6 best WordPress Books for Beginners 2023

WordPress is one of the most powerful content management systems in the world.

No matter whether you’re going to make your personal blog or create your business website, WordPress is definitely a serious option. Having more than 55% of content management systems’ market share is a good evidence that you’re not wrong taking your time to master it.

So what’s the best way to learn WordPress? Many people believe in books because they are organized, ad-free, consistent and portable. In fact, a good WordPress book from a professional author can save you a lot of time and yet help you master it all.

In this article, we’ll be introducing you the tried-and-true solutions if you’re looking for the best WordPress books. The listed books are all new, popular and up-to-date, covering the latest released of the software, with a great number of satisfying previous readers.

Lastly, finding good books is as important as taking time to read them. So, let’s get started!

1. Digging Into WordPress

If you’re serious about teaching yourself WordPress and take a further step to master it, this book is yours, written by well-known pros Chris Coyier of CSS-Tricks and Jeff Star.

The current version of this book covers the latest updates of WordPress which is very important because WordPress is getting updated regularly.

I’ve already read this book ( its first edition back in 2010). It’s written by people who know and use WordPress for nearly a decade, Also, the book design is professionally made with attention to details bringing a great experience for readers.

Try the sample chapters here to get the idea of the quality.

Table of Contents:

  1. Welcome to WordPress
  2. Setting Up WordPress
  3. Anatomy of a Theme
  4. Theme Design & Development
  5. Extending Functionality
  6. Working with RSS Feeds
  7. Working With Comments
  8. Search Engine Optimization
  9. Maintaining a Healthy Site

 

 

2. WordPress For Dummies

This is one of the Best WordPress Books available from the series of “For Dummies” written by Lisa Sabin-Wilson, the co-founder of WebDevStudio.

As I write this post, the 8th edition of WordPress For Dummies is available which covers the latest release of WordPress. Reading this bestselling guidebook will give you all you need to start using WordPress to make your dream websites. It covers everything you might need from finding great WordPress themes & web host, to building WordPress based websites from scratch.

If you’re a blogger looking to master WordPress from top to bottom, this book is the right one for you.

Table of Contents:

  • PART 1: Introducing WordPress
    • What WordPress Can Do for You
    • WordPress Basics
  • PART 2: Setting Up WordPress
    • Setting Up Blogging Base Camp
    • Understanding the WordPress.org Dashboard
    • Establishing Your Publishing Routine
  • PART 3: Flexing And Extending WordPress
    • Media Management: Images, Audio, and Video
    • Making the Most of WordPress Plugins
    • Finding and Installing WordPress Themes
  • PART 4: Customizing WordPress
    • Understanding Themes and Templates
    • Tweaking WordPress Themes
    • Understanding Parent and Child Themes
    • WordPress As a Content Management System
    • Hosting Multiple Sites with WordPress
    • Upgrading, Backing Up and Migrating
  • PART 5: The Part of Tens
    • Ten popular WordPress Plugins
    • Ten Free WordPress Themes

It has 432 pages, available in both Kindle and Paperback. Enjoy learning WordPress!

 

3. WordPress Complete

This is a comprehensive guide to WordPress from a well-known publisher. The sixth edition of “WordPress Complete” is something you may need for your library. It has been published in August 2017 considering the latest releases of WordPress.

With this book, you will deeply understand WordPress and learn how to use it to create functional websites, without having to outsource your projects. It also covers the fundamentals of WordPress development, meaning that you’ll be ready to start working on your own WordPress themes and plugins.

Overall, if you’re looking for a fresh comprehensive guide to WordPress, this book is a great choice.

 

 

 

 4. WordPress for Beginners 2017

In this book, you will find a visual step by step guide aimed to help you master WordPress without much effort. The book teaches by examples and screenshots, making it easy-to-understand for even absolute beginners.

The author starts from comparing both WordPress.org and WordPress.com and helps you understand the difference and usages of each one, then teaches some basic technical knowledge you need to run a website such as web-hosting and domain registration, So you will be ready to dive into WordPress world.

As I checked the table of contents, I should say it covers almost everything related to working with WordPress, from installation to various sections of WordPress dashboard explained in detail. Also, it covers SEO with WordPress which is crucial for bloggers.

 

 

 

5. WordPress All-in-One For Dummies

This book is an another comprehensive WordPress Book, actually 8 mini books inside one title, covering everything WordPress in detail.

It’s the most comprehensive beginner WordPress book among other titles we introduced in this post. If you have checked “WordPress for Dummies” – the other book from the same author – reading this one will take you more in-depth into the landscape of WordPress, topics like SEO, theme development, plugin development, mobile app development and multisite.

If you’re not familiar with technical language at all, it’s better to read a more basic book before taking this one.

Here’s the list of mini books’ titles:

  • WordPress Basics
  • Setting Up the WordPress Software
  • Exploring the Dashboard
  • Publishing Your Site with WordPress
  • Examining SEO and Social Media
  • Customizing the Look of Your Site
  • Using and Developing Plugins
  • Running Multiple Sites with WordPress

As you see, the author has done a great job organizing the guides for different aspects the software, offering readers the freedom to choose the topic they need.

The good news about this book is it has updated once again – 3rd edition – on April 2017, so it’s compatible with the latest changes of the software.

 

6. The 5-Day WordPress School

If you have a busy schedule, but you need to learn WordPress basics as soon as possible, this quick informative WordPress book is for you. The 5-day WordPress school teaches you all you need to get started and run a WordPress based blog or website. It provides essential guides for different aspects of using WordPress from choosing a web host to securing your site from hackers, spammers, and harmful malware.

Some topics it covers:

  • What is WordPress
  • How to set up a website on WordPress.org
  • Understanding the WordPress Dashboard
  • Setting up your WordPress website
  • How to install a WordPress plugin
  • Customizing your Widget area
  • Securing your website from hackers, malware, and spammers

 

Endnote

We have checked many books to find the best WordPress books before coming up with this list. There are more books out there, but most of them are outdated or don’t have enough quality. By the way, if you know the one that should be listed here, don’t hesitate to share it with us.

Also, in case you have a WordPress project or need WordPress installation service, we offer affordable services here.

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