im totally screwed up…
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so i cant work with computers… so i hired a local company to design a wordpress website for me… and this company has turned out to be more evil than darth vader… they’ve lied, cheated, and now are kicking me off their server…. even though i have a contract with them…
so now i have a finished website, not done to my specifications, and its already paid for… however, it works.. which is the important part.
and i really dont care anymore… other than now i need a place to host it so i can work on it to get it up to where i wanted it…
and thats all i need…. but i was told word press does not host websites.. they just build them.. or do they host ones they’ve built only? Because i thought i had found a list of hosting sites recommended by wordpress for this reason, but cant find it anymore….
so any help on if wordpress can host a wp website that they didnt make, or where i can go, is great…
and please.. dont ask about why things happened… it makes me physically ill to even think about this whole debacle….
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Hi @avalonbcs.
Your situation sounds very frustrating! We can definitely help get things straightened out.
You have a few options going forward. There are two types of WordPress sites. The first kind are what we call self-hosted sites. This is what it sounds like your original site is. These are sites created using the software from WordPress.org that are hosted with another company. The second kind are sites that are hosted here at WordPress.com. These are also using WordPress software, but are stored on servers here (so WordPress.com is your host).
The good news is that it is possible to move a site between the two, as long as you have the ability to export the data from the original site. It is also possible to move the data from one host to another using that same export process.
Do you have access to the current site to get the export file and is the site still up? Part of the import process involves the new host server looking back to the old to download and import the images, so they need to remain online until that process is complete if possible.
It is also worth noting that using plugins and custom themes requires a Business Plan on WordPress.com. Without seeing the site I don’t know if that’s necessary for your site but I wanted to mention it.
We have a great page that compares self-hosted installs with the plans here at WordPress.com that you might find helpful:
https://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/If you decide on a self-hosted install there are some recommended hosting providers listed here:
https://get.wp.com/hosting/Step-by-step instructions detailing how to move a self-hosted site to WordPress.com are here (the export/import process is similar for moving between hosts as well):
https://transferto.wordpress.com/self-hosted-wordpress-org/I know that can be a lot to take in. We can take a look at the current site to give you a better idea of what WordPress.com plan you might need (depending on themes/plugins, etc) if that would be helpful.
We are here and happy to help if you have more questions!
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is there someone i should be contacting at WP or is this forum enough to get things started?
here’s the site… the reason its not live is i still have to go in and do a lot of editing of the content, which is something they were supposed to do but never have… even though we paid them to…
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my email is (email visible only to moderators and staff)
in reality…. the company talked to us a week or so ago about the plug ins they provide and were telling us how important they were and everything…
if they dont host it, they remove them…
i have NO clue what they are for or why i need them.. I dont understand this stuff, and i really dont care how it works .. i just want it to work and i want it to work so well that my business makes money…
so if someone tells me there are hundreds of apps out there that i need for the site, thats fine.. as long as someone installs them and makes it work… i have too much other things going on to have to go back to school and learn about 20 years of computing skills to even be able to start to understand how these things work…
yes… i sound grumpy.. but you would be too if u understand how messed up this whole thing is…
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Right, we’ll try and help you out here, as I understand how frustrated you are. It’s important to establish that http://avalon.webudev.com/ is using the self-hosted version of WordPress.
That means if you’re trying to regain access to your website, we can’t really help out here, since this forum is designed for WordPress.com sites. You could contact your hosting provider or alternatively post in the self-hosted forums: https://WordPress.org/support
However, what I do want to ask is your second alternative, which is if you plan to move to WordPress.com. Have you exported a back up of your content, so you could easily import it to WordPress.com? Otherwise you might just need to do a lot of copy and paste if you want to move.
I don’t work for the company so I’m not trying to advertise anything here, but just want to help you weigh up your best options, and I can promise you that you won’t have the same experience as you won’t need to hire a company to do extra work. You can do it all yourself without any skills, and on the occasional times where something does go wrong, there is fantastic support available.
I also note that you want to run a business on WordPress.com, so I think it’s best if I highlight the ways of doing so. I’m as such just going to include this. There are multiple ways to sell things on WordPress.com, both for the Premium and Business Plan if you’re interested.
