Website or Wordpress - need help
- Thread starter Robrealm
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I just went to the istockphoto site....it's awesome!
I'm at the stage where I'm torn between a website or a wordpress site. After reading more and more on these threads, AND getting great advice from others, I'm leaning toward a wordpress site and making that my "website" , and having all my domains pointing to it. What do you think?
I'm at the stage where I'm torn between a website or a wordpress site. After reading more and more on these threads, AND getting great advice from others, I'm leaning toward a wordpress site and making that my "website" , and having all my domains pointing to it. What do you think?
A free wordpress blog is a good place to dip your toe in the water - if you give it a go and find yourself limited by the options, you can use the nice Export tool to move your blog contents to a dedicated site running Wordpress, and just change your domain redirects.
I did this process in reverse for my writing group (we weren't using it enough to justify a paid account) and it took a few minutes to move the whole thing over.
I did this process in reverse for my writing group (we weren't using it enough to justify a paid account) and it took a few minutes to move the whole thing over.
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Thanks for the tip, Anne Lyle. I did not know that about hosts running WP for their users. That's another option I need to consider. Yahoo is my current host.
At the moment, until I have time and possibly help to deal with the website, I'm converting my private to-do list blog to an updated "clone" of the website featuring new works, etc.. At the very least it can be both a blueprint and a placeholder for the website. Maybe.
Plus I would use WP for micro sites for specific projects.
At the moment, until I have time and possibly help to deal with the website, I'm converting my private to-do list blog to an updated "clone" of the website featuring new works, etc.. At the very least it can be both a blueprint and a placeholder for the website. Maybe.
Plus I would use WP for micro sites for specific projects.
You need to buy some credits - the cheapest package will buy you three or four images at a sufficient size to use as a background, I think. Then in Wordpress you just upload your background image in the "Appearance" section of the dashboard. Easy peasy!
I've never used blogger but have always paid for my own website space and domain since I was in school. WordPress is highly customisable if you have your own webspace and that and textpattern are the general go to if you want a website.
In my fairly limited experience with blogger it's inflexible and downright annoying if you want to customise it.
If you're looking for hosted but flexible, try tumblr?
Medie - can you explain what the issue is with not using the same source for domain registration and hosting?
I'm not medie but it is simple really, domain registrar for domain and web host for web hosting.
Don't like to combine the two because what if I want to move hosts, and my host says "No sorry, you can only use our domain with our services" or they decide to hold my domain ransom. At least if I am unsatisfied with my host and decide to move, it won't affect my domain. Sometimes hosts do packages with domains and they have certain agreements in their terms which say "if you decide to leave at anytime, you will have to buy your domain off us" or "you will not be allowed to use this domain, registered in our companies name under a different house".
Plus if you register the domain elsewhere you can register it in your name. Sometimes if you buy a domain + web host package with a company, you won't own the domain as it will be registered under their companies details. So legally it is not your domain name.
I've never come across that before - if you buy the domain name, you own it not the domain registrar - I can see a potential issue with moving the site, but there is usually always an issue (hosts don't like seeing people go).
Yes but sometimes if you buy a domain and web hosting at the same time. some times the domain is registered by the web hosting company in their name and their details.
This has happened to me for and I wasn't allowed to transfer it to another domain registrar as it wasn't in my name.
Legally, no you don't own the domain; ICANN owns the domain, with some specific exceptions for the 36 or so top level DARPA founding sites, all of which are .edu, or .gov, and which are "special" because they route traffic and are high level nodes and need to be treated differently.
You are leasing the domain from ICANN, essentially, via a registrar.
And registrars can simply refuse access, or sell it to someone else. The process for getting control back is lengthy and can expensive.
So having your host and your registrar can mean, for instance, that when you move your hosting business, the registrar retaliates. Even sitting on your domain for a month--which means you can't update it--can be damaging.
Oh Godaddy are known for doing this with domains, in fact I wonder why people still register with them, they may be cheap but it's not worth the hassle. And they come across as skeezy to me.
So Anne you made your site through Wordpress but have the domain name hosted through another site, correct?
That's right. I register all my domains with one company, then any I want to use for the web, I change the nameservers to those of the hosting company. Then if I need to move the site to a new host, I just change the nameservers again - the host has no control over my domain.
I've just updated to the latest version of Wordpress and am in the process of picking a new theme. The things you can do with Wordpress themes are amazing, including setting a static homepage with a nav bar that functions exactly like a website. You can have a blog as part of it all in the same theme.
Plus I suggest checking out the premium themes. Without spending more than $25-$35, you can get beatutifully designed, completely customizable themes with all the above features plus portfolio sections where you can slot in your books, extensive choice of fonts and colors, flexible layout options, etc. ThemeForest is a good source for these. The range of choice is actually making it difficult for me to decide what to do.
Robrealm, I use WordPress for all my sites, got the domains through Go Daddy who are okay for the registration, and then used www.dreamhost.com (referred by WordPress) to get me up and running. Doesn't take that long to do.
If you have a look at all the blogs I use (below) they all operate like this. Plus they use a new thing to monetize the content. I'll let you discover it.
And of course you can always link to Amazon for you Kindle version as well.
If you have a look at all the blogs I use (below) they all operate like this. Plus they use a new thing to monetize the content. I'll let you discover it.
And of course you can always link to Amazon for you Kindle version as well.