Here it goes Reader,

The new WordPress is so much fun I can't wait to share it with you.

At tomorrow's workshop you'll see what editing a professional WordPress website is like. → See details and registration here​

Getting Confident with the Brand New WordPress

My goal in the event is to give you some perspective and confidence. You don't need to know everything, but it's helpful to know what you don't know.

Review the landscape, see the opportunities, spot the obstacles.

Whether you intend to manage your website or hire regular website support, you need to know enough to make clear and confident decisions.

• How much should you pay for website hosting/support?
• Am I making any of the top 5 common WordPress mistakes?
• Do I need to rebuild my website, or just make small changes?
• Where do I find tutorials that won't waste my time?

This is beginner level, but also helpful for experienced WordPress users who haven't made the transition to the new editor.

📌 Editorial Note: Initially I was just going to share the event, but I got inspired to share some more insight about WordPress. So here's a bit more context.

Who is WordPress best for?

There's no perfect software for anything. It's all about who it's perfect for.

Our clients at Maple are mission-driven. They want to have an impact, build an audience, make a difference. They're educators, authors, and organizers.

Our clients choose WordPress websites because they know it's important to own their content.

Also because they have plans to publish and grow.

WordPress is perfect for them. Here are some examples;

• Creators like Steve Wyborney, because after a few years he's published hundreds of posts with comments, paid products, and consistent monthly revenue. stevewyborney.com​
• Educators like Caty Crabb, who uses free webinars to grow an audience, sell online classes, and is creating an online community for herbalists. araliaschoolofherbalmedicine.com​
• Organizations like People Over Petro Coalition, where each person from the comms working group has a login to create announcements, campaign alerts, and add new resources to the website.
• Bloggers like Gwyn Wansbrough, who publishes a weekly newsletter to engage a global audience of facilitators and share her Breakthrough Facilitation framework, gwynwansbrough.com​

And perfect for Maple, and my goal of making the vast world of websites more accessible and transparent.

Among hundreds of options, WordPress is the most prolific and widely used platform on the internet. This makes it flexible, integrated, resilient, and supported.

Of course that means there's a million ways to set up a WordPress site – and on top of that it needs to be managed. Sloppy setups, outdated themes, and lack of maintenance are the top reasons WordPress websites fail to succeed.

Since I design websites, I wanted them to work! By providing maintenance we could keep learning while improving our client sites. This was the origin of our care plan service – which is now one of our top priorities.

By handling the technical details, our clients can have a smooth experience and focus on the most relevant and transferable WordPress skills.

WordPress Skills are Transferable

I'm glad I started using WordPress when I did (way back in 2003).

I started a blog for an environmental organization, and those initial skills still apply today, even though the internet feels completely different. Learning a little about WordPress will not just help with your website, but a range of other things related to your work.

WordPress skills can help you;

• Learn publishing best practices such as headings vs. paragraphs
• Learn organization skills by managing content with categories, tags, and keywords
• Learn writing skills by having a blog and newsletter, and engaging in a regular practice of creating.

And making that initial investment in WordPress has allowed my business to;

• Blog consistently for 4 years, then restart from scratch
• Move our Care Plan Service to WooCommerce and save 3% transaction fees from our other platform.
• we were able to completely rebuild our subscription service onto our own website with

WordPress gives you Independence

Last year I learned that our website hosting company was acquired and failing to meet the ethical and quality standards Maple is based on. I decided to end the contract with the previous host and move 133 websites to a brand new service.

Today we run our services from Pressable, a secure and solid platform that aligns with our values. Now our service is more stable, supported, and higher performing than ever before.

But even more important is this... what experience do you want to have?

What is your perfect work day?

As in... when it's time to publish an event, article, or release a product, what do you need to do?

As the person running your website – how much of that do you need to learn to be successful?

At what point can you focus on creating without getting interrupted by a technical barrier?

Think of someone you admire, who's achieved some of the goals you have. How much of their website are they responsible for?

These are the kinds of questions I ask every client when discussing website care plans, and whether or not Maple can help them. I'm curious what your answers are. Please reply, or set up a call to discuss.

I hope to hear from you!

Sincerely,
Ryan Clover
Maple Creative

P.S. Here are the full event details.

Getting Confident with the Brand New WordPress

Join us for a practical tour of the new WordPress editor, where we’ll explore real-world examples from recently launched WordPress website. This isn’t your typical tutorial - it’s an opportunity to see the editor in action and understand exactly what you need to know (and what you can let go of).

If you publish (or want to publish) with WordPress, this session is essential!

What You’ll Learn

• Publishing best practices that work in the real world
• How to navigate the new block editor effectively
• Where to find reliable tutorials (and how to choose the right ones)

This is beginner level, but also helpful for experienced WordPress users who haven't made the transition to the new editor.

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Do you have website questions ? Register for the next event or schedule a free call. Book a 15 minute call

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