Who should decide what counts as an official WordPress certification? That question came up on WP Minute Live: Learning WordPress, a live audio conversation about Learn WordPress. I was listening in, then joined the conversation when Joe asked whether I’d been at the 2015 Community Summit.
🎙️ Episode details
- Topics: WordPress certification at the 2015 Community Summit, why bootcamps asked for guidance, and what the Training team planned
- Show: WP Minute Live, “Learning WordPress,” from The WP Minute
- Speakers included: Hauwa Abashiyacolleague, Joe and Daniel, with me, Courtney Robertson, joining about 43 minutes in
- Published: February 1, 2022
- Read and listen: WP Minute Live: Learning WordPress, with a transcript, on The WP Minute
🏛️ WordPress certification at the 2015 Community Summit
Yes, I’d been at the 2015 Community Summit, where certification came up. Also, Community Summits happen every few years before an international WordCamp. Talking about WordPress governance with such experienced people in that room was intimidating at that point in my journey.
🎓 Why bootcamps asked for official guidance
Later, teaching at a bootcamp, I advised organizers on how much PHP front end students would need for entry level WordPress product roles, enough to troubleshoot plugins. For example, we taught underscores, the template hierarchy and template tags. Students still weren’t ready to pass a plugin company’s technical screening. When I raised it, the organizers asked for official guidelines. My role now let me help create those resources for trainers outside the WordPress bubble.
🗺️ What the Training team planned for WordPress certification
Next, Joe noted the old question of who would be the arbiter of a certification. I said that’s where Learn WordPress fit, and why the Training team would start with a needs analysis, then form a curriculum advisory board. Finally, the team planned discovery further out: learning what worked and didn’t in other open source and proprietary programs.
🧪 What can you take from this episode?
- Topics: WordPress certification at the 2015 Community Summit, why bootcamps asked for guidance, and what the Training team planned
- Bootcamp organizers: test graduates against a real employer screening before calling a course job ready.
- Employers: share your screening criteria with the Training team.
Also, more conversations like this one live in my podcast and speaking archive.
🗓️ Archival note
The WP Minute published this conversation on February 1, 2022. Then I added this post on November 9, 2026, from the publisher’s transcript, where my part begins about 43 minutes in. Hauwa’s earlier mention of a “Courtney Robinson” on the Training team was a transcription of my name. However, I reviewed the transcript, not the audio.