WordPress is the most popular way to design websites. That’s for a number of reasons: it’s well supported, the main program is free and it’s extremely flexible.

The fact that it’s free software does worry some people but there are lots of reasons why that shouldn’t be something to worry about. Including the fact that the “wisdom of crowds” comes into play keeping the code as secure as possible. Whereas with computer operating systems, we’re at the mercy of companies like Microsoft and Apple to keep on top of those kind of issues.

The problem with free software – or indeed almost any software nowadays – is that we tend to assume that we should be able to work it immediately.

To an extent that’s true with WordPress.

The installation routine is as foolproof as you’re likely to get on the web – it’s a handful of clicks on most hosts.

And there are dummy pages already created to give you an idea of how to use it.

But then, with the exception of a few hints and maybe an initial tour, you’re on your own.

Some things are intuitive, others less so.

For instance, one of the things I’m regularly asked to explain is the difference between posts and pages. After all, they both show up the same way in Google.

The main difference is how WordPress handles them – pages tend to appear on the menu system, posts are treated more like conventional blog entries and are closer to the concept of an online diary.

The first thing you need to consider when learning how to use WordPress is your current level of knowledge.

Anyone who can type (or even just copy and paste) can put up a post or a page.

But there are extra considerations to take into account such as how the search engines and website visitors will see and use the page.

There are lots of tutorials on sites like YouTube which will take you through the process. Some of those are good, some are less good and some are out of date which makes them more difficult to follow along.

The problem with this kind of self-service approach to learning is that you don’t know ahead of time whether the information you’re getting is up to date and accurate.

YouTube and Google haven’t reviewed the content itself, just the wording around it and the popularity of it. So that’s no guarantee of actual quality.

Not to mention that there’s a high risk of getting distracted on sites like YouTube and going off at a tangent.

It’s often better to bite the bullet and accept that you need help.

After all, when you learned to ride a push bike there was someone there to show you what to do and encourage you. The same happened when you learned to drive a car – you took lessons.

And the same applies with WordPress.

Buying a course online can be an option but you need the discipline to follow it through rather than leave it alongside all the other things you’ve bought with good intention but never read or watched.

Face to face training will take you from novice to expert much faster than do-it-yourself learning on an ad hoc basis.

It’s quicker – a few hours is usually all that’s needed to get through the main features – and a lot less fraught.

If you have a choice – and if you value your time – then face to face WordPress training is far and away the best option.