You can use Simple Payments, which require either the Premium or the Business Plan: https://en.support.wordpress.com/simple-payments/
Alternatively, if you have the Business Plan, you can install a custom plugin to sell things, with the most popular being WooCommerce. The Business Plan also has access to the Store feature: https://en.support.wordpress.com/store/
Every plan can use PayPal though: https://en.support.wordpress.com/paypal/
Summary: https://en.support.wordpress.com/ecommerce/
Your downsides are you might need to find a new theme (bare in mind the WordPress.com Business Plan can upload custom themes) and try to refind plugins, but if you tell us what you’re wanting to do, I’m sure we can help.
In regards to if you need to speak to WordPress.com staff, you can still use this forums and request their intervention by adding the “modlook” tag: https://en.support.wordpress.com/getting-help-in-the-forums/#how-do-i-get-a-moderatorstaff-reply-for-my-question
I’m sorry for this long message but I just want to ask now, what are you planning and hoping to do next? Move to WordPress.com (which would be much easier with an exported backup) or try to regain access?
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as long as someone installs them and makes it work…
I think we need to clarify that if you choose WordPress.com to host your site we are happy to help answer questions and get you going in the right direction, but we aren’t able to set the site up for you.
I did take a look at your current site, and I can offer a few details on the current setup that may help you going forward. Basically, the short version here is that your current site is using a commercial theme and paid plugins, and to recreate the site as it is now (here or on any other host) will involve you purchasing those and setting them up. We can’t help with other hosting providers, but I can share a bit about how these things would work with the plans offered here at WordPress.com:
Theme:
Your site is running a custom child theme that is based on the Avada theme from Theme Fusion. This is a commercial 3rd party theme that is not available on WordPress.com unless you purchase the theme separately and also have a business plan (the business plan is the only one that allows you to upload 3rd party themes). The version of the theme running on your current site has also been customized, and that customization won’t carry over.Plugins:
A quick look at the original site shows it is running two commercial slider plugins (these create some of the image animations) and a contact form plugin. If you have a business plan you are able to upload plugins and could add these but would need to purchase them first and then set them up once they are installed.I think the bottom line is that there isn’t really going to be a hands-off or one-click way of moving your site away from the current situation and keeping it identical to the current setup. We are happy to answer questions here, but can’t do it for you.
If you are open to creating a new site that is not identical to the current one, another option would be to start a free site here to see how WordPress.com works. The tools have been created to be accessible to everyone and we have great support people and documentation. We even have video tutorials to walk you through the process, and you can mark the site private so no one will see it while you try it out if you’d like. If you have access to the current site to export the existing content you could import it to the free site to see how it looks using some of the themes here. Also, know that exporting the content won’t in any way affect the current site – it doesn’t remove anything and is more like a backup file of the site’s text content like menus, posts, and pages.
I know we have set out quite a bit of info in this thread – we are happy to help answer any questions that come up as you work through this situation.
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Is there someone I can call at WordPress to talk about this?
I tend to understand more if I talk rather than type..
If not, do I email them or is this the official email now?
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A modlook tag has been added to this thread so a member of WordPress.com staff will reply to you here in due course. Can I just add:
You’ve asked to talk to someone here at WordPress.com before. See your other threads: https://en.forums.wordpress.com/users/avalonbcs/topics/With a free account you can only ask questions here in this forum, and really staff and volunteers can only assist with sites that are hosted here. Your problems relate to a site hosted elsewhere.
You could create another site here and possibly import some content from your current site but you might have quite a bit of work to do yourself. To get a site anything like the site you’ve got (which looks ok to me) you’d need the WordPress.com Business plan. If you created a WordPress.com site with a paid plan you would get livechat support from WordPress.com staff. https://en.support.wordpress.com/moving-from-self-hosted-wordpress-to-wordpress-com/view-all/
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Is there someone I can call at WordPress to talk about this?
Just to clarify, you can’t, no. Phone support is not offered on WordPress.com. But please review the previous messages in this thread. :)
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Hi avalonbcs,
As @torres126 mentioned, we don’t provide phone support but I’ll be happy to answer your questions here. There is a quite a bit of discussion in this thread so I just want to circle back and make sure I’ve picked up all the main points:
- A local company created avalon.webudev.com and you have access to the site (to edit and make changes).
