I enjoy welcoming people to WordPress, the software and ecosystem where I’ve focused my work since 2011. Over the years, I’ve built up a set of recommended resources for people just getting started, or people who are looking to level up their work in WordPress.
Here they are, in one convenient place!
Completely new to the WordPress open source project
- The WordPress.org About page has some great foundational info, and will link you to information about our license (important for people who plan to built things to work with WordPress!).
- Cool examples of sites that use WordPress!
- A great place for video workshops on how to get started publishing with WordPress, or how to contribute to WordPress!
- Find out about WordPress contributor teams, and how you could help.
- Join the WordPress.org Slack instance!
- Find your local WordPress community group!
Familiar with WordPress, maybe even familiar with contributing, and want to learn more
- Read these WordPress Contributor training materials, with comprehension quizzes!
- Observations on WordPress Contributor Team Structure
- The 4 “Gets” in WordPress Community Organizing
- Care and influence: a theory about the WordPress community
- The Four Freedoms
- How WordPress Chooses Committers
Books or reading that I frequently recommend to contributors:
- The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging
- Producing Open Source Software: How to Run a Successful Free Software Project (online book)
- The Basics of Public Engagement (online resource for local governments), especially Difficult Situations in Public Engagement
Books especially about conflict resolution or de-escalation:
- Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, by Kerry Patterson Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler
- The Anatomy of Peace by the Arbinger Institute
- Conflict Communication: A New Paradigm in Conscious Communication by Rory Miller
- Becoming a Conflict Competent Leader: How You and Your Organization Can Manage Conflict Effectively by Craig E. Runde and Tim A. Flanagan
- Everything Is Workable: A Zen Approach to Conflict Resolution by Diane Musho Hamilton
Books specifically about leadership:
- Turn the Ship Around!: A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders
- The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever
Is there something you think belongs on this list? Drop me a line to tell me about it!
The Thing With The Stuff 