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Is there a WordPress certification?
Unfortunately, there isn’t an official “WordPress Certification”. WordPress.org is a non-profit foundation which supports the open source WordPress Content Management System software.
Since WordPress is a non-profit organization they do not offer any official credentials or courses where you can get an official “WordPress” certificate.
So, how can you prove to others that you are an official “WordPress Developer” or even have what would otherwise be, certifiable WordPress skills?
There are not only courses you can take in WordPress and it’s various skills where you can get some sort of certification from, but there are other ways that offer much stronger proof of your WordPress skills.
In this post, I’m going to go over ways that you can get various certificates in different WordPress skills as well as how you can demonstrate your own knowledge and skills in WordPress, which when combined, are much stronger than any so-called formal education.
How can I learn WordPress without any formal courses for free?
The best place to learn WordPress without any formal courses or course fees, but for free is first checkout the learning resources at WordPress.org.
Then of course you can go to YouTube and type in WordPress or any of the skills involved in WordPress like PHP, HTML, CSS and even JavaScript and check out the videos there.
In fact, you can check out videos on how to build a WordPress theme from scratch or even plugins from scratch.
Actually, you can also learn about how to build themes and plugins from WordPress.org’s own learning resources as well.
Can you get certified in different WordPress skills?
As I mentioned above, there are no official certifications in WordPress. Whether that’s for WordPress the CMS, plugins, themes or any other related skills for WordPress from WordPress itself.
Although the best way to get something close to a WordPress certification would be to take courses in WordPress and WordPress related skills from a highly reputable online e-learning institution like Coursera, Udemy, Skillshare or any number of reputable online e-learning institutions.
Out of the three I mentioned above, only Skillshare does not offer any certificate of completion for any of their courses.
However, most WordPress related courses do have projects that are part of the course and you can actually use the project which you have completed in the course as part of your portfolio.
The other two, Udemy and Coursera do offer certificates of completion for their WordPress courses.
The reason I mentioned the three online institutes above is because they are the most popular, have excellent reputations and most people in the online world are aware of at least one, if not, all three e-learning institutions.
Therefore, any certification you have earned through them would be of course recognizable.
This is of course an addition to the completed projects that are usually part of those courses, in which again, you can add to your portfolio which will help potential clients or employers see your WordPress skills for themselves.
What’s the best way to show your WordPress skills without a certification?
There are a few ways to show your WordPress skills without a certification of any kind.
However, the best way to show off your WordPress skills would be to set up a portfolio website. If possible use your name as the domain name or as close to it as possible.
On this portfolio website you should also set up an email address. These two things alone will show your seriousness and your professionalism.
The next thing you want to do is get some projects in WordPress completed. They can be small projects or big projects.
However, it’s best to start out with small projects. So which projects or kinds of projects should you start out with?
The best way, if you have no experience at all in WordPress, would be to sign up for an online course from one of the e-learning institutions that I had mentioned above.
Pick one, whether it’s for themes or plugins or any other kind of WordPress course which also includes a project that you are expected to complete by the end of it.
Once you have completed the course, you will have also successfully built something in WordPress.
Simply list that project with a brief description in your portfolio and, if possible, put a link to it.
Move on to another project and so on. Not only can you include the project, but you can also include the certificate of completion from that online institution.
If you have taken a few courses online, but would like to go into some free tutorials that may be available for other projects you would like to try, then follow the tutorials for those projects and instead of placing a certificate of completion, list the project and provide a link to that project.
This is how you can slowly build up your WordPress portfolio while learning and demonstrating your WordPress skills at the same time.
How long does it take to learn WordPress?
Unfortunately, despite all the guesses that you may have read about online in regards to how long it actually takes to learn WordPress, the truth is WordPress learning and development is a never-ending endeavor.
You never truly learn WordPress. You simply get better and improve and learn new WordPress skills and improve upon them.
Since WordPress is constantly evolving itself there is really no way anybody could keep one step ahead of it in the learning process.
How do I become a WordPress developer?
The best advice I have read on how to become a WordPress developer is simply to start building things.
Start building themes, plugins and fully fleshed out WordPress websites.
Although this may sound easier said than done, if you organize your learning, you can start out in one area or another.
Your first themes or plugins as well as your websites certainly aren’t going to be the best out there or even the best that you will eventually be able to do. But they are starting points.
As far as learning the nuts and bolts of WordPress, as I have mentioned in this post, the best way to do this would be to take some online courses, read and watch YouTube videos and documentation, think of a project and realize it to completion.
That WordPress project could be with a theme or a plugin, we all have to start somewhere.
You should also know that the learning process of WordPress will make you feel a little uncomfortable, like you’re walking in the dark as you try to get answers where and whenever you can.
Whether that’s from a forum like Github, StackOverflow, YouTube videos, community boards in the online courses you may be taking or even from the community at WordPress.org.
You can usually find a solution from a simple YouTube video or by putting a piece of code that you are stuck on in the Google Search box and see if you could come up with a solution to your problem there.
Don’t feel that there is one particular way to learn something in WordPress. The most important thing to do is to set a task and complete it.
How and where you get answers to specific problems along the way doesn’t matter and in fact is all part of the learning process.
You will find sources even within the Google Search Box or from others who were in the same situation you have been and have written on their blogs solutions to the very same issues you’re dealing with and you can learn from them.
The main goal should always be to set a project in WordPress, whether that’s a theme or a plugin etc. and build it out on your own by any means necessary.
Those are probably the best ways to learn WordPress. Build and learn.
Can I learn WordPress without coding?
You can learn WordPress without coding.
That’s a major reason why WordPress is the most popular CMS on the internet today.
In fact, WordPress powers over 40% of all websites on the internet today.
However, even though you can actually get a WordPress website up, looking great and functioning well on the internet does not make you a WordPress developer.
The skills you learn in setting up your own WordPress website are no less valuable of course.
But, the only thing you can offer as far as a service is concerned, is doing the same thing for others, possibly small businesses etc. That would basically be the extent of your WordPress skillset without coding.
To truly become an expert and WordPress you need to know coding.
There’s no way around it.
Is WordPress good for freelancing?
WordPress is a great skill for freelancers.
Not only will you be able to set up a great looking custom website for potential clients, but you can actually scale that website, create plugins as well as create your own custom themes.
In fact, you may want to start working on a few custom themes to add into your portfolio.
If you can create some custom themes you can also customize your custom themes quite easily depending on the needs of your clients.
By doing so, you can turn your custom themes into their custom themes.
If a client has a problem with either an existing plugin or needs a unique plugin built from scratch, you can also provide such services.
WordPress websites, like WordPress itself, are constantly growing, scaling and expanding.
Oftentimes webmasters need customizations to their website and as a WordPress developer, you can provide such services as well.
Do you need JavaScript with WordPress?
Although JavaScript isn’t required in order to build a WordPress website, more and more WordPress themes as well as plugins do incorporate more and more JavaScript in them.
JavaScript provides dynamic functionality in addition to PHP, HTML and CSS.
So if you truly want to be a sought after WordPress developer, you should learn some JavaScript.
Is WordPress a coding language?
WordPress is a content management system, not a coding language.
The coding language for WordPress is PHP. Although WordPress does also use HTML and CSS of course and as I had described, as well as some JavaScript.
In fact, more and more JavaScript is included in many WordPress themes and plugins.
Should I learn PHP for WordPress?
You cannot be a WordPress developer and not know PHP.
PHP is the core programming language of WordPress.
Without learning PHP, you cannot consider yourself a WordPress developer.
What skills do you need for WordPress?
In addition to learning PHP, you should also know HTML as well as CSS.
Another great skill to learn for WordPress would be JavaScript, as I’ve mentioned throughout this post.
JavaScript is becoming more and more prevalent in many WordPress themes and plugins nowadays.
In fact, JavaScript would take any WordPress theme or plugin and take it to the next level.
JavaScript skills are also sought after outside of WordPress as well.
Is WordPress a good skill to know?
WordPress is a great skill to know. Even if you don’t know any coding, but would like to set up your own WordPress website.
In addition, if you would like to become a full fledged WordPress developer, being able to work with WordPress, PHP, HTML, CSS as well as JavaScript can help you even outside of WordPress to develop applications or get a job with a software development company or even a startup.
Is it worth learning WordPress in 2021 and beyond?
WordPress isn’t going anywhere. In fact, WordPress continues to grow every year in popularity and in use.
WordPress’s open source platform is probably the easiest open source platform in which to build a website from.
Don’t get me wrong, there are other CMS’s that may be easier with a much shorter learning curve for the absolute beginner, which is ideal if they want to set up their own personal blog or a website for their small business, but these CMS’s are usually closed source platforms.
WordPress certifications, final thoughts.
Even though no there is no official “WordPress certification”, that doesn’t mean any course or skill you learn about WordPress can’t be used in the real world.
Quite the country actually.
Software development, especially WordPress development, a developer or someone with WordPress skills is judged, not on so-called certifications, but on what they can actually do and build.
There are many sources where you can learn all the skills you need to be an excellent WordPress developer online, many are free.
However, if you would like a structured curriculum with certificates of completion as well as projects you can use in your portfolio, then joining a reputable online e-learning platform like the institutions I had listed above would be your best approach.
Courses offered by these providers are normally well-taught, have reviews that you can read before signing up and are usually quite well structured and organized.
You can even go at your own pace and they have plenty of reference materials too.
On top of that, they actually give you a project that you can use in your portfolio and two of the three of those e-learning online platforms do provide certificates of completion.
In WordPress it’s more important what you can do and build, than what credentials and or certifications you have.
Remember in WordPress, “Code is poetry“.
