Over the past two and a half years, thousands of bloggers have used Blogging U. -- step-by-step courses with manageable daily assignments and pro tips from WordPress.com staff -- to get started with WordPress.com, grow as writers, push their photography skills, and more.
Now, accessing expert support is even easier: Blogging U. courses are available on demand, so you can begin whenever you'd like! We'll be offering courses in four tracks, Blogging, Websites (coming soon), Writing, and Photography (coming soon) -- all your Blogging U. favorites will be back, along with lots of new topics we've got up our sleeves.
There are five different courses currently available:
- Blogging: Learning the Fundamentals (formerly Blogging 101) -- a solid grounding in the three big components of blogging: publishing, customizing your blog, and engaging with the blogging community.
- Blogging: Commenting Basics (formerly Commenting Bootcamp) -- a short course to get you comfortable with reaching out to other bloggers and commenting etiquette.
- Blogging: Branding and Growth (formerly Blogging 201) -- audit your brand, analyze your stats, explore social networks, learn about SEO, and more in this intermediate course.
- Writing: Intro to Poetry (new course) -- find your inner Dickinson with daily poetry prompts, and sharpen your verse by learning some basic poetic forms and devices.
Courses give you a daily assignment or writing prompt, along with the technical help you need to complete the task and insider advice from both our editors and the wider blogging community; each course has a handy resource page collecting everything in one place for you to refer back to whenever you'd like. Publish new posts using the course's tag -- don't worry, we'll tell you how! -- and you'll be able to connect with others working through the same course for support, feedback, and friendship.
Click on any course title for more detail on what it covers and to begin immediately (click the "Start" button on the course's page to enroll) or read on to learn more about the changes to Blogging U. and what's coming next.
FAQs
How do I start a course?
Visit the page for the course you're interested in and click the "Start" button -- that's it! If you're logged in to WordPress.com, you'll receive an introductory email right away, and your first assignment a few minutes later. If you're not logged in, we'll prompt you to do so, and you're off and running.
What if I want to stop?
No problem -- every email you'll receive includes an unsubscribe link at the bottom. Click it, and the course stops.
This won't affect any of your other WordPress.com emails, like notifications. And if you want to give the course another try, you can register again.
How many courses can I take? Can I take them more than once?
As many as you'd like, as many times as you'd like. We recommend taking one course at a time -- blogging is fun, but that doesn't mean it can't also be overwhelming! -- but you're free to take multiple courses simultaneously.
What happened to the other courses on writing, photography, and intermediate/advanced blogging?
We haven't forgotten about them. We're working hard to adapt them and will be adding them to the lineup as soon as we can, along with other, brand-new courses on building a website, advanced photography, and more.
Hey, the course names seem different! Are these the same courses that have been offered in the past?
We've updated the course names to make them clearer and more descriptive, so you can more easily decide what course is right for you. We'll always let you know if a course is tone we've offered previously, or new.
What if I need assistance during the course?
Every assignment includes expert advice from our staff as well as links to more resources and to our customer support folks, called Happiness Engineers. Blogging U. courses no longer have private sites for those participating -- but that doesn't mean there's no way to get support when you need it!
How do I connect with other bloggers during my course?
Reaching out to other bloggers helps participants get the most out of Blogging U. courses. We encourage you to use the tag for your course when publishing posts (e.g., #bloggingfundamentals) and to browse that tag in the Reader to find and connect with other bloggers. If you don't know what tag to use or browse, don't worry -- when you begin a course, we'll tell you.
We also have a weekly Community Pool discussion thread where anyone can seek or give feedback on any aspect of blogging. A new thread opens every Monday. And each Friday, new bloggers are invited to share their first posts with the community in our First Friday thread.
What if I don't blog on WordPress.com?
All general assignments (publishing posts, customizing your blog, leaving comments, etc.) are applicable to any blog, anywhere. However, you'll need to have a WordPress.com account to register for a Blogging U. course, and any specific how-to guidance we offer will be specific to WordPress.com.
How much does each course cost?
Nothing. Blogging U. courses have always been free, and still are.
Ready to register? Head to the Blogging U. home page to get started!
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