Advice on moving from a WordPress Hosted website to a fully managed website
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Hi,
Im developing a website redesign for a customer
They currently pay for the eCommerce package here (£36 per month) – https://wordpress.com/hosting/
It uses an out the box theme and is a very simple siteIm looking to rebuild using a new theme and need more customisation options, whats the best option for me? Can i do all i require with this current package? Or is it best to get of WP hosting and do everything manually?
Thanks
WP.com: Yes
Correct account: UnknownThe blog I need help with is: (visible only to moderators and staff)
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Hi there,
Im developing a website redesign for a customer They currently pay for the eCommerce package here (£36 per month) – https://wordpress.com/hosting/ It uses an out the box theme and is a very simple site
From what I can see the site offtrackmountaineering.co.uk is not under your account, the site owner has not yet added you as an admin? If not they can do so by following the steps here: https://wordpress.com/support/user-roles/#adding-users-to-your-site
Im looking to rebuild using a new theme and need more customisation options, whats the best option for me? Can i do all i require with this current package? Or is it best to get of WP hosting and do everything manually?
Under the eCommerce Plan (also true of our Business Plan) you will have the option to add any 3rd party theme or plugin “designed for WordPress” as well as SFTP access to server files, so you should be able to complete any customizations you wish without the need to host elsewhere.
It sounds like you have some dev experience (this is a client site, yes?) so I think it will help to clarify that with the eCommerce plan the site would be on our managed WordPress hosting so we would take care of server-side optimizations, automatic updates to core WordPress software, security and brute-force login protection, incremental backups of all changes to the site, and our in-house support for any WordPress and WooCommerce questions that may come up.
Since your client has already upgraded the site and currently manages the billing this may also help with handoff at the end of the project. For example, your client would be able to turn to our in-house live chat help for ongoing assistance, and you would not need to be the primary point of contact for support.
Hope that helps. Please let us know if you have any more questions.
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Hi again,
Sorry for not catching this sooner but it appears your client upgraded their site to our lowest cost plan (the Personal plan) and I’m guessing they did this in error while trying to upgrade to the eCommerce plan.
Please have them reach out to us at this link and we can help get them squared away with the correct plan so that you will be able to start your work: https://wordpress.com/help/contact
Thanks!
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Hi,
Thanks for your response, youre correct im not an admin on the account but will be developing the new site. just wanted to apporach it in the best way
If my client were to upgrade back to the eCommerce plan would they have all the same functionality as a non WP hosted site? https://en-gb.wordpress.org/download/
Weve had a look in the admin and the plugins come at a cost (but assume this may be due to downgrading to the Personal plan?)
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Hello there,
If my client were to upgrade back to the eCommerce plan would they have all the same functionality as a non WP hosted site? https://en-gb.wordpress.org/download/
Yes they would. :)
Weve had a look in the admin and the plugins come at a cost (but assume this may be due to downgrading to the Personal plan?)
To check, do you mean that the plugins themselves have to be purchased from outside of WordPress.com?
The eCommerce plan affords the ability to install plugins and themes from outside of WordPress.com.
I hope this helps.
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Hi,
Heres am example of what i see on the plugins page, these plugins come with a monthly cost (https://freeimage.host/i/HR9II44)
Would this be the case on the ecommerce plan too?
Thanks
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Hi again,
Thanks for your screenshot. To clarify, WordPress is an open platform where 3rd party developers can create “plugins” to add functionality that is not included in WordPress. We’re not directly connected to these companies however, and they set their own price, or in some cases offer a free option and a premium option.
A good analogy is apps on your phone, the majority of which are free, but sometimes may only be available if you purchase them. Plugins on WordPress are like that, so for example the Premium Yoast plugin in your screenshot is not free, but they do offer a free version that is more than enough for most site owners: https://wordpress.com/plugins/wordpress-seo
WooCommerce is similar in that installed by default under the ecommerce plan and meets the needs of a majority of site owners with no added cost other than merchant processing fees. Your screenshot shows a few specific plugins that extend the functionality of WooCommerce (to add subscriptions or bookings functionality in this case) and it’s not typical to need those.
If you can tell us a bit more about the site you intend to set up we’re happy to advise on if that would be covered by the default functionality of WooCommerce or something that might require an extension.
Hope this helps!
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Thanks for your response, this are the requirements of the website redesign:
- Ecomm functionality – to see mountaineering merch – tshirts etc
- Install a WP theme
- Access to all WP core files to make edits to the theme, CSS & potentially PHP
- Blog functionality
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Hello there,
Many thanks for that information, and let’s go through this step by step:
- Ecomm functionality – to see mountaineering merch – tshirts etc
It sounds like you may not need the ecommerce plan, at least to begin with, but perhaps could use the business plan instead.
What makes the ecommerce plan different to the business plan is that it comes bundled with extra plugins at a discounted price, which you may/may not need. These extras can be seen here: https://wordpress.com/support/plan-features/ecommerce-plan/#whats-included
It is possible to install WooCommerce and payment gateways on the business plan. This is a good webinar on how to get started with WooCommerce: https://wordpress.com/support/introduction-to-woocommerce/
Install a WP theme
It’s possible to install themes on both the business plan and the ecommerce plan. Please see how to do this here: https://wordpress.com/support/themes/uploading-setting-up-custom-themes/
Access to all WP core files to make edits to the theme, CSS & potentially PHP
It’s possible to do this on both the business plan and the ecommerce plan.
To add CSS, this can be added via Appearance > Customize > Additional CSS. An installed theme may also have its own set of theme options where this can be added.
Please see this guide on how to use SFTP with WordPress.com https://en.support.wordpress.com/sftp/
With regards to PHP changes, we recommend using a plugin called code snippets which can be downloaded here: https://wordpress.org/plugins/code-snippets/
Please see how to install a plugin here: https://wordpress.com/support/plugins/install-a-plugin/
Inserting/overwriting theme code via this method will ensure that these changes stay in place when the theme is updated.
Blog functionality
Blogs are as standard with all WordPress themes :)
A blog page can be set via Appearance > Customize > Homepage settings. The theme may also have it’s own recommendations on how to configure that also, but that functionality will most definitely be baked into the theme.
I hope this helps. :)
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