Choosing a learning path
This page helps you choose where to begin. Exponential is used by people in very different roles, and the help has pages for each of them. The four learning paths of this folder put those pages in an order that works for a learner.
Contents
- The four paths at a glance
- Which path suits you
- How the paths build on each other
- What each path takes
- Study projects per path
- Courses that match the paths
The four paths at a glance
| Path | You learn to | Start page |
|---|---|---|
| Editor | Write, structure, translate and publish content; build pages with blocks | Learning path: editor |
| Administrator | Install a site, manage users, roles, sections, languages, caches, logs and updates | Learning path: administrator |
| Developer | Work with Git, templates, content classes, settings, extensions and the REST API | Learning path: developer |
| Designer | Change how a site looks: designs, templates, overrides, stylesheets, themes as extensions | Learning path: designer |
Which path suits you
| If you ... | Start with |
|---|---|
| study communication, journalism, marketing or library science | Editor |
| want to run websites for an organization, or study IT operations | Editor, then Administrator |
| study computer science or web development and know some PHP | Editor (short), then Developer |
| study design or front-end development and know HTML and CSS | Editor (short), then Designer |
| are not sure | Editor: every other path assumes you can find and publish content |
The help itself describes this growth "from user to developer": first you use the administration, then you change templates, then you work with the code (Develop with Git, The ladder: user, builder, extension developer, theme developer).
How the paths build on each other
Editor
|
+-------------+-------------+
| |
Administrator Designer
| |
+-------------+-------------+
|
Developer- Editor is the base for everyone. Its first steps take one or two days.
- Administrator and Designer can be studied in either order.
- Developer uses parts of the other three: content classes from the administrator path, templates from the designer path. You can start it straight after the editor path if you know PHP; you will meet the other parts on the way.
The trainers' Course catalogue shows the same order for the courses.
What each path takes
| Path | Prerequisites | Suggested length for self study | Matching trainer course length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Editor | A browser | 2 to 3 weeks, a few hours a week | Editors 101: about 19.5 hours |
| Administrator | Editor path; a terminal | 4 to 6 weeks | Site administration: about 30 hours |
| Developer | Editor path; PHP and Git basics | 6 to 10 weeks | Developers: about 45 hours |
| Designer | Editor path; HTML and CSS | 4 to 6 weeks | Theme design: about 24 hours |
The self-study lengths are suggestions for a learner with a few hours a week; the course lengths are those of the Course catalogue.
Study projects per path
The study projects are graded practice projects on your own installation. Each path uses some of them:
| Project | Editor | Administrator | Developer | Designer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. A content class of your own | yes | yes | ||
| 2. A small site structure | yes | yes | yes | |
| 3. A template override | yes | yes | ||
| 4. A page with layouts | yes | yes | ||
| 5. A multilingual site | yes | yes | ||
| 6. Search that finds the right things | yes | yes | ||
| 7. Reading content over the REST API | yes | |||
| 8. Your first extension | yes | |||
| 9. Roles for a restricted editor | yes | |||
| 10. Capstone: a complete small site | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Courses that match the paths
If you study with a trainer, these courses cover the same ground (Taking a course with a trainer):
| Path | Courses |
|---|---|
| Editor | Editors 101, Editors 201, Exponential Layouts |
| Administrator | Site administration, Search, Multisite and site packages |
| Developer | Developers |
| Designer | Theme design |
Related pages
- Student reading path
- Study projects: overview
- Students and learners: start here
- Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.
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