Getting a backup
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Hello, I am migrating my WordPress.com site to WordPress.org and have signed on with Bluehost. However, after 4 hours working with them, i find that I have to get a backup directly from WordPress. I do not have a business plan so cannot do it with a plug-in and can’t seem to find a way to contact WordPress. What can I do? Thank you for your help.
Nancy McQuadeThe blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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You find instructions to move your site to Bluehost at https://wordpress.com/support/export/
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Hi folks, hope you don’t mind me adding something in case it is helpful. One thing that has worked for another user here is upgrading to a monthly Business plan in order to use the All-In-One Migration plugin. The refund period for a monthly subscription is 7 days, so you’d need to install the plugin, export your content and request a refund within that period.
Hope that helps.
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Sadly, the above technique doesn’t work cause my Bluehost site is a completely different entity from WordPress.com and the only way to move it is by manually getting a backup somehow. Any other ideas?
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In this case, due to how our managed hosting works, the migration would not include the theme design, so that method will not work. So instead, do a standard XML export and activate Independent Publisher on your BH site.
Your XML-exported content is mostly set up to work with this theme, so if you have it active on the BH site before you import, most things will come across fine. From there, you may need to set up a few theme settings at most.
However, It looks like you submitted a support ticket to us with the following information:
“The reason I want to move to a .org site with Bluehost is that I understand I can get plugins there with my hosting fees.”
The Business upgrade would allow you to use plugins on your sites here at WordPress.com, so you may not need to move anything!
The benefit of keeping your sites with us here is that we not only take care of the maintenance of your website, but you would also get access to priority email and live chat support staffed by WordPress experts among other great features like real-time backups, world-class security, and other features like an ad-free experience for your readers. While a basic hosting package on another hosting provider might be a cheaper option to add that one plugin you want, it might not come with the storage, security, backups, and support that you truly need.
Instead of needing to worry about what plugins are ok to add to your site and which ones are harmful, or having to configure server credentials to create periodic backups of your site, or even making sure your site is up-to-date with the latest releases of the WordPress software, your plugins, and themes – WordPress.com takes care of all that for you. We’re here to help whenever you need it!
Plus, you wouldn’t need to change how you create content on your sites – you would still be here at WordPress.com where everything is already familiar. Also, Bluehost has a 30-day refund policy, so you can get a full refund of what you purchased with them if you’re within those 30 days.
I know that was a lot of information but we want to make sure you have everything you need to make the best decision. :)
Let us know if you have any other questions!
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Thank you so much for your reply. I just spent another 90 minutes on Chat with Bluehost and am no further ahead. Here are screen shots of my conversation (I am afraid they may be completely out of order of the actually chat but I had trouble uploading them🙄 – me and technology😔).
So when I looked at what they had done, all that I see are the post from my original blog site address – http://travellingafterretiring.home.blog/
The other two don’t show up and there is no way to change sites. So, obviously I am not getting this whole business. Do I actually have three websites on my Wordpress.comsite? Is that what these two are?
https://transatlanticcruiseoctobernovember2018.home.blog/
https://diveegypt.wordpress.com/
These are the parts that they say they can’t upload. I did the export and download to my files on my iPad, then sent them to them through something called cpanel and they said they aren’t html files (please know that I don’t even understand what html means😔). I am useless. So , my frustration continues.
I appreciate your thoughts about continuing to use WordPress but because this is not a site I would use much at all so investing in a paid plan is really not economical. This is supposed to be a “fun” retirement project – something I can do that doesn’t cost me much money and allows me to share fun stuff with friends. However, this has turned in to something of a nightmare.
I hope that you are able to continue helping me, although I am afraid this is a hopeless and unresolvable situation.
Cheers,
Nancy McQuade
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Hi Nancy! I’m really sorry this has turned into quite a nighmare, as you said. Let me first address some of your questions.
Do I actually have three websites on my WordPress.comsite? Is that what these two are?
There are actually 4 different sites under your account:
travellingafterretiring.home.blog
transatlanticcruiseoctobernovember2018.home.blog
diveegypt.wordpress.com
southafricatravels2022.travel.blog (this one is empty)In your chat with Bluehost, you mentioned you wanted to create a new blog. Is your idea to start fresh with new content, or would you like to consolidate all of those sites into one? If you’d like to have all the content in one place, you will need to export each site separately, and then import it via Bluehost’s panel.
You also mentioned the reason you’re migrating your site is because you would like to use plugins. Which plugins, in particular, are you interested in? While plugins add more features, and can make your experience in web publishing richer, they also add another layer of complexity (especially when things don’t work as they should, which can happen when there are many plugins that enter in conflicts). Here, on WordPress.com, on plans that allow plugins, we still take care of your site’s security (adding plugins, which are third-party software adds potential vulnerability) but when hosting elswhere, you need to take care of that too.
