No matter what you want to do, books can always help you do it better. And the same is true with WordPress.
If you’re looking to either improve your skills or just learn WordPress from scratch, then this blog post is all about exploring those excellent WordPress books that, once you'll get in your face, you won't leave until completed.
I’ve compiled the following list to help you quickly find the one that can fulfill your learning goal in no time.
Therefore, without waiting any longer, let’s get to our books.
1. WordPress for Beginners 2022
If you’re starting with WordPress, this book can help you. It will turn your beginner level into an expert who knows everything about WordPress.
It includes all the basic topics like understanding the two different versions of WordPress, installing it, exploring the dashboard, and more that you should know before getting yourself involved with WordPress and its web elements. The book is 249 pages long, so you’d find almost everything WordPress has.
Moreover, while studying this book, WordPress releases a major update; you could also learn about it from a free web page the author provides. So, you won’t miss anything and be able to make the most out of your WordPress experience.
Author: Dr. Andy Williams
Reader Level: Beginner
2. WordPress: The Missing Manual
Probably you’ve already built a WordPress site by hiring a developer. But will you reach them every time you have an issue? Yes, you can, but it’s tiring, that’s when this book comes into play.
It’s a beginner-friendly WordPress book that shares every detail of this incredible CMS and how best you can utilize it without getting help from the developer. It gives you the necessary knowledge to manage the site in your day-to-day life.
From creating a post to applying different themes, you can really use this book and enjoy the WordPress environment.
Author: Matthew MacDonald
Reader Level: Beginner
3. WordPress For Dummies
If you want to get inside the WordPress domain on a deeper level, for example, customize themes or host multiple sites, then WordPress for Dummies is what you need. It’s a popular book by one of the most popular WordPress design and development agencies globally, WebDevStudios.
The book discusses the essential aspects of WordPress and how you can utilize its features to create an amazing online presence. Whether you’re a new blogger, or an experienced one switching to WordPress, this book can simplify things to understand WordPress concepts.
Even if you’re already an intermediate user of WordPress, you can learn a lot from this 480-page long book. For example, understand WordPress’s multi-media support, adding new plugins, utilizing child themes, upgrading, backing, migrating, etc.
Author: Lisa Sabin-Wilson
Reader Level: Beginner & Intermediate
4. WordPress 5 Complete
After the 5th version, WordPress has changed a lot and added many new concepts that make creating websites fun. For instance, the inclusion of the Gutenberg editor and how it's powering WordPress sites through its block-based system.
Therefore, when working with WordPress, you must know what Gutenberg is and how it works. And with this book, you can have all the knowledge you want to utilize this fantastic new website builder.
In addition, the book also discusses other necessary and core topics like creating your own theme, Social Media Integration, Podcasting, HTTPS concepts, Introduction to REST API, and more.
Author: Karol Król
Reader Level - Intermediate / Advanced
5. Professional WordPress: Design and Development
Even though this book was released in 2015, it has some crucial topics and explanations to help professional WordPress developers get the best out of their projects. It’s one of the only WordPress books that’s targeted to developers.
So, if your goal with WordPress is beyond personal, and you’ve already worked on it for different projects. And now you want to improve your skills and knowledge; then this is the book you should get reading started.
Inside this book, you’ll find chapters exploring wp-config.php, .htaccess, WP_Query, Nested Loops, custom post types, and many more core topics.
Authors: Brad Williams, David Damstra, and Hal Stern
Reader Level: Advanced
6. WordPress Explained
WordPress Explained is another beginner-friendly book you can read to learn WordPress from scratch. It includes the basics and concepts introduced in WordPress 5.4. So, you won’t have any issue applying the knowledge you’d get from this book.
The book is crafted around case studies with crystal-clear visuals, simple explanations, and on-target analogies. Thus, allowing you to relate all the concepts to your requirements and quickly develop something out-of-the-box.
It offers some necessary tasks that hone your WordPress skills, allowing you to do better with your websites.
In addition, you can find other different topics explained, like Page Builders, Contact Forms, Menus, Users, and more, that are crucial to mastering WordPress.
Author: Stephen Burge
Reader Level - Beginners
7. WordPress To Go
WordPress To Go is one of the top-rated WordPress books on this list. And the reason is pretty apparent - it simplifies in the simplest manner what WordPress is. Plus, how you can easily interact with its features to build a fantastic website.
Whether from scratch or using different tools, the book opens up simple ways to explore WordPress. Although it was last updated in 2015, you can still utilize the concepts mentioned in this book and do better with WordPress.
For example, concepts like registering a domain name, installing WordPress, exploring widgets, enabling website SEO, etc.
Author: Sarah McHarry
Reader Level: Beginners
8. Professional WordPress Plugin Development
If you’re moving beyond building WordPress sites and focusing on developing outstanding plugins, you should consider this book. By reading this book and understanding the concepts mentioned, you’ll save time from making the mistakes many new or advanced WordPress users do.
This book will help you understand the core concepts of developing WordPress plugins efficiently, and you’d be able to complete your solution with excitement.
It’s not a beginner’s book, and you’d find topics like Plugin Framework, Hooks, JS, REST API, and other essential core topics that would help you successfully develop your plugin. It’s written by the same author who has written Professional WordPress: Design and Development. So, if you've read that book, you'll find this one's writing familiar, and it will be easy for you to get along with it.
Authors: Brad Williams, Justin Tadlock, and John James Jacoby
Reader Level: Advanced
9. Building Web Apps with WordPress
WordPress isn’t only about creating websites or blogs; rather, you can use it to build Web Apps. And this book can help you accomplish that profoundly. It discusses the concepts that make it easy to understand the process of developing useful web apps. And even optimize them per your requirements.
You can find topics like asynchronous behaviors with jQuery, PHP libraries, external APIs, Extending the WordPress REST API, and much more.
This book is a great addition to your library if you’re serious about developing Web Apps with WordPress. Even by using the knowledge shared in this book, you can develop highly functional plugins as well.
Authors: By - Brian Messenlehner and Jason Coleman
Reader Level: Advanced
10. Web Design with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and jQuery Set
If it’s WordPress, then sooner or later, you’re going to need HTML, CSS, or JS to complete your project. These are the essential components of building online platforms regardless of their niche.
So, with the help of these books, as it’s a set, you get better at the basics as well as core concepts of creating websites. And not only websites but everything that runs on the internet. Therefore, even if you plan to switch from WordPress to something else, these will always come in use.
The first book covers structure, text, links, images, tables, and more on HTML & CSS. Whereas the second one, JavaScript & jQuery, explores advanced concepts like Functions, Methods, Objects, Decisions and Loops, APIs, and more with a clear and simple visual approach.
Author: By - Jon Duckett
Reader Level: Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced
Conclusion
These are the 10 WordPress books you should check out in 2022 or beyond to improve and master your WordPress skills.
Each book has been written by expert users or developers of WordPress. Therefore, you'll get essential knowledge without missing any subjects or being confused about them. Once you're done with them, you'll find yourself on better ground and be able to utilize WordPress on an advanced level.
I am not sure where you’re getting your info, but great topic.