Before diving into our courses or webinars be sure to review the information below to set yourself up for the most success with achieving your goals!
Important:
- Most links will open in the same tab you’re on, unless they are for something external (such as YouTube or Zoom). You can choose to open any link in a new tab by right clicking on it, or press “command+click” on Mac and “control+click” on Windows.
- Images are not clickable. To open a larger version of an image, right click and open it in a new tab.
Though all of the courses are intended to be self-guided, you won’t be alone. As you progress through the materials, there are different ways you can get help:
Our recommended first step to finding answers is to search the WordPress.com/support self-serve knowledge base. We also recommend searching our public forums at: https://wordpress.com/forums/. Anyone can browse and search our forums, but you’ll need to login with a WordPress.com account to create topics and reply.
For questions pertaining to lesson instructions, course content feedback you’d like to share, or to let us know of any errors or issues you encounter within the courses, please feel free to reach out to us in the Education Community Forum with a link to the materials where you encountered the issue. (You’ll need to login with a WordPress.com account to create topics and reply.)
When it comes to challenges with understanding concepts or WordPress.com features mentioned in the lessons, while we’re here to help if you get stuck, we ask that you to make the support docs mentioned above your first stop. (They’re often the first stop for us as well!)
Technical support
For WordPress.com users with an eligible paid plan↗︎ who would like Live Chat support while working on a particular issue, please feel free to reach out to our Happiness Engineers here: https://wordpress.com/support/contact.
Self-hosted WordPress and WordPress.org
If you’re working with a self-hosted WordPress site, you can find support in the WordPress.org Forums↗︎ and educational resources for self-hosted WordPress sites at Learn.WordPress.org↗︎.
If you don’t already have a WordPress.com account and site you’ll want to create one.
While you can complete most of our courses using a self-hosted WordPress site, some of the tools and examples we explore are unique to WordPress.com and may not be available on a self-hosted WordPress site. If you’re not familiar with the differences between WordPress.com and a self-hosted WordPress site, this article provides a deep dive explanation.
- We recommend creating a WordPress.com account (if you don’t have one) and one free site as a starting point.
- You can have as many free sites in your WordPress.com account as you like.
- Some courses will provide specific instructions for creating a new site, others will be based on working with an existing WordPress.com site.
- Many lesson tasks can be completed with a WordPress.com site that is on the free plan, though we will also make some recommendations and offer suggestions that will require an upgrade.
To start a new site, choose an option below that best suits the level of guidance you’d prefer:
- Go to: https://wordpress.com. Click on the blue “Start your website” button or the “Get Started” link and follow the prompts to set up your site/blog.
- Work through this guide: Getting Started: Quick Start Guide.
- Start with the Quick Launch course.
Pro Tip: We recommend completing a quick read through of the course lessons first (more like a scan through) to get a feel for what’s covered. Then return to the beginning ready to complete the tasks one step at a time. For best results, take your time. There’s no rush.
Before rolling up your sleeves and getting to work play, be sure to:
It is the nature of technology to advance and to do so at a rapid rate.
Still, like you, we understand that change, though inevitable, isn’t always easy. It can be frustrating and disheartening to feel like you’re not making progress.
While some things might not work out the way you thought they would, we’re here to help! You are not in this alone!
There are real people working hard behind the scenes to provide the tools to make your vision a reality. And there are real people, appropriately called “Happiness Engineers”, ready and excited to support you along the way.
Sure, you might still shake your fist at the screen once in a while, since learning can be a challenge! (We are also learning and adapting and thus welcome your feedback on the course and the software!)
But here’s a tip you can make use of right away: Try the 15 minute rule. If you can’t figure something out or find the answer in 15 minutes, ask for help!
Setting mindful expectations will go a long way to reduce technology related frustrations.
Getting you unstuck is our passion and our expertise, so we humbly invite you to lean on us to get you where you want to be.
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