
WordPress is open source and freely available, and this course covers free tools to build your website business. Gather a computer with internet, browsers, editors, and FTP or image tools.
Master the moving parts of WordPress websites by creating, configuring, and troubleshooting multiple sites from a local development environment, without coding from scratch.
Explore a self-hosted WordPress site and how 5.0's block editor differs from the classic editor. Learn about themes, plugins, and backward compatibility.
Learn how WordPress sites connect to domains and hosting, set up local development and a client sandbox, and assemble essential tools for invoicing and payments.
Explore WordPress hosting options from shared to cloud and managed services, plus local development environments like MAMP, XAMPP, desktop server, and Instant WordPress.
Explore popular local development environments for WordPress, compare Windows and Mac compatibility, and learn to install WordPress, locate site files and database, and troubleshoot issues.
Learn how MAMP provides a local WordPress development environment on Mac and Windows, including Apache and MySQL, port management, and using PHPMyAdmin for database access.
Explore Laragon, the Windows local development environment with a WordPress auto installer, port 8888 configuration, and hosts file routing to pretty urls like site6.test.
Use a free local development environment, Local by Flywheel, to set up your first WordPress site. Access the WordPress admin dashboard and quickly spin up additional sites.
Explore how local by flywheel sets up WordPress, revealing the core files, the database, and how posts, pages, and themes shape the front end.
Set up your exclusive 90-day free trial hosting with SiteGround, install WordPress at the root, and explore site tools, file manager, and phpmyadmin for course work.
Sign up for Flywheel's managed WordPress hosting to access a 60-day free demo site and development environment, then create and resell WordPress sites for clients.
Learn to manually install WordPress using Local by Flywheel, connect core files to the database, and configure wp-config for a quick five-minute WordPress setup.
Install WordPress manually on a local server using MAMP to create a private development environment. Configure the database and wp-config.php to connect WordPress and build sites offline.
Learn how to manually install WordPress on a Laragon local development environment, including downloading WordPress, creating a database, configuring wp-config.php, and restarting the server.
Explore WordPress file structure and database connections. Learn how to change site URLs, troubleshoot plugin conflicts, and edit database tables to recover a hacked or broken site.
The Student Sandbox Signup Code is:
Udemy20160607
Explore a local WordPress installation, review default themes and plugins, adjust general and reading settings, set permalinks to post name, and configure media and front page options.
Learn how to install a fresh WordPress site from scratch, locally or on a hosting server, including manual setup, database creation, wp-config configuration, and initial site settings.
Learn to add encryption keys and salts to the WP config file, secure the WordPress admin, and install free plugins like Contact Form 7, Google Analytics, and Google Maps.
Customize the WordPress front page, add a large image and logo, and explore posts vs pages while configuring site identity, icons, and navigation for a brochure site.
Create interior pages and header navigation in the WordPress brochure site, then customize the sidebar with a pages widget to ensure visitors can find what they need on every page.
Configure the contact form with the contact form 7 plug-in, embed it on the contact page using the short code, and add it as a sidebar widget.
Configure Google maps on a WordPress site by embedding interactive maps on the contact page and footer, adding markers and locations with WP Google Maps for multiple, responsive maps.
Set up Google Analytics for a WordPress site by creating or linking an account and installing a tracking plugin. See traffic stats in the WordPress dashboard after authenticating with Google.
Import a WordPress sample content set and switch the home page to list latest posts. Preview how another theme would look with the same content.
Activate the 2014 theme, create three sample posts with featured images, crop them to a 2:1 ratio, tag them as featured, and display them in the top home page grid.
Revise the header navigation and the four footer widgets, and configure the primary sidebar to show recent posts. Create a photo gallery in the portfolio page and enable category navigation.
Create and organize WordPress categories to build intuitive navigation in the content sidebar. Explore category archives, widgets, bulk management, and descriptions, and compare with tags and custom taxonomies.
Discover how tags function as a taxonomy, distinct from categories, and how to craft a tag cloud for intuitive navigation in a WordPress site.
