Are you fed up learning bits and pieces about WordPress development, but never the whole picture?
There are plenty of tutorials available, but these offer a piecemeal approach to learning and important concepts or whole topics are left out. What’s more, this decentralised approach takes you ten times longer and is much less effective.
Do you wish you could learn everything quickly from a single expert source?
Finally, an excellent WordPress development course.
Up and Running systematically teaches you everything you need in one clear, concise and critically acclaimed package. This is the only course on WordPress development you’ll ever need.
If you've been looking for a single authority which can give you a holistic picture of how everything works, and the advanced details, this is for you. We won’t waste your time. We explain the nuts and bolts of WordPress in crisp language, elegant infographics, and efficient video tutorials.
We start from core principles, and advance into specific practices, both the basics and the advanced. At every step, we have quizzes to test your knowledge, and succinct chapter summaries so you can see your mastery of key points.
Up and Running is both thorough and searchable. Whether you need general concepts, specific practices, or both, it’s all there, easy to find and with 0% fat.
You’ll learn WordPress development, properly, wholly, and quickly.
Learn WordPress development with a full eBook, illustrative diagrams and clear video tutorials.
Detailed video tutorials are included in Up and Running, our extensive WordPress development course.
However you learn best, Up and Running has it all: the full eBook (available on web or as a PDF download) is accompanied with illustrative diagrams and clear video tutorials.
These all come together to give you a holistic understanding of WordPress development: one you can see, hear, and do yourself.
You’ll have the best possible resource to get you “Up and Running” in WordPress development.
Leverage two decades of WordPress knowledge.
Fred and David have a ton of experience which they'll use to help you learn WordPress development.
Your teachers Fred and David are development experts who run the popular WordPress development blog WPShout and boutique web agency Press Up Inc.
They’ve helped thousands of people learn WordPress development and communicate difficult technical concepts to you in an easy-to-read and easy-to-comprehend fashion.
Fred and David are joined by WPShout founder Alex for a selection of video tutorials. Between the three teachers there’s over two decades of expert development knowledge for you to learn from.
This is the course you've been waiting for.
Purchase Up and Running to kickstart your WordPress development skills and career.
Up and Running is regularly updated for the latest in WordPress development. The Third Edition launched in March 2018. This Edition updates the content for 2018, and adds two new chapters and a roundtable video discussion on the implications of Gutenberg for WordPress developers.
Ready to get going? Start learning WordPress development today.
“I think anyone interested in learning WordPress development NEEDS this course.
Before I purchased Up and Running, I had taught myself some WordPress code, but lacked direction. Watching the course’s videos was like a bunch of lights being turned on.
I went from being vaguely familiar with how themes, functions and WordPress itself worked to mastering these. Everything became much clearer.
I very happily recommend this course to anyone willing to listen.
What will I learn with Up and Running?
The course employs a carefully designed curriculum which covers everything you need to know to call yourself a WordPress developer.
Over 8 sections and 36 chapters, you'll learn the whole picture: how WordPress thinks, the basics of WordPress development, and the advanced concepts which will let you start building whatever you want.
You'll be able to take your existing experience, if any, and learn how to take the next steps that will have you expertly navigating the WordPress landscape.
Each chapter has an accompanying video tutorial, which gives you an overview and explains the core concepts and themes explored (available in the Premium and Deluxe versions).
Here’s a breakdown of all of the content:
Section 1: Key Intuitions for WordPress Development
- WordPress is a Factory: A Technical Introduction
- What "Post," "Page," and "Webpage" Mean in WordPress
- When to Use WordPress, When Not to Use WordPress, and Why
Section 2: Details of the WordPress Technical Environment
- The Four Languages You Must Know To Understand WordPress
- Understanding "Server-Side" and "Client-Side" in WordPress
- A WordPress LAMP? An Introduction to WordPress Infrastructure
Section 3: Core Concepts of WordPress Themes and Plugins
- What WordPress Themes Are For
- Anatomy of a WordPress Theme
- Core Concepts of WordPress Themes: 1. The Template Hierarchy
- Core Concepts of WordPress Themes: 2. Processing Posts with The Loop
- Core Concepts of WordPress Themes: 3. Adding Functionality with functions.php
- Introduction to WordPress Plugin Development
Section 4: How Everything Talks to Everything Else
- WordPress Hooks, Actions, and Filters: What They Do and How They Work
- Including Custom Scripts and Styles In WordPress
- Understanding and Using WordPress Child Themes
Section 5: WordPress "Tag" Functions
- The Magic of the_() and get_the_() Post Template Tags
- WordPress's Conditional Tags
Section 6: WordPress Building Patterns
- Understanding and Creating WordPress Custom Page Templates
- Make Your Themes Better by Getting to Know get_template_part()
- Understanding and Creating Shortcodes
Section 7: Working with Custom Post Data
- Why and How to Use Custom Post Types in WordPress
- Organizing Your WordPress Data: Understanding Custom Taxonomies and Custom Fields
- How to Create and Use WordPress Custom Taxonomies
- How to Create and Use WordPress Custom Fields
Section 8: WordPress APIs
- Mastering the Options API in WordPress
- Getting to Know the WordPress Transients API
- Registering and Displaying WordPress Widget Areas
- Registering and Displaying WordPress Menu Areas
- The Concepts of Object-Oriented PHP You Need to Understand for WordPress Development
- A Complete Guide to Making Your First WordPress Widget
- Getting to Know WP_Query
- Working with HTTP APIs in WordPress
- Introduction to the WordPress REST API
- Writing a Very Simple Web Application with the WordPress REST API
- How to Register Custom WordPress REST API Routes
Section 9: The Implications of Gutenberg
- Gutenfuture: How Gutenberg Will Affect Working in WordPress Generally
- Gutenfuture: How Gutenberg Will Affect the WordPress Code You Write
- Roundtable Discussion: Gutenberg is Coming (Don't Panic!)
As a new WordPress developer, I struggled with how to fully implement PHP and use hooks and filters with the themes I was customizing. Once I got my hands on Up and Running, it all seemed to “click” much easier.
The examples are broken down into manageable code chunks with helpful screenshots to confirm that I was in the right area of WordPress. The short quizzes and Summary Limericks are a fun way to summarize the chapters and make the learning memorable.
This is my go-to reference for WordPress development and I highly recommend it everyone from novices to mid-level developers.
Bonus content
As well as the full written eBook, we’ve got some extra bonuses for all purchasers to enjoy:
- Key takeaways for each lesson with quizzes to test what you’ve learned and at-a-glance chapter summaries.
- Downloads: read the full eBook on our purpose built responsive website or download the full eBook in PDF format to read offline at your leisure.
- Lifetime access: take the course at your own pace and get all future updates free.
As well as all of the above, purchasers of the Premium tier can enjoy:
- Video screencasts to accompany each lesson (36 videos). These allow you to get an alternative take on each lesson and reinforce your learning. These video screencasts will be the best way of learning the content in the core Up and Running eBook.
- Two bonus introductory video series (8 videos): WordPress Crash Course and The Fifteen-Minute Guides to PHP, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This set of detailed videos will get you up to speed on the basics of WordPress and the coding languages you need to get the most out of the course.
We’ve saved the best until last. In addition to the above, purchases of the Deluxe tier can enjoy:
- Three bonus video series: an additional 61 videos to help you take the next step with WordPress development.
- Writing a Plugin (17 videos): a full, step-by-step walkthrough to a working WordPress plugin. Covers plugin registration, widgets, shortcodes, plugin styling, and external API calls.
- Creating a Child Theme (16 videos): Learn how to create and modify a child theme with this in-depth video series.
- Creating a Theme from Scratch (28 videos): Create a fully functioning WordPress theme from scratch! This is a thoroughly detailed video series.
- Thirteen in-depth video interviews with the world's best WordPress developers. Each video contains detailed code walkthroughs, coverage of key programming and development concepts and practical advice from leading experts.
Ready to start learning WordPress development?
Choose your Up and Running package: real confidence in WordPress development starts at $67
(you'll get instant access to the course)
30-day money-back guarantee. We’re highly confident that like the people who have taken Up and Running before you, you’ll love the course. If, however, you’re not delighted with your purchase then email us within 30 days and we’ll happily issue a full refund, no questions asked.
“I got tired of trying to learn about WordPress in a disjointed way.
Like most people who are comfortable with tech, I’m pretty good at finding things out by Googling them, and, of course, that option doesn’t cost anything (in financial terms, although it can be pretty time-consuming). Eventually, however, I got tired of trying to learn about WordPress in a disjointed way. I wanted to get a clearer picture of how WordPress works from someone who knows what they’re talking about.
WPShout claims that ‘Up and Running systematically teaches you everything you need in one clear, concise and critically acclaimed package.’ When I started to work my way through it, I found it did just that. Other courses I’ve tried nearly always lack clear explanations for why WordPress does things a certain way, or how things work together. Up and Running does all of this, and everything is explained clearly and in easy-to-understand language."
“You guys rock!
I have taken several WordPress theme development courses and read two books on it. By a landslide, yours is better because you have been careful to not talk over people’s heads."
"I’m quite good at HTML, CSS, JS, and a bit of PHP, but I needed to get a high-level grasp on how WordPress works. Your course did just that."
Up and Running really brought everything together for me. I already knew of some of the pieces, but the course filled in the gaps and provided a proper understanding of how WordPress really works. I found it easy to follow, delivering just the right depth of knowledge in the right sequence.
Having this understanding has enabled me to tackle more complex projects. Even if you're not a "developer", understanding what's going on behind the scene with this course makes using things like custom fields, custom post types and applying custom code much easier. I'm very happy to recommend Up and Running to WordPress developers just starting out or those who know bits but need the full picture.
Learn from the experts
Watch video interviews with world-leading WordPress developers (13 videos).
This is an incredible opportunity to learn directly from the very best WordPress developers, who are at the cutting-edge of the industry.
Each interview runs for roughly half an hour, with the expert giving you a line-by-line code walkthrough. You can see their best practises, tools used and how they think through complex development problems.
These people are the very best at WordPress development. Get the Deluxe tier so you don't miss out.
Carrie Dils,WordPress developer and consultant
Pippin Williamson,CEO of Sandhills Development, makers of Easy Digital Downloads
Morten Rand-Hendriksen,Senior Staff Instructor, LinkedIn Learning and Lynda
Helen Hou-Sandí,WordPress Lead Developer
Curtis McHale,E-Commerce & Membership Guru
Patrick Rauland,WooCommerce consultant
Tom McFarlin,Prolific WordPress Author
Brian Krogsgard,Founder at Post Status
Mika Epstein,WP.org Plugin Repo Gatekeeper
Sean Davis,Theme Builder & EDD Team Member
Daniel Bachhuber,WP-CLI Maintainer
Jenny Wong,WordPress developer at Human Made; community cheerleader
Daniel Espinoza,E-Commerce Wizard
"Up and Running is not written like a textbook. Instead, it’s written like your friend is sitting across from you at the coffee shop teaching you WordPress development.
If you’ve been wanting to learn WordPress development, or if you’ve been hacking your way through WordPress with piecemeal tutorials, I think Up and Running is the perfect way to learn because everything you need is collected in one place.
FAQs
Will I get future updates free?
Yes! We've offered free updates since Up and Running launched, and will continue to do so. Last year (March 2017) we released a major update, and this year (March 2018) we did the same – adding detail on WordPress development for WordPress 5.0 and Gutenberg. Both these major updates added new content and were free.
If I buy Premium, can I upgrade to Deluxe later?
If you find that you need a higher tier of Up and Running, we're happy to help you upgrade your account for just the difference in price between the tier you're currently on and the tier you'd like to be on. Because of the way our software is configured, you'll just need to email us for that. 
Will I always have access to the course?
You’ll always have access to the course. There’s no expiry date or time limit, and you can re-read and re-watch as much as you like at your own pace.
How does the course work? Can I go through at my own pace?
You’ll have access to the course on our website and as a PDF download. The course is always available and you can go through each lesson at your own pace. If you want to retake any material, it’s always available for your to retake as and when you need.
Is this course suitable for me?
Up and Running is a WordPress development course for anyone who wants to learn WordPress development. If that’s you, then the course is definitely suitable for you!
There are three groups who can especially benefit from the course:
- Beginners who want to learn everything about WordPress development from scratch.
- WordPress users, implementers and designers with some knowledge who want to accelerate their way to WordPress developer status.
- Developers who work with platforms other than WordPress and want to quickly get up-to-speed.
If you’re in one of those groups, Up and Running is perfect for you. We’d recommend beginners choose either the Premium or Deluxe tiers in order to get access to the two introductory screencast series; these are a highly beneficial starting point.
How does the website work?
We’ve built a fully responsive website dedicated to helping readers get the most out of Up and Running. You can run through each lesson as many times as you like and see videos right next to the text where they’re most helpful. You can also access all your bonuses right from the website or download a PDF of the whole book to read at your leisure.
Below you'll find a short video giving you a brief tour of the website:
Who made this excellent WordPress development course?
Great question! We're Fred, David and Alex are will be your teachers for the course. Fred and David run WordPress development blog WPShout and make clients happy at boutique web consultancy Press Up. Alex originally founded WPShout in 2009 and is helping to make sure students have the best possible experience.
Do you do bulk or team prices?
Yes! We’ll happily offer a discount for purchases of five or more. Please contact us for details.
Any other questions?
Get in touch! Any queries at all about the course, drop us an email and we’ll happily get back to you. You can email us here.
I consider myself to be a decent WordPress developer, but essentially all of my coding has been self taught by extensive Googling and trying things until it works.
One of the problems starting out is figuring out what you need to start learning in the first place. Up and Running does an excellent job of building up from the basics of WordPress to far more detailed portions…
Whether you want to make edits to a theme on a site you run, build a plugin, or create a theme from scratch Up and Running will get you…up and running 
.
The clarity of your teaching in the course and the specific path you take me through gives me a solid understanding, step by step, how WordPress works. I’m developing a conceptual grasp as well as learning the specific functional code.
You have a fine product that stands out in the WordPress learning environment.