WordPress Tutorials and (Some) Bootcamp Closures

I’ll admit. I haven’t been blogging. At all. I’m not just talking about this blog, but also my other three blogs that I currently maintain. I’m still working on my client project ¹ and scratching my head on how to get this custom post types thing to work on Symmetry for my product reviews section. I never felt so frustrated for a long time when it came to WordPress customizations that I decided to rewind and go back to learning WordPress theme (and plugin, maybe) development classes again. ²

And speaking of WordPress, because I find the basic things much clearer now, I will be talking about some future plans for The NINPOJineous. In particular, the tutorials section and (possibly) my upcoming goodies shop. But first, a refresher.

A (small) series of WordPress Tutorials

They’re everywhere around the net. You can find them so easily around the net, from the official Codex to other tutorial sites and free courses. There are also books on WordPress development that are also for free too. ³ Why on earth am I going to open another one for this site?

Imagine yourself back in school, right in the classroom. You are watching and listening to the teacher writing on the board while discussing the lessons. Unless if you are imagining yourself in college and that you can record the teacher’s lessons through micro cassette recorders and digital voice recorders, ⁴ you tend to write everything down in your notebook for your own study notes. How I’m going to approach these small-step WordPress tutorials will also be me taking notes from my instructor.

I don’t know when I will start working on them, but soon, very soon. Due to my time constraints, they will be very slow, and very in-depth. Just going straight out with the tutorials and the instructions just don’t really do much for me. I believe that those who are new and fresh to WordPress theme development should also have a lot of understanding on what’s going on with the templates and the core base. It was said that you don’t need a deep understanding of PHP to learn how to build WordPress themes, however, you still need to understand its core functionalities and how to take advantage of them.

Last, but not least, I also look forward to creating a one-domain site collective with WordPress and its really unique multisite system. I’ve touched base with its multisite feature on my previous entry when I converted my personal blog into a multisite so I can add Symmetry as a subdomain. Eventually, I will also be converting my current collective into a multisite too.

I am still aiming for a legit certification for WordPress development, even though I already have one from Skillcrush. I’m aiming for plugin development, which I read in some various Facebook development groups I’m part of that makes a lot more money than selling themes. I aim to sell both. Still, I would recommend taking some courses with the subject. There are plenty of free and subscription-based ones, such as Codeacademy, Udemy, Treehouse, Lynda.com/LinkedIn Learning, and more.

And then, there are the more intense ones called coding bootcamps. They’re kind of like attending a college/university, but more emphasis on development and programming. You would seriously need to find a very reputable, and most of all, depending on your budget, affordable. But before you decide to go that route, just keep reading this post.

I thought about enrolling in a bootcamp but I don’t have the means of enrolling, plus I’m a bit intimidated ⁵ with the intensity and the high caliber of these programs. However, lately, there have been news here and there among the self-learning developers and programmers as of late.

(Reputable) Bootcamp Closures

So, for the past few weeks, throughout the Facebook groups I’m part of and a number of Slack community chat channels, there has been news that two of the more reputable coding bootcamps will be closing. The two being The Iron Yard and dev bootcamp. ⁶ I’ve actually never heard of The Iron Yard before, simply because there was no campus located anywhere in the Bay Area, ⁷ but I have heard of dev bootcamp. They have (had?) a campus here in San Francisco.

Let’s face it. A lot of people turn to computer science and development for a better life, so to speak. A lot of us are career changers. Some of us want to have a more challenging but rewarding field instead of what we have now. And then there are others who just loves the field but are limited to access in many ways. In short, the majority of us would-be programmers and developers don’t have the kind of money to add another student loan as part of our debts. Some of us still haven’t paid the entire tuition since graduation.

Bootcamps are promising, and even though the system sounds very rewarding and opportunistic, we just can’t shell out that much money like we’d be going back to college all over again. College education in itself is expensive enough. A lot of these bootcamps market themselves as the best alternative to earning a degree in computer science or anything related. And yet, it still comes down to the cost of the entire program.

I guess, according to the article that I read, even though the programs are promising, it still is a disadvantage for some of us, especially if we’re aiming for the bigger tech companies like Google and Apple. Employers and recruiters still look at qualifications and hiring processes the old traditional BS/BFA/BA required for these jobs. There are still plenty of open jobs in this field but not enough people who can be qualified for them. There is education and training for these jobs that exist out there. The problem is, it just goes down to money. Because of this, these few bootcamps are closing down. They’re offering something to aspiring programmers and developers but are unable to afford.

Skillcrush would be the closest thing for me for a bootcamp, and they cost so much less than these named bootcamps. You can even pay in small and affordable installments too, based on your current income. I’m happy that I get to have access to both Lynda.com and Treehouse for free via the local public library system. ⁸ I’m also a lifetime member of SitePoint Premium through a huge and affordable deal through MightyDeals. I think I have more than enough access to all the education I need. The only thing I don’t have for me to keep going is, of course, time.

Course Report is a good place to seek and do research on bootcamps if you’re interested. If you’re female like me, Skillcrush would be a good place to start. Or, look for a bootcamp that is diversity and gender-friendly. Remember, the early days of computer science was dominated by women. ⁹  We can’t have these “bros” and their stupid “bro culture” steal our past accomplishment and take all the credit for it. Remember the movie Hidden Figures?

Who knows? Maybe I can finally get a job in the field without having any specialized bootcamp education. We shall see!

Till next time.