Which WordPress is right for you? We’ll compare the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org to help you understand if you should stick with WordPress.com or move to a self-hosted WordPress.org installation. Bloggers who start out on WordPress.com may later decide that a self-hosted WordPress.org site is a better choice for them. If you’re in that position, this session will help you to make the move.
2. In this Session…
Which WordPress is right for you?
Making the move
What your new responsibilities are
Q&A
Slides will be available at learnwp.ca
3. For a Personal Blog
.com is awesome!
It's Free
You don't need a domain name (but you can use
one if you want to)
It's as Easy as 1-2-3:
create blog - pick theme - start writing
No technical knowledge required to get started
Maintenance is taken care of for you
Your blog is part of the huge .com community
330 million visitors, viewing 3.4 billion pages
every month!
4. Where WordPresss.com can take you...
Toronto blogger Neil Pasricha
knows from experience that
WordPress.com is awesome!
6. Why move to .org?
Monetize your blog with ads
Choose from thousands of free and
premium themes
Customize your own theme
Plugins!
Integrate your blog and website with
WordPress as a CMS
7. Getting Started ...
http://learnwp.ca/workshop-prep/
1. Register a Domain name
2. Signup for Hosting
3. Set the DNS (domain name servers)
If you’ve registered your domain through WordPress.com
you can update the nameservers to point it to your new
host.
4. Install WordPress to the ROOT directory on the server of
your hosting account!
WordPress is NOT a program to install on your computer.
8. Hire Movers
For $129.00 you can
pay WordPress.com to
install WordPress for
you on the host
company and handle
the entire move for you.
It’s called a
Guided Transfer
9. Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to my old .com blog?
You will continue to own the blog. It will remain at wordpress.com (hidden) unless
you intentionally choose to delete it.
Will my blog be under maintenance during the move?
Once you purchase the guided transfer, a Happiness Engineer will set up a day
to perform the transfer. The entire process is transparent to your readers.
What happens to my Google page rank if I use the Guided Transfer to
move to a new host? All of your blog traffic will be seamlessly redirected to your
new site if you already had a custom domain at WordPress.com. If you didn’t, the
old subdomain.wordpress.com URL can be redirected with a Site Redirect
upgrade.
I purchased a premium theme at WordPress.com. Will it be transferred?
No, Premium themes purchased at WordPress.com are only valid at
WordPress.com.
I have blog followers, will they be transferred? Yes, all your email followers
and subscribers will be transferred to your new site.
11. Moving Day: Packing
Login to your wordpress.com dashboard
Tools -> Export to download an eXtended
RSS (WXR) file of your blog’s content.
By default the export is set to
everything
Download the export file
12. Moving Day: Unpacking
Login to your .org installation at yourdomain.ca/wp-admin
Go to Tools -> Import -> WordPress
(to install the WordPress Importer Plugin)
Activate and Run the Importer
Browse your computer for the WordPress eXtended RSS
(WXR) file -> click Upload file and import
You will first be asked to map the authors in this export file to
users on the blog. For each author, you may choose to map to
an existing user on the blog or to create a new user.
Import attachments to bring your images over from
wordpress.com. Videos uploaded to WordPress.com cannot be
moved through the import process.
13. Change of Address
Take your readers with you
Go back to your .com site and purchase the $13/year
Site Redirect upgrade from the Store page in your
dashboard.
Enter the new domain or address where you want
your .com traffic to be redirected.
14. Getting Settled In
Delete the Sample Page, Post, and
Comment added during the WordPress
installation
Install your favourite .com plugins
Choose and activate a theme
Customize your banner, background
Setup your widgets
Create menus for your navigation
15. Lock the door!
Akismet
Activate
Get an API key
Decide what it’s Fast Secure Contact Form
worth to you Adds a contact form to your
Contact page.
Uses Akismet to flag spam
Option of a captcha code to
further prevent spam
17. Keep Track of Important Info:
1. Domain Registrar:
login, date renewal due
2. Host Company:
login, support phone number
3. FTP Credentials
4. Your WordPress admin login