Learn how post formats in the WordPress 2014 theme organize content, customize the ephemera widget and footer widgets, and clean up imported content to deliver a polished client site.
Migrate a WordPress site using the All In One WP Migration plugin by exporting a complete backup and restoring it to a new local installation.
Migrate a WordPress site using the Duplicator plugin to create a package with files and a database, then install at a new location and verify the URLs and navigation.
In this lesson, we migrate a local WordPress website, and manually move the files and database over to a live server environment at SiteGround.
Set up a local development and staging environment, migrate a live WordPress site using the duplicator plugin, and push updated copies back to live with zero downtime.
Learn how to migrate a WordPress site to live hosting using SiteGround and Flywheel, using automated staging areas, create staging copies, and push updates with a single click.
Activate a new WordPress theme in a staging environment with backups and seamless migrations. Update the live site with the new theme while preserving content and avoiding downtime.
Explain why premium WordPress themes are worth paying for, thanks to ongoing development, security, and compatibility with updates, and highlight sources like StudioPress and ThemeForest, plus rating criteria.
Explore how WordPress frameworks use child themes to extend a parent theme, enabling non-destructive customization and easier updates while unlocking advanced front-page layouts and widget areas.
Create a WordPress child theme manually by setting up a child theme folder with style.css and functions.php, enqueue the parent stylesheet, and customize safely through the child.
Create a WordPress child theme quickly using a plugin, from a migration copy, check plugin options in the WordPress plugin repository, preview, activate, and edit the footer styles locally.
Change the WordPress admin dashboard by editing the child theme's functions.php with a code snippet to remove a menu item, backing up first and testing in staging.
Learn to customize a Genesis child theme in the WordPress sandbox using the Genesis framework and Parallax Pro, with widgets, header images, and breadcrumbs.
Learn to edit a Genesis parallax pro child theme without touching core files by using a simple edits plugin and custom CSS, including breadcrumbs and footer tweaks.
Use code snippets and the WP Clips plugin to customize WordPress without editing the child theme. Learn to add a custom login logo and related tweaks in a development environment.
Explore premium and free WordPress plugins on WPMUDev.org, including multi-site tools, branding, security, speed, backups, and a centralized dashboard, plus the Enviro marketplace in Vado for affordable options.
Explore the Envato Market for WordPress plugins and themes via ThemeForest and CodeCanyon, and learn to vet, preview, and select paid and free resources for a WordPress site.
Learn to find and evaluate free WordPress plugins in the official repository by assessing active installs, last updates, WordPress compatibility, ratings, and developer support, then install directly from your dashboard.
Compare premium and light soliloquy slider in WordPress by installing light, creating sliders, using shortcodes, and noting media library limits and add-on options like lightbox and carousel.
Explore premium plugins and multi-site management in a WordPress sandbox, including Genesis extensions, branding tools, and backup solutions, to build and secure multi-site sites.
Set up a new WordPress sandbox site, activate the executive pro Genesis child theme, and import the demo content to customize the home page using the theme's widget areas.
Configure the Executive Pro home page using Genesis widget areas, sliders, and featured pages. Learn to regenerate thumbnails and tailor posts and pages in the WordPress dashboard.
Explore Genesis column classes to build multi-column layouts in WordPress using three-fourths and one-fourth divisions, applying divs and button classes in content and call-to-action areas.
Build a custom top navigation in the Executive Pro theme, upload a header logo, and tailor the bottom footer, using appearance menus, customize live preview, and Genesis Simple Edits.
Explore the portfolio custom post type and its types taxonomy in WordPress, and why plugins simplify CPT creation. Learn about the portfolio archive page and its headline and intro settings.
Explore building a dynamic home page with Genesis featured post widgets and post offsets, create a reverse-chronological blog archive, and implement featured images for a polished WordPress site.
Activate the cafe pro theme, import the sample content file and the ex-mil file, and explore the home page layout with scrolling navigation, widgets, and layout configurations.
