WordPress Web Hosting
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We already have a free blog on WordPress.com.
However, there is a need for us to achieve more control and depth to our site, and so, we have been planing to get into some kind of a paid web-hosting service.
GoDaddy.com is offering something called “WordPress 4GH® Web Hosting“
We also came across a page on wordpress.org called “WordPress Web Hosting” – this page also has a list of four featured hosts.
WE ARE CONFUSED ABOUT THE FOLLOWING:
If we are to procure a web hosting service which supports WordPress – such as the GoDaddy.com offer mentioned above, or the featured hosts on the WordPress.org page like “DearmHost.com”…
… WILL OUR EXISTING, FREE BLOG ON WORDPRESS.COM GET ‘TRANSPORTED’ TO THE HOSTING ACCOUNT, WITH ALL ITS EXISTING CONTENT INTACT?Thanks in advance for any assistance…
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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It won’t be transferred unless you transfer it yourself OR you buy the paid guided transfer service.
Note that the theme, databases, underlying code, etc are not transferred. But WP.org works very similiarly to WP.com and you won’t notice much difference. You WILL want to use the Jet Pack Plugin on your new site to keep stats and sharing options comparable.
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@ raincoaster:
Thanks for your response!
I checked-out the “Jetpack plugin” and see why you suggested that we use it – in order to maintain the various ‘functionalities’ of wordpress.com even with the sefl-hosted account.
However, I am not that well versed with this (web hosting etc.) to understand HOW I would need to “transfer it” myself?
Our free wordpress.com blog has no FTP access or other ways of getting “under the hood”, so to speak, as far as I am aware.
So, how will I manage to transfer the whole content from the free blog, without actually having to do it page-by-page?Also, when you say that the “theme, databases, underlying code, etc are not transferred”, does that mean that all the customization and the look-and-feel of the site will have to be MANUALLY re-applied?
Thanks again for your time…
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when you say that the “theme, databases, underlying code, etc are not transferred”, does that mean that all the customization and the look-and-feel of the site will have to be MANUALLY re-applied?
Yes.
To transfer a blog, read the instructions in the Support document. http://en.support.wordpress.com/export/
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@ raincoaster:
Thanks for that link for ‘export’ on the Support document… makes things quite a bit clearer…
(Sounds like a tedious and ‘risky’ procedure – given the fact that we have NO extra resources to be able to afford a ‘guided transfer’ – and very little time and expertise to be able to get it done right on our own! :-( … And we had just finished ‘customizing’ the free hosted site to a somewhat palatable state!)
As far as I could understand, when I use the ‘Export’ feature to download an XML file, this action does not affect the existing free blog and its content/ design in any way?
So, I could, potentially, try setting up a wordpress.org site on a paid hosting account, ALONGSIDE the existing free blog that we have?
If I can’t get it (the new paid hosting blog) to work, then the free blog is still there for us to revert back to?
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Do not set up a parallel, identical blog. Search engines will classify both sites as spam and drop them down the search results. It’s very much NOT worth it. You could, however, set the WordPress.com blog as Private and then it would serve as a backup of your other blog.
You say you wish to achieve more control and depth, yet the very straightforward export procedure intimidates you. I don’t mean to scare you, but are you sure you’re ready for an independently-hosted site? You, not the web host, will be entirely responsible for protecting yourself from hackers, updating your plugins, etc.
There are thousands of hosts who can host your WordPress blog for you. I, personally, have heard horror stories about GoDaddy and never recommend them. This isn’t a decision to be made lightly.
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@ raincoaster:
Thanks for your ‘warning’!
I had a gut-feeling in the same lines… and that is why I have been delaying the hosting-procurement, and put up the query here, in the first place!
” set the WordPress.com blog as Private and then it would serve as a backup of your other blog”…
…That’s what I was thinking of doing.
Another option I was contemplating was…
Our free wordpress blog (http://bablifarm.wordpress.com) loads (with web-forwarding) on to a separate domain that we had procured (www.babli.org).
So, I was thinking to ‘disassociating’ the wordpress.com site from our domain – so the free blog would remain on http://bablifarm.wordpress.com – and then, I could have the paid hosting associated with http://www.babli.org?“the very straightforward export procedure intimidates you”…
,,, Well, let’s just say that I am not 100% confident about it – though, by nature, very few things in life actually ‘intimidates’ me – I am aware that I really do not have a very clear understanding of the concepts here… but I’m alwasy up for challenges! ;-)
I have just about managed to teach myself the BASICS of HTML, in the course of trying to customize the free wordpress blog… I am a fine-arts graduate, who has spent long years as a school-teacher, and now work at a rural-action project – so, I really have VERY LITTLE ‘background’ in any kind of programming and computing in general!
The free blog looks and works okay – but we need to be able to incorporate a few databases into it – also, we would like to add some forms and maybe a shopping-cart – that is why I thought of a paid hosting in the first place…
“are you sure you’re ready for an independently-hosted site? You, not the web host, will be entirely responsible for protecting yourself from hackers, updating your plugins, etc.”…
…Yeah, I am aware of that, AND intimidated by the idea of taking the ‘responsibility’ of my own ‘protection’!
No, I am NOT SURE that I am ‘ready’ for it! :-)Another friend of mine had mentioned issues about GoDaddy too… they are offering an APPARENTLY cheap deal, that’s all! Your warning is accepted with thanks!
Cheers!
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I was thinking to ‘disassociating’ the wordpress.com site from our domain – so the free blog would remain on http://bablifarm.wordpress.com – and then, I could have the paid hosting associated with http://www.babli.org?
Yes, that’s easy and I’ve done it myself. Very simple. But you still need to get hosting and you are still responsible for your own tech support, upgrades, theme installation, etc.
If forms more advanced than the Contact Form we have here and ecommerce are essential, though, you WILL have to move off WP.com.
One thing to remember: it’s not always essential to understand the instructions before following them successfully. This applies particularly to computers.
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Hahaha – I like that one… “it’s not always essential to understand the instructions before following them successfully. This applies particularly to computers”… I’ve come to realise that myself!
Yes, we do need to put up forms that are complex in nature – though I have to first teach myself to EXECUTE AND UPLOAD such forms.
We run a small guest-house within the rural-action project – that is our primary funding source.
One of the forms that is essential – ideally with a database on the back-end to record all the form submissions automatically – is for visitors to select and book rooms at the guest-house.
The one we use now has no back-end storage – it’s a ‘free’ hosting again… this is our current Reservation FormAlso, if I can actually manage to wrap my head around it, I’d like to set-up a shopping cart – so that visitors can make direct, online reservations as well.
So, that doesn’t leave me much of a choice but to move away from WP.com, does it??
Thanks again for your support!
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You could switch to Eventbrite for your registration system. I think it could handle it, and it provides database downloads.
And you’re right, shopping carts cannot possibly be used here. If you want that, you’ll have to move off WP.com. How many rooms do you have, though? I would think simple email and a booking calendar in Google or something would handle anything up to ten or a dozen.
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