Building a site

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  filmmakersanonymous · Member · Sep 19, 2014 at 2:43 pm

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  can I build a site for free and then decide to pay for it?

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

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  hallluke · Member · Sep 19, 2014 at 2:51 pm

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  Most things here are free – check out the list of features and also the premium goodies that you can opt for if you like to see what comes as standard and what doesn’t.

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  timethief · Member · Sep 19, 2014 at 3:31 pm

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  It’s important to under4stand that WordPress.com is a turnkey blogging platform. It’s not for building sites and templates from scratch. The only themes we can use on free hosted WordPress.com blogs are found here http://wordpress.com/themes/ There is no FTP access to free hosted WordPress.com blogs for security reasons and we cannot:
  upload any third party themes,
  create child themes,
  create our own themes,
  edit templates,
  create own own layouts,
  or use stylesheets from other themes.

  http://en.support.wordpress.com/ftp-access/
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/themes/adding-new-themes/

  There is no upgrade you can purchase that changes that.

  On one hand, none of the characteristic “blog” features like categories, tags, authors, dates, etc. can be removed from a free hosted WordPress.com blog, without purchasing an annually renewable custom design upgrade and doing the required CSS editing.
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/#frequently-asked-questions
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/editing-css/

  On the other hand, one can edit a WordPress.org theme free of charge. http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Sep 19, 2014 at 3:53 pm

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  Here is how to build a traditional website using WordPress.com:
  http://en.support.wordpress.com/using-wordpress-to-create-a-website/

  …and then decide to pay for it?

  You can export the contents of your blog, then if you want to self-host (pay some company to host your site) using WordPress.ORG software, you can import it to your new host.

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  1tess · Moderator Emeritus · Sep 19, 2014 at 3:56 pm

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  It looks like you can even download a version of your Sunspot theme so it will work on your self-hosted WordPress.ORG site:
  https://wordpress.com/themes/sunspot/
  —>on the right sidebar you’ll find this link:
  https://wordpress.com/themes/sunspot/