Is adding an outside widget/button allowed?
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Hi there. I was contacted buy this outside company, Chicory, that links to outside grocers for others to buy the ingredients that are listed on my recipes. They said that all I need to do is add a widget/code for their button. It seems to be a kind of affiliate type monetizing opportunity but I wanted to contact you regarding whether this was allowed or not before I proceeded. Thank you!
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there!
Thanks for checking in! In general, we try to limit the amount of advertising that happens here on WordPress.com. If you’re looking to monetize your site, we do have an advertising program called WordAds, which you can read more about here:
Advertising outside of WordAds at WordPress.com is not allowed. For full details, please see:
http://wordpress.com/types-of-blogs/
We do now allow affiliate links, however these must be related to your content and should be minimal and not the sole purpose of your site. Banner image ads are not allowed.
Additionally, it is not possible to install plugins and widgets on WordPress.com, for security reasons. Plugins and widgets can only be installed on self-hosted WordPress blogs. If you are wondering how WordPress.com differs from WordPress.org, this support article explains the distinction:
If you’re interested in pursuing that affiliate opportunity, you may be interested in moving to a self hosted WordPress.org site. Let me know if you have any questions about that!
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Hi there! Thanks for getting back to me. Yes, I already am part of the WordAds program. What I was talking about isn’t actually advertising but it is a button that I would need to add so it doesn’t look like it would work anyway. I do eventually plan to self host, but since I am new to this blogging thing I thought I would wait a bit to tackle it.
I do have a question though, if I went self hosted, do I automatically move to wordpress.org or are there other options? I don’t know anything about it so I apologize in advance if that’s a dumb question. Lol. What is the cost to go self hosted? I know I now don’t pay to host since I am with wordpress.com. And on that, would my website address change or can I keep my same veggiesdontbite.com? I do need to tackle this at some point soon so that I can pursue more profitable ad opportunities and networks but hesitant about the change and screwing anything up! I figure I better start asking about it all though. Thanks in advance!
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I do have a question though, if I went self hosted, do I automatically move to wordpress.org or are there other options?
There are definitely other platforms for your site to be hosted on. Personally, I don’t know much about them. WordPress is definitely a user-friendly, easy to maintain web software. If you don’t know much about coding, it’s a really solid choice. (I do admit, I’m a little biased though :)
What is the cost to go self hosted?
The cost of web hosting will vary on the specific host you choose. You can see a few suggested hosts here:
And on that, would my website address change or can I keep my same veggiesdontbite.com?
You can definitely keep the same domain! You can either keep the domain here at WordPress.com and just point it to your new site, or you can transfer the domain with the rest of your site to your new host.
If you’re concerned about getting all of this set up smoothly, we do have a Guided Transfer. You can read more about that here:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/guided-transfer/
Let me know if you have more questions! :)
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Thanks! This all sounds like another language to me, lol. So the domain and the host are different??
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So the domain and the host are different?
Yep! Here at WordPress.com, hosting services are completely free. Once you move to a self-hosted site, you’ll need to pay a web hosting service for space on their servers.
However, your domain is already registered. You own that and you’ll continue to own it no matter what host you choose.
It looks like your domain is currently registered through GoDaddy. You may want to look at them for web hosting so all of your web purchases are in the same place. Or if you find another host you like better, you may want to transfer your domain from GoDaddy to your new host.
I know this can all get really confusing, but I’m happy to answer any questions you have. And, once you’re moved, over the WordPress.org support forums are a great place to ask questions as well. :)
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Thanks for the info. I don’t know anything about this so it’s great to have a small understanding before I go the self hosting way…I have heard great things about wordpress overall, both .com and .org and have had a great experience with you guys so far. So I’m leaning towards staying with you. And I guess it would be easier to have my domain registered with wordpress too…when my year is up I will probably need to make a decision. Does wordpress offer suggestions for people I can pay to do this all for me?? I love my theme, and worked hard at making it what it looks like right now. So unless it would be beneficial to change it for speed or other technical reasons I’d really just like everything to remain as is! I just want the flexibility for exploring other options to be able to better monetize my blog. Other than that I’m super happy!
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The WordPress.org community does have a jobs board here:
I totally understand how difficult that decision can be. While we do have a lot of extra support and workings under the hood so you don’t have to worry about your software here at WordPress.com, since its a shared platform we do have those advertising limitations.
You can always pop over to the WordPress.org forums and chat with some self hosted users over there. They may be able to really sell you on the self hosted route, if you’re interested. :)
And they have this handy guide to getting started with a self hosted site (plus WordPress and building a site in general, but you can skip most of that) –
http://codex.wordpress.org/New_To_WordPress_-_Where_to_Start
I hope this helps you find the information you need to feel like you’re making the right decisions. Let me know if you have more questions. :)
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