- You need some guidance on making changes to avalon.webudev.com including which plugins are needed.
- You are looking to move the site from your current host (Liquid Web) to WordPress.com — meaning the site will be hosted here instead.
Are those details correct? Your site is not hosted on WordPress.com but once I know more about your plans, I’ll try and point you in the right direction for getting some help.
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gonna try to explain…
Im a liberal arts major… and professional photographer… and wedding venue owner… and beekeeper…. and woodworker…. and a couple of other things…
in college, i studied art and stuff… i failed the graduate entrance exams several times due to my inability to focus and follow logic puzzles… what seems very easy to you is EXTREMELY difficult for me… since i have the complete opposite of a technical background, i do not understand about 90% of what was said above… and im serious. When you say self hosting, what comes to mind to me is that i, me, am hosting the thing on my hard drive that is sitting in front of me… you mean something completely different… i actually usually can only read the first sentence of a technical post before I quit and try to get my wife to understand..
i’ve run a business for 30 years… and i shut down the photography end about 8 years ago… if someone calls me, though, and asks for a reprint of a negative, digital file, or something, or if their image was messed up somehow, i still help them.. its called customer service…
Frankly, im kinda appalled that a company does not have a phone number to contact them. It’s completely opposite of how i’ve learned to do business over the years… and there isn’t even a direct email i can talk to.
I prefer to talk to people… i dont text, i dont have a tv, i dont do netflix, i dont have or do 95% of what normal people do on their ‘devices’…. i have a $10 flip phone… dont want a fancy one cause i’ll just break it..
so… i have a website that is …. mostly… complete… The company that made it for me says it is, but i now have to go in and correct a lot of their errors they made in the content… the text…. They were supposed to go in and redo all the content for me so that google and stuff will find my site easier.. now they refuse to do it and so i am having to go in and correct stuff…
I have three companies i run… none of them have anything, really, to do with computers… but from the time my eyes open till they close i am at work…. whether its hosting a wedding, editing photos, working in the yard (garden for weddings) meeting clients, etc…. so.. people are now telling me what i should do to do X…
i do not have the knowledge or time to mess with this website… its why i paid someone to do it for me… but…
I need to move it from one place to another, because the company who made it is kicking me off their server very soon… I dont know how and i really dont want to know how… i dont have the time to mess with it…
i prefer someone to talk to about this.. its why i keep asking for vocal help… because, this is a public forum.. i dont want my dirty laundry out there for everyone to view…
i want personal, one on one help…
however.. i am willing to TRY… i just really prefer not to..because of the extremely high probability ill screw it up.. what really sucks is that i paid to have this all done and now im having to do it.. (yes.. im talking to my lawyer…)
one such example of my issue is that the company was supposed install many many plugins to make the site work well.. since they are not going to host it, they refuse to put them in…
a plug in, to me, is either an air freshener (glade, for those older people), or the receptical for a power cord from my computer… you guys sit for years behind a computer picking out things that improves the functions of websites… i dont …. i cant… i want someone to say ‘i found 50 thingys you need for your site.. so i’ll stick them in for oyu because i know you cant…’ I would never understand what its for, why its needed, or where to put it….
im just very frustrated and trying to understand what you guys wrote but since i cant talk directly to someone i get confused and it makes you guys upset cause you think im being a jerk….
think this way…. But only if you are NOT familiar with photography, art, cameras etc…
you are a person who wants photographs of your family… all you want to do is go to someones studio and sit, get your pics taken, and eventually be handed images… thats me, but substitute pics for website…
but all the studios are telling you to go out and buy very expensive studio lights, cameras, props, etc… and take them yourself, and you must use Scheimpflug (camera focus), inverse square ratios (lighting distance decreases with distance) DOF (depth of focus) Proper lens verses shutter speed ratio, shooting on a high key background using a 1:4 lighting ratio etc etc….. and voila… you should have your photos about an hour after you get set up… its SO simple…. and your an idiot if you cant do it that way..
but.. .you have no degree in art… you cant tell the difference between Mermaid and teal and blue (those are all colors, people… ) you have no idea how to do the above… and it would take you 30 years of training to get to understand all that… Thats me when web people talk to me…
im venting… but trying to explain why i have difficulties… i will get my wife to read all the above and if anyone can throw some advice my way, great… if not… i’ll carry on…
but i do have a completed website.. starting over would mean i wasted $2500… and i would have to come up with another $$$$ to do it all over… not gonna happen… and i aint gonna do it myself… not possible.
