How do Old School Bloggers Migrate to Wordpress?
October 11, 2020 12:43 PM Subscribe
The old school blog hosting website my parents use is shutting down, but they still want to blog! What am I looking for in a Wordpress manager? Are there other non-Wordpress options?
I've had some bad previous experiences with Wordpress websites at jobs being compromised and am thus willing to pay a bit more for a service that will truly stay on top of things. One blog is just a personal blog, but the other gets around 500 unique views a day. I'm not sure if this will affect pricing. Ideally, I want to use the same service for both.
I'm having trouble wading through all the self promotion around this topic. Thanks so much in advance hivemind!
I've had some bad previous experiences with Wordpress websites at jobs being compromised and am thus willing to pay a bit more for a service that will truly stay on top of things. One blog is just a personal blog, but the other gets around 500 unique views a day. I'm not sure if this will affect pricing. Ideally, I want to use the same service for both.
I'm having trouble wading through all the self promotion around this topic. Thanks so much in advance hivemind!
Best answer: Given Google's lack of attention to Blogger in recent years I'd be afraid to establish something new there. Wordpress.com auto updates - it's where I'd point somebody.
posted by COD at 3:20 PM on October 11, 2020
posted by COD at 3:20 PM on October 11, 2020
Best answer: wordpress.com is pretty inexpensive & they'll take care of security & all plugin/theme updates for you (at least, they will on the lower-level plans where you can't upload your own plugins/themes).
posted by belladonna at 4:33 PM on October 11, 2020
posted by belladonna at 4:33 PