I'm still very new, and I'm putting together all my 'stuff' together to get my business going. I have my website set up with Wordpress on my own hosting, and I need to learn how to work with WP better.

I was wondering if there are any recommended resources - online, books, free, not free (though cheaper is better for me right now)- to learn the basics of using WP and customizing.

I want to do things like change fonts & font sizes, customize footers, and change the margins on the top of my page. I also want to learn how to understand how to use the 'Editor' feature within the 'Appearance' section of the Dashboard. And I'm trying to figure out how to load widgets. I am having a hard time finding my answers on the Wordpress help pages.

Any suggestions?

Thanks so much to all of you - I love this place!

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Virtual Assistance for Entrepreneurs
Erica @ Geeky Assistant

There's a ton of stuff out there and I've gradually bookmarked things. Finding a Wordpress forum is useful. Look for Blogauthority which is a UK based forum - very useful group.

I have a blogging basics book giveaway on my site at www.soho-life.com and you'll probably find other sites that have giveaways too. Look for people like Darren Rowse, Yaro Starak for example.

Another great source for learning to do things in Wordpress is You Tube. There are tons of videos of people doing various things in Wordpress depending on what you are looking for. I always find it easier to learn to do something when I can see it done and just go right along with it. Age I guess

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Serita Diana, the List 2 Close Assistant
REVA Academy

Funny, isn't it? I don't mind watching someone else do something to learn but I hate watching most videos online on sites that have teaching components. I want to jump ahead to the bit I'm interested in and not wait till they get there. Whereas with a document I can scan the table of contents to find the bit I want and move quickly to there for instructions - but not a lot of sites provide that. They seem to think video is THE learning tool these days.

I am also learning Wordpress, changed my site from a Microsoft Front page site to Wordpress and I self taught myself everything; still getting confusion with all the plugins, and I am still looking for an audio plugin where visitors to my site can play my music or turn it off. Any suggestion anyone, I will watch the videos. Thank you, need all the help I can get.

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Phyllis L
UNIQUELY40, LLC
http://www.uniquely40.com

Erica - You may not like this, but truly the most efficient way for you to get a grip on the questions you have is to learn some basic html. It's really not hard, and once you have even a little bit under your belt, the mysteries of Wordpress will start opening right up to you. The Editor in the Appearance tab, for instance has several items, but mostly it's about using CSS in conjunction with html so you can customize the look of your blog. Don't be put off by all the acronyms - just Google for free online html lessons and take a few. Believe me, it will be a lot of fun, and you'll use the skill all over the place as a VA.

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Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

What? You mean there isn't a magical instantaneous way to learn this stuff?

Ok, thank you everyone for your input. I will try each of your suggestions - including learning html.

But I think I'm like you Kathie - I get impatient with videos.

I really appreciate your responses.

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Virtual Assistance for Entrepreneurs
Erica @ Geeky Assistant

Hi Erica,

I too am learning WordPress and so far am loving it!

As for a resource....I thought about purchasing a book, but the ones on the shelves seem to expire early due to so many upgrades. What I have been doing is searching for blog posts on Wordpress from those that are those computer software gurus. They have been very helpful.

Do learn a bit about HTML....it is so easy to learn and fun!

As for the videos I'm the type of person that likes to get my hands on it and learn it myself...not sure I could sit long enough and watch. :O)

Good Luck!

Leona

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Leona Martin
A Plus Admin Services

Great question and excellent answers from everyone, Thanks! I was going to pose this same question myself today. Oh how I love this site!

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Kim Kininmonth Aloha Consulting Biz & MissOfficeWizard

Love the youtube tip. I have used youtube for Joomla for my VA website and am making lots of progress. Now I will search on WordPress. Gosh I love this forum!

Susan