It would seem that I am a little late to the party when it comes to buying stock in WordPress. After all, it has been around for nearly a decade. (Where was I again 10 years ago? Yes, I remember, selling my stock in Google.) Had I known then that WordPress would serve as the foundation for two-thirds of the websites I see today, I probably would have invested in it back then. That is, if it wasn’t free and open to the world. Bummer.

On the other hand, at least I can use it today without a paid subscription or ridiculous price tag. That’s a good thing, because it seems to be the best and easiest platform I could use to create my final project. After browsing through all of WordPress’ options and capabilities, it appears there is no better place for a beginner to, well, begin.

Now if only I could crack the Codecademy lessons. I continue to go through the lessons without retaining much. I think it is because Codecademy doesn’t reinforce much. When is the last time we typed HTML? Of course, I do realize I can go back and do the HTML lessons again, but it would be nice if these were building blocks instead of just checks in the boxes. I find myself also wondering why I am learning how to write these codes. The idea is to understand how the codes are used, and perhaps be able to tinker with them? It really is a question I have, because that part is not entirely clear. I understand the general idea is for us to get a feel for these codes, but I think if that feel includes just knowing they are there and what they’re used for, then we could probably accomplish that by learning about them rather than barely learning how to write them. If I were to spend the time that I spend going through the lessons (a few hours, perhaps) reading or seeing the code in action instead, I think I would walk away from the course having learned a considerable amount more.

I don’t want to get down on the Codecademy guys too much, though. They put a lot of work into creating their site, I’m sure. If I think too hard about the code that is behind each lesson (the actual code that makes the page function), I can almost make myself pass out. It’s intense to say the least. My only real complaint is the bugs that cause the user to question his work. When I find those bugs I wish the site was actually a for-profit site, so I could complain to the developers for creating something that makes me feel as though I’m living the Twilight Zone. I’m extremely thankful for the “nerds” who identify those bugs and post the solutions in the Q&A. Without those nerds, I think I’d truly be lost.

That said, PHP is pretty interesting (especially the fact it came from a guy who was presumably annoyed with everyone else’s code, and decided to make his own). It kind of makes me wonder why everyone doesn’t use it. But then I read about WordPress and realized pretty much everyone does. Thanks for that. I look forward to using it more myself. It has by far been the easiest code yet.

Till next lesson …