Progress Planner was created with enthusiasm and a strong drive to improve WordPress. No matter what’s happening in the WordPress ecosystem, our team remains passionate about WordPress. At the same time, we have strong opinions—whether it’s about WordPress core, plugins, community, governance, or marketing.
That’s why we’re launching a new blog series: Progress for WordPress (yes, it even rhymes!). In this series, Joost, Taco, and I will take turns sharing our perspectives on the latest WordPress news and trends. Stay tuned!
When WordPress isn’t the obvious choice
I love WordPress. You probably love WordPress. But you know who doesn’t love WordPress? First-year marketing students who just want to pass their online marketing course.
A few months ago, I started teaching at a local university, working with an international group of Marketing Management students. They come from all over—Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Bulgaria, Estonia, even Brazil!
Early in the course, I had to teach them how to build a website. As an SEO specialist, a content marketer and a WordPress entrepreneur, I figured the answer was obvious: WordPress, of course! After all, it’s the leading website platform, right?
But then I ran into a problem. A big one. These students had never built a website before. And as it turns out, WordPress isn’t exactly beginner-friendly. That’s when my reality check began. I started questioning everything:
- Is WordPress really the best platform for total beginners?
- Why do students find it so difficult to get started?
- And most importantly… how do we fix this?
This post is about my deep dive into WordPress onboarding, my moral dilemma of introducing Wix to my students (I swear, I had no choice!), and what the WordPress community needs to do to win over the next generation of marketers.
An unexpected reality check
As part of my onboarding, I was assigned a teaching buddy to help me adjust. When I asked how he introduced students to WordPress, his answer shocked me:“Oh, I usually tell them to use Wix instead.”Wait… what?!
He explained that while he personally preferred WordPress, most students struggled to get started. Wix was just easier—no need to register a domain, no complicated setup, just drag, drop, and done. I left work that day feeling completely disillusioned.
Investigating the “Wix problem”
Determined to prove him wrong, I looked into it myself. Surely, students could start with a free WordPress.com site? Well, yes… but only if they knew how to find that option. And even then, the customization was limited unless they paid. So, reluctantly, I tried Wix.
And you know what? Their AI assistant was smooth. In minutes, I had a decent-looking site. The interface was intuitive. Everything just… worked. And this came from someone who has been using WordPress for 15 years. That’s when it hit me: WordPress is the better platform in the long run, but explaining its value to a bunch of 18-year-olds who just want to complete an assignment? That’ll be a challenge.
My moral dilemma: To Wix or not to Wix?
Ultimately, I told my students about WordPress and all its advantages. I encouraged them to give it a shot. But I also told them about Wix. It felt unfair to force them into WordPress when my teaching buddy was letting his students use Wix.
So there I was, teaching Wix. I even recorded an onboarding video to help them get started. I jokingly warned my students: “If any of you ever tell anyone that I helped you build a site in Wix, I will deny it until the end of time.”
Still, I felt uneasy—especially when I realized most of them preferred Wix. I think some only tried WordPress to make me happy (which, honestly, was a smart move considering I’m the one grading them).
What this says about WordPress onboarding
Here’s the real issue: WordPress is not easy to start with. Yes, there are fantastic resources—Yoast’s WordPress for Beginners course, Jamie Marsland’s video tutorials, tools like Extendify, Bluehost’s website builder, Elementors AI tools and Automattic’s upcoming Big Sky project. But these tools aren’t free. Meanwhile, Wix’s AI holds your hand and walks you straight to a finished website. No friction. No confusion. Just results.
Why this matters for WordPress’s future
These students will become marketers, strategists, and business owners. They might not build websites themselves, but they will influence decisions about which platforms to use.
If we can introduce them to WordPress early—and make it easy for them—there’s a much greater chance they’ll stick with it throughout their careers.
What WordPress needs to do
Right now, students don’t need domains or hosting. They need a sandbox to build sites for assignments—sites that will never see the light of day.
The WordPress community needs to figure out how to:
- Let students quickly create temporary websites (no domains, no complex setup)
- Give them full editing access (themes, plugins, customization)
- Make onboarding as smooth as Wix’s AI
Any ideas on how to make this happen? Let me know in the comments!
Side note: No, I’m not leaving Emilia Capital
Before anyone jumps to conclusions—no, I haven’t taken this teaching job because things aren’t going well at Emilia Capital or Progress Planner. I just love teaching! It’s been fun, rewarding, and fulfilling to step into the classroom again.
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