I’m looking to start learning WordPress development and wondering what study materials or tutorials work best for someone just getting started. I have some background with Python programming, though I realize that doesn’t really help much with WordPress since it uses PHP. The good news is I can pick up PHP pretty quickly since the concepts are similar.
My main goal right now is to understand how WordPress development actually works - like the typical process of building themes, working with plugins, and just getting familiar with how everything fits together. I’m not looking to become an expert overnight, just want to get comfortable with the basics and understand the general workflow.
What resources have worked well for other beginners? Are there any particular courses, documentation, or practice projects that you’d suggest starting with?
totally agree! codex has its quirks but it’s super helpful. xampp makes testing easy, just get your hands dirty and try stuff out. you’ll learn a lot more by doing rather than just reading. good luck and have fun!
Your programming background will definitely help - the logic’s similar even if the syntax differs. Start with WordPress.org’s learn site since it’s got structured beginner paths. Here’s what I wish someone told me upfront: learn the template hierarchy first. It’s basically how WordPress picks which files to load, and once you get it, everything clicks. For hands-on practice, take a simple static site and convert it to a WordPress theme. You’ll learn to split HTML into header.php, footer.php, and index.php while using WordPress functions. Skip advanced plugin development for now. Get comfortable with basic theme functions and how WordPress does things first.
I also came from Python and the WordPress transition wasn’t as bad as I expected. Start with the official WordPress Developer Handbook - it’s the best resource and covers theme development through plugin architecture. Skip XAMPP and use Local by Flywheel instead. It’s built for WordPress and handles all the server setup automatically. Grab the Twenty Twenty-Three theme and start tweaking it - you’ll learn template hierarchy way faster than just reading docs. This hands-on approach taught me hooks, filters, and the WordPress loop much quicker. The real trick is learning WordPress conventions rather than getting hung up on PHP syntax.