Hugh Lashbrooke 8:31 am on October 23, 2020
Tags: highlight ( 4 ), learn wordpress ( 12 )

Learn WordPress course planning

In order to make sure Learn WordPress is ready for a full launch, we need to work towards publishing content as soon as possible that can empower WordPress users to learn relevant and valuable skills. The best way to do that is by compiling courses that target specific learning outcomes. I proposed this on GitHub, so check that out for a deeper explanation of the data structure for this.

In this post, I’d like to explore some course outlines that we could use on Learn WordPress. For a full launch later this year, we need to have a minimum of two complete courses published on the site.

Alongside the course outlines below there are links to existing docs and lesson plans that could be used for people to record the workshops, as well as currently available workshops in some cases. The existing lesson plans and documentation make it very easy for anyone to record a workshop on the topic with minimal effort.

The course & workshop names aren’t set in stone – they’re just from initial brainstorming and this can all be evolved over time.

The feedback needed here is:

Is there anything you would add/change about the course outlines listed here?
Are there any additional courses you can think of that would be good to include?
Which two courses should we make sure to have ready before we do a full, marketed launch of Learn WordPress before the end of 2020?
Are there any workshops that you would like to be involved in creating/recording? If a lesson plan exists, then the workshop is simply using that as your script to record the workshop.

Please read through the proposed courses and outlines below and leave your feedback in the comments!

Start publishing with WordPress

How to host/install WordPress (lesson plan / documentation)
Dashboard basics (lesson plans for Dashboard overview, Pages vs Posts & Settings / documentation)
Publishing with the blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. editor (workshop)
Using taxonomies (lesson plan)
Using the media library (documentation)
How to find help with WordPress (lesson plan)

Advanced site management / Unleashing the power of WordPress

Troubleshooting basics (workshop)
Managing users (lesson plan / documentation)
Choosing & installing plugins (lesson plan / documentation)
Choosing & installing themes (lesson plan / documentation)
Using the Block Directory (workshop)
Using block patterns (workshop)
Using the CustomizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings. (lesson plan)
Advanced layouts with the block editor
Using custom CSSCSS CSS is an acronym for cascading style sheets. This is what controls the design or look and feel of a site. in the block editor (workshop)
SEO for WordPress (documentation)
Improving site performance (lesson plan / documentation)
Security & backups (documentation on backups & security)
Full site editing
Using WordPress in other languages (documentation)

Build & distribute a WordPress pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party

Install WordPress locally (lesson plan / documentation)
Plugin file/folder structure
Best practices for plugin development
Tools/plugins that help with plugin development
Using WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. APIs (multiple workshops for different APIs?)
Building GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ blocks (workshop)
Submitting to the Plugin Directory & Block Directory

Build & distribute a WordPress theme

Install WordPress locally (lesson plan / documentation)
Theme file/folder structure
Best practices for theme development
Tools/plugins that help with theme development
Using WordPress core APIs (multiple workshops for different APIs?)
Building Gutenberg blocks (workshop)
Submitting to the Theme Directory

Organize WordPress events

Intro to event organising (workshop)
Organising online events
Handling complaints
Moderating discussions

Start contributing to WordPress

Intro to contributing to WordPress (workshop)
Contribution tutorials for each team (workshops for Community & Polyglots)

Crafting good content / Building an audience

How to write engaging content
Writing for SEO
Marketing your content

Blogging 101

How to create a blog
How to write engaging content
Monetizing a blog
Marketing the blog (SEO, Digital marketing)

Advanced WordPress development

Using the WordPress REST APIREST API The REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/.
Building complex Gutenberg blocks
Full site editing

Developing for the block editor

Building Gutenberg blocks (workshop)
Building complex Gutenberg blocks
Converting widgets to blocks
Creating block patterns

Advanced use-cases

eCommerce
Podcasting
Social
CRM

Getting started with e-commerce

WordPress e-commerce Basics
Choosing an e-commerce plugin
Create an e-commerce site with WP using the 5(?) Most popular plugins in the Plugin Directory
Growing/Scaling up your e-commerce store

Learn WordPress 101

What is Learn WordPress?
How to plan workshop content
How to create a workshop video
Planning workshop series, courses, etc

#learn-wordpress #highlight

Hari Shanker R 9:29 am on October 23, 2020
Thanks for putting this together, @hlashbrooke! I really like the idea behind the courses, and I’m really excited about how this turns out! 🎉

Is there anything you would add/change about the course outlines listed here?

I feel that these outlines are great for version 1. I think we can always re-evaluate them as we go forward.

With that said, I think it would be nice to have some WordPress 5.6 related content for our workshops (e.g. Full Site Editing, Creating blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. based themes, etc). This would be more of a ‘nice to have’, I think.

Are there any additional courses you can think of that would be good to include?

Since WordPress is vast, I’m sure there are a lot of things that can be included. Let’s not be too far-fetched right now: I think we’re off to a good start with this list, but let’s be open to expanding to more lessons after our full launch.

Which two courses should we make sure to have ready before we do a full, marketed launch of Learn WordPress before the end of 2020?

