Is installing WP.org easy?
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Is installing WP.org easy for the beginner to do? Also, do you only pay for the company to host you? For example, Godaddy.com 10.00, would that be the only cost? Thank you!
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If you are an experienced WordPress.com software user, and have the skill sets required to set up and manage your own self hosted WordPress.org install then the instructions for making the move are easy to follow. But if you are not skilled at WordPress.com blogging, and also lack the skill sets required to self host your own WordPress.org install then acquiring those skills first is recommended. For self-hosting figure an average monthly total cost (including cost of a domain name) of about $10 to $25 generally, but that all depends on storage and bandwidth requirements, and whether or not you choose to purchase a theme.
Have you read these helpful entries prepared by Staff?
http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/
If you don’t think you can manage it then your can pay Staff for a guided transfer.
http://en.support.wordpress.com/moving-a-blog/#moving-to-wordpress-orgIf you do think you can manage the set up of your own WordPress.org install this post contains step by step instructions > http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2010/11/06/setting-up-a-self-hosted-wordpress-org-install/
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The down and dirty answer that you’re looking for is no. Running a self-hosted website based on an installation of WordPress.org isn’t easy for a beginner to do.
It’s not hard, particularly, but there’s a lot to learn.
For starters, you’ll need to select and register a domain name. That’s the GoDaddy piece you mention above. GoDaddy is one of hundreds of authorized domain registrars. They offer varying levels of service and varying levels of price. There’s research to be done to determine which level of each you can live with. Having your domain registered is a recurring annual expense.
Once you have a domain name secured, you’ll need a web host. There are more of them than there are domain registrars, and they vary a lot. There’s a bunch more research to be done there to pick one out that you’ll be happy with, and it depends on you knowing or being able to figure out how much storage and how much bandwidth you’re site will need.
Expense-wise, they all couch their fees in terms of cost per month, but almost all of them charge you for a year or a number of years at one shot, so that $5.95/month is really a once a year charge for $72.40. Also recurring, of course, but it’s a start up cost. It goes up with your storage and bandwidth needs as your site grows.
Once you have a name for your site and a host to park it on, you’ll need to understand all the software necessary to run the site. There are tons of options here, too, though WordPress.org is a good start because it handles a lot of the heavy lifting in programming for you. More research to do, though, especially if you’re envisioning something more than a blog. eCommerce introduces many more variables, and I can’t even address them because it’s nothing I’ve looked at. I work in the IT dept of an international e-tailer, though, and I hear stuff, and there’s a lot there to know.
If you go with WordPress.org, there are potentially additional expenses, especially if you want a really spiffy theme and don’t want to learn to program in PHP, HTML and CSS. There are a lot of free themes that we adventurous sorts can start with and build on, but if you want a nice one out of the box, a lot of them cost some money. Again, research to do.
It’s a lot to think about. I know this because I’m right in the thick of it myself, and I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by it all.
So, just to circle back, it’s not hard, but it’s time consuming and it’s NOT easy in any way that I’d define “easy”. And it’s more than $10.
Good luck with the expedition, though!
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/nod to @ic2064.
I’ll just add that doing regularly scheduled backups of your entire site, including the database, IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST. This is typically done through the cPanel for your account and there is a wizardI get called in a lot to try and recover sites after some sort of disaster (natural or man-made) and in cases where the owners have not been doing backups regularly, they have lost virtually everything they had on their site. In some cases they’ve only done them infrequently and have ended up having to scour the internet looking for bits and pieces of the sometimes hundreds of posts they have lost.
It isn’t a pretty sight.
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