Start here: beginner guides, read in order
Start here is our set of beginner guides. They assume no prior knowledge and give practical next steps. They’re written to be read in order, so each one builds on the one before.
You don’t need to prepare anything or know the vocabulary. Choose the Start here lane, open the first guide and work through the rest in sequence. Like everything we publish, the Start here guides are edited by Celeste Foster and checked before they go live.
Who the Start here guides are for
These guides are for first-timers and curious non-experts. You have a practical job or decision ahead, you want to get it right without being sold to, and you’re not sure where to begin.
Not knowing where to start is one problem. Skipping the basics is the other. It feels quick until something goes wrong, and then fixing it takes longer than the reading would have. Start here lets you cover the fundamentals once, in a sensible order, and then move on.
If you’ve read three search results that said the same thing in different words and still didn’t know what to do first, this is the place to begin.
What do I actually need to know first?
Usually less than you’d think, but in the right order. A common beginner mistake is measuring what’s easy to measure instead of what matters to the outcome you want. We’d rather flag mistakes like that early than leave you to find them later.
What order should I read them in?
The order they’re listed in. Start here is a deliberate reading path, not a pile of unconnected posts:
- Choose the Start here lane.
- Read the primers in order, beginning with the first.
- Take the practical next step each guide suggests.
By the end you should have a clear grasp of the fundamentals and know what to do next. For most readers, that next step is a Hands-on how-to for the job in front of them.
Too basic, too technical or out of date?
Those are the usual worries about beginner guides. Here’s how we handle each one.
- Too technical: we write in plain English with short sentences. Where an official or technical term matters, we aim to explain it rather than assume you already know it.
- Out of date: every piece is checked before it goes live. When something meaningful changes, we note it in the opening lines and update the page at the same address. See how we keep pages current.
- Too basic: if you already know the fundamentals, these guides will feel slow. That’s fine. Skip ahead.
When another lane suits you better
Start here isn’t the right fit for everyone.
- If you know the basics and need to weigh up options, go to In depth for the trade-offs.
- If you need to do a specific task today, go to Hands-on for steps and a checklist.
- If you’d rather see what’s new, browse the latest articles.
Nobody learns a subject from one site, including this one. Where someone else explains a point better, we link to them.
And if a beginner guide left you with a question it didn’t answer, ask us. A real person reads it.