Build scrolling navigation with anchor tags, configure primary and footer menus, and apply Genesis theme settings for a cafe pro site.
Learn to transform a blog-style home page into a scrolling WordPress front page with fixed backgrounds, using the affinity theme, front page panels, and navigation.
Explore the cafe pro WordPress theme front page layouts, using widget areas and studio press configurations to customize a responsive home page with featured posts and footer widgets.
Customize the cafe pro homepage by arranging front page widget areas, adjusting titles and read more links, and regenerating thumbnails to optimize featured images.
Organize WordPress content with custom post types, taxonomies, and custom fields using the custom press plugin, then tailor the cafe pro theme for a photographer's photographs.
Create and populate a photographs custom post type in WordPress, assign custom taxonomy, tags, and fields, and tailor archive and single post displays in the Cafe Pro theme.
Configure dynamic widgets with custom sidebars pro to display image data on single photograph pages, create a four-widget front page grid linking to photo type pages, and use conditional content.
Set up a sandbox WordPress site by activating the author pro theme and plugin, and import the demo content. Explore author pro custom post types and taxonomies with Genesis.
Explore how the Genesis Author Pro plugin powers custom post types for books with fields, taxonomies, and archive templates to display authors, series, and tags.
Design and configure the author pro homepage using layout configuration, static content, and conditional widgets to showcase books through the featured book widget and author pro plugin’s custom post types.
Learn to customize the author pro footer with social icons, a Genesis after entry area, a featured book widget, and a recent posts widget, adjusting colors, icon sizes, regenerating thumbnails.
Edit a PSD book cover template in Photoshop to preserve the left bookbinding overlay, swap the cover image and title, then export a web-ready image for WordPress.
Switch to a Genesis powered theme while preserving custom post type data with the author pro plugin and CPT creator, then adjust widgets and regenerate thumbnails to keep content intact.
PLEASE NOTE: A new 2.0 version of this course is now live and ready! (as of March 14, 2022) If you're looking at this 1.0 version of the course, I'd advise that you to STOP! and enroll in the new version instead directly by finding The Complete WordPress Website Business Course 2.0 here on Udemy. If you are already enrolled and did it within 30 days, you can use Udemy's 30-day refund period to return this course and get the new one. Welcome!
[TLDR; Don't get this course - go the new 2.0 version instead]
OLD Course description:
No better time than now, and only increasing
With WordPress powering more than 25% of all websites in the world, there's never been a better time to build an income and a business around it.
You're here because you want to master WordPress, right? Good idea. You're in the right place. And, you can do it without learning any programming or coding.
While WordPress is open source, and because of that has thousands of developers building resources for it, it still takes quite a bit of learning to become a master at building and managing websites with it. It's not just learning the WordPress software, there's a small amount of graphic design knowledge needed, hosting and server management, troubleshooting broken sites or problems by hacking into the back end and server setup, and properly staging development environments around new sites or when performing updates and changes on existing sites.
"What a great course! Good explanation and a lot to learn, friendly and very quick support. I'm only at the beginning and I'll leave another review later after I finished this course. I'm sure there is much more to learn!" --Adriene
Why am I qualified to teach you?
Through this course, I'll teach you everything I've learned and mastered
through 10 years of building, managing, migrating, and hosting WordPress websites.
"He is concise and well spoken, without dumbing it down at all. As a total newbie to Wordpress, I'm thankful he's offering this! 3 lessons in and it's great so far." --Jamie Rasmussen
My business lets me work on my own schedule, manage my home workspace
without a boss or a manager, and gives me an unlimited ceiling for profit and income and time freedom.
Without learning to code or programming anything, I'm able to leverage what's already been done with WordPress to create modern, robust and functional websites for clients of all types.
I'm hoping you'll get to the same awesome place in your work life. Let this course give you the head start you need to increase your income fast.
"[Gregg] has covered more areas than what an average course would deliver, this is clear reflection of Greggs' experience in the subject. He has gone above and beyond to cover every aspect of WordPress for a clear and concise understanding for a beginner.
Gregg is probably one of the best instructors I have come across on Udemy and expert in the subject. Well done and Thank you for an amazing course."
--Mohamed Fawmey Mohamed Vinodh
Many of my best and biggest clients have come from "abandoned" WordPress websites, where the client's website designer or developer has left the scene. My ability to get in and restore, fix, redesign, and continue to manage WordPress websites brings me lots of instant and recurring income.
You'll learn how to do all this in 20 hours of easy-to-follow video content, fun lessons and challenges.
During this course, you'll learn everything you need to know to start or improve your own WordPress website business.
The WordPress Ecosystem
"Straight forward and neat! Just what I need to step up the freelancing ladder. Highly recommended." --Mr. Graciano Jose Reyes
It's probably no surprise to you that the WordPress community has thousands of really talented and creative developers, designers and technologists working within it. And you may know that much of their work is available as open-source resources that will enable you to build your own business.
The open-source philosophy doesn't mean that no one makes any money. On the contrary, by sharing much of what we, as a community, create, we all prosper much, much more, because we all share in expanding what's possible with WordPress.
By spending zero-to-little money, you can stand on the shoulders of those who came before you, to create your own business niche, by learning the skills and secrets presented in this course.
"Instructor explains everything very clearly, and in detail. So simple to learn and understand in this course. Looking forward to finishing all of the lessons with much excitement. An A+++ instructor and course." --Mekus
Summary of what you'll get
Over 20 hours of video teaching and training.
Learn to set up local development environments to play with Wordpress websites in private, on your own computer.
Evaluate and choose hosting for your own websites and client sites, with insights from 15 years of hosting client websites.
Free extended hosting trials at SiteGround and Flywheel for performing coursework and hosting your website experiments.
Premium Products WordPress Sandbox, where you can play with many premium WordPress resources, like Genesis Framework and Themes, WPMUDev Plugins, and other premium tools.
Your Website Sandbox lets you create an unlimited number of experimental learning environments.
Build more than 10 modern mobile-responsive websites, each with a different focus and learning purpose - each one could be re-purposed for a client website.
Active and helpful community and forum.
Direct access to your instructors for questions and help through the Udemy communications channels.
Lifetime access to the course, including all future updates.
What will I learn that I can apply to creating a profitable business right away?
Download and configure free open-source software tools and use online services to build the resources you need to create and manage WordPress websites.
Master the ins-and-outs of hosting and development environments, including servers, files, and databases that WordPress uses.
Learn how to get into the WordPress files and database to manually manage installation and troubleshooting for WordPress websites.
Build a simple brochure website after installing and configuring WordPress manually.
Add contact forms, Google Maps embedded in the site, and Google Analytics integrations for tracking visitors and traffic.
Create a blog-style website, including category and tag navigation systems, and post formats for organizing content.
How about more advanced topics I'll need?
WordPress website migration and moving sites to different hosts and servers.
Hosting differences and migration services.
Using staging areas for website development and updating.
Working with Theme Frameworks and Child Themes.
Creating a Child Theme manually and using a plugin.
Customizing the WordPress Dashboard for clients.
Working with plugins, and vetting them for usability, reputation and longevity.
Website Speed and Performance testing.
Custom Post Types for customizing a website's functionality to match the needs of a client.
Working with and extending Genesis Child Themes.
Setting up email systems: transactional email sent by WordPress, marketing email sent to email lists in bulk, and specific email addresses at website domains.
ECommerce and WordPress: using WooCommerce to build a webstore, and using Custom Post Types within WooCommerce.
Customizing Account, Cart, and Checkout pages.
Shipping and Digital Delivery.
Updating WordPress, Themes and Plugins.
Managing multiple websites for recurring income.
Creating multiple backup and restore systems.
Using website security through https:// and SSL Certificates.
Landing, managing, and keeping great clients
Finding clients and building client proposals
Website care and management services for recurring income.
Client billing for flat-rate projects and recurring charges.