40 Cheatsheets for WordPress Design & Development

While WordPress is known for making content management rather simple, the depth of this CMS is surprisingly vast. There are multiple facets to discover, but you can learn about them on an as-needed basis.

For example, if you’re goal is to just input and edit content, you probably won’t need to learn about theme development. And theme developers don’t necessarily need to know much about writing plugins.

We’ve compiled a collection of cheatsheets and reference guides to help you along your journey with WordPress. They should come in handy – regardless of how you use the software.

Introduction to WordPress

Looking to learn some of the basics? This is a great place to start! Here are some resources aimed at those who have little-to-no experience with WordPress.

What Exactly is WordPress? (Speckyboy) View 
A Beginner’s Guide To Creating A WordPress Website (Smashing Magazine) View 
How to Start a WordPress Blog (Step by Step) (WPBeginner) View 
Intro to WordPress (WP101) View 
WordPress For Dummies Cheat Sheet (Dummies) View 

WordPress Theme Development

Theme development with WordPress is quite flexible. You are able to create a style all your own while taking advantage of powerful built-in functionality.

The WordPress Mega Cheat Sheet (Make a Website Hub) View 
WordPress Developer Super Cheat Sheet (WPMU DEV) View 
WordPress Function Reference (WordPress Codex) View 
WordPress Functions Cheat sheet: The Quick & Handy Guide for Developers (TemplateToaster) View 
WordPress Action Listing (hookr.io) View 
WordPress Filter Listing (hookr.io) View 
WordPress Hook Listing (hookr.io) View 
Supercharge WordPress Theme Development (Speckyboy) View 

WordPress Plugin Development

Whether you want to add functionality to your own site or share it with the world, building a WordPress plugin is a great way to get it done.

Beginner’s Guide To WordPress Plugin Development (Hongkiat) View 
How to Build a WordPress Plugin (Scotch) View 
How To Create A WordPress Plugin (Elegant Themes) View 
Plugin API (WordPress Codex) View 
The WordPress Plugin Boilerplate (Devin Vinson) View 
WordPress Plugin Boilerplate Generator (wppb.me) View 
WordPress Plugin Development for Beginners (SitePoint) View 
WordPress Plugin Development – Best Practices (WooNinjas) View 
Writing a Plugin (WordPress Codex) View 

Advanced WordPress

Below are guides to topics that go beyond traditional themes and plugins.

REST API

How to Use the WordPress REST API (WPMU DEV) View 
Introducing the WP REST API (Envato Tuts+) View 
REST API Handbook (WordPress Developer Resources) View 
WordPress Rest API Basics (Kinsta) View 
WordPress REST API: The Next Generation CMS Feature (Toptal) View 

Security

Hardening WordPress (WordPress Codex) View 
10 Plugins to Secure Your WordPress Website (Speckyboy) View 
10 Free WordPress Backup Solutions (Speckyboy) View 
Sucuri WordPress Security (Sucuri) View 
Wordfence Blog (Wordfence) View 
WordPress Security in a Few Easy Steps (Yoast) View 
WordPress Security: The Ultimate Guide (WPMU DEV) View 

SEO/Marketing/Promotion

An In-depth Guide to Using WordPress SEO by Yoast (TORQUE) View 
Guide to Content Marketing in WordPress (CreativeMinds) View 
The Definitive Guide to Higher Rankings for WordPress Sites (Yoast) View 
Ultimate WordPress SEO Guide for Beginners (Step by Step) (WPBeginner) View