October’s Best From WordPress.com

Your regular dose of tips,

tutorials, and inspiration.

Getting Started: Website Building 101

Building a website is hard. That's why we offer webinars. Every day, WordPress experts from our Happiness Team are available to help you learn how to create your new site. Whether you're choosing a theme or creating a store — or just getting started—we're here to make the whole process less overwhelming for you. Watch them free on demand anytime, or join us on weekdays for a live session to have your questions answered in real time.

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Creator Highlight: Quentin Bega

After retirement, Quentin Bega found himself with "Creator's Itch." For 14 months, he wrote 800-900 word essays on topics ranging from philosophy to music and poetry. Those were his first steps into blogging — but as a musician, he was drawn to podcasting.

Quentin joined the Podcasting for Beginners Course, and now has 127 episodes of "Letters From Quotidia" under his belt. Quentin is still going strong, releasing an episode every week that includes his original songs, as well as covers of traditional folk songs.

Quentin's words of encouragement

"You've only got about 100 years on this rock and you don't want to waste it. Find something you want to do, and do it."

– Quentin Bega

To learn more about Quentin's journey, check out the full interview on the WP Courses blog.

Get Your Online Store Ready for Black Friday

"Any business owner will know that a satisfied customer is one of the most critical parts of the business. While some customers will offer their feedback, when it comes to Black Friday, most customers will just take their business elsewhere if they are not satisfied with the website experience."

Read our full guide

Wondering which Gutenberg block plugin will help you create that state-of-the-art layout you're imagining for your website? Check out our feature comparison chart of the top 10 Gutenberg block plugins to find the right one for you.

If your theme doesn't display your posts in a beautiful grid layout, you can accomplish that layout with these methods — all 100% code-free. Design your post grid layout with our No-Code WordPress Post Grid Layout Methods.

Your site's structure helps ensure that your visitors stick around, your key content is easily discoverable, SEO is optimized, and revenue is maximized. Plan your site's structure today with these best practices.

For the Readers

The staff of Longreads (which, along with sister publication The Atavist, is part of the Automattic family) is thrilled to announce four inclusions and five notable mentions across the 2021 Best American and Year's Best anthology series. Congratulations to the following Longreads contributors — many of whose personal sites are powered by WordPress — for their exceptional work.

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2021

"An Atlas of the Cosmos" by Shannon Stirone

The Year's Best Sports Writing 2021

"Out There: On Not Finishing" by Devin Kelly

"Shades of Grey" by Ashley Stimpson

The Best American Food Writing 2021

"Soli/dairy/ty" by Liza Monroy

"Marmalade: A Very British Obsession" by Olivia Potts (notable mention)

The Best American Essays 2021

"On Solitude (and Isolation and Loneliness [and Brackets])" by Sarah Fay (notable mention)

"How to Learn Everything: The MasterClass Diaries" by Irina Dumitrescu (notable mention)

"Through a Glass, Tearfully" by Maureen Stanton (notable mention)