Hey my lovelies!
One of things I love about WordPress, is that you don’t need PHD to operate it. Although I often joke about the factor I do have a Diploma in Website Development and coding… which means you don’t have to!
After diving into WordPress 15 years ago.
I originally learned the basics of website building, coding, as a part of my Certificate IV & My Diploma in Website Development via TAFENSW.
At the time. It was new and exciting but I did find that because of the age of the references and trainings etc, minus a few of the technical aspects. I was already more advanced, and I remember on occasions going into classroom during my first year and supporting other students…
That’s not to discredit having qualifications and at that point in time they were an amazing asset to have in my toolkit, it also gave me a lot of credibility – there and then, I wanted to build a reputable WordPress Development Business.
But specific to qualification materials, technology changes to quickly and we didn’t actually learn WordPress during those qualifications however it gave me a better understanding how websites worked in general. It’s always been a love of mine, to troubleshoot and work out how things go together.
After experiencing being in the classroom, I decided to opt for flexible delivery and for most of my first and my entire second year getting my Diploma, I studied from home online.
I found that the best way for me to learn was to dive in and start experimenting. The qualifications just bolstered my knowledge but it was the hands on / practical that really made the difference.
Having my Diploma gave me a great foundation, it lead me down the path to creating my own content management system called the NCDCMS, however overtime managing that and keeping it up to date, became tiresome, particularly custom coding everything from scratch, reinventing the wheel each time I wanted to create something and ensuring everything was usable for my clients.
I made the educated decision to work with WordPress realising:
- WordPress has a team of developers keeping it up to date
- There’s an abundance of Plugins – additional functionalities we can plug into WordPress ( There’s something like 60,000+ free and premium plugins available)
- The variety of THEMES – which control the look and feel of a WordPress site. Both free and premium available – currently over 8100 on the WordPress.org site alone!
- From an end user point of view, there were more resources available. Whilst I found the content was scattered, I was resourceful and picked up alot of knowledge along the way whilst trawling the internet.
- It was actually easier to use and find functionality by using WordPress.
- WordPress performs so much better & is one of the best platforms for Search Engine Optimisation
- It’s so much more than just a basic content management system, pretty much anything you can think of can be done with WordPress with a little know how.
From those humble beginning it spent the first 10 years of my self-employed career developing websites for other people using WordPress. However I could see there was a growing need for compiled and down to earth training and support.
This was why, in 2020 I opened the NCDAcademy. I created my signature programme the NCDAcademy WordPress101® programme, and in subsequent years introduced a range of offerings including the VIP WordPress Learners Lounge – Formerly The NCD Tech Sessions, WordPress Course Creators Bootcamp, WordPress DIY Vault Trainings and most recently a series of Live WordPress Beginner Events.
I am so grateful for what I have been able to achieve from these humble beginnings.
My qualifications were the starting point to my Journey.
However it’s also meant that now 15+ years on that I’ve been able to take what I’ve learnt and make it into something that supports non-techies World-wide.
If you’re looking to get started with WordPress. I’d love to chat with you.
Feel free to book a Free 15 Minute discovery call or chat out some of the ways we can work together.
- NCDAcademy WordPress101®
- VIP WordPress Learners Lounge Membership
- 1:1 – WordPress Help Call with Nat
Big Love from Oz,
Natalie Crowe
WordPress Expert
