How time flies! Today marks the 10th anniversary of our WordPress 101 video tutorial series, and what an amazing journey it’s been.
In 2008, I was designing WordPress websites and then providing one-on-one training for my clients in their offices. After completing dozens of these in-person workshops, I decided to record a series of WordPress video tutorials that I could furnish to my clients as a follow-up resource.
When I shared my idea with a couple of other WordPress professionals, they encouraged me to publish the videos as an online course so they could send their customers to the WordPress 101 videos as well.
Need a chuckle? Click here to view a screenshot of what that first version looked like.
We’ve come a long way in the decade since.
I never could have imagined that the WordPress tutorial videos would go on to help millions of site owners learn how to use WordPress to build and manage their own websites. Every single day, I’m humbled and honored by the opportunity to answer your WordPress questions and help you accomplish your online goals.
Since 2008…
- More than two million people have watched the WordPress 101 videos!
- This site has served more than 30,000 members.
- The WP101 Plugin has been installed on more than two million websites.
- Nearly 500 WordPress agencies, hosting companies, and freelancers have licensed the WordPress 101 videos for use on their own sites.
- We partnered with GoDaddy to provide our WordPress 101 video tutorials to their Managed WordPress Hosting customers.
- We’ve sponsored and attended dozens of WordCamps and other community events.
- We added video training courses for WooCommerce, Jetpack, Yoast SEO, Ninja Forms, MailPoet, The Events Calendar, and Event Espresso.
- We updated and re-recorded the WordPress 101 videos a whopping 24 times!
- We added closed captions and Spanish subtitles to the videos.
- We partnered with several brilliant WordPress educators to help us create and release more courses.
- We partnered with Nexcess to provide our WooCommerce video tutorials to their Managed WooCommerce Hosting customers.
And yet, in many ways, we’ve only just begun.
Over the past six months or so, I’ve worked diligently to develop several exciting new partnerships that are going to make this coming year our most exciting yet!
Here’s a sneak peek at a few of the new things I’ve been working on…
- A completely re-written version of the WP101 Plugin with a ton of new features for WordPress professionals.
- Exciting new partnerships with two Managed WordPress Hosting companies you already know and trust.
- Several new courses for some of the most popular WordPress plugins on the market.
- Custom onboarding videos that you’ll likely see in your favorite WordPress products and services.
- Adding new trainers to help us create and release new tutorial videos faster than ever before.
- Translating our subtitles into even more languages, making our training available to even more people around the world.
- Creating new videos for the all-new Gutenberg editing experience in the upcoming WordPress 5.0!
- New strategic partnerships that will enable us to bring our videos to a larger audience than ever before!
WP101 started as a side project, initially intended to serve just a handful of my clients. Over the past ten years, we’ve learned a great deal about how to create and deliver more effective online training. But online learning can be so much better!
I’ve dedicated most of my free time during this past year to studying more effective ways to deliver online training. We’ll start applying this new methodology to new courses we create during the coming weeks and months. At the end of the day, we don’t just want to provide guided tours of software. We want to help you learn how to accomplish your online goals!
To do that, we need your help. If you’ve got a question, please reach out! What do you want to learn next? How can we help you today?
On a personal note….
It’s been a privilege to serve you for the past ten years. Every day, we’re honored to answer your questions, provide some guidance or much-needed encouragement, and to help you learn.
There are so many people who have been instrumental in WP101’s success over the years, and Kay and I are beyond grateful for the many friendships we’ve made over the years within the WordPress community. We are who we are today because of YOU.
We look forward to celebrating many years to come!
To say thanks to all of you, we’ve created a special 10th anniversary gift for you and your friends…
Q: “How has WP101 helped YOU?”
On this special day, we would love to hear from you. How did you first learn about WP101? How has WP101 helped you? Would you take a quick minute to share your story in the comments below?
Hey Shawn, first of all congrats on an amazing 10 years. And I certainly look forward to all that you have on your plate right now 🙂
I am thinking back on when I first discovered you and I’m sure it was shortly after you launched as I started dabbling in WordPress in 2007.
When I started doing training in 2010, well, needless to say WP101 became a huge resource in my own educational endeavors. Most of the training I did was one-on-one or in workshops, so having a solid educational tutorial site to send my clients and students to were a life-saver. No matter how much time I spent with them, the fact that they could join and continue to revisit your tutorials made for such an easier transition for them into the WordPress space.
And as we all know, so many users need that refresher every now and then.
I am so grateful for what you have provided and the level of quality you bring to the WordPress training space. And I’m proud to call you a friend as well 🙂 Cheers and here’s to the next 10…
Bob, you’re the best. You’ve been such a fantastic supporter over the years, and I’m truly grateful for your ongoing friendship!
Congrats Shawn and team on an amazing 10 years.
Here’s to another 10 years ?