Course description

WordPress lets you build a website you own and can change whenever you like, without writing code. But it also leaves you in charge: choosing hosting, picking a theme and plugins, and keeping everything updated, backed up and secure. This course teaches all of it step by step, in plain words, so you can build your site with confidence and look after it once it's live.

It's a full course, not a quick tour. There are 10 sections and 50 written lessons. You follow a self-employed piano tuner and teacher as he builds his first website: from planning the pages and choosing hosting, through the block editor, photos, a free theme and a handful of carefully chosen plugins, to a contact form, a privacy policy, launch day and an eight-week review. Every section has a worksheet, answers, a cheat sheet and ready-made templates and checklists.

What you'll learn

• Getting set up: how WordPress, hosting and a domain name fit together, choosing hosting, installing WordPress and the first settings to get right.
• The block editor: pages and posts, blocks, layouts, patterns, drafts, scheduling and revisions.
• Images: preparing photos for the web, the Media Library, alt text and using images legally.
• Design: choosing a theme, colours and fonts, headers, footers, menus, a logo and a site icon.
• Plugins: choosing them safely, adding a contact form, and what to do when one causes problems.
• Content and the law: writing pages and posts that work, user roles, a privacy policy, cookies, business details and accessibility.
• Looking after your site: updates, backups, security, speed, launch day and a monthly maintenance routine.

Who it's for

UK small business owners, sole traders, charity and club volunteers and bloggers who want a WordPress website they can build and run themselves. It ends with a final project: a full plan for your own site, with a site map, a plugin list, costs and a maintenance routine.

What will I learn?

• Explain how WordPress, hosting and a domain name fit together and choose hosting
• Install WordPress and set it up with the right first settings
• Build pages and posts with blocks, patterns and layouts
• Prepare images for the web and write useful alt text
• Choose a theme and set colours, fonts, header, footer and menus
• Choose plugins safely and add a working contact form
• Write a privacy policy, check cookies and show the business details you need
• Keep your site updated, backed up, secure and fast after launch

Frequently asked questions