Really basic questions.
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Hello, I’ve had a WP blog for a couple of years, but just recently learned about the ability to create custom websites. Even in “beginner” tutorials and forums they seem to start with step #7! (I’m really dumb!)
Do I need a Premium account to customize?
Is it necessary to be hosted live before customizing a website?Thanks so much!
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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No you do not need to purchase any upgrade. All you need to do is understand how to create a custom menu and that can be done on any WordPress blog.
This whole “website” thing is all semantics. It’s not the new black LOL :D
A blog is a post based website designed for interactive communication.
A website is a page based site designed to operate as a one way means of communication ie. a noticeboard.
Any WordPress blog can be restructured from being post based to being page based. For greater clarity read > http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2013/07/25/create-a-wordpress-website-step-by-step/
Then see here > http://en.support.wordpress.com/using-wordpress-to-create-a-website/The only themes we can use on free hosted WordPress.com blogs are found here http://wordpress.com/themes/
On one hand, none of the characteristic “blog” features like categories, tags, authors, dates, etc. can be removed from a free hosted WordPress.com blog, without purchasing an annually renewable custom design upgrade and doing the required CSS editing.
http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/
http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/#frequently-asked-questions
http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/editing-css/On the other hand, one can edit a WordPress.org theme free of charge. Read the comparison > WordPress.com and WordPress.org: The Differences http://support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/
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If you decide to remain here then my advice is do not create a static front page https://en.forums.wordpress.com/topic/static-home-page-not-static?replies=2#post-1461419 as they can be traffic killers. Return visitors don’t cotton to clicking through the same static page to locate the most recent post and reading it is the reason they came to the blog.
(1) There is only one page we can post to in any blog and
(2) The static pages http://en.support.wordpress.com/pages/ we bloggers create do not automatically update.Only the dynamic pages like Archives, Categories and Tags created by the software when we publish a post will update automatically update with new posts.
By default the front page of the blog is the Page that displays all posts in your blog. You can create a static front page but doing that does not change what follows.
Though there is only one dynamic page in a blog for posts (not pages) http://en.support.wordpress.com/post-vs-page/ and we cannot post to more than that one page, we can create the appearance that we have posted to more than one page.
We organize posts by assigning categories to them. You can create a custom menu and add the dynamic categories pages into the custom menu.
http://en.support.wordpress.com/posts/categories/
http://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/
http://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/#adding-category-pages
http://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/#changing-the-order-creating-sub-menusWe can also add other items into a custom menu like static Pages http://en.support.wordpress.com/menus/#adding-pages but as I said above no static Pages will ever automatically update.
This may be helpful http://onecoolsitebloggingtips.com/2013/07/25/create-a-wordpress-website-step-by-step/
There are many common errors, misunderstandings and misconceptions when creating custom menus and there are some tweaks you can use to improve your custom menu as well.
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Custom design is a paid upgrade. This article explains about how to purchase it and apply it, though you’ll need to spend some time learning CSS.
http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/With the Custom Design upgrade, you can personalize the look and feel of your blog with intelligent color tools, custom fonts, and a CSS editor that can be used to make more advanced design updates.
Custom Design is a paid upgrade that costs $30.00 per blog, per year.
This part of the article might interest you:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/custom-design/#request-theme-customization -
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You can also purchase the premium upgrade if you want to do other things besides customizing the design of your site.
http://store.wordpress.com/bundles/
$99 Premium Upgrade includes:
Free blog!
*A custom domain
*Advanced customization (that’s the CSS upgrade)
No premium themes included
*Store dozens of videos
*13 GB of space
*No Ads
*Direct Email SupportBut if you don’t need domain mapping, storing videos, extra space, and no adverts, then the savings might not add up.
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I just tell people I have a “web site” –
many of the “blog” features are why sites driven with WordPress software (both .ORG & .COM) do well with search engines – and with something like 20% of the new web sites in the world being driven by “WordPress” software – that many people can’t be all that wrong seems to me
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This whole “website” thing is all semantics. Website is not It’s not the new black. Arguably, if one creates a page structured site with a static front page then “website” becomes an euphemism for a lame blog.
That said, there are pages of unanswered threads so I won’t be fishing threads that have answers out of the back pages I will fish out the ones that don’t have answers like these https://en.forums.wordpress.com/view/no-replies/page/9
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Thanks so much for all the info! The WP community and all the resources & support is excellent. Thanks for getting me started!
Carla
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