Know the Code

Developing & Empowering WordPress Developers

Genesis Developer Roadmap

Are you a Genesis theme developer? Then this roadmap is for you. It systematically guides you on your journey to build and grow your proficiencies, expertise, and career. It covers all aspects of WordPress theme development and is geared for those who specialize in Genesis.

Genesis Developer Roadmap - Your Guide to Growing

Follow this Roadmap – Start Here

Do it from Top
to bottom

This roadmap is your guide to systematically walk through the content here on Know the Code. Do the content in the suggested order from the top to the bottom.

Disclaimer – New Content Published Frequently: We release new content all the time. This roadmap will change and grow. Therefore, keep checking it and its order.

Getting You Ready to Start

It’s important to make sure you are ready to dive in without having to struggle with your computer, workflow, or even HTML and CSS.

Are you new to web development or programming? Or is your local web development machine not setup yet? If yes, then click here.
Make sure you setup Kint on your machine as you'll use it here.
Do you need to build your CSS and/or HTML technical chops? Then click here

The Fundamentals

Before you dive into Genesis, first you need to grow your fundamentals. These are your foundation to programming and web development.

14 Episodes
02:18:22 Runtime

Introduction to WordPress Web Development - Absolute Beginner

Introduction to WordPress Web Development - Absolute Beginnersfree

In the first part of Absolute Beginner's Guide to Web Development series, you will be introduced to websites, browsers, and programming. Let's talk about the roles of the various technologies and programming languages. You'll also learn about the role of plugins and themes in relationship to a WordPress website.

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16 Episodes
03:21:32 Runtime

PHP 101: Gentle Introduction to WordPress Programming

PHP 101: Gentle Introduction to WordPress Programmingfree

Welcome to WordPress programming. In this hands-on code building lab, you are going to get a gentle introduction into PHP programming. This lab assumes that you do not know anything about programming or PHP. You'll start at the beginning and incrementally learn the major concepts and instructions you'll encounter. It's PHP 101.

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14 Episodes
01:50:52 Runtime

PHP Variables Bootcamp

PHP Variables Bootcamp

In order to be proficient in PHP, you need to first know variables. It's learn and do time. In this lab, you are focusing on user-defined variables, the data they represent, how they are passed and assigned into function parameters' list, naming, and their scope. For Pro members, you learn more about the PHP internals, how variables are linked to their data, and how memory moves around under the hood.

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7 Episodes
01:07:16 Runtime

PHP Conditional Expressions - PHP Bootcamps Labs

PHP Conditional Expressions

Conditional expressions are an essential in programming, yet they are largely misunderstood. In this bootcamp lab, you will discover how complex expressions are evaluated as well as falsey states, assignments in the expression, and much more. Roll up your sleeves as it's time to dive deep into PHP conditional expressions.

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15 Episodes
02:50:33 Runtime

PHP String Building and Processing Basics

PHP String Building and Processing Basics

As developers, we need to build and process dynamic strings. Our code pulls in information from various sources, assembles it, and then renders it out to the browser. PHP provides a powerful function library to help us. In this hands-on lab, you will learn about the basics of PHP string building and processing.

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13 Episodes
01:58:54 Runtime

Doing More With PHP String Processing

Doing More With PHP String Processing

There are many times when we need to more complex processing with strings. PHP provides us with the instructions we need to verify and manipulate strings. In this hands-on lab, you will continue learning about processing strings in PHP.

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14 Episodes
02:25:26 Runtime

Ins and Outs of PHP Namespace for WordPress

Ins and Outs of PHP Namespace for WordPress

PHP Namespace gives you the means to encapsulate your code modules to improve readability and prevent code naming collisions. In this hands-on lab, you will migrate from prefixing convention to PHP namespacing. You will learn the ins and outs of namespacing.

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What the heck is WordPress hook?

Hooking into WordPress: What the Heck is a Hook?

Actions. Filters. Events. Hooks. You read about these terms all the time in tutorials and codex. You see code snippets with add_action, add_filter, and apply_filters. What the heck is a hook? What does it do? And why should you care about learning the event management system in WordPress? Stop pulling your hair out and give me a few minutes of your time to explain it in layman's terms.

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8 Episodes
01:17:56 Runtime

Introducing & Registering WordPress Event

WordPress Plugin API - Introduction & Registering Event Hooks

The Event System in WordPress Plugin API is the cornerstone for developers, as it allows you to extend, enhance, and change the behavior of WordPress. In this lab, you will be introduced to the event-driven mechanism. Then you'll get to work registering callbacks for events (actions and filters) to help you know this important API. Let's dig into add_filter and add_action.

