Making my (WordPress) blog more efficient
May 24, 2012 8:29 AM Subscribe
Making my (WordPress) blog more efficient
kind of a newb w/ these things; need to tie my stuff together, and maximize visibility/effectiveness.
1. I have a website, hosted by Hostgator; 1st domain name.
2. a blog w/ Blogspot; 2nd domain name.
But I don't like Blogspot, it seems clunky w/ limited design.
3. Started a (free?) Wordpress blog, to replace it. But need to understand the paid upgrade offered. How much better is it? How much more will it offer me?
I want a good-looking blog, easy to update, w/ a good link to my site. How do I tie these 2 together, make more seamless? How to maximize Hostgators's services?
kind of a newb w/ these things; need to tie my stuff together, and maximize visibility/effectiveness.
1. I have a website, hosted by Hostgator; 1st domain name.
2. a blog w/ Blogspot; 2nd domain name.
But I don't like Blogspot, it seems clunky w/ limited design.
3. Started a (free?) Wordpress blog, to replace it. But need to understand the paid upgrade offered. How much better is it? How much more will it offer me?
I want a good-looking blog, easy to update, w/ a good link to my site. How do I tie these 2 together, make more seamless? How to maximize Hostgators's services?
Response by poster: thx. what do you mean profit? I'm not selling anything but, well, me, my services.
posted by ebesan at 8:57 AM on May 24, 2012
posted by ebesan at 8:57 AM on May 24, 2012
There's a lot of spammers out there, and they know a lot of people are running Wordpress. They'd love nothing more than to add some links to their spam and/or host malware on your Wordpress install. I'm not trying to scare you out of running it yourself, but it's something you should be aware of before you undertake it.
If you decide to host your own Wordpress, make sure you're taking frequent backups of both the installed files and the database. Also make sure you're keeping up to date on Wordpress security patches. You might want to use something like CodeGuard to make the backup/restore process easier.
Full disclosure: I used to work for the company that did some of CodeGuard's development. But I never worked on it myself, and the recommendation is based only on the fact that it's an awesome idea and a great product.
posted by duien at 9:12 AM on May 24, 2012
If you decide to host your own Wordpress, make sure you're taking frequent backups of both the installed files and the database. Also make sure you're keeping up to date on Wordpress security patches. You might want to use something like CodeGuard to make the backup/restore process easier.
Full disclosure: I used to work for the company that did some of CodeGuard's development. But I never worked on it myself, and the recommendation is based only on the fact that it's an awesome idea and a great product.
posted by duien at 9:12 AM on May 24, 2012
The profit line was a joke.
There are plug ins for Wordpress that will automate the back up process and harden your install to eliminate the most obvious vectors for attack. However, as long as you click the update button when it tells you that a new version is available you'll probably be fine. I've had a self-hosted Wordpress site since about 2004 and although I have been hacked a couple of times, I don't think Wordpress was the problem in either case.
posted by COD at 9:28 AM on May 24, 2012
There are plug ins for Wordpress that will automate the back up process and harden your install to eliminate the most obvious vectors for attack. However, as long as you click the update button when it tells you that a new version is available you'll probably be fine. I've had a self-hosted Wordpress site since about 2004 and although I have been hacked a couple of times, I don't think Wordpress was the problem in either case.
posted by COD at 9:28 AM on May 24, 2012
Response by poster: so the $99 upgrade pro package makes sense? Significantly better than free Blogspot?
posted by ebesan at 9:47 AM on May 24, 2012
posted by ebesan at 9:47 AM on May 24, 2012
What's the Pro plan? I don't see that on the Hostgator site. All you need at Hostgator is the cheapest plan - Hatching.
posted by COD at 10:31 AM on May 24, 2012
posted by COD at 10:31 AM on May 24, 2012
Response by poster: I mean the WordPress $99 Value Bundle. As opposed to the free WordPress I now have.
posted by ebesan at 10:56 AM on May 24, 2012
posted by ebesan at 10:56 AM on May 24, 2012
I can't find anything about a Wordpress value bundle on the hostgator site, so I have no idea what it includes, and whether it would be worthwhile. Given the goals you describe though, I can't imagine that it is going to include anything that's really going to help beyond what you can get from Wordpress "out of the box" + maybe a theme and some plugins.
posted by Good Brain at 1:54 PM on May 24, 2012
posted by Good Brain at 1:54 PM on May 24, 2012
I mean the WordPress $99 Value Bundle. As opposed to the free WordPress I now have.
That's only good value if you don't have your own site and want to do everything with Wordpress and have a blog popular enough to justify it.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:28 AM on May 25, 2012
That's only good value if you don't have your own site and want to do everything with Wordpress and have a blog popular enough to justify it.
posted by MartinWisse at 12:28 AM on May 25, 2012
ebesan, there's WordPress-the-software (which some people call "wordpress.org") which is free, and WordPress-the-company-that-provides-WordPress-hosting (at "wordpress.com") which is not.
People here are suggesting you use the free software on a different hosting provider (HostGator).
One advantage of using the WordPress-company-hosted WordPress is that they handle upgrades for you. WordPress needs upgrading relatively frequently; on the other hand, upgrading is pretty easy.
If you want to use wordpress.com to host your blogs, which might not be a bad idea if you don't want to deal with installing and upgrading and so on, use the free plan until/unless you find that there is something that you need to pay for in the $99/year plan. Specifically it offers:
Domain Name & Mapping
10GB Space Upgrade
No Ads
Custom Design
VideoPress
Do you need any of those? If so, pay. If not, don't!
The main limitations of hosting with wordpress.com are that you get only WordPress, you can't run anything else on your account there; and that you're limited in terms of what themes and plugins you can use (especially plugins).
posted by mendel at 9:58 AM on May 25, 2012
People here are suggesting you use the free software on a different hosting provider (HostGator).
One advantage of using the WordPress-company-hosted WordPress is that they handle upgrades for you. WordPress needs upgrading relatively frequently; on the other hand, upgrading is pretty easy.
If you want to use wordpress.com to host your blogs, which might not be a bad idea if you don't want to deal with installing and upgrading and so on, use the free plan until/unless you find that there is something that you need to pay for in the $99/year plan. Specifically it offers:
Domain Name & Mapping
10GB Space Upgrade
No Ads
Custom Design
VideoPress
Do you need any of those? If so, pay. If not, don't!
The main limitations of hosting with wordpress.com are that you get only WordPress, you can't run anything else on your account there; and that you're limited in terms of what themes and plugins you can use (especially plugins).
posted by mendel at 9:58 AM on May 25, 2012
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2. Export content from other blogs (if you want to keep it) and import into new blog at HostGator.
3. Delete old free blogs once you have stuff imported into new blog under your domain at Hostgator.
4. Profit?
posted by COD at 8:33 AM on May 24, 2012