Web Professional Certification Overview – Professional WP Administrator
Based on research of industry needs and competencies and skill sets identified as essential for Web technology workers, WebProfessionals.org has designed the following guidelines and learning objectives as a foundation for those pursuing knowledge, experience, and/or careers as WP Administrators. WebProfessionals.org recognizes that WordPress technology powers roughly 1/3 of the top 200 million websites and has developed this certification to confirm individuals possess the knowledge and skills to administer sites developed with this technology. The guidelines and objectives are designed to make the learning experience comparable to one experienced in post-secondary courses by providing course descriptions and learning objectives. After reviewing and confirming knowledge in the CPWPA guidelines, individuals may take the WebProfessionals.org Certified Professional WP Administrator Certification Exam.
Introduction
The WOW Certified Professional WP Administrator (CPWPA) examination measures fundamental competencies for practicing WP site administrator. The examinee must demonstrate basic knowledge of WordPress terminology, website purpose and planning, business fundamentals, copyrights and legal issues, ethics, setting up a WordPress site, developing content, modifying the appearance of the site, working with plugins, site security, privacy concepts, making sites accessible for everyone, search engine optimization, working with files and database tables, backing up and recovering sites, upgrading sites, and troubleshooting sites at the standard defined by this test specification. The skills and knowledge measured by this examination are derived from an industry-wide and worldwide job task analysis which was validated through a survey of many web and WordPress administrators. The results of the survey were used in weighting the domains and ensuring that the weighting is representative of the relative importance of that content to the job requirements of a WOW Certified Professional WP Administrator. The intent is to certify individuals in a baseline body of knowledge that is identified and accepted as the baseline or foundation of any WP Administrator.
The exam contains 70 questions. Examinees have 60 minutes to complete the exam. The exam is currently only available in English and only available online. Web Professionals may ask the examinee to provide a portfolio (examples) of their work demonstrating they have deployed/ maintained WordPress based sites for at least two years.
NOTE: This examination blueprint for the WOW CPWPA examination includes weighting, test objectives, and example content. Example topics and concepts are included to clarify the test topics and should not be construed as a comprehensive listing of all the content of this examination. Questions are pulled from large pools; therefore, not every area may be tested on any given exam.
The table below lists the domains measured by this examination and the extent to which they are represented in the examination.
Topics of the exam include:
| Domain % Of Examination | |
| WordPress fundamentals and terminology | 10% |
| Site Purpose and Planning | 5% |
| Ethics | 5% |
| Business Fundamentals | 5% |
| Copyright and legal | 5% |
| Setting up a WordPress site | 15% |
| Working with Content (including using the block editor) | 10% |
| Modifying site appearance | 10% |
| Working with Plugins | 10% |
| Security and Privacy | 10% |
| Accessibility and SEO | 5% |
| Site Maintenance | 10% |
| 100% |
Examination Description
The examinee selects, from four (4) or more response options, the option(s) that best complete(s) the statement or answer(s) the question. Distractors or wrong answers are response options that examinees with incomplete knowledge or skill would likely choose, which are generally plausible responses fitting into the content area. Test item formats used in this examination are:
Multiple-choice: The examinee selects one or more options that best answer the question or completes a statement.
Matching: The examinee matches one option with the definition that best answers the question or completes a statement.
Sample Directions: Read the statement or question and, from the response options, select only the option(s) that represent(s) the most correct or best answer(s).
Content may include the following. Since questions are pulled from pools of questions, not all aspects may be covered on every exam. Below is a list of topics for each course objective.
Examination Domains and Topics
-
WordPress fundamentals and terminology
Content may include the following:- definitions of commonly used terms (such a the block editor)
- common steps involved in modifying a WordPress site
-
Site purpose and planning
Content may include the following:- business rationale for creating a site
- basic project management
- scope (and scope creep)
- time management
- cost management
- risk management
- communication management
- change management
- keeping site content updated
- effective communication with site stakeholders
- problem reporting
-
Business fundamentals
Content may include the following:- definitions of commonly used business terms (such as ROI)
- cost and value analyses
- analytics
- sales funnels and e-commerce terms
-
Copyright and legal
Content may include the following:- issues specific to URL naming of WordPress sites
- image and other content copyrights
- contracts
- dispute resolution
- creative commons
- intellectual property
- licenses
- attribution
-
Ethics
Content may include the following:- evaluation of ethical scenarios
- dilemmas
- definitions of common ethical terms
-
Setting up a WordPress site
Content may include the following:- roles and capabilities
- users and default administrator
- permalinks
- settings
- tools
- categories
-
Content
Content may include the following:- posts
- pages
- comments and discussion
- media
- block editor
- tags
-
Appearance
Content may include the following:- themes
- menus
- widgets
- custom CSS
-
Plugins
Content may include the following:- installing common plugins
- configuring common plugins
- disabling and troubleshooting a plugin
-
Security and privacy
Content may include the following:- passwords (including password reset and industry best practices)
- two factor authentication
- SSL/ TLS
-
Accessibility and SEO
Content may include the following:- definitions of common accessibility concepts
- definitions of common search engine concepts
- search engine optimization strategies (and things to avoid)
- making images accessible (including proper wording)
-
Site maintenance
Content may include the following:- files and database tables
- backup and recovery
- upgrades
- troubleshooting
“In this business, believing in yourself and knowing what you do and do not know is important. We need to both bet on ourselves and be honest with our abilities to the client, but it can be hard to convey to someone that knows nothing about the industry that you are an expert with more than just words. Web Professionals’ WP Administrator Certification, can help be a tool to show that you are a professional that knows what they are doing, and have been given a distinction of honor among other web professionals.”
– Brandon Wickwire (CPWPA)