Migrating WordPress.com to WordPress.org, using plugins and upgrading

  • Unknown's avatar
    thecriterion14 · Member ·

    Hello
    I am building a blog on WordPress.com
    Intending to use plugins and remove ads when the content is ready.

    I see that I would need a business subscription to use plugins. Is that true? It is a personal blog, but I want plugins and I want to remove ads.

    Should I build in WordPress.org from scratch, for added flexibility? Or can I migrate my work from WordPress.com? I don’t want to have to do it all over again. I have only just set up the basic theme, content etc.

    What is my best option for a personal blog, and what is the best way to migrate to a self hosted setup?

    Site in progress: https://cubictruth.wordpress.com/

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • staff-ozmodiar · Staff ·

    Hi!

    I see that I would need a business subscription to use plugins. Is that true?

    Yes, that is correct. A Business of eCommerce plan is required to use plugins (or upload themes).

    https://wordpress.com/pricing/

    Should I build in WordPress.org from scratch, for added flexibility?

    That is really up to you and how much you want to learn about installing and maintaining WordPress. WordPress.com handles a lot of the installing, updating, and security around your site if you host with us. But for maximum flexibility and control, setting up your own site using the WordPress software with a webhost would be the way to go.

    WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

    Now, do most people NEED that much control and flexibility? I would say no, in my opinion. I’ve seen far more people with security problems from not securing their site well than I have with custom sites that use edge-case functionality that is not allowed here on WordPress.com.

    Or can I migrate my work from WordPress.com?

    You can absolutely start your site here on WordPress.com, decide that you need to move to a self-hosted WordPress setup, and then move your site to another host. We have instructions here:

    https://wordpress.com/support/export/

    Take a look at those links and let us know if anything is unclear or you have any further questions.

  • supernovia · Staff ·

    Hey there, just so we’re on the same page:

    It is a personal blog, but I want plugins and I want to remove ads

    The Personal plan is primarily designed for blogging. It removes ads, but it also includes features that aren’t in a basic WordPress installation: social media integration, spam protection, premium/paid content, and quite a bit more. So if you want to let us know which plugin functionalities you need, we can let you know whether we have something built in already.

    The Business plan costs more because the maintenance, security, and support we include in our service gets a lot more complex with outside code. If you’re able to handle that on your own or hire out as needed, your own DIY installation may be a great option for you. Otherwise, we believe our service is your best option.

    Let us know if you have questions!

  • Unknown's avatar
    thecriterion14 · Member ·

    Thank you @staff-ozmodiar and @supernovia for the feedback.

    I rather like the blog and theme so far, and the personal plan would remove ads.
    I don’t want the datestamps to show up on the blog posts. I want it to be a collection of articles with no datestamps anywhere.

    I will leave it up to share some insights I have garnered along the way.

    I have taken a WordPress course and built selfhosted sites on my laptop from scratch in HTML/PHP etc and there I was able to install plugins. It was a course. I also had a selfhosted WordPress site ages ago which I had built myself with plugins etc, and that was a lot of fun.

    For this site, I probably don’t want to do much more than put up some text, images, videos.

    So far the only plugin I probably will need is the date remover plugin (have tweaked settings but dates seem to still show up). That seems to be my major concern so far. Don’t need too many bells and whistles here.

    Thanks

  • supernovia · Staff ·

    I don’t want the datestamps to show up on the blog posts. I want it to be a collection of articles with no datestamps anywhere.

    Do you want to just use pages instead? They won’t have dates.

    Just know that news articles can appear in news feeds and their dates imply how new they are. Pages don’t work that way, but if that’s not a problem for you (like if you’re going to set up everything at once and not continue adding “news” to the site) I’d recommend going that route. We have more info here:
    https://wordpress.com/support/post-vs-page/#pages

    And here: https://wordpress.com/support/pages/

  • The topic ‘Migrating WordPress.com to WordPress.org, using plugins and upgrading’ is closed to new replies.