Unable to create a free dotblog (.blog) subdomain – it's not really free
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Hi,
I looked at the article on creating free dotblog subdomains but I can’t seem to create a free dotblog domain. Well, I can, but only the registration is free then the site renews at $22/year. Am I doing something wrong, interpreting the article incorrectly or just misunderstanding what “free” means for the .blog subdomain?
WordPress article on creating free .blog subdomains: https://wordpress.com/blog/2018/11/28/announcing-free-dotblog-subdomains/
One paragraph reads, “These .blog subdomains work just like the regular wordpress.com subdomains — they don’t expire, they’re free to use for the lifetime of your site, and you can always replace them with a custom domain at any time.”
Also the screenshots in the WordPress.com article don’t match what I see in my account.
Since I can’t add attachments, here are the steps I followed:
1. I log into my WordPress.com account and it opens to “My Home” page. Upper left – top bar has black “My Sites” button and a blue bar that has “Reader”, “Write”, “Profile” and “Notifications” buttons.
2. I click “< Switch Site” button under the top bar.
3. Window changes to show “All My Sites” and I click “+ ADD NEW SITE”.
4. “Add a New Site” opens and I have two options – 1) Create a shiny new WordPress.com site; and 2) Add an existing WordPress site with Jetpack.
5. I click “Create a shiny new WordPress.com site” Start Now button.
6. “Let’s get your site a domain!” opens and I type in the blog name I’d like and results and prices are returned. The first sentence says “Get a free one-year domain registration with any paid plan.” Registration fee is Free and the site renews at $22/year.Would appreciate clarification and/or instructions on how to get a free .blog because I read that .blogs are free but when I try to create one, WordPress wants $22/year. Many thanks for your help.
Frances
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Hi Frances, you shouldn’t have to register a domain if it’s in one of the subdomains. Can you let us know the site name you tried to use?
And does it help if you type the full thing?
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Hi,
Many thanks for your prompt replies. Your responses tipped me off as to what I was supposed to type and I took a little time to reread the WordPress article a little more carefully. What I had to type was “blahblah.photo.blog”. I already have a blah.wordpress.com and wanted to create blahblah.photo.blog. Once I added “photo.blog” to the name, I was able to create the free one.
Thank you so much, Supernovia and TheMagicRobot!!! You da best! Please stay healthy and enjoy the day.
Frances
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One more thought: After trying a lot of different variations for site address, I thought that clicking the “.blog” button on the “Let’s get your site a domain!” would bring up a list of all .blogs that were available, meaning it would show name.art.blog, name.business.blog, etc., the free ones, in addition to showing name.blog, the paid ones.
Anyways, thanks again for your help. Much appreciated!!!
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Ahh, that makes sense. You can buy your very own .blog domain if you want to, but it sounds like that wasn’t your goal here.
Glad you’ve got it sorted out!
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