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Developer's Guide to Differentiating WordPress Content - Post Types

Developer's Guide to Differentiating WordPress Content - Post Types

As developers, it can be confusing to understand the intent and role of the mechanisms in WordPress to differentiate content. What are post types, taxonomies and terms, and custom fields? Why do they exist? When do you use the built-in ones? When do you build a custom one? We need a definitive guide that provides structure and best practices for differentiating content. We need a Developer's Guide. In this first part of the series, we'll discuss the why, what, and when of the WordPress post type from both a technical and practical perspectives.

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Timing Mistakes Removing WordPress Callback Hook

2 Timing Mistakes When Removing a WordPress Callback Hook

You want to remove some callback hook in WordPress. You keep trying, but it's not working. Argh, why isn't it working? Did you know that timing is important? There are two (2) common timing mistakes when removing (or attempt to remove) a WordPress callback hook. Let's explore these timing mistakes and then give you some strategies to master the remove process every single time.

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8 Episodes
00:49:58 Runtime

WordPress Bult-in Post Type Basics

WordPress Built-in Post Type Basics

Out-of-the-box, WordPress gives you built-in post types. In this hands-on lab, you will interact and change the built-in post types including the configured features. This is an introduction to post types, which will prepare you for building custom post types.

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10 Episodes
01:17:16 Runtime

WordPress Built-in Taxonomy Basics

WordPress Built-in Taxonomy Basics

Out-of-the-box, WordPress gives you built-in taxonomies which are used to group like or similar content together. You use categories and tags to add contextual information about the content and give readers additional mechanisms to explore and discover. In this hands-on lab, you will interact with and change the built-in taxonomies. This is an introduction to taxonomies, which will prepare you for building your own custom taxonomies.

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Genesis Fundamentals

Let’s dive into the basic fundamentals of the Genesis framework.

4 Episodes
00:15:48 Runtime

Genesis Version - Ensure Your Latest Changes Go out to the Browser

Genesis Version - Ensure Your Latest Changes Go Out to the Browser

Have you ever had the problem where you made a change, pushed it to your client's server, and then they say they can't see the changes? So you tell them to clear their browser's cache and that solves the problem. In this lab, you will learn how to make sure your changes are sent out to the browser using the constant Genesis provides for you.

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6 Labs
94 Episodes
14:59:46 Runtime

Developer's Guide to Customizing Genesis: The Series

Developer's Guide to Customizing Genesis

Are you a professional WordPress developer who wants to work with or specialize in the Genesis framework? This is lab series is for you. You will walk through the entire codebase while learning how to customize and maximize the theming framework.

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Going Deeper

Let’s ease you into building and customizing Genesis themes.

14 Episodes
02:27:07 Runtime

Automate Asset Versioning - Better Asset Versioning

Automate Asset Versioning - Better Asset Versioning

In Part 1 of the Better Asset Versioning, we are looking at the version number that is applied to each asset resource, i.e. our scripts, fonts, and stylesheets. We are highly inefficient with this process. Let's eliminate the hard coding of version numbers when we enqueue. Let's build a better strategy for version numbers when in development mode. Let's automate versioning and improve our build process.

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2 Episodes
00:07:21 Runtime

is_front_page() vs. is_home() Showdown

is_front_page() vs is_home() Showdown

There is a difference between the WordPress functions is_front_page() and is_home(). The state of these functions is determined by how you (or your client) configures the site in the Settings > Reading section (in the back-end). In this lab, you will see how different settings can cause a different set of states.

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2 Episodes
00:18:35 Runtime

Adding Google Fonts to Your WordPress Website

Adding Google Fonts to Your WordPress Website

Adding Google Fonts into your WordPress website is a two-step process, which requires you to add CSS and PHP to your theme or plugin. Many people forget to do one of the steps. In this hands-on lab, you will write the code while I walk you through it step-by-step.

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10 Episodes
01:27:22 Runtime

Customize the Read More Link in Genesis

Customizing the Read More Link in Genesis

The Genesis framework defaults to a standard read more link which looks like [Read more...]. But what if you want to read Continue reading, Learn more, or whatever? What if you want it to be on a separate line in its own paragraph? What if you want it to look like a button instead of just a standard link? Well, then this lab is for you. In this lab, you will customize your Genesis child theme, any child theme, to fit your project's needs. Yes, you will be doing all of these customization features.

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6 Episodes
00:33:41 Runtime

Remove Genesis Site Footer on Home Page

Remove the Genesis Site Footer on Home Page

Let's remove the default Genesis site footer on the posts' page, i.e. the home page. In this hands-on lab, you will walk through four (4) different implementations, each of which removes the site footer. You'll discover the pros and cons of each of these approaches. From this exercise, you'll be able to select the best approach for your specific needs.