darrin
http://www.avalonweddingsbcs.com (old)
https://avalon.webudev.com (in process) -
btw.. im totally prepared to spend whatever to get wordpress to host… If i have to have a certain account, thats fine… i just need a lot more help than most people…
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Hi there,
Let me try and clear the confusion :)
Here at WordPress.com, we offer you the hosting space and the tools needed to build and manage your website. Also, we’re offering support (via live chat and email) on how to use our tools to create your site. We cannot build the site for you. For that, you’ll need an expert.
Here’s a directory of WordPress experts that can help you with your website whether you host it here or elsewhere:
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Your old website is just a simple php looking website! The new one is pretty good but the cost is $2500!! OMG!!
Better you should spend a little more time to learn about WordPress and make it yourself! WordPress is pretty easy!
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@dashingdidu From where are you getting this information? The most expensive WordPress.com plan, the Business one, is three hundred dollars a year. Eight years would’ve passed until you’ve payed around $2500, and that’s assuming you even wish to purchase the Business Plan.
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@torres126 That sum was quoted by the OP above in this (long) thread as having been paid to the developer for their self hosted site.
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@avalonbcs if you want to take the completed site and move it to another host, if you have sufficient access to do that, you could do that. You wouldn’t have to start over. But you would be on your own for migration, site management, and support (or contracting someone as needed). We have some recommended hosts here: https://get.wp.com
Again, given the correct access you could also move the /content/ of the site to our servers. We could help with that. And if your developers added their changes correctly, we may be able to import some of those as well afterward. But I can’t guarantee we would be able to achieve the exact same setup.
Since you mentioned an analogy, here’s one that might help you, too: WordPress.org (what you’re using right now) is freely shared software anyone can install on any server.
WordPress.com is a service (just like your old developer/host is a service.)If it helps, it’s much like the difference between a restaurant and a recipe. And your host is a bit like a kitchen. Right now it’s a bit like you’re having trouble with a recipe someone else made, and asking a restaurant for help. We can help here, but it will most likely involve starting over, importing what you’ve written so far, then adding your custom functionality back in. And depending on what the custom functionality does, it does sound like you’ll need a business plan. Does that make sense? If that’s something you want to do, get the plan and get in touch at http://wordpress.com/help/contact so one of our happiness engineers can help you evaluate what comes next.
OR, if you don’t mind managing things on your own, you can take the existing installation and move the whole thing to some other host, and then just hire folks as needed.
I hope this helps.
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@themagicrobot Oh, oops, my bad, thanks for pointing that out to me. Yes, I’m in agreement with @dashingdidu, that’s very expensive.
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supernovia – someone who actually speaks my language…. yay..
let me see if i understand…
1. WordPress.org is i do all the work…?
2. wordpress.com is where wordpress does it all?
but you’re saying that, even though the website that i now have is done on a wordpress template, its not usable by wordpress? and would have to be done completely over again? thats not good…
i believe the website would function without the plugins 100% fine… i am understanding that the plugins were HELP, but not Necessary help…. but i could be wrong.
So i can contact the people at the address given, who are wordpress.com and they can look at the site and tell me if its usable as is? Because if you go to the address http://avalon.webudev.com, you will see a functioning website… it does NOT have the plugins right now… it has SOME, but those are the ones that are supposed to stay… the ones they wanted to add after it went live are the ones im concerned about.
so i really dont think they need to start over.. but i would like someone to tell me what they can do to improve the site, via SEO, plugins, etc….
d
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im sorry.. this is just so frustrating.. i thought that your ‘get in touch at http://wordpress.com/help/contact so one of our happiness engineers can help you evaluate what comes next.’ was a direct link to the business part of wp… so i typed a message and thought it was being emailed to someone…
but once again, its just going to a public forum… I want a person, i can talk to, and ask specific questions, without letting the entire planet see what im posting, about transferring a completed website to their business hosting site where i will pay them their $25 a month to do whatever it takes to make the website happy.
but apparently i cant do that…
really not sure how i can get this done..
d
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