Making a new WordPress Site
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Hi there,
Help please ……..can someone please give me straight answers to a few questions.
I am moving away from an existing provider and I want to build a WordPress site, as WordPress looks to be one of the best providers, I will transfer my existing domain name over to wordpress. I run a small (not for profit members club) and we raise money for charity as well.
I will probably pay to use one of the financial plans as I need storage for videos and photos. On my existing site I dont store videos on the website, I upload them to youtube, and then put a link on the site.
One of my questions is…. on my existing site all the site pages are open (viewable to the public) except one page which is a club members forum page. This forum page is password protected and club members can log in with a password and talk to each other in private. . So does WordPress provide a facility for a forum like the one I have got now?Also I am a little confused by all the WordPress Jargon, and the fact that you can have different types of sites, I just want a simple site which I will pay for and be able to take advantage of whatever apps, plugins etc that are available for different purposes. On the site I have now, it is app based and there is an app for most things that I want to do… I take its the same in WordPress?
For example wordpress is offering plugins to do stuff as well, what’s the difference between plugins and apps? and I also see an advert for Jetpack offering all sorts of plugins which you need to pay for, where does jetpack sit with the WordPress plugins, are they better or are there more choices etc…. it’s all a bit confusing.Sorry to be a pain, but can some kind person read each line of my queries and comment accordingly as you see fit please, all advice and help is greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Ed -
Hello Ed,
One of my questions is…. on my existing site all the site pages are open (viewable to the public) except one page which is a club members forum page. This forum page is password protected and club members can log in with a password and talk to each other in private. . So does WordPress provide a facility for a forum like the one I have got now?
Password-protecting pages is built into WordPress.com, but it’s based on the page itself. In other words, you set a password on the page, and anyone who knows the password can access that page. Each member doesn’t have their own unique password for access.
https://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/page-visibility/
If you want a setup where members have their own profiles/accounts and access to certain areas of the site is restricted based on those accounts, you need a membership plugin, and on WordPress.com that requires you to be on our Business Plan.
On the site I have now, it is app based and there is an app for most things that I want to do… I take its the same in WordPress?
There is a WordPress mobile app for both iOS and Android that you can use to manage content and comments on your site. So writing and editing posts and pages, moderating, approving and replying to comments, and some site settings. For Customization, e.g. theme changes, menu setup, etc., you need to use the web interface.
For example wordpress is offering plugins to do stuff as well, what’s the difference between plugins and apps?
Plugins are pieces of software that integrate with the core WordPress software to add additional functionality that doesn’t already exist in Core, for example a membership system, a subscription system, sharing buttons, spam protection, etc.
There are two flavours of WordPress. WordPress.com, where you are now, is a managed WordPress platform. That means we take care of all the behind-the-scenes configuration and maintenance for you so you can just focus on customizing your site and adding your content. WordPress.com comes with some additional features built in, but to add third-party plugins you need to upgrade to our Business Plan.
Self-hosted WordPress sites refer to sites that are using the open source WordPress software available on WordPress.org, which is the same software we use on WordPress.com, but without the extra features we’ve added on our end. To use that version of WordPress you need to run your own server, or you need to host it with a provider like Bluehost or Pressable. There you don’t need to pay anything to install plugins (though some plugins themselves are premium), but you do need to pay a hosting provider for space on their servers. There you are also mostly responsible for all software maintenance on your site.
You can find some more info here:
and I also see an advert for Jetpack offering all sorts of plugins which you need to pay for, where does jetpack sit with the WordPress plugins,
Jetpack is a plugin for the open source version of WordPress, but made by the company that owns WordPress.com. Jetpack adds a number of WordPress.com features to a self-hosted site, including our built-in spam protection, an email subscription system, sharing buttons, various widgets, and on the paid Jetpack plans also site backups and security features. It also connects a self-hosted site to a WordPress.com account, allowing you to manage the site through the WordPress.com interface, and makes it easier to use such a site in the mobile apps.
Jetpack is one of thousands of plugins available. Many are listed at https://wordpress.org/plugins/ – these are ones that were specifically submitted to and checked by the community that makes the WordPress software, but there are also many more developed by companies and freelancers who chose not to list them there. Through plugins you can make a WordPress site do just about anything you want, and you can even hire people to write a custom plugin for you if there doesn’t already exist a plugin for what you want to do.
Let us know if you have any more questions about this.
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