50 Great WordPress Resources for 2013

WordPress is by far the most popular content management system on the internet. It has grown, in part, due to the tremendous community that supports the platform. There are many great services and resources online, free and paid, that help WordPress users get the most out of the script.

Don’t worry if you don’t know what these services and resources are, as today I would like to share with you 50 of the best WordPress resources online. These resources will help you get more from the WordPress platform. Some you may know, many you will not, though I’m sure that everyone will find it useful

WordPress Blogs

1. WordPress News

There are lots of official WordPress blogs, particularly when you factor in the announcement blogs of their mobile applications and blogs from WordPress developers. The most important blog to keep tabs on is the news blog on WordPress.org. It is where all beta and stable releases of the WordPress platform is announced.

2. WPBeginner

Developed by Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner is a blog that has been helping beginners and intermediate users for years. The blog is packed full of great tips and tutorials.

3. WP Mayor

A WordPress blog that is run by popular blogger Jean Galea. It publishes news, articles and tutorials, on a daily basis.

4. WPMU

Updated regularly with news, advice and long detailed tutorials. WPMU was in the news a lot last year due to losing most of their traffic after the Google Penguin update. Thankfully, they managed to fully recover from the set back.

5. WP Jedi

WP Jedi has gone under the radar a little, which is a little strange as it is one of the best WordPress blogs online. The blog is updated daily with WordPress related news, views, tutorials and more.

6. WPKube

Launched in 2010, WPKube is run by young blogger Devesh Sharma. It features news, themes, tutorials and plugins.

7. WPShout

Alex Denning started WPShout when he was 15 (damn, that makes me feel old!). He is such a great blogger that everyone assumed that he was a WordPress developer who was at least in their twenties. Readers only found otherwise when Alex introduced himself in 2010.

8. Lorelle on WordPress

Lorelle VanFossen is well known within the WordPress community as a keynote speaker, trainer, consultant, author, and blogger. You have probably read one of her articles on another blog, however it is on her personal blog on WordPress that she continues to gain new fans, with several new articles every week.

9. WPDaily

Updated regularly by members of 8Bit, WPDaily features news, views and their new podcast Hello Dolly.

10. Tom McFarlin

Self-employed WordPress developer Tom McFarlin shares his views on WordPress and the open-source community through his personal blog. He regularly shares tip and code snippers through his blog too.

WordPress Hacks & Tutorials

11. WordPress Theming

Those of you who are interested in developing WordPress designs will love Devin Price’s theming blog. He regularly shares code snippets and gives advice about designing for WordPress.

12. WP Snippets

A collection of over 200 WordPress code snippets, sourced from around the internet.

13. Wptuts+

Wptuts+ is a great resource for WordPress tutorials. Each article is summarised at the beginning with the difficulty level and estimated time to complete the tutorial.

14. WpRecipes

Jean-Baptiste Jung from Cats Who Code was launched way back in 2008. Over 450 WordPress tutorials have been published to date.

15. Smashing Magazine

Smashing Magazine have focused more on WordPress over the last few years. Their tutorials are always well presented and easy to follow.

16. Paulund

Regular tutorials and articles about developing for WordPress. Each tutorial are straight forward to follow and the author, Paul, always responds to visitors comments.

WordPress Plugin & Theme Resources

17. WordPress.org Plugin Resources

The Plugin Resources page on WordPress.org is the best place to start learning more about WordPress plugins. It links to many internal and external plugin tutorials and resources.

18. Pippin’s Plugins

Plugin developer Pippin Williamson has built up a great reputation with WordPress fans for his plugin tutorials, and for releasing many great plugins to the WordPress community for free.

19. Weblog Tools Collection

If it seems like Weblog Tools Collection has been online forever, then it is because it has been. It was launched in October 2003, only 5 months after the first version of WordPress was released. So it’s easy to forget how useful the blog is. It is updated daily with news updates and a summary of the latest WordPress themes and plugins. It’s a great place to stay up-to-date with all the themes and plugins that have been released through WordPress.org.

20. CodeCanyon

It’s difficult to ignore codecanyon. More and more plugin developers are turning to the online market to sell their commercial plugins. There are around 1,3000 premium WordPress plugins listed in their store, with prices starting from just a few dollars. I’m a huge fan of CodeCanyon and regularly drop by to check out the latest plugin releases.

21. Polldadddy

Polldaddy takes surveys to a whole new level. It can be used to create surveys, polls and quizzes. It can also be used to add a rating system to your blog. A free account is available which allows you 200 responses per month. Their professional service allows 5,000 responses per month, and retails for $200 per year (less than $17 per month). It’s a great service for getting feedback from visitors and encouraging more user interaction.

22. WeLoveWP

WeLoveWP is a fantastic place to find inspiration for your next design. It lists over 3,500 unique WordPress designs. I recommend checking it out if you are stuck for ideas for a new theme.

23. WPExplorer

AJ Clarke’s posts theme and plugin tutorials through WPExplorer. In addition to releasing his own designs through the website, he also reviews WordPress themes designed by others in great detail.

24. WPHub Theme Library

The WPHub themes library contains over 650 WordPress themes. It is not a simple theme gallery. Each theme in the library has an in-depth review that examines the pros and cons of using the theme.

Third Party Discussion Solutions

25. IntenseDebate

IntenseDebate is a good option for those of you who want to offer commenter’s more options. Although developed by the makers of WordPress, IntenseDebate is also available for platforms such as blogger and Tumblr.

26. LiveFyre

Used by high traffic blogs such as Engadget, LiveFyre is one of the best external commentating solutions available to WordPress users. It has advanced spam control features and comments are updated in real-time.

