Please click on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) below or scroll down to read them all. You can also enter your search terms in the search box on the right hand site. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, please just drop us a line to julie@wp-training.ie. We’ll update the FAQs regularly and please feel free to add your questions by e-mail or commenting.

  1. What’s the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?
  2. Why do you offer WordPress.com training?
  3. How long will it take me to set up a website in WordPress.com?
  4. Why is a course only 5 hours, not a full day?
  5. I’m not a ‘techie’, will I be able to update the site myself?
  6. Can I take the ‘wordpress’ out of my domain name?
  7. How much will it cost me to run a site built in WordPress?
  8. Can I get an e-mail address with my domain name?
  9. For whom is a website built in WordPress.com recommended?
  10. What about other content management systems such as Joomla and Drupal?
  11. Do you still offer WordPress.org courses?
  12. What if I’m not sure if I need WordPress.com or WordPress.org?
  13. What do I learn in the WordPress.com Advanced Course?
  14. How difficult is the WordPress.com Advanced Course?
  15. Can I use a WordPress.org account for the Starter and/or Advanced Course?
  16. Will I need to learn any coding?
  17. Is there any support available after the course?
  18. Is there anybody well-known using WordPress for their website?
  19. How is WordPress.com powered and what about its downtime?

1. What’s the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?

The software is the same, the biggest difference is the hosting requirement.

WordPress.org needs to be uploaded to a 3rd party hosting account, then you have to take care of backups and software updates on a regular basis.

WordPress.com is hosted by Automattic on hundreds of servers, so it’s very unlikely your site will go down through a spike in traffic, and they take care of spam, backups and software updates for you. You have the choice of over 200 themes (the style of your blog), in many of which you can change the background colour, headers and display options in your site bar.

Back to top of FAQs

2. Why do you offer WordPress.com training?

It’s easy to learn, you don’t need to buy or download software, and it’s online and free – you only need an internet connection to update you site and you can do it from any computer. You don’t need to be a computer wiz, the courses are tailored to people who use a computer as a normal user (browse the web, check e-mails and use simple applications such as Word).

You don’t have to worry about spam, backups or software updates – that’s the biggest problem for many people using WordPress.org. Either you know how to take care of all these or you’re better off hiring a third-party service provider to run regular backups and updates for you.

WordPress is loved by Google and you can see your website showing up in search engines in no time without paying big bucks for SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). There are lots of little tips and tricks you can and should follow, but at least you start with a platform which is easily accessible for search engines.

Back to top of FAQs

3. How long will it take me to set up a website in WordPress.com?

That’s what you do in the Starter Course which takes 5 hours – you will set up your account, know how to change themes and widgets in your sidebar, and how to create posts on your blog and static pages like on a normal website. You will be able to upload photos to your posts and pages, create galleries and slide shows out of them and create a navigation bar, categories and tags. You will learn how to use the block editor Gutenberg and also how to change your personal settings, allow or disallow comments and how to fight spam.

Most people are amazed how much they can achieve in half a day – and you do all that yourself, not just listen to what you could do!

Back to top of FAQs

4. Why is a course only 5 hours, not a full day?

I know from teaching other courses that 5 hours is a very good time frame to learn and practise as much as possible. If we did offer a full day course we would need additional coffee breaks and have a longer lunch break in between, and afterwards participants are usually not as alert any more, it is more difficult to concentrate and we could only use the time to practise what we have done before. I believe a better way is to focus on the course for half a day, do one or two examples on each topic, then work on your site at your own pace afterwards with the help of our examples and notes.

Back to top of FAQs

5. I’m not a ‘techie’, will I be able to update the site myself?

Yes, that’s what you will learn in the WordPress Starter Course. As mentioned before, many people are amazed at how easy it is.

Back to top of FAQs

6. Can I take the ‘wordpress’ out of my domain name?

Yes, you can. We cover this as part of the ‘WordPress Advanced Course’.

Back to top of FAQs

7. How much will it cost me to run a site built in WordPress?

As long as you’re happy with a domain name such as ‘yourdomain.wordpress.com’ – it’s all free.

If you decide to go for ‘yourdomain.com’ or ‘.org’ or ‘.net’ – it will cost you €48/year* (for your hosting).

If you would like to go for ‘yourdomain.ie’ you will have to register your domain first  – depending on current offers you should be able to get it for €60-100/year* (including domain & hosting).

If you have a WordPress website already and would like to add a WordPress blog, it won’t cost you anything extra. We can set it up during the course.

*Prices are an approximate and correct in August 2020.