My two picks would be:
1. Start publishing with WordPress.
2. Advanced site management / Unleashing the power of WordPress
I see that we already have workshops on some of the other topics as well, but it would be nice to have the basics set up, for our launch, as it would be ideal for our launch.

If we have the bandwidth to do more, I would vote for the following topics/workshops:
- A workshop on Full site editing.
- Learn WordPress 101 workshops
Are there any workshops that you would like to be involved in creating/recording? If a lesson plan exists, then the workshop is simply using that as your script to record the workshop.

I’m already working on a Troubleshooting WordPress workshop series. I’d like to work on some more of the publishing and advanced site management topics as well.
Ahmed Chaion 10:16 am on October 23, 2020

Thanks @hlashbrooke for the post. As we grow with the Learn WP Platform, I want to point out of the fact that subtitles and captioning is a must have not only for the accessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) aspect but rather maintaining the standards. I personally feel the need of having these on the list for as many workshops and content-wise as possible as we grow with the Learn Platform.

Regards
Ahmed
- webcommsat AbhaNonStopNewsUK 12:26 pm on October 23, 2020
  
  Thanks for raising this from the discussion we had in the marketing team about the importance of this is for the Learn platform and the potential solutions.
  
  Hugh the subtitles are a vital part of enabling translation and to ensure we are being inclusive and providing materials that can be used more easily in other languages.
  - Hugh Lashbrooke 12:32 pm on October 23, 2020
    
    Yes – subtitles are an important part of all this. Captioning videos on Learn WordPress is already 100% possible using the existing tools on WordPress.tv, so that’s baked into the solution we’re using.
manzwebdesigns 11:46 am on October 23, 2020

Is there anything you would add/change about the course outlines listed here?
I think these look great! There is something for each level of users.
Are there any additional courses you can think of that would be good to include?
Not really, seems pretty complete. I find myself wishing this was available when I started learning WordPress!
Which two courses should we make sure to have ready before we do a full, marketed launch of Learn WordPress?
I am thinking about the Start publishing with WordPress for sure. I would think that it would be good to have the one about contributing ready as well, if not, then Advanced site management.
Are there any workshops that you would like to be involved in creating/recording? If a lesson plan exists, then the workshop is simply using that as your script to record the workshop.
I would love to help with this. I can do the "Start publishing..." one.
Courtney Engle Robertson 11:53 am on October 23, 2020

Inline comments left on https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SHmjdzYmHa9o4PcMK2J4J0gSvUi-coNGMY4nsHkOQ5c/edit?usp=sharing.

This may be more within specific lessons:
I’m thinking about also how we address current hot topics or community culture. For instance, the blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. naming issue. I’ve heard a good bit of warnings on naming blocks thoughtfully to be more clear in the directory. Conveying the struggle and etiquette that may extend beyond the minimum requirements would be helpful. Thoughtfully wording it in the lesson plans is important, but it also matters that we not draw attention to bad behavior in our messaging.
Courtney Engle Robertson 7:58 pm on October 25, 2020

The training team has additional lesson plan ideas in the backlog. https://trello.com/b/BsfzszRM/wordpress-training-team-lesson-plan-development . See the Lesson Plan Ideas column.
Angela Jin 10:02 am on October 30, 2020

This is so exciting! Thank you for taking the time to plan this out and link all the resources, I appreciate how clear and organized this is.
Is there anything you would add/change about the course outlines listed here?
These course outlines look excellent to me.
Are there any additional courses you can think of that would be good to include?
We already have a workshop introducing open sourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL., I think it would be helpful to dig into that more, as well as GPLGPL GPL is an acronym for GNU Public License. It is the standard license WordPress uses for Open Source licensing https://wordpress.org/about/license/. The GPL is a ‘copyleft’ license https://www.gnu.org/licenses/copyleft.en.html. This means that derivative work can only be distributed under the same license terms. This is in distinction to permissive free software licenses, of which the BSD license and the MIT License are widely used examples., as a course.
Which two courses should we make sure to have ready before we do a full, marketed launch of Learn WordPress before the end of 2020?
The first two (Start publishing with WordPress and Advanced site management covers some fundamental basics, so I would like to see those up before the end of the year.
Are there any workshops that you would like to be involved in creating/recording? If a lesson plan exists, then the workshop is simply using that as your script to record the workshop.
I could tackle Using the media library or Using the CustomizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings..
Courtney P.K. 8:39 pm on November 5, 2020

As brought up in Community Team chat today:
I’m curious how people that apply for the same Workshops can find out about each other’s interest and possibly work together? It would be nice to have a public tracker (like we have for meetups and WordCamps) — do we have plans for anything like this?
- Hugh Lashbrooke 7:32 am on November 6, 2020
  
  Good point! We have this sheet that is acting as our content calendar of sorts: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wLFhjjR878XHz-DZfB7614fhOrOG0QbLZxyj6XWct5U/edit#gid=0 – it’s not 10% up to date right now with the currently planned workshops, but it should be up to date very soon once all the info has been gathered.
Nuella Igwe 2:54 pm on November 11, 2020

Thank you for sharing this. It’s really exciting

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Learn WordPress course planning

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