If you landed here, I’m guessing you want to build your first website. And your friends all told you to use WordPress. But you have no idea where to start. Amiright?
Have no fear…Josh, the guy with the cool beard, is here to help! We’ve got this handy, free WordPress tutorial series for beginners to show you step-by-step instructions for how to build your WordPress website from install, to choosing plugins, and finally publishing.
WordPress can be daunting when you are first getting started, but even the biggest beginner will be able to get an awesome website up after this series. Follow along with these WordPress tutorial videos as Josh builds his own site.
Note: this WordPress tutorial series demos how to use the native WordPress builder and themes. You do not need a page builder like Divi or Elementor for this tutorial. In fact, Josh shows you how to create your WordPress WITHOUT using Divi or Elementor!
Here’s what you’ll learn:
- Video 1: How to choose & install a WordPress theme
- Video 2: How to customize a WordPress theme
- Video 3: How to create & edit a page in WordPress
- Video 4: WordPress navigation menu & widgets
- Video 5: Building your homepage with the WordPress block editor
- Video 6: How to install & activate WordPress plugins
- Video 7: How to create a WordPress blog post
Video 1: How to choose and Install a WordPress theme
A WordPress theme, or the design theme, is a package of files and CSS styling that determine the design or look and feel of your website. WordPress, on its own, is like the frame of a house, and now we have to put up the walls and roof up – that’s the theme.
The WordPress library comes stocked with hundreds themes that are pre-built and ready for you to use. If you don’t find something you like in the native WordPress library, you can always purchase a theme or custom design your own theme and upload it to WordPress.
Watch this video as Josh explains how to choose an awesome WordPress theme for your site. Then how to install and activate the theme.
Video 2: How to customize a WordPress theme
Now that you’ve got a theme, let’s make it look exactly how you want it. Join Josh as he walks through how to customize a WordPress theme for your brand using the WordPress dashboard. You’ll learn how to set up your website title, taglines, and how to customize the color palette. Finish if off by setting up background images before you jump into how to customize your WordPress widgets.
Video 3: How to create and edit a page in WordPress
What’s the difference between a post and a page? Posts are essentially blog content listed in a reverse chronological order with the newest content on top.
Pages, however, are static content (published without a date) such as your About Us, Privacy Policy, and Contact Us pages. Generally they are a place where content, such as images, text, blog posts, videos and more can be displayed.
In this video, Josh demos where to find posts and pages, and how to use the Gutenberg editor to create and edit all your content.
Video 4: WordPress navigation menu and widgets
What’s a website without a navigation menu, right? This is how people will browse and click through the various pages on your site. You need one. So let Josh show you how!
Widgets are a huge part of customizing your theme. Widgets are features that you can toggle on or off for your site, and are built into your theme. Common widget options might include search functions, sidebars, calendars, contact forms and many more.
Themes will have different Widget display options such as in a sidebar, header, etc. so make sure to take your website’s needs into account when choosing a theme.
Video 5: Building your homepage with WordPress block editor
Setting up your homepage is different from organizing the other pages in WordPress. And you may spend the most time here, getting the homepage to look exactly how you want. No worries. We all do. Remember, this varies based on the theme you are using, but watch this video to see how Josh customizes his homepage using the WordPress block editor.
Video 6: How to install and activate WordPress plugins
A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to your site. Plugins are like the true workhorse of WordPress; they can extend functionality or add new features for you to explore. Just like an app on your smartphone, plugins handle a lot of functionality such as a rotating slideshow, a sign up form, SEO tagging, and more.
Check out this video to watch Josh find his favorite plugins in the plugin library, then install and activate them.
Video 7: How to create a WordPress blog post
Josh covers the difference between pages and posts in video 3, but in this video he gets into the details about how to create your blog posts and schedule them to publish. Make sure to set up your blog pages in a different location than your regular pages so site visitors don’t get confused. Josh will show you how.