In part 1 of this topic, we talked about how WordPress.com is a viable option for folks who want a blog or website that is professional looking, yet easy enough to build and maintain themselves.
However, a WordPress.com site does have it’s limitations. For example, additional plugins and widgets are not supported. So, if you want to add, say drop caps to your blog, you cannot do this with a WordPress.com blog.
You can purchase a premium theme or customize the design of your current theme for a price. However, because of how the WordPress.com platform works, you are still limited in what you can do.
Enter WordPress.org. With WordPress.org, the software is free but you have to find a web host to install it on. Thus, the initial setup is a little more complicated than a WordPress.com site and the web hosting will cost you a little money, but the flexibility that you get is priceless.
You now have the ability to load any of the numerous WordPress plugins (including widgets) that are available and you have free access to many fully customizable themes that are not available on WordPress.com. And Google Analytics is fully supported. You can even monetize your site if you like.
Michael Hyatt has an article called, “How to Launch a Self-Hosted WordPress Blog in 20 Minutes or Less.” Both he and WordPress.org recommends Bluehost.com to host your site.
I recently migrated from a WordPress.com site to a WordPress.org self-hosted site. I followed Michael’s instructions linked above and was able to get the WordPress.org software installed in a short period of time! It was literally a one-click install and I never had to touch a server’s desktop!
Migrating my blog posts over to my new site was as easy as clicking Tools > Export > Download Export File on my old site’s admin page, installing the WordPress Importer plugin on my new site, and then clicking Tools > Import > WordPress on my new site’s admin page.
Migrating my email subscribers was straightforward as well. First, I had to make sure that Jetpack was installed on my new site, which is also a one-click install. Next, I had to contact WordPress.com support and ask them to migrate my email subscribers over from my old site to my new site. I also posted a request in the WordPress.com forums. I think the post in the forums sped up the process.
I chose the Suffusion theme. It is touted as “the Best, Most Versatile and Totally Free WordPress Theme,” and I would tend to agree. The number of options that this theme allows is quite impressive, if not overwhelming at first. Getting your theme (site) to look the way that you want it to is perhaps the most challenging part of the process.
The last step that I had to take was to edit my website’s DNS nameservers. I simply logged into my old WordPress.com site’s admin page, selected Store > Domains, and under “Domain Administration” selected “Make changes to DNS.” I then set a new password and clicked “Save password.” Next, I copied my customer number to my PC’s clipboard and clicked “Manage Your Domains.”
It was here that I changed my nameservers to the following:
NS1.BLUEHOST.COM
NS2.BLUEHOST.COM
After 24-48 hours, all website requests for my domain garyleemillner.com were directed to my new site over at bluehost.com
All-in-all, the WordPress.com to WordPress.org migration went very smoothly.
I would love to hear from you. Have you always wanted a website but have been afraid of taking the leap? Do you have a website that is a pain to update or manage? Do you have website hosting horror stories?
gary lee millner.com 