. — Ray

    Liked by 10 people

  7. Jo Smith May 16th at 7:09 pm

    Wait do you have to pay for this?

    Liked by 7 people

  8. TwentyFiveOms May 16th at 7:30 pm

    This is SUCH a great resource! I have just started my own blog this past week and its been exciting. I would greatly appreciate it if other fellow bloggers could take a look at my start. Does anyone have any suggestions for improvements? I would love to hear from everyone! I’ll also be writing up recipes on some of India’s famous dishes that can be made in less than 30 minutes. Stay tuned if you love curry! 🙂

    Liked by 8 people

  9. theworldaccording2ellah May 16th at 7:57 pm

    hmm……I have tripped at the first hurdle, it seems. I started reading the ‘fundamentals’, skimmed through to see what it would all be about, then just lost the lessons that were at the beginning. Maybe this is not for me. Surely 63 is not ‘too old’ to learn all this stuff!

    Liked by 8 people

    • Michelle W. May 16th at 8:19 pm

      Not at all! Each email you’ll get will have basic instructions, and will link you directly to the additional resources, to help you find the information you need.

      Liked by 6 people

  10. thebipolarchristianblog May 16th at 8:22 pm

    Do any of the courses show or explain how to integrate off-site themes into our customization panel? I would like to use a theme that is not posted on WordPress at this time.

    Liked by 7 people

    • Michelle W. May 16th at 9:23 pm

      They do not, because you can’t use external themes on WordPress.com — on WordPress.com, you’re limited to the themes that are available here (which is why we work so hard to make sure there’s a wide range of options, and are constantly adding more themes).

      Liked by 3 people

      • thebipolarchristianblog May 17th at 3:04 am

        Thank you Michelle. That’s a bit of a bummer, but the price can’t be beat, so, I will learn to work with what’s here. Thank you.

        Liked by 3 people

  11. Liachristo May 17th at 1:20 am

    Good evening!
    very good post and would like to have the opportunity to learn more about all of these issues. The only drawback is that I am not good at English. You have these courses in Portuguese?

    Liked by 7 people

  12. Cindy Friday May 17th at 2:14 am

    Is something like this available with kidblog?

    Liked by 4 people

  13. ambrmullr May 17th at 5:31 am

    This is just what I need – great initiative!

    Liked by 4 people

  14. accountingsparrow May 17th at 11:40 am

    Nice… Very usefull as I am about to post my FIRST blog… 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

  15. Dawn Marie May 17th at 3:46 pm

    I just enrolled in the blogging fundamentals as a refresher course to dip my feet back in! Excited to be partaking in another Blogging U course & meeting new people at the pool tonight! Hugs!

    Liked by 4 people

  16. Cheryllynn Dyess May 17th at 4:21 pm

    Very excited for this, even though Im not completely new the blogging world… I always love to learn more.

    Liked by 5 people

  17. Xceptional43 May 17th at 5:04 pm

    I took Blogging 201, I cannot say it hasn’t transformed my writing because it has.

    Liked by 4 people

  18. nruhwald May 17th at 5:55 pm

    I love all the support wordpress offers! Going to have to check this out.

    Liked by 4 people

  19. Matej Velišček May 17th at 9:07 pm

    Good idea. Definitely something I will check!

    Liked by 4 people

  20. shorakamo May 18th at 4:59 am

    Hello Dear I registerd in your site for make a site. But now it is expire. How can I renew my site? thank you for your advicing. Mohammad

    Liked by 3 people

  21. tjlyons2002 May 18th at 6:02 pm

    Thank you for making this resource possible! I am fairly new to blogging and am anxious to learn more about it and hopefully get some followers and do some following.
    TJ

    Liked by 4 people

  22. educateyoself May 19th at 2:07 pm

    this is so cool I just signed up!

    Liked by 3 people

  23. kosto68 May 21st at 12:01 pm

    Dear Michelle W,
    Thnxs for your answer, but it did not help me. I signed in for the dicussion/reaction possibility but the COMMENT invitation is nevertheless not visible (see foryour self: closemetkoos.wordpress.com)
    Groetjes, Koos

    Liked by 3 people

  24. afictionesse May 21st at 8:46 pm

    I recommend it. It’s fun.

    Liked by 2 people

  25. Maria Logan Montgomery May 22nd at 6:19 pm

    I will be having surgery on my ankle in early June. If I begin this course now, I will likely get behind for a few days. Will that be a problem?

    Liked by 2 people

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