We are super excited to officially announce the changes that we’ve made to the WP Courses site!
Where to start?!
First, you’ll notice all the current courses on WP Courses are now free to anyone who is ready to learn.
The simple reason: we love the folks who use WordPress.com and want to give you all the tools to be successful.
One of the core goals of WordPress is to democratize publishing online. As such, our team wants to fully embody that spirit and ensure that anybody, no matter their budget, can take one (or all!) of our world-class courses for free.
What to expect?
The Podcasting for Beginners course remains mostly as-is for now. We’ve changed the name to Intro to Podcasting to align with our other courses and have added a new module that includes the workshop replays. But you can anticipate some lesson updates in the months to come!
We’ve completely revamped, and combined the previous two Blogging courses into one new (and updated course) called Intro to Blogging (NEW).
If you were already actively enrolled in either of the previous Blogging courses, you may have already been automatically enrolled in this new course (your login credentials will be the same) – this is a process we’re working through that has proven to be more challenging than expected. But if it’s not in your list of active courses, you can go ahead and enroll for free! The previous courses will remain live for actively enrolled students until the end of May, at which time the courses will be deactivated.
The process of revamping the Blogging course material does mean that your progress tracking in the old courses won’t copy over, but all of the material has been fully updated, so we hope that you’ll enjoy giving the new material a spin.
If you are not actively enrolled in the course, you can go ahead and sign up for Intro to Blogging (NEW).
Next up, a brand new course!
We have also launched a brand new course of Intro to Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
Understanding search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for anyone looking to improve their site for both search engines and humans. This free, self-paced course will give you a solid foundation of what you can do to ensure people have the best chance to find your content when they search online. This course will be a great supplement to either the blogging or podcasting course, so be sure to check it out.
Community drum roll!
The third big change that we have (possibly the most exciting one) is that we have a brand new community feature, built right into the same site, with the courses, for all students to access (previously, the community hubs were only accessible with paid courses).
You can easily find that community by clicking on the “Community” tab from the menu bar at the top of this WP Courses site (when you’re logged in). There, you’ll find a social network platform made up entirely of course members. You can post questions, comments, celebrations, and share your progress with your fellow learners. You’ll also see the courses you’re currently enrolled in, as well as your lesson progress. Be sure to drop a note to say hello!
Our long-form articles related to the courses will now be posted in the WP Courses Blog section, and they will be included in our monthly email newsletter that will be sent to all students who have confirmed their email subscription. Not sure if you’re confirmed to receive our emails? Resubscribe here just to be safe!
You’ll likely notice a few other smaller changes around the site, and we invite you to explore the main menu to get familiar with the lay of the land.
We hope you’re as excited as we are about these changes, and we look forward to helping you with the course materials, to engaging with you in the community, and to being a part of your journey!
As always, if you have any questions you can reach out to us using the WP Courses Contact form.