27. DISQUS

The main rival to LiveFyre is DISQUS. It is used by websites such as IGN and ESPN. It integrates with social media services beautifully and commenter’s can built up their reputation over time.

WordPress Hosting Solutions

28. WPEngine

WPEngine are well-known for ensuring WordPress websites are secure, and load fast. Very fast. Their prices are relatively expensive compared to other hosting companies, however everyone who uses their service swears by them.

29. Synthesis

Founded by CopyBlogger, Synthesis is a managed WordPress hosting service that has been adopted by many top bloggers. Their prices are a little cheaper than WPEngine’s.

30. Pagely

A great WordPress hosting service that focuses on security. Websites are automatically updated with the latest version of WordPress. Plugins are also updated automatically and backups are performed regularly.

WordPress Resources & Services

31. WordPress Codex

The WordPress Codex shows you how to use WordPress, and how to work with themes and plugins. There’s a huge amount information located within the codex. The reference will teach you everything you need to know about WordPress though most pages also link to external resources too.

32. BobWP

BobWP, aka Bob Dunn, is a WordPress expert who coaches and trains others about the WordPress platform. He offers video tutorials and online webinars directly through his website. If you are looking for someone to help you with WordPress, I recommend getting in touch with him.

33. Digging into WordPress

Digging into WordPress has an active blog that is updated regularly, however it is their flagship book that they are best known. The book is over 400 pages long and is updated after every major WordPress release. It’s an essential reference that all WordPress users should have.

34. wpLifeGuard

A WordPress video tutorial website that promises to teach WordPress in an hour. The videos were created specifically for beginners, so most of you reading this will not get much from it. However, if you have a client who wants to learn the WordPress platform, these videos will help them (and save you time in the process).

35. WordPress.tv

WordPress.tv regularly publishes presentations and tutorials from WordCamps. Many presentations are aimed at beginners, however I like checking videos from time to time, as they occasionally discuss how WordPress will evolve in the future.

36. Post Status

Post Status is a simple news website that is curated by WordPress developer Brian Krogsgard and his colleagues. It is updated daily with the links to the best WordPress related articles online.

37. WordPress Vote

A WordPress news website that is driven by user-content. It is not hugely popular, however it is a great place to find WordPress related articles that you didn’t find elsewhere.

38. WP Questions

If you have a WordPress related problem and want a solution fast, check out WP Questions. The service allows you to post questions to the community. You assign a prize for the person who provides the best solution (normally between $1 and $100, depending on how complex your problem is). When you consider that you can sometimes spend the best part of a day trying to find a solution to an issue, paying someone a few dollars to resolve it quickly makes a lot of sense.

39. QueryPosts

A WordPress code reference that lists details of nearly two thousand functions. Hooks and classes are going to be added to the reference soon. It is a great resource for theme and plugin developers.

40. Code Poet

Interviews, resources, and much more from WordPress developers. Make sure you check out their free books section.

41. wpMail

A free WordPress newsletter that is delivered to your inbox for free once a week. Each issue gives a round-up of the latest news and best articles from the previous week.

42. WordPress Hooks Database

Adam Brown’s hooks database is always kept up to date. Developers will find this resource incredibly useful.

43. ManageWP

ManageWP started off as a service that allowed you to log in to multiple WordPress websites from the one location. It has become so much more. It now allows you to automatically upgrade all of your plugins, protect your websites and perform automatic back ups. The service is very affordable, with prices starting from only $0.80 per website, per month.

WordPress Back Up Solutions

44. VaultPress

There are lots of great back up services available to WordPress users. I have personally used VaultPress since the beta version of the service was released, and I have never been disappointed. Websites are backed up every single hour. It offers one-click restores and I can access any back up from when I first started using the service; be it a database, theme, file, or plugin. Prices start from $15 per website, per month.

45. BackupPress

An easy-to-use back up service that performs back ups in real-time. The service will ensure that non-WordPress files and databases are also backed up. Prices start from only $5 per website, per month. Discounts are available to those who pay yearly.

46. blogVault

BlogVault is a secure back up service that can restore your website automatically within minutes. Back ups are stored for up to 30 days. According to their comparison page, they are much more secure than BackupBuddy. Prices start from only $9 per website, per month.

47. BackupBuddy

A WordPress plugin that allows you to back up your complete WordPress installation. Back ups can be saved on Dropbox, Amazon S3, RackSpace Cloud, or to your own host using FTP. Back ups can be emailed to you too. Prices start from $75 per year.

48. CodeGuard

A self-professed time machine for your WordPress website. The service performs daily back ups and is constantly checking your website for malware and other threads. More expensive packages also offer reporting. The cheapest package retails at only $5 per website, per month.

WordPress Support Forums

49. WordPress Support Forums

The official WordPress support forums are the largest WordPress focused discussion forums on the internet. It is a great place to search for solutions, however you may be disappointed if you post a support query yourself, as many threads go unanswered.

50. WPMU DEV Community

The WPMU Dev Community offers premium support for $39 per month. I recommend checking it out if you need help WordPress and are finding it difficult to get help through the support forums on WordPress.org.

(Bonus) 51. Theme Hybrid Forums

The Theme Hybrid forums are free to those who sign up to Theme Hybrid. Membership only costs $29 per year, which works out at less than $2.50 per month. Theme Hybrid founder Justin Tadlock is very active on the forums, and ensures that all members get the help they need.

I hope you enjoyed this list of great WordPress resources. Unfortunately, with so many great WordPress resources out there, many top websites didn’t make this list. I paid particular attention to how up-to-date websites were. Therefore, great blogs such as WP Candy, WordPress Hacks, WP Tavern, Do It With WordPress, and WP Engineer, did not make the final list.

Did your favourite WordPress resource not make the list? If not, feel free to share the resource in the comment area.