Back to top of FAQs

8. Can I get an e-mail address with my domain name?

Yes, you can. Most people opt for an email account with g-suite which cost about €5/month.

Back to top of FAQs

9. For whom is a website built in WordPress.com recommended?

Start-ups, small businesses, non-profit organisations, clubs and groups, or anybody who does not have the resources to hire a web master and would like to get a web presence.

Professionals who are in need of a service website – tell people what kind of services you offer.

People who would like to share their professional experiences and find new paths to employment. If you want to re-brand yourself for example, and want to find ways to stand out from the crowd and get noticed.

People who like to share their interests, keep in touch and update others when travelling, or to share tips and advice on a hobby like photography, gardening, cooking, fashion or anything at all that they’re passionate about!

Back to top of FAQs

10. What about other content management systems such as Joomla and Drupal?

They are great content management systems (CMS) but more difficult to learn. If you’re not sure if WordPress is the right CMS for you, you’re welcome to send me a mail with your requirements. WordPress powers about 50% of the top million websites using a CMS system (Joomla and Drupal are behind 5% of sites).

Back to top of FAQs

11. Do you still offer WordPress.org courses?

Yes I do a lot, it’s mostly customised training based on client’s website.

Back to top of FAQs

12. What if I’m not sure if I need WordPress.com or WordPress.org?

Start with the WordPress.com Starter Course, regardless of which version you’re going to choose down the line, as every detail you learn in the Starter Course will be of use to you either way. You’re welcome to discuss both versions with us on the day of the course to see which would suit you best.

Back to top of FAQs

13. What do I learn in the WordPress.com Advanced Course?

You will learn how to use a spam blacklist, synchronise your WordPress website with social media such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts and insert the ‘Follow us on Facebook’, ‘Follow me on Twitter’ and ‘My LinkedIn Profile’ button in your WordPress site for online marketing. You will also learn how to embed YouTube videos, Pinterest and Instagram, add PayPal, setting up a portfolio, how to create a navigation bar using pages & categories, edit images for the web, specify a new front page, more Gutenberg advanced features, how to create a contact form without publishing your private e-mail address and how to get rid of the ‘wordpress’ in your domain name if you choose to do so.

Back to top of FAQs

14. How difficult is the WordPress.com Advanced Course?

When you feel comfortable using everything we’ve done in the Starter Course, you are welcome to join the Advanced Course – that might be a couple of weeks later, or half a year – it really doesn’t matter. What is important is that you have a good knowledge of all the topics from the Starter Course and ideally you will have a personal Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn account.

Back to top of FAQs

15. Can I use a WordPress.org account for the Starter and/or Advanced Course?

Yes, you could if you’re using the same plugins but it’s much easier to set up a WordPress.com account on the day. Both courses are tailored to use the WordPress.com platform and in WordPress.org you would need to add certain plugins such as jetpack to your site to be able to synchronise your WordPress blog with an existing Facebook or Twitter account (this is a part of the Advanced Course). However, all topics are relevant to WordPress.org accounts too once the right plugins are installed and updated.

Most participants use a WordPress.com account with the same theme as all other participants for the course and then work on their WordPress.org account later on at home.

Back to top of FAQs

16. Will I need to learn any coding?

No. The only time you might need to modify your WordPress site with PHP would be when integrating or customising some plugins – but that’s only in WordPress.org. In this case, clear instructions are given within a text file with the plugin. Other than that, you would not be changing any of the PHP files.

It’s all ready to use and you just have to learn where to go and how to put it all together – believe me, it’s simple.

Back to top of FAQs

17. Is there any support available after the course?

Yes, of course. All participants are very welcome to e-mail me with further questions regarding anything we covered during the course. I enjoy seeing blogs and sites developing, so let the questions roll in!

Back to top of FAQs

18. Is there anybody well-known using WordPress for their website?

Oh yes, there are. WordPress powers over 202 million websites worldwide, here is a handful of them:

Ebay

People’s Magazine

CNN

Ford

Sony

Back to top of FAQs

19. How is WordPress.com powered and what about its downtime?

Matt Mullenweg, the founding developer of WordPress just published an update on WordPress.com’s power. WordPress.com is now at 8,921 CPU (central processing unit) cores powered across 2,475 physical processors, 8,200 gigabytes of memory (RAM). They have changed how they provide storage, and now that layer includes on its own 1.3 terabytes of RAM, 1.3 petabytes of storage, and 8.9 terabytes of solid state disks. (Plus Amazon S3, which they use as backup to their internal systems.) They’re doing their very best to keep downtime to a minimum and adding new servers constantly. 🙂

Here is a bit more information about downtime at WordPress.

Back to top of FAQs

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *