Breaking News for anyone into blogging or WordPress
Posted by Dexter Nelson: Wednesday, December 1, 2010 (3:36 PM)
The WordPress Users Association Opens to the Public - Press Release
Dallas, Texas - Dec 1, 2010 - The WordPress Users Association ( WPUA.org 
is leaving private invite only status and opening to the public as of Wednesday, Dec 1st, 2010 at 10:00 am CST. Anyone interested in WordPress or perfecting their blogging skills now has the opportunity to join WPUA.org, without the need for an invitation from a current member. Today it is possible to join this elite and fast growing community and take advantage of the many benefits the WordPress Users Association has to offer its members.
WordPress, developed by Matt Mullenweg and team at Automatic, Inc., released for the first time in May of 2003. WordPress is considered an open source Content Management System (CMS) used most often for blog publishing and powers some of the Internet's most popular blogs. WordPress has millions and millions of users the world over and the current version (3.0) has been downloaded more than 12.5 million times in just a few months.
WordPress is the most used publishing platform today and thankfully John Pozadzides ("John P") and Wesley W. Williams realized that despite being so popular there are still many people that simply do not understand how to use WordPress correctly or to its full potential so they created this independent user association - WPUA.org.
According to John P, the President of the Association, "there are other resources out there like the WordPress.org discussion forums which are loaded with technical questions and answers but what we haven't had is a central place to come together as a community and swap war stories, combine resources, and focus on all of the over-arching issues that such a large group of users will invariably face and that's why we created the WordPress Users Association."
The WordPress Users Association goal is to help all users of WordPress, regardless of their technical skill set, blogging experience or geographical location - connect, learn and share the power of WordPress.
On review, prospective members will see that the WUPA does more than just offer articles and tutorials. In fact, members have access to the latest industry news, tools, certifications and more. The point of the WUPA is to teach members exactly how to use WordPress so they can take advantage of all it has to offer. Wesley W. Williams, the President of Member Services, said "the main objective of the WPUA is to help all members learn, master and succeed using WordPress while providing a place to connect with others and offer a collective voice to a vast and quickly growing community".
With today's unveiling, there are three different levels of membership being offered: Basic, Premium and Corporate Sponsor. The Basic membership, normally $97 a year, is free and offers a number of excellent benefits that you would typically pay for. The Premium level is discounted by 50% from $197 a year to $97 a year and includes more benefits than the Basic level membership. Then there is the Corporate Sponsor level. This level provides members with absolutely everything that WUPA has to offer and is discounted by 50% during this introduction period. Right now the membership price is $197 per year. The Premium and Corporate Sponsor levels offer monthly payment options to make it easy for anyone to join at the highest level possible.
All members are included in a growing directory with Premium and Corporate level members getting enhanced listings and priority rankings. Like the Directory, all members will receive the Blogging and New Media Report - an exclusive online, member-only, magazine that covers absolutely everything that has to do with WordPress, blogging, and new media issues.
For the experienced WordPress user looking to get the extra edge over the competition the WordPress User Association offers discounts on many popular themes, Plugins and other WordPress tools. Helping WPUA members save money is a major goal for Wesley, "We all purchase or use premium level blogging services and my goal is to use the collective purchasing power of the Association to secure discounts and other benefits for our members".
Not only are there discounts and special offers inside WPUA but members can achieve levels of certifications from the Association based on their ability to help other members. Having a Certification from the WordPress Users Association designating a member as a "Pro" or "Expert" level user will surely help a WordPress professional or WordPress development company further their business.
