Can I link to my shop page on another site through images on my WP.com page
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I like my wordpress.com blog just as it is and don’t think I can handle the involvement required of switching over to a wordpress.org self-hosted site . However as I will soon have my own sewing pattern designs ( both digital and tangible versions) ready to sell I have been looking into ways of managing to do this.
My question is this: If I set up a shop for my patterns on indiemade.com (because I don’t particularly wish to use any of the 3 e-commerce solutions listed for wp business users and I can’t afford the yearly business user fee either) would I be allowed to link to it directly from a page on my blog as in If I have images of what can be made from my patterns, a viewer then clicks the image and they are taken straight to my indiemade page to purchase the pattern. Is this allowed? I have been reading various posts concerning ecommerce and I am still just not clear if linking to my own external site shop in this way is allowed. I have seen etsy image widgets in a blogs sidebar that linked directly to a shop so I am figuring it is ok to do but don’t wish to have my blog suspended if I go ahead without a definitive reply.
Thanks for your forbearance in answering me as I can see you get asked related questions all the time but I just would like an absolute yes or no answer to clarify this particular scenario.
Thanks very much.The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there,
While it is OK to link occasionally to an outside blog which is selling products, you will need to take care that you are not crossing the line in to either advertising or linkfarming for that site.
Advertising would be using images or banners to create links and drive traffic to that external site. Linkfarming would be the excessive use of links to generate traffic to an external site.
Remember that WordPress.com is meant to be a resource for building sites and blogs themselves. It is not meant to be a launching platform for visitors to be redirected elsewhere. If your end goal is primarily to get your visitors to visit your store, then a WordPress.org site would be a better solution for you, as such limitations do not exist there.
Let me know if you have any additional questions!
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Yes the end goal will be to sell my sewing patterns though I will always have a blog and I see the scenario above would basically be self-advertising.
Guess I’ll ‘man-up’ and go .org.Can I keep using the Koi theme and other aspects of my site looking the way it does at the moment when I change over? (Bar the fonts needing to be reset to default- I was looking at the guided paid-for-move)
I’m going to go with Dreamhosts. Can I get that set up with a WP install and just see whats what while I keep my current blog? What about my paid-for domain name, no advertising fee etc which I recently renewed?
Yeah, I have lots of questions so where is best to ask switching over questions? -
I can answer most of the questions which you may have, and if I can’t then I can get the answers for you!
You won’t be able to transfer the Koi theme over, but you can install it yourself pretty easily. Here’s the link to that file: http://public-api.wordpress.com/rest/v1/themes/download/koi.zip
Once you have installed your self-hosted site you just upload that in your theme page and select it as your theme and you’re off and running!
As far as any customizations go, you’ll need to redo them. If you have done custom CSS, that will be pretty easy. Just install and activate the Jetpack plugin and it will be just like working in the Customizer. You’ll just need to copy and paste your CSS changes over. As far as widgets go however, you’ll need to re-activate all of those.
Your domain is still yours and you can point it towards your new hosting for now. Once you’re sure where you want to go, you can transfer your domain to your new host by using our transfer walkthrough: http://en.support.wordpress.com/domains/transfer-domain-registration/
As for your recent renewals, they are refundable for up to 30 days after the renewal. It looks like they were renewed on the 24th and 28th of June, so as long as you let me know before the 24th and 28th of July, I can get those cancelled and refunded to you.
Finally, you definitely can get set up with a fresh install at Dreamhost to try out and make sure you like it, however it can be a bit tough without a domain to look at. Dreamhost should have some instructions on how to do it though. You may want to ask their support staff on how to do it within their system so that you’re sure you are setting it up right.
Let me know if I missed any of your questions or if you have any more!
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Brilliant! Thanks so much for your help. I am just setting up an account with Dreamhost now.
I actually would like to go the guided concierge route to have my media and whatever else moved for me and frankly that’s probably the best idea to save you from pages and pages of questions!
I’m going to organise than now too so short of setting up my account at Dreamhost, installing Koi there myself , turning my custom fonts back to default what else do I need to do? -
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Hiya,
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. .It was the end of my day yesterday. It sounds like you got everything sorted out regarding the Guided Transfer. Did you still have any questions about that? Let me know!
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No Problem. More questions will come after the transfer finishes I expect.
But do I need to come back to you about requesting the refunds or that will happen now since the transfer is taking place? -
No, you’ll still need to let me know once you’re totally done with your WordPress.com site and I can take care of refunding them to you. If you don’t think you’ll be using your WordPress.com site much in the interim I can go ahead and refund whatever can be now though!
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Hi there, well I think I’m all set up at .org…. and I haven’t broken anything yet! Those refunds might as well get put through now.
Btw, will my domain name still get renewed through WP or through my new host?
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OK, you’re all set when it comes to the refunds! Depending on your bank you should see the funds back in your account between a few days and a few weeks.
And with regards to your domain, how things are now the domain will continue to be handled here at WordPress.com. You are welcome to transfer it to another registrar however. We don’t take offense and it is frequently seen as easier to have the domain at the same place as your hosting (or at the very least at a dedicated domain registrar).
Here’s some information on how to transfer your domain out of our system:
Let me know if you have any questions about it.
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That was fast, Thank you.
Final questions I swear-
What do I do with my old blog…. can I safely delete it or better to just leave it in place and make it private?Does the mobile WP app work with self hosted blogs as well as WP.com ones?
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Not a problem!
And you can do either of those things. You can even just leave it as it is. Since it’s not getting added to, it will slowly decrease in Google ranking so very few if any people will stumble upon it. I would recommend against deleting it, personally, since once that is done it can’t be undone and that seems like a rather permanent solution to me.
And yep, the mobile app works pretty similarly for WordPress.com and WordPress.org. You’ll notice a few differences depending on iOS and Android, but I hope you’ll be satisfied with the experience! :)
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I just turned it to private and will leave it there.
You have been a huge help, thank you!!!
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