If you’re still looking for a book to help you learn the basics of both the self hosted version of WordPress and WordPress.com, The Complete Idiot’s Guide To WordPress might be for you. Pierre DeBois over at SmallBizTrends has given his review of the book and from his perspective, it looks like a good read that sets the foundation to excel with WordPress.
Idiot’s Guide To WordPress
WordPress In Depth – The Book
Franky Branckaute over at BloggingPro.com has published his review of a new book called WordPress In Depth written by Bud Smith and Michael McCallister. According to his review, the book is aimed at beginners but near the end, provides ample opportunity to explain themes and plugins a little more in-depth providing a stepping stone to not only more advanced topics, but advanced books as well. The book is on sale at Amazon for $21.59 which is pretty affordable. For those that still have the time to read books, there is no shortage of WordPress material to read ranging from beginners to developers.
Digging Into WordPress Is A Great Read
Ever since I discovered the site, I’ve been keeping tabs on DigWP.com which used to be known as Digging Into WordPress.com. I’ve linked to them a number of times from WPTavern.com because of the awesome content they were producing. It’s no surprise then that the book Digging Into WordPress which is now available (eBook form, print form to come soon) for $27 in PDF form is a great read.
I’ve been reading the eBook off and on the past two weeks and I have to admit, when I dig in, I keep reading until I notice that all of a sudden, an hour has gone by. Jeff and Chris not only do a good job explaining things before they dig in, but they also cover it in a way that doesn’t feel overwhelming. After reading a few chapters, my verdict is that if you’re a beginner with WordPress, you can’t go wrong with WordPress For Dummies by Lisa Sabin-Wilson which does a great job of covering the basics and getting you familiar with how WordPress works all around. Digging Into WordPress however is great for intermediate users of WordPress looking to expand their knowledge with how various parts of WordPress works and how to easily extend the software with hooks, filters, etc. To get a sample of how the book reads, here is a brief look at chapters 3.9.1 to 3.9.3.
While I think many people would like to have a physical copy in their hands or to put on the bookshelf, I encourage you to get the PDF version since it contains shortened URL links to relevant information such as Codex articles or plugins/themes. If you’ve had a chance to read the book, let me know your thoughts in the comments.
At Least Three Books To Look Forward To
Yesterday was quite a day for WordPress news but one thing I noticed was the news surrounding a few books. The first is that Lisa Sabin-Wilson confirmed that she will be writing a new book through Wiley Publishing called BuddyPress For Dummies. Lisa is the author of WordPress for dummies both the first and second editions with a third on the way. The dummies series is aimed at providing 101 level information to various topics so those of you looking to get your feet wet with BuddyPress will enjoy this book. I have WordPress For Dummies both the first and second editions and they have been a blast to read.
The other book related news I came across was that the WordPress Bible authored by Aaron Brazell, also being published through Wiley & Sons now has a reserved page on Amazon.com. The publish date says March 1, 2010.
The last piece of news I wanted to share is that the DiggingIntoWordPress site which I’ve linked to before on WPTavern is doing a great job presenting information which will be in their book which goes under the same name. If the content on the site from Chris Coyier and Jeff Starr is anything to go by, you’ll definitely want to have it on your book shelf when it’s released. It’s not on Amazon.com but you can visit their preorder page in order to receive a special promotional offer since it will be available as a downloadable PDF first before it hits print.