Hey everyone! I’m just getting into automation and workflow tools, and n8n caught my attention. Since I’m completely new to this space, I’m wondering what would be the smartest way to dive in and actually master it. I’ve seen there are different learning paths like official docs, video tutorials, hands-on projects, or community forums. What worked best for you when you were starting out? Did you jump straight into building workflows, or did you spend time understanding the basics first? I’d love to hear about your journey and any mistakes you wish you had avoided early on. Also curious if there are any particular resources or approaches that are especially relevant for beginners in 2025. Thanks for sharing your experiences!
I took a different approach than most people - watched someone use n8n at work before trying it myself. Gave me a real sense of how workflows actually work in business, not just tutorials. When I finally dove in, I focused on error handling from day one. Most beginners skip this and get pissed when everything breaks in production. The big insight? Treat n8n like learning a new language - you’ve got to understand the basics before writing complex stuff. I spent two weeks just connecting different services and watching data flow between nodes. The debugging tools saved my ass early on. What really sped things up was joining the n8n Discord. People share actual use cases there, and seeing how others solve problems taught me way more than any course ever could.
totally get where ur coming from! jumping into projects helped me heaps too. i found the docs useful for quick checks, but tutorials are super engaging. just try stuff out, mistakes are part of the game. best of luck with n8n!
Started with n8n last year - learning the basics first definitely saved me tons of time down the road. I know diving straight into projects sounds tempting, but trust me, get nodes, triggers, and data flow down before tackling complex stuff. The official docs are actually pretty good now for foundation knowledge. What really clicked for me was hooking n8n up to tools I was already using every day. Simple email alerts or Slack messages made everything way more concrete. Big mistake I made early on: copying complex tutorial workflows without understanding why they picked certain nodes. Don’t just copy examples - focus on the logic behind workflow design. Once I had the basics down, the community forums became super helpful for asking real questions.