e-commerce/shop facility new inexperienced blogger needs advice
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Just need some advice please. Am very new to this and not very tech savvy (yet) which is why I chose WordPress.com as opposed to WordPress.org as it seemed a little more user-friendly for beginners like me. My intention was to start a blog/site and then later on to incorporate a small shop for a business that I’m starting. Is it possible to transfer your blog/site to WordPress.org at a later date ? The main motivation for doing so would be to have the ability to incorporate e-commerce into it, (ie a shop and a shopping cart). Or is there a better route to this ? WordPress.org looks very complicated to me and I’m not sure I could get to grips with it at this stage, (I’m assuming that once I’ve learned the ropes with .com then .org shouldn’t be too hard to tackle ?) Would greatly appreciate any advice you could give me – thanks
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hello there,
There is no eCommerce capability on free hosted WordPress.com blogs. If you require any plugins you will need to hire a web host http://wordpress.org/hosting/ and set you your own WordPress.org software install to install them.
There is no FTP access and no blogger installed plugin capability on free hosted WordPress.com blogs.
http://en.support.wordpress.com/ftp-access/
http://en.support.wordpress.com/plugins/There is no upgrade you can purchase that changes anything at all stated here http://support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/ FTP access, and plugins are available only for VIP bloggers http://vip.wordpress.com/our-services/ or for those with WordPress.ORG installs.
NO reselling anything made by anyone else or selling an service provided by anyone else is allowed on free hosted WordPress.com blogs.
For selling your own creations on a free hosted WordPress.com blog you must use this guide for PayPal
http://en.support.wordpress.com/paypal/
See also http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact-form/If and only if you are marketing only what you personally create or services you provide and you have a online shop with a shopping cart somewhere else online you can create a custom menu and add a custom link to it.
http://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/ -
Summary for moving to WordPress.org
To move your content you need to create an XML export file of your content. It will not include the theme as they cannot be exported. See 3 below.
Note: Premium Themes that are licensed for WordPress.com use only cannot be transferred to self-hosted WordPress.org sites. http://en.support.wordpress.com/themes/premium-themes/
Also note that if you have purchased a premium theme you will have to contact the theme designer and request a wordpress.org version of it.
WordPress.com and WordPress.org are completely separate.
http://support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/1. Hire a web host http://wordpress.org/hosting/
2. Set up a WordPress.org install and equip it with a theme and plugins.
http://wordpress.org/themes/
http://wordpress.org/plugins/3. Export your content out of your WordPress.com blog http://en.support.wordpress.com/export/ and import it into the install.
4. Purchase a site redirect upgrade from wordpress.com
http://en.support.wordpress.com/site-redirect/ or if you have domain mapping then update the nameservers http://en.support.wordpress.com/domains/domain-management/5. Transfer subscribers and stats. See http://en.support.wordpress.com/moving-a-blog/moving-your-subscribers/
6. Set your wordpress.com blog visibility to private. To change blog visibility to private go to > Settings > Reading scroll to Blog Visibility and choose option 3 . See the guide here http://en.support.wordpress.com/settings/privacy-settings/
Alternatively you can purchase a Guided Transfer and Staff will do the move and set up for you http://en.support.wordpress.com/guided-transfer/
NOTE: WordPress.com and WordPress.org have different log-ins and run different versions of themes with same names. If you don’t have a username account at WordPress.ORG click http://wordpress.org/support/ and register one on the top right hand corner of the page that opens, so you can post to the support forums there and receive advice from WordPress.ORG bloggers.
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oooooh my…thank you for getting back to me. Must admit I don’t understand all that you have said in the above. My initial thoughts are this: I was looking at a blog in the Reader this evening and this lady on there has a direct link through a button to a shop selling stuff that she definitely hasn’t made herself, so not sure how that works ? My other thought is that really I can only use wordpress.com for my blog and I will have to use another platform for my website (with shop and shopping cart etc) and have a link on that site to my wordpress blog – presume this would be ok and also the most straightforward as to be honest I don’t really understand a lot of what you said up there, really appreciate you getting back to me tho
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I was looking at a blog in the Reader this evening and this lady on there has a direct link through a button to a shop selling stuff that she definitely hasn’t made herself, so not sure how that works ?
Report the blog as that is not allowed. If you are logged in to a WordPress.com account and stumble upon a blog you would like to report, simply move your mouse over the blog menu on the far left of the admin bar, and you will see Report this content, click and complete the form and submit it.
I don’t really understand a lot of what you said up there, really appreciate you getting back to me tho
Please read what I said again.
Yes you can set up a blog here and yes you can sell only what you personally make.
No there is no FTP access so you cannot install a plugin for E-commerce sales.
Yes you can set up a shopping cart somewhere else online and link to it, provided you are selling only what you make personally.
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Well, that’s not quite true. You are allowed to link to an off-WP.com shop. We can’t help you set that up, but you can just make one on Etsy or wherever and then link to it like you’d link to any other site.
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However if you have a ton of links to the shop – as in page after page listing stuff with a click on this link to buy – you would have problems
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thank you all for the info. I need to really think about this as I would ideally like to be able to link a blog to a commercial website with a shop/cart. However the products are items that have been made locally to me here in Andalucia in Spain, made by local craftsmen and women and artisan food producers, local organic growers etc – not stuff that I have made or grown myself. So it doesn’t seem that either of the WordPress options would work for me as a blogging platform.
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