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10 Episodes
01:16:42 Runtime

Reordering Hook not Working on First Post

Reordering Hook Not Working on the First Post - Problem Solving Lab

In this Problem Solving lab, your website is broken, as the first post in the loop is exhibiting unexpected behavior. You want to reposition the post info (i.e. date and author's name) above the title. It works on all of the posts except the first one. Why? In this active, hands-on lab, you and I will walk through how to find the root cause, why it's happening, and then how to resolve it.

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Growing Your Fundamentals

Every developer needs a basic understanding of databases and jQuery.

WordPress Posts Database Table Basics

Get Familiar with WordPress Posts Database Table

Have you ever opened up your database? Have you poked around in there to understand the layout and different buckets of content and information? In today’s quick tip, you’ll look at the wp_posts database table. You’ll learn about basic database terminology, such as record, row, primary key, and columns. You’ll see how the columns within a record relate to the content you see in the WordPress back-end.

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13 Episodes
02:08:59 Runtime

Introduction to Databases - WordPress

Introduction to Databases

Dynamic content requires a storage system to retain the content, settings, and information. WordPress uses MySQL as its relational database. In this hands-on lab, you will dig into the WordPress database structure, do basic raw SQL queries, and learn about the relationship between WordPress and its database.

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16 Episodes
02:32:33 Runtime

Introduction to jQuery and JavaScript

Introduction to jQuery and JavaScript

jQuery provides you with a feature-rich suite of tools to simplify your JavaScript code. In this hands-on code building lab, you will be introduced to jQuery including JavaScript scoping, traversing the DOM, IIFE, functions, selecting elements, parameter handling and defaults, and more. This lab will introduce you to JavaScript fundamentals as well, as jQuery is a JavaScript library.

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Doing More with Your Projects

Want to do more in your projects? Want to build more complex projects? It starts here with learning the database and jQuery. Then let’s build some themes together.

14 Labs
106 Episodes
03:45:47 Runtime

Let's Build a Developer's Genesis Starter Child Theme

Let's Build a Custom Developer's Genesis Starter Child Theme

Let's build a custom Developer's Genesis framework starter child theme. A starter child theme is built to your needs, standards, and style. It gives you consistency from project-to-project and saves you a ton of time (and moola) as all you need to do is add in the custom bits for each project.

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Coming in the Future - On hold

Build a Custom Genesis Child Theme - Genesis Theme Development A-Z

Build a Custom Genesis Child Theme - Genesis Theme Development A-Z

Want to build custom Genesis themes professionally? Then this is the series for you. You and Tonya will dive deep into the entire process of building a real world, fully-functional, custom Genesis child theme from scratch. You'll learn deeply about the framework, WordPress, PHP, HTML, CSS, and more as you build this theme.

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Custom Content

These labs teach you how to build custom plugins. Custom content does not belong in a theme. That includes custom post types, taxonomies, shortcodes, meta boxes, custom fields, etc.

12 Episodes
02:03:31 Runtime

WordPress Post Metdata Basics

WordPress Post Metadata (Custom Fields) Basics

Using post metadata, we can add additional information to built-in and custom post types (content). We use this information for specific filtering, querying, grouping, and processing tasks. In the back end, we build metaboxes whose custom fields provide an interface for authors to input the metadata. In this hands-on lab, you will learn the basics of WordPress post metadata and the custom fields you build for their interface.

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10 Episodes
01:20:49 Runtime

WordPress Custom Post Type Basics

Custom Post Type Basics

WordPress gives you the means to add new post types. In this hands-on lab, you will explore configuring and registering a new custom post type. You are actively building a team biography plugin, where team members are displayed on a business-centric website.

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12 Episodes
01:30:53 Runtime

WordPress Custom Taxonomy Basics

WordPress Custom Taxonomy Basics

WordPress gives you the means to add new custom taxonomies. In this hands-on lab, you will explore configuring and registering a new taxonomy for the team biography plugin you built in the Custom Post Type Basics lab. Plus, you learn some basic PHP string building and handling.

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15 Episodes
02:21:18 Runtime

Meta Box Basics

WordPress Meta Box Basics

A meta box provides an interface for site owners, author, editors, admins, etc. to view, add, delete, and edit custom fields (post metadata). In this hands-on coding lab, you will create a meta box boilerplate from scratch, one that you can use on any project.

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Now you are ready to pick what you want to learn next. Learn more and Grow

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