How I Taught Myself to Design and Develop WordPress Websites

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I’m not sure if you guys know it or not, but I design my own site and have since I started blogging almost 4 years ago.  I even had a small business doing it for a couple of those years but have recently closed it to concentrate solely on this blog. Wow, is it paying off!

Since I’ve never really shared this story, I thought I’d take some time and give you the low down.  I know some of you reading this blog are bloggers and small busines owners who’d like to learn how to design your own site, so I hope this information will be helpful to you.

Just over 4 years ago, I was about 6 months into blogging.  I started on a blogger blog and it was fine for a while.

But about 3 or 4 months into it, I started hearing about this thing called WordPress.  It seemed as if everybody was moving to a self-hosted WordPress website all at once!

My friend, Vanessa from Nifty Thrifty Things was moving just at that time, and I know I must have sent her 50,000 questions about WordPress and web design. She was so sweet to answer everything and after talking with her, I decided that I needed to put on my big girl blogging pants and move.

But before I could even think about moving, I had to figure out what I needed to do.  I knew I needed a WordPress theme, and after reading up on it, I decided I wanted to custom design it myself.  I’m such a DIY’er that I figured I’d take a gamble and invest the money in learning how to do it rather than pay someone to do it for me. That decision has payed of in Aces and Spades and Kings and Queens.

So how did I do it?  How did I go from barely knowing html to understanding all the steps so I could design and develop WordPress websites?

Here is how I learned to design and develop WordPress websites:

1. lynda.com tutorials

Through some miracle, I found lynda.com and signed up for a monthly account.  I invested in the level with the exercise files which allowed me to do everything the instructor was doing and have a copy of the end product.  I spent hours and hours watching videos.  They have everything there.

I watched all the HTML, CSS (your bff when it comes to customizing a theme) and WordPress videos such as How to Customize a WordPress theme, How to Design and Create a WordPress theme, How to Create a WordPress Child Theme.

Oh, my word.  It’s a wealth of information!

I learned how to install a local server on my computer and everything.  It was insane.  I couldn’t get enough of it.  It’s the best investment I have made to date.

Here’s an example of Lynda.com’s videos. This is from the WordPress Essential Training.

Compared to going to college, it’s a steal.  The Basic plan (without the exercise files) is around $25/mo and the Premium plan (that includes the exercise files) is about $35.  Totally, totally worth it. You can save even more if you buy it on an annual basis.  And you can get 10 days for free:

Click here to get 10 days of free unlimited access to lynda.com!

I promise, if you want to learn anything techy, even photography, it’s the best place EVER.

2. Genesis and Studio Press Child Themes

Once I felt comfortable with WordPress and how it worked, I bought the Genesis Framework from StudioPress.  I had seen lots of reviews of themes and frameworks, and after a lot of contemplating, decided to go with StudioPress, and I have been incredibly pleased. #thatwouldbeanunderstatement

I love StudioPress for several reasons.

• They are always working on the framework and keeping the code up to date and secure by adhering to WordPress’ security best practices, which gives me peace of mind knowing that my themes are secure.  That alone is worth the cost of the Framework and the Child Theme.
• They use smart code and are optimized for Search Engines.
• They have lots of mobile responsive themes that are built on HTML5, the most recent version of HTML.
• They have unlimited support and updates, plus you can use their themes on unlimited websites. Yeah. Unlimited. You read that correctly.
• They have an amazing Forum that is filled with thread upon thread of helpful information, as well as very knowledgeable managers that answer questions quickly.  I spent many a night devouring all the helpful information.
• They have a wide variety of Child themes for any style blog or business website.  I even invested in the StudioPress Pro Plus All-Theme Package, which gives me access to every single theme from now to eternity.  If you end up designing for other people, it’s a MUST HAVE.

As of writing this article, I’m using the Lifestyle Pro Theme, but you’d never know it, right?  That’s what is so cool.  You can customize it to look however you want once you learn the basics!

And the themes are so easy to change without messing up your site.  All you have to do is upload a new theme and install it according to the theme setup instructions.  Their directions are always clear and easy to follow.

After buying the Framework, I created my own child theme, thanks to the tutorials on Lynda.com.  Then I learned how to customize it from the tutorials from StudioPress and it’s development community.  I’m glad I started out by creating my own child theme, but now, I just grab a theme from StudioPress and customize the heck out of it.  It’s just easier and less time-consuming.  And I no longer feel the need to start from scratch!

The best part of using StudioPress is having access to their tutorials, and their Code Snippets are the best.  They have tons of snippets that you can grab and pop in your functions file (the file that tells your site how to function…haha). Once you’ve figured out how the hooks work, you’ll be customizing your theme in no time!

And now, Lynda.com even has some tutorials for Genesis.

OMGSH. I wish they’d had them when I was starting out.  You’re SO lucky!

Here’s a sample video explaining what the Genesis Framework is:

3.  Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

I realized that I also needed to make my own graphics.  After researching, I decided to invest in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.  I just signed up for the package that has all the software options.  It’s amazing, and now that they have Creative Cloud, it’s actually very reasonable.

And I turned to Lynda.com for training!

These days, I use Photoshop ALL the time…mostly to make my blog graphics by overlaying text on photos.  I use Illustrator to make all my logos because they are vector files and can be used for larger scale printing.  Photoshop is great for web graphics like social icons and other images that don’t need to be scaled to a larger size.  They are both great programs and can do some of the same things but do have some very different uses. I’d say I use Photoshop on a daily basis and Illustrator about once a week for Printables and such.

Here’s an example of the Photoshop for Web Design Course:

After three years of working with WordPress and Genesis, I’m very comfortable and can do just about whatever I want to with my site, and I don’t have to pay anyone.  I do still search for tutorials and browse through the forums at StudioPress if there is something I want to change but am not sure exactly how to do it.

The main thing to keep in mind is that it’s just like anything else you have to learn.  Take it a step at a time and keep it fun.  Enjoy the process of learning, because the learning never, ever stops.

If you truly want to learn to design and develop WordPress websites, I know you can do it!

If you have any questions, let me know!