Will be moving website to WordPress, but have questions regarding how I can move the content to the new website before it goes live?
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Will be moving website to WordPress, but have questions regarding how I can move the content to the new website before it goes live?
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Hi @scarbontario, you’d be welcome to create your new site with us and migrate the content over before pointing the domain here. That way your current site can stay “live” until your new one is ready.
I do recommend getting a plan earlier on if you’ll need it, since they have other features you might find useful, including direct support:
https://wordpress.com/plansThen just avoid using the domain options until you’re ready, and then you can map or transfer the domain.
Let us know if you need more help!
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Thanks for the clarification, Supernovia. I appreciate you taking the time to address my questions. I’ll be sure to follow your sage advice when I (soon) start the process of creating my new WordPress website. Thanks again, friend.
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Also Supermovia – I’ve been looking at a LOT of links to assist me in my decision regarding what sort of webite look/template I might need for the one I’m moving. I do volunteer work for a charitable organization and this is the website that I’ll be moving to WordPress. Here is a link to that website: http://teresiancarmelitecentrecanada.com/. As you can see, I’m using some rather archaic technology (a LOT of HTML coding) on it. I’m hoping that it’ll be a LOT easier to create/maintain the same website via WordPress. Do you have any suggestions as to what sort of a template might work best for me in this regard? Thanks in advance for your kind assistance.
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I hope it will be too!
Honestly, I wouldn’t worry so much about the template at this point. I would just pick a theme you like, head to Customize > Design > Menus and add each of your pages:
Home
About
Events
Photo Gallery
Carmelcopia
Contact UsThen just start building out each page at https://wordpress.com/pages … you can copy and paste text content (I think ctrl+shift+v pastes as plain text) and upload your images as galleries and what not. You don’t even have to give it the same look, though I do recommend starting with the same texts and images to start.
Once your pages are added, if you want to pick another theme to give it a different look, you can.
And, if you want to buy a plan so you’ve got direct support in the meantime, you can do that too. Or you’re welcome to just ask here when you need help.
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Supermovia, I was able to access the “/pages” section and am getting familiar with “blocks” and “templates”. Oddly enough, I’m kind of getting nostalgic for how I used to work on the old website (HTML) as these WordPress templates are quite overwhelming for me right now. (That might change the more I get myself acquainted with the templates, but, honestly, it is a very steep learning curve that I find myself on at this point in the proceedings.) To that end, is it possible for me to use a combination of HTML and Word templates at this point? (I just find it easier.) As I explained in one of my previous posts, the BIG reasons I’m switching to the WordPress format are these:
1) The FileZilla program I had been using on the old website was getting to be quite tedious, and
2) I kept reading reviews of how “easy” it was to use the WordPress templates.
Wish I could say it’s “easy” for me. It’s actually very difficult.
Regards and thanks in advance for your reply. -
To that end, is it possible for me to use a combination of HTML and Word templates at this point?
The Maywood theme you currently have on https://teresiancarmelitecentrecanada.wordpress.com/ can only be used with the new block editor. But if you switched to one of our older themes (My Site ->Design ->Themes, and click on More Themes at the bottom of the initial list), you’ll be able to switch back to the classic editor where you can write directly in HTML if you prefer.
But if by templates you mean the page templates that you see when creating a new page, those are only available in the block editor. The whole purpose of those page templates is to give an easy way to create complex layouts without the use of HTML, so if you’re used to working in HTML they definitely represent a learning curve.
If by template you refer to the theme that controls the overall appearance of the site, it can actually vary quite a bit. The Maywood theme you’re currently using (along with all our most recent themes) were created specifically for the block editor, and rely heavily on blocks to control how the site actually looks. The idea is that these will eventually function like drag-and-drop builders to control the layout of the site, rather than a static collection of HTML and CSS.
If that more static, pre-defined design is what you’re looking for, then you can switch to one of our older themes. Each theme comes with a support page explaining how to set it up and any special features that might be included in the theme.
I hope this helps, but let me know if you have any more questions.
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Kokkieh,
Thanks for taking the time to explain everything in such detail. I really appreciate it. Guess I’ll just have to dive into this “block thing” with two feet and totally immerse myself in it. Regards. -
Update: I’m starting to get the hang of the whole “blocks” thing. A question though: I was hoping to install WPForms Lite (free version), but when I went to the WP “My Site” control panel I noticed the words, “Upgrade to the Business plan to install plugins”. Does this mean I am not able to install a free plugin without upgrading? Really? Thanks in advance for your kind assistance.
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My bad. I just now noticed that there IS a way to add a free “Contact Form” on my “Contact Us” page (using the “search for a block” options in the pop-up window). I’m experimenting with it now. Again, sorry. My bad.
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Supermovia/Kokkieh,
Three quick questions:
1. If I enable a blog on my website, how will it show up? Automatically on the Home Page? Another page?
2. Why is it than when I click on any of the pages on my website that I’m not able to see the (header) Menu bar? (When I look at the pages on my “Edit Page.) Is that the way it’s supposed to look? How do I know the Menu bar is still there (if I can’t see it)?
3. Am I able to change the colors of the pages on my Menu bar? (I tried, but for the life of me I can’t figure it out.)
Thanks in advance for your kind assistance/collaboration.PS: No doubt I will have a few more questions before I put the website live.
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Hi, and no worries. There are a ton of built in options and they aren’t always obvious.
1. If I enable a blog on my website, how will it show up? Automatically on the Home Page? Another page?
There are a bunch of options honestly.
If you want blog posts to always show up first, you can opt for that in the Customizer.
Or, you can make a static front page, with a separate page for blog posts:
You could ~even~ make a static front page, but show a few of the latest posts on it:
I will say that this option works much better if you publish a few sample posts to work with. Want to give that a go? I’ll work on answering the other questions in the meantime.
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Regarding the menu bar: with most themes you will not see the menu bar on an individual page’s edit view. You will only see the content of that page. If you view the published (or draft, or private) page, though, the menu will appear.
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3. Am I able to change the colors of the pages on my Menu bar? (I tried, but for the life of me I can’t figure it out.)
Are you wanting to change the menu bar link colors, or the colors in the pages themselves?
Also, just to confirm — what site are you working on? Can you send a link?
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Supernovia,
I’m working on this site: http://teresiancarmelitecentrecanada.com/
Thanks for your follow-up on my earlier post. -
Also Supernovia,
I do believe (for the time being) I’ll hold off on using the blog function. -
I’m working on this site: http://teresiancarmelitecentrecanada.com/
I think @supernovia meant the WordPress.com site, where you’re asking about the changes to the menu bar.
And what exactly do you want to change, the colors in the menu itself, or on the actual pages?
To change colors in the menu would require our Premium Plan, as those kinds of changes can only be made with CSS. But in the pages itself, if you use the block editor there are color options for most of the blocks to change both the background and text color for each block.
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Kokkieh,
My site is here: https://teresiancarmelitecentrecanada.wordpress.com/.
I was hoping to change the colors of the Menu to brown. The pages are fine just the way they are.
Thanks in advance.
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