Adding a new blog – should I get a free one or pay $17 for one?

  • Unknown's avatar
    mickeymurphy · Member ·

    Does anyone understand how the blog naming system works at WordPress? For example, let’s say you want to create a new WP blog called MrJones. Let’s say this blog title is available as mrjones.wordpress.com. But the REGISTER A NEW BLOG page also gives you this option: mrjones.com for $17 each year. What is going on? Is WP also in the domain name business, hoping to sell you mrjones.com which it will then register on your behalf? If you choose this option, can you still use the WP interface, dashboard, great theme choices, etc., or after paying $17 does WP send you to some other Internet entity where you set up your blog? What are the advantages of choosing mrjones.wordpress.com over mrjones.com, or vice versa? Confused as usual. – Mickey Murphy

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • Unknown's avatar
    auxclass · Member ·

    The registration page is a bit confusing, I think maybe to help enhance revenues a bit. The plain your-name.wordpress.com is still available

    If you pay the $ 17.– you would still be on WordPress.COM, you would not be sent to another host. The only difference you would see is the URL would be a bit different (but the dashboard would show the your-name.wordpress.com URL) Same terms of service etc.

    The advantage of mrjones.com is that it has a bit more class to many and if you ever move you can take mrjones.com with you and your readers will not see much difference.

    I use domain mapping in part because I had the base name (captnmike.com which I mapped to captnmike.wordpress.com which I was already using for pictures (I took the pictures off and moved them to another site) ) before moving here so my visitors did not see any difference other than the Theme changed and I had a note that I had changed hosts.

    I like the bit more class of a name that does not have the wordpress.com extension, but I have several friends that I have helped set up sites here and they are just fine with the wordpress.com exptnsion and like the fact that it is free.

    also part of it is personal preference and what you want to do with the site.

    Hope this helps a bit – I am sure the others here will give you a bit more to think about also.

  • Unknown's avatar
    mickeymurphy · Member ·

    Thanks Auxclass, you are always helpful. By the way, I have now referenced you in at least one blog post, and in so doing, created a link so people could click over to your website. Also I have included you in my blog roll.

    My concept for my new blog is to have many (if successful, thousands) of separate pages. I assume that WP may not permit me to create this many (1 for each customer). So I thought that buying a name like mrjones.com would be better because I understand that maybe I get more flexibility regarding number of pages.

    I am still very confused however. GoDaddy would sell me mrjones.com for $11.99 per year, although they recommend buying for 5 or 10 years to lock in the price. But then I have no idea how I would create content. I am finally to start to figure out the WP tools and dashboard, which I think are superb. With goDaddy, I buy a name and then what? I have no idea.

    I’m thinking this might be the best approach:

    1) Create my new free blog, mrjones.wordpress.com

    2) Start creating content there

    3) At same time, register mrjones.com (obviously not real name, but I don’t want somebody reading my comment to steal my idea) with Go Daddy for 10 years, which gives me the protection of the name for 10 years.

    4) Once I have mrjones.wordpress.com a viable commercial enterprise (but not thousands of pages yet), somehow transfer all of the content to some web hosting service that will allow me to have thousands of pages. Of course, it is this step that I am confused about. I don’t know how I would transfer the content from WP to some other service (or even if WP will let me), and I would probably lose all of the formatting created with the special WP tools.

    I am always mixed up on all of this stuff.

    Do you think WP will let me have 300 hundred or 500 or 1,000 or 5,000 separate pages and still be a a free service? If so, I could probably just do everything through WP?

    Your good advice always appreciated.

    Mickey

  • Unknown's avatar
    gasstationwithoutpumps · Member ·

    WordPress.com has no limitation on the number of pages, but they do have a 3Gbyte limit on media. You can pay for more storage or for video streaming.

  • Unknown's avatar
    airodyssey · Member ·

    <opinion>
    I’d lock into a 5 or 10 year offer only if I was absolutely, positively sure that within 5 or 10 years, the price will go up…

    Also, I’d get a domain name at $11.99 only after shopping around in case there is a cheaper option out there, verifying what other people think of that domain name registrar, etc.
    </opinion>

  • Unknown's avatar
    auxclass · Member ·

    Thanks @mickeymurphy – I have subscribed to your site and passed it on to some friends.

    Pages – You can do many Pages here but sorting them or arranging them so they can be easily found might take some for thought.

    Names – not unusual to get a name so someone else won’t get it, I have a name that I have registered (and even mapped to a blog here) that is a nickname that I use on some marine forums. I also did the mapping to practice moving a domain so when I moved my main site I had had some practice and had the little glitches worked out.

    Names way into the future – once you have a name registered all you need to do is keep renewing it every year and it is yours. There is enough competition in the domain registrar field I doubt the cost would go up like gas at the pump. Don’t know if having a name registered way into the future helps with SEO or not.

    Moving a blog to a different host is usually fairly straight forward – just export the contents and import the contents into your new blog. You will need to redo the look of the theme as the Theme will not usually be a bit different when you move off WordPress.COM, but unless you have a ton of CSS stuff the Theme look should not be too bad.

    You used the term “commercial enterprise” WordPress.COM has some strict Terms of Service so you might want to review them to make sure you don’t run into problems.

  • Unknown's avatar
    mickeymurphy · Member ·

    Thanks Auxclass. To see the post where I reference you (twice) and include a link to your blog, click: https://radiodemagogues.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/why-a-blog-on-radio-demagogues/#more-1019. PS I also use your “Reich Wing Bats” terminology, which is great, as well as “sheeple.” – Mickey

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