Learning to use a new software platform and build on it as well is always a challenge. I you are completely self-taught you could have spots in your learning where you have missed out on important concepts. You may learn the basics well in the beginning after research, even then the learning you actually perform may be piece meal at best.
The piecemeal learning can cut some of the time but overtime you may begin to feel the need to actually fill in the missing pieces. I am aware of the piece meal learning. The type that is just enough to get you by until the next overwhelming obstacle.
One of the worst feelings I have had in my time of web development is to have a tight deadline, a client with a small budget and a code obstacle that looms larger than life. In the times where you have these obstacles the below stated ways of learning won’t do you much good but the key is to prepare you before hand. Abraham Lincoln once said,”Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Below are a few ways to sharpen your WordPress Axe
I. Find or Hire A One on One WordPress Trainer or Mentor
This is probably the most high value way I can recommend for learning anything. In my opinion, if you find a person who has mastered some thing you have not and they are willing to pour into your life on a One on One Basis for and period of time you are incredibly fortunate. Coming across these types of mentors in our time is incredibly rare and if you have found it you should consider yourself better off then many. The reason I love the WordPress community is because in the WordPress community this is an occurrence that happens more often with the culture that is fostered by open-source software. In a sense, people just want to give back.
II. Go to A WordPress Meetup
If you cannot find or hire the right One to One mentorship the second best option is the One-to-Many mentorships. This happens a bit more at a WordPress meetups. I have personally found lot’s of growth through the local WordPress community. This learning has come through the instrumentality of my peers who have shared valuable insight and through me being able to personally present to the community what I have been learning. The Inland Empire WordPress Meetup group has greatly accelerated my learning the WordPress Platform.
III. Take A Structured WordPress Course
This final shortcut to learning WordPress almost goes without saying simply because of the ubiquity of this form of learning in the internet age. Taking a structured WordPress Course is a certain way to level up your own WordPress skills. This way take more discipline than the first two options but can be done in complete isolation from others. This may or may not be an advantage for your learning style. I have found that my personal learning preference is to learn in isolation first then move forward testing in a community.
Remember to share what you learn
Whatever way you choose to learn WordPress one thing you can be certain will benefit your learning is the sharing of what you have learned. If you are the lone wolf who loves to learn in isolation be sure you show up at the actual meetup and engage in the greater WordPress community through WordCamps so others can benefit from what you have learned in secret.