10 Best WordPress Books [2023]

Are you looking to advance your knowledge of WordPress? Then you’ve come to the right place! Almost every website uses WordPress to publish content. This article is a compilation of the best WordPress books to get you on the right track.  In this article, we will discuss the rating, and latest editions of various books on WordPress, and we will also share a list of the best WordPress books for beginners. Let’s get started.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is a website content management system (CMS). This allows you to manage the entire website through a single interface. You can install it on your web server and manage the website through a web-based interface, or you can use WordPress hosting, which is a service that hosts your website for you. WordPress has been around since 2003. It was initially created by Matthew MacAulay, who is a programmer, blogger, and photographer. WordPress is one of the most popular websites used to publish content. It allows you to create a blog and allows you to add images and media. You can also create a website with WordPress. WordPress is free to use. However, web hosting and other services cost money. A basic website on WordPress costs around $10 a month.

The Best WordPress Books

There are many books on WordPress available. The trick here is to choose the right one for you. So, let’s start with the best WordPress books.

1. WordPress for Beginners

WordPress for Beginners is a good book for beginners who want to learn how to build their own websites using WordPress. The author of this book is Dr Andy Williams. It’s one of the most comprehensive WordPress books that covers all you need to know about WordPress from installation through design, content management, SEO, and more. This book has over 700 pages with over 20 chapters covering topics such as setting up your own blog or site with WordPress, creating posts, adding images and videos, managing comments and spamming users, and setting up your own domain name and hosting provider, SEO basics and more. It’s a great book for beginners who want to learn the ins and outs of WordPress.The ratings of this book are 4.2 out of 5 on Amazon.

2. WordPress For Dummies

WordPress For Dummies is another good WordPress guide for beginners. The author of this book is Lisa Sabin-Wilson. This book has over 400 pages and covers topics such as how to install WordPress, create your own blog or website, how to edit your content using WordPress, and how to customize your theme and design using plugins, widgets, and more. It also covers topics such as setting up your own domain name and hosting provider, SEO basics, using Facebook with WordPress, and much more. It’s a good guide if you want to learn the basics of WordPress without having to read through hundreds of pages of text. The ratings of this book are 4.5/5 stars on Amazon.

3. WordPress 4.0 Site Blueprints 2nd Edition: Build Your Own Website Using Best Practices

WordPress 4.0 Site Blueprints: Build Your Own Website Using Best Practices is another good WordPress book for beginners who want to learn the ins and outs of WordPress. It’s a good book for beginners because it shows you how to build a website from scratch using best practices and examples. It’s also very well written and easy to understand. The author of this book is Rachel McCollin. This book has over 400 pages, so it covers everything you need to know about building websites with WordPress. The ratings of this book are very good and it has a 4.2-star rating on Amazon.

4. WordPress: The Missing Manual 3rd Edition

WordPress: The Missing Manual is another good WordPress book for beginners who want to learn and become masters in WordPress. It’s also a very well-written book that covers everything you need to know about building websites with WordPress. The author of this book is Matthew MacDonald and it has over 500 pages, so it covers everything you need to know about using WordPress for beginners as well as some advanced topics such as the basics of HTML, CSS, PHP, and JavaScript. It also covers topics such as setting up your own domain name and hosting provider, SEO basics, Facebook integration with WordPress, and much more. The rating of this book is 4.8 out of 5 stars on Amazon and the book is also downloaded more than 41,000 times.

5. WordPress 5 Complete: Build beautiful and feature-rich websites from scratch, 7th Edition

WordPress 5 Complete (7th Edition) is another great book for beginners who want to learn WordPress from scratch. It’s written by author Karol Krol and it has over 434 pages packed full of useful information about using WordPress for building websites as well as some advanced topics such as SEO, security, and dealing with spam. It covers everything from the basics of WordPress to more advanced topics such as creating your own themes and plugins, writing your own plugins and themes, customizing the admin side of WordPress, and much more. The ratings of this book are 4.2 out of 5 based on over 400 customer reviews.

