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Roadmap · Build products

WordPress and Shopify

Opens with credits

For students and early-career developers who want to build business websites and online stores for real clients on WordPress, Shopify or Webflow. By the end you can set up domains and hosting, build and customise a site on your platform, run a store, make it fast, findable and accessible, keep it safe after launch and sell the work as a freelancer or small agency.

Curated by Tauseef Fayyaz8 stages, 61 topics~10 months at a few hours a week
Start the roadmapSign up to track your progress

By the end, you will be able to

  • Connect a domain, set up HTTPS and hosting, and read the HTML and CSS any page builder produces
  • Build a complete client site on your platform, customised with code where settings run out
  • Set up a working store with payments that work in the client's country, shipping, taxes and policies
  • Measure and fix Core Web Vitals, basic SEO and accessibility before launch
  • Hand a site over with backups, updates, training and a maintenance plan, and price the work fairly

The path

8 stages, in the order to learn them. Open one to start.

  1. 1Web basics for site buildersWhat sits under every site you will build: domains, DNS, hosting, HTTPS, enough HTML and CSS to read and fix a page, and what a CMS actually does.7 topics · ~3 weeks
    1. 1Domains and DNS recordsA domain is the name people type, such as example.com.
    2. 2Hosting: self-hosted or hosted platformHosting is the computer that stores a site and sends it to visitors.
    3. 3HTTPS and certificatesHTTPS scrambles (encrypts) everything sent between the visitor and the server, so nobody in between can read it.
    4. 4HTML you need to readEvery platform, however visual, turns your work into HTML, the code that describes what is on a page.
    5. 5CSS for tweaks and fixesMost client requests are small visual changes: a button colour, spacing on mobile, a font size.
    6. 6Debugging with browser DevToolsBrowser DevTools is a panel built into every browser.
    7. 7How a CMS worksA content management system (CMS) keeps content apart from the design that displays it.
    7 in this stageOpen this stage
  2. 2WordPress: hosting, blocks and themesInstall WordPress on good hosting, learn the block editor and the Site Editor, understand block and classic themes, child themes, plugins and how content is modelled.7 topics · ~6 weeks
    1. 1Hosting choices and installing WordPressWordPress comes in two forms.
    2. 2The block editor and patternsThe block editor treats every paragraph, image, button and group as a block.
    3. 3Full site editing and theme.jsonIn a block theme, the header, footer and page templates are made of blocks too, and you edit them in the Site Editor.
    4. 4Block themes and classic themesWordPress themes come in two kinds.
    5. 5Child themesA child theme is a small theme that takes everything from a parent theme and holds only your changes: extra CSS, replacement templates or extra functions.
    6. 6Choosing plugins safelyPlugins are add-ons that give WordPress new features, and every one is code with full access to the site.
    7. 7Posts, pages, custom post types and taxonomiesPosts are dated entries shown in a feed, such as blog articles.
    7 in this stageOpen this stage
  3. WordPress development: PHP, hooks and blocksSet up local development, learn enough PHP, the template hierarchy and hooks, then write a small plugin and a custom block, with the security checks every plugin needs.8 topics · ~2 monthsOpens with credits
  4. Building a real client siteA complete site for a real small business, from the first call to launch day: brief, sitemap, content, design, build on staging, testing and a careful launch.7 topics · ~2 monthsOpens with credits
  5. Online storesThe settings behind a working store: products, payments that work in the client's country, shipping, taxes, checkout, policies and the daily order flow.7 topics · ~5 weeksOpens with credits
  6. Performance, SEO and accessibilityFast pages, pages search engines understand, and pages everyone can use. Measure first, fix the biggest problem, measure again.9 topics · ~5 weeksOpens with credits
  7. Security, backups and handoverWhat keeps a site healthy after launch: secure accounts, updates, backups you have tested, monitoring, a clean handover, client training and a maintenance plan.8 topics · ~3 weeksOpens with credits
  8. Selling the workTurn the skill into steady client work as a freelancer or small agency: a clear offer, honest proof, finding clients, pricing, contracts, getting paid across borders and avoiding scams.8 topics · ~3 weeksOpens with credits
Keep reading

6 more stages, 47 more topics, free with an account.

You have seen the open stages of the WordPress and Shopify roadmap. Every topic it covers is listed above, and an account opens the rest: what each topic means, a question to check yourself, the courses, the practice and Tauseef's advice for every stage. Early access is open: sign up and your account is active shortly after.

Everything here is free to learn from. A few things, like adding a roadmap, keeping a cheat sheet or asking Tauseef a question, use credits. You get 15 when you join, your first roadmap is free, and if you are learning seriously and run out, you can ask for more. Credits only make sure the platform goes to people who are actually learning.

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