I Learned to Code Through WordPress and So Can You

WordCamp Lehigh Valley 2019

Beth Soderberg | @bethsoderberg

bit.ly/wclv2019

My Path

The Learning Curve in my Head

My Actual Learning Curve

My Timeline

Employment

• 2008 - 2013: Nonprofit
• 2013 - 2015: Agency 1
• 2015 - 2016: Agency 2
• 2016 - present: Independent

Education

• 2008 B.A. Psychology
• 2008 B.A. Women's & Gender Studies
• 2013 Web Design Certificate

Community

• 2010 - present: WordCamps
• 2011 - present: WordPress DC
• 2011 - present: Other Conferences
• 2014 - present: DCFemTech
• 2014 - 2017: WordPress Training Team
• 2017 and...2020?!?!: WordCamp DC

My Tactics

Catering to My Learning Style

Photo by lauramusikanski at Morguefile.com

Mentors & Teammates

Community Support

Real Projects

Work Experience

Conferences

Formal Learning Opportunities

Sharing What I've Learned

But...why?

Claude Monet via wikimedia.com

Learning to code is hard.

You will need to learn abstract new languages.

Many English words you will encounter on this journey will also be new to you.

You also need to learn how the internet works.

The internet is not a tangible, tactile thing.

It takes a lot of time.

Learning to code is not a singular task.

• Accessibility
• Code Inspectors
• Command Line Tools
• CSS
• CSS Preprocessors
• Data Migration
• DNS Management
• Font Management
• FTP
• Git
• Google Analytics
• htaccess
• HTML
• Illustrator
• Image optimization
• JavaScript
• jQuery
• Local servers
• Photoshop
• PHP
• React
• Search Engine Optimization
• Security
• Server Management
• Sketch
• SSH
• SQL
• Task Runners
• Text editors
• Webmaster Tools
• WordPress
• XML Sitemaps

Photo by sophisticat at Morguefile.com

You CAN do it.

Photo by Acrylic Artist at Morguefile.com

If you don't do the work to learn, you CAN'T do it.

But...how?

"The real preparation for education is a study of one's self"

- Maria Montessori

Identify your gaps and ways to bridge them.

Create a "syllabus" of what you will learn.

Monitor and adjust.

Schedule time for learning into your calendar.

Where should I start?

At the very beginning.

Step 1: The Fundamentals

Step 1: The Fundamentals

Learn HTML.

Step 1: The Fundamentals

Learn CSS.

Step 1: The Fundamentals

Learn JavaScript.

Step 1: The Fundamentals

Get a text editor that isn't Notepad.

Step 1: The Fundamentals

Learn to inspect code in the browser.

Step 1: The Fundamentals

Install self-hosted WordPress on cheap hosting and use it.

Step 1: The Fundamentals

Find and go to a local WordPress or web development meetup.

Step 2: Apply the Fundamentals

Step 2: Apply the Fundamentals

Learn the difference between posts/pages and categories/tags.

Step 2: Apply the Fundamentals

Learn about the WordPress template hierarchy.

Step 2: Apply the Fundamentals

Learn what you need to learn about Gutenberg.

Step 2: Apply the Fundamentals

Don't use theme builders: make a child theme for your WordPress site.

Step 2: Apply the Fundamentals

Start attending WordCamps.

Step 3: Expand Your Knowledge Base

Step 3: Expand Your Knowledge Base

Make a website for a friend.

Step 3: Expand Your Knowledge Base

Learn about search engine optimization and analytics.

Step 3: Expand Your Knowledge Base

Read a book or two on user experience design.

Step 3: Expand Your Knowledge Base

Learn the basics of accessibility.

Step 3: Expand Your Knowledge Base

Learn how to use GIT.

Step 3: Expand Your Knowledge Base

Learn the basics about website security.

Step 3: Expand Your Knowledge Base

Start reading industry blogs and listening to podcasts.

Step 3: Expand Your Knowledge Base

Watch random talks on WordPress.tv.

Step 3: Expand Your Knowledge Base

Monitor and adjust.

Step 4: Take it to the Next Level

Step 4: Take it to the Next Level

Make a website for a different friend.

Step 4: Take it to the Next Level

Learn PHP basics.

Step 4: Take it to the Next Level

Learn more about JavaScript.

Step 4: Take it to the Next Level

Find out how to break in to your own website.

Step 4: Take it to the Next Level

Get on the WordPress Slack channel and lurk.

Step 4: Take it to the Next Level

Submit a talk to your local meetup.

Step 5: Deepen Your Knowledge

Step 5: Deepen Your Knowledge

Find a designer and collaborate on a project.

Step 5: Deepen Your Knowledge

Build a website using Underscores or the Gutenberg Starter Theme as a base theme.

Step 5: Deepen Your Knowledge

Learn about the WordPress database structure and MySQL.

Step 5: Deepen Your Knowledge

Make a simple plugin.

Step 5: Deepen Your Knowledge

Submit a talk to a WordCamp.

Bonus Step: Level up to Gutenberg

Bonus Step: Level up to Gutenberg

Learn how to migrate existing features to blocks.

Step 5: Deepen Your Knowledge

Learn to build/style a custom block, a reusable block, and a block template.

Bonus Step: Level up to Gutenberg

Learn how to modernize themes to make them Gutenberg-friendly (shortcodes, meta-boxes, etc.).

Bonus Step: Level up to Gutenberg

Learn how Gutenberg stores data.

Bonus Step: Level up to Gutenberg

Read up on Gutenberg and accessibility.

Bonus Step: Level up to Gutenberg

Learn more about Javascript, React, and the WordPress REST API.

From there, specialize and create your own path.

Thank you!

@bethsoderberg

bethsoderberg.com

bit.ly/wclv2019

Sample Milestones

Learning Resources