6. WordPress: Visual QuickStart Guide (3rd Edition)

WordPress: Visual QuickStart Guide (3rd Edition) is another good book for beginners who want to learn the ins and outs of WordPress. It’s written by author Jessica Beck who has been working with WordPress since 2005. This book covers everything you need to know about using WordPress including setting up a blog or website, setting up a domain name, installing WordPress on your server, installing themes for WordPress, and creating content for your website or blog using a variety of methods such as using HTML snippets or an online tool such as Blogger or Typepad. It also covers how to customize your site using widgets, customizing the look of your site with themes, and more. The ratings of this book are 4.5 out of 5 stars on Amazon.

7. WordPress 3.0 Bible (2nd Edition)

WordPress 3.0 Bible (2nd Edition) is another good beginner’s guide that covers everything you need to know about using WordPress including how to install, configure and upgrade your site as well as how to use themes, widgets and a variety of other features that come with WordPress. It’s written by Aaron Brazell who is the author of many computer books and has been using WordPress since 2005. This book was updated for version 3.0 which was released in June 2010 and includes new features such as custom post types, custom fields, revisions, and more that were added in this release. The ratings of this book are very good averaging about 4.5 out of 5 stars based on reviews by users who purchased the book.

8. WordPress Absolute Beginner’s Guide

WordPress Absolute Beginner’s Guide is a comprehensive guide to WordPress that covers everything you need to know about using WordPress including how to install, configure and upgrade your site as well as how to use themes, widgets and a variety of other features that come with WordPress. It’s written by Tris Hussey who is the creator of the famous WordPress blogging platform, and the author of many computer books and has been using WordPress since 2005. This book was updated for version 1.0 which was released on May 1, 2014, and includes new features such as custom post types, custom fields, revisions, and more that were added in this release. The rating of this book is 4.5 out of 5.

9. Professional WordPress Plugin Development 2nd Edition

This is a very detailed guide to creating your own WordPress plugins from scratch. It’s written by Brad Williams. The second edition of this book was updated for version 2.0 which was released in May 2021 and includes new features such as the new admin bar, custom post types, custom fields, and revisions that were added in this release. This book covers everything you need to know about designing themes including the basics of HTML, CSS, PHP, and more as well as how to make use of the Theme Customizer which was added in WordPress 3.4 and includes new features such as the new admin bar, custom post types, custom fields, revisions and more that were added in this release. The ratings of this book are very high with 4.8 out of 5 stars on Amazon.

10. WordPress Theme Development: Beginner’s Guide – Third Edition

This is a very detailed guide to creating your own WordPress themes from scratch. It’s written by Rachel McCollin who has been using WordPress since 2008 and has been developing themes for the platform since 2010. This book covers everything you need to know about theme development including the basics of HTML, CSS, PHP, and more as well as how to make use of the Theme Customizer which was added in WordPress 3.4 and includes new features such as the new admin bar, custom post types, custom fields, revisions and more that were added in this release. The ratings of this book is average with 3.1 out of 5 stars on Amazon.

Conclusion

WordPress is a great CMS for creating blogs. However, it is not suitable for creating websites because of its limitations. So, before you go for it, you must know the pros and cons of WordPress so that you can make the right decision.  WordPress books can help learn the basics of WordPress. You should also make sure to check the cons of WordPress so that you can avoid them and get the most out of your WordPress books. The best book recommended to beginners is WordPress For Dummies, Second Edition. It has a 4.5 out of 5 stars rating on Amazon and can be used to learn the basics of WordPress.

FAQ:

Q.1: Can beginners use WordPress?

Answer:  Yes, WordPress is a good choice for beginners. You should, however, know that WordPress has been around for a long time and there are many plugins available to make your life easier. So it is advisable to use these plugins as well if you are new to WordPress.

Q.2: How do I learn WordPress?

Answer:  WordPress is a great tool for both beginners and experts. You can get started with WordPress by reading some of the books on WordPress that we have listed above. You can also learn about WordPress by going through articles on the internet and forums.

Q.3: What is WordPress for?

Answer:  WordPress is a great tool for everyone. If you want to create a website, you can use WordPress. If you want to create a blog, you can use WordPress. There are so many things that you can do with WordPress. It is an all-in-one package for everyone from beginners to experts and everything in between.