I’m not trying to convince you not to use plugins, just trying to understand what features you’re looking for, and if there are alternatives that wouldn’t cause you more headaches :)
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Again, many thanks for your reply and your help. I t have been thinking a lot about what you have said. I had no idea that each of my “blogs” was a separate website (once again, my technology comprehension is next to zero) and that is why Bluehost can’t deal with them🤬. It does make sense now though.
I really do like the way my WordPress runs so I am going to work within it. I will run my ideas by you:i am going to NOT worry about plug-ins.
In my Dive Egypt blog, I wrote my document in Apple Pages, converted it to a PDF DOCUMENT, “published” in Scribd and “embedded it” (is that the corrected term?) in my WordPress site.This South Africa “blog” is more complicated because it has videos and links to Google Drive for photos. These things don’t retain their ability to be opened when I make them in to a PDF. So…..I though that I would convert this blog, as I did the Dive Egypt one and enter it in WordPress as a Scribd document. Then…..I would make my videos into YouTube videos and “embed” them separately so they could be opened; and I assume my Google Drive photo links can also be added sort of the same way?
What do you think?
Nancy again!
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Hi there!
Publishing on Scribd and embedding it on your WordPress.com site is the right term. :)
As for embedding from Google Drive, you can see how to embed content from Google Drive (and other Google services like Google Docs) here: https://wordpress.com/support/google-docs/#google-drive
Based on your last message, it sounds like you do want to keep the blogs separate from one another because they are about different topics. Is my assumption correct?
If you have any other ideas you’d like to implement in your blogs, feel free to let us know. These help us understand your overall goals and share specific suggestions/guides with you.
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You are so helpful! Thank you! Yes, I think keeping the blogs separate is a good idea. Today, once again, I am feeling really clueless. I went back to start my South Africa blog and can’t even figure out how to get started. I looked back at my first blog (Egypt Travels) and it looms so good but I can’t figure out how to do what I did with that one at all. I am attaching two screen shots from the first part of it. Perhaps you can point me to see instructions on how to do this again!🙄🙄🙄.
Nancy -
Hi there!
You mentioned adding two screenshots, but I don’t see them. Could you reply again and use the
/imageblock to upload the screenshots?Could you also tell us exactly what you’d like to do? Are you looking to publish your blog post? Or set up/customize the theme?
Thanks!
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Why do you think I can’t upload the photos from my photo library. When I try to upload, I get a message that says “No data supplied” and nothing uploads. I did it by adding a block and selecting the image icon.
You asked me a question and I honestly don’t know the answer! Here is the question –
Are you looking to publish your blog post? Or set up/customize the theme?I guess I want to do the same thing I did for my Egyptian travel blog. Here is the website address –
https://travellingafterretiring.home.blog/
There are days I hate technology and this happens to be one of them!🙄😁. The last time I did this it seemed so simple. Maybe my brain is disintegrating because I can’t remember what I did last time at all🤔.
Thanks again…and in advance…! You must think I am really obtuse! -
Hi again, Nancy. To clarify, did you upload the images first to your site’s Media Library and then use the “Insert from URL” in the forum Image block? ( Screenshot below ⬇ )
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No! I tried to add them directly from my photos app. I really have forgotten literally everything I learned 5 years ago.
I added my photos to my media library in my WordPress site but when I tried to open my media library here to add them to this post my media library wouldn’t load. The “circle of infinity” kept going round around, even though I asked it to only load March 2023 media! So I uploaded the photos to Google Drive and I THINK I added the link. I chose URL and copied and pasted the link.
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Hi there,
I added my photos to my media library in my WordPress site but when I tried to open my media library here to add them to this post my media library wouldn’t load. The “circle of infinity” kept going round around, even though I asked it to only load March 2023 media!
You are working on an iPad, yes? It can be the case that there is more than one way to add images and view images on your device. To be sure that I understand, you are referring to images you added to your media library here, yes? https://wordpress.com/media/travellingafterretiring.home.blog
I do see a few images uploaded on March 15th, that appear to be screenshots of your site. Are these the images you are referring to? Can you see them if you visit the direct link I shared above?
Also, if you can give us a little more info about how you are getting to the “circle of infinity” exactly? Like what app do you have open, are you on a web page and if so what is the URL so we can visit. We’d like to retrace your steps as best we can, to see if we can spot the issue. It may also allow us to suggest a workaround in the meantime as we continue to investigate.
By the way, Totoro likes your “circle of infinity” reference, which is much more pleasant sounding than the “wheel of doom” description we usually hear in these lands. Thank you!
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Hello again, Sorry for the delay replying. I was travelling from Hawaii to home ☹️☹️. I have now figured out why I couldn’t make my new site look like my old one – I had the wrong theme selected! Now I am getting the hang of it, although I still have lots of questions. I have started a new thread regarding fonts is now that I am back with WordPress permanently, I will say thank you for all of your help and support and close this thread. I am glad you like “circle of infinity. I have used that term for as long as I can remember but can’t remember where it came from….and yes, “wheel of doom” is much less friendly! Again, thank you.
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Thanks for the follow-up. Hawaii is a nice place to get away to in March, so your answer has been accepted! m/
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