iThemes WordPress Developer Course

In December 2016, I completed the online training course iThemes WordPress Developer Course.

This course was over two days and took the form of online live webinars, looking at what a WordPress site consists of and tips and techniques on various tools and methods to develop the site.

There were 8 different training sessions/webinars and these were:

Session 1 – A Firm Foundation with wp-config.php
Session 2 – Understanding and Deconstructing a WordPress Theme
Session 3 – Communicating with the WordPress database to Retrieve Content
Session 4 – Templates and Layouts on the Front End
Session 5 – Extending WordPress with Code
Session 6 – Extending WordPress with Plugins
Session 7 – Customizing and Preparing the Site for the Client
Session 8 – Q&A and Continuing the Conversation

So, as you can see from the Sessions above, the course took us through the backend (wp-config.php, WordPress database etc) the front end (templates and layouts) plus coding, customization and plugins.

In addition to the live training webinars, there was also a comprehensive hand out Word document and there was a hub page for the course, including a chat feature where all course attendees could chat with each other before/during/after the course.

My Top Ten Takeaways from the course were the following:

The info on wp-config.php file (which had been a bit of a mystery up until then)
WordPress stores all its data in 12 database tables (which we briefly went through)
WordPress hierarchy information
Widget Logic (this adds conditional logic to widget boxes to make the site more dynamic)
Info on generatewp.com – a useful resource and ideal way to learning WordPress coding
PODS – for managing custom post types and fields, plus extending existing information (e.g. users, media etc)
Info on child themes (necessary if you want to make coding changes to themes you’ve bought)
Custom code / custom plugin (this involved creating a custom plugin which you could add to a development site and test your changes out as you required)
Checklists before launch of a WordPress site
Also through the chat, there was useful discussion and information gained on the different options for developing a WordPress site locally (such as MAMP Pro, XAMPP, Desktop Server etc) and the different coding tools people use (such as Coda, Atom, Sublime Text and Text Wrangler)

Overall, I found the course very useful and would recommend it to anyone interested in knowing more about how their WordPress website works and how they can enhance it.

About my services: WordPress Websites / iOS App Testing / Android App Testing / Website Testing

Pat has been absolutely incredible at testing each of our projects he works on. He’s very professional, organised and diligent. I look forward to using him again in the future.

Oliver Thurtle, Director of Technology, Drum

Pat Walsh fixed my site within hours of my contacting him – his WordPress website fix service clearly works!

Douglas Green, Douglas Software

Pat came to Composed to respond to our (increasingly urgent) need of QA on mobile and web and I can testify he more than fulfilled the task. On the Android side, his very structured approach (first exploratory testing, then focus on defining test plans for a variety of scopes) and his clear knowledge of the latest mobile technologies have quickly paid off. He was involved directly with the developers (including myself) and this very dynamic relationship enabled us to annihilate bugs swiftly and efficiently.

David Ferrand, Android Developer, Composed

Pat Walsh provided Kingston Valdes with a professional and personable service that was excellent value. The site was built and tested quickly, we are delighted with the results, and we have already had positive feedback from some of our clients. If you’re thinking of building a new site or adapting an existing one, I’d certainly recommend speaking with Pat about it.

Kathy Valdes, Kingston Valdes

We’ve worked with Pat Walsh on a number of very different projects, from interactive video projects to mobile apps. His work is very thorough and has quickly become an essential and important phase of all the production work we do at Storythings. He’s thorough, diligent, and a pleasure to work with.

Matt Locke, Director, Storythings

Pat is an excellent one-stop-shop for testing Apps and Websites. He is a self-starter who just knows what needs to be done and gets on with it, and is responsive to requests for any specific testing requirements. He provides test plans and reports as a matter of course and was a pleasure to work with. I will definitely be working with Pat again if the opportunity arises.

Andrew Birley, PM, Storythings

Couldn’t recommend Pat highly enough. He goes beyond what you’d expect of a QA tester, commenting more broadly on user experience and even design. He’s quick, efficient and thorough – couldn’t ask for any more.

Rob Calvert, Director, Click

Pat performs comprehensive website testing for us, across all the main browsers and platforms, including mobile devices. His flexible approach to testing and clear feedback enable us to have confidence that the business end of our website is still working smoothly after system updates and changes.

Steve Liu, Manager, Wicked Lasers

We hired Pat to help with QA of a music streaming app. We needed someone with that magic “6th sense” of where the bugs are lurking; the ones which developers tend to miss. Pat more than fulfilled this need, with highly methodical approach and a great eye for detail.

Subsequently Pat has provided QA services for a personal app project of mine, finding a significant issue which had been lurking for some time.

Pat is a real asset to any team – highly competent technically but also easy going and a great guy to work with. Highly recommended!

Andrew Ebling, Head of App Development, Composed

iThemes WordPress Developer Course

iThemes WordPress Developer Course

About my services: WordPress Websites / iOS App Testing / Android App Testing / Website Testing

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