WordPress Intermediate Skills - The Next Steps
What you'll learn
- Intermediate skills to take your WordPress skills to the next level.
- About the WordPress files installed on your server
- The importance of child themes and how to create them.
- More information about WordPress pages, including parent-child relationship, page templates, template hierarchy, conditional statements, custom page templates and custom post templates.
- Why redirects are important and how to implement them.
- Quickly converting your site to HTTPS if supported by your web host (most do).
- How to speed up your site, and how to check if it is mobile friendly.
- Design stuff like dynamic widgets and sidebars, page builders, Google Maps without plugins and much more.
- Better media library control and image galleries.
- Wordpress users and roles, plus how to create your own roles.
- GDPR - everyone needs to be compliant.
- How autoresponders work and why you should use them.
- Creating different site structures using WordPress.
- Why time-on-site & CTR are important and how to monitor them and tweak elements on your page to improve these metrics.
- How to create a staging platform to work on your site behind the scenes until you want to push changes to the live site.
- WordPress developers tools built into Google Chrome, and how to use them to tweak your page design.
Requirements
- You should be able to use WordPress to build a website, and want to learn more.
Description
Unlock Your WordPress Potential: A Personal Journey to Mastery
If you’re like me, you’ve probably spent countless hours learning WordPress, tweaking sites, and making things work just right. After teaching WordPress for over 20 years, I’ve met hundreds of passionate learners just like you. Along the way, I kept asking my students one simple question:
"What do you think is missing from most WordPress courses—something every WordPress user really needs to know?"
The answers were enlightening, and this course is the result of that feedback. It’s designed for people who already know their way around WordPress but are looking to take their skills to the next level. This isn’t a beginner’s guide—it’s for those who want to deepen their understanding and really unlock the potential of WordPress.
Here’s what we’ll explore together:
Going Beyond the Basics: Learn how to access WordPress files on your server using FTP or cPanel. Discover the power of child themes—how to create and customize them to make your site truly your own.
Mastering Pages and Templates: Dive into parent-child relationships, template hierarchy, conditional statements, and creating custom page and post templates.
Site Structure & Optimization: Improve your site’s speed, mobile friendliness, and user experience. Learn why redirects matter and how to convert HTTP to HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt.
Design & Media Tips: Uncover the secrets of dynamic widgets, custom sidebars, page builders, and favicons. Plus, make the most of the Media Library and image galleries.
User Roles & Compliance: Understand WordPress users, roles, and even how to create custom roles. Plus, make sure your site is GDPR-compliant.
Marketing Essentials: Use autoresponders effectively, build a strong site structure, and enhance CTR and time on site through thoughtful adjustments.
Problem-Solving & Staging Sites: Learn to troubleshoot issues quickly and create staging sites for safe testing before going live.
Developer Insights: Discover the built-in tools in Chrome and Firefox that let you inspect and adjust your site’s code on the fly.
By the end of this course, you won’t just know how to use WordPress—you’ll understand how to make it work for you in powerful, practical ways. You’ll gain the confidence to build websites that are not only functional but optimized, secure, and designed to impress.
I’m excited to take this journey with you. Let’s turn your good WordPress skills into great ones. Ready to get started?
Who this course is for:
- WordPress users that want to learn more skills relevant to WordPress development.
Instructor
I have written and published a number of books that are available on Amazon, including books on WordPress ("WordPress for Beginners 2026") and Self-Publishing ("Self-Publishing on Amazon 2025"). I also run a website called ezSEONews, where I provide tutorials on a number of skills required for running a successful website.
As an ex-schoolteacher, I hope I can make complicated topics simple to understand. I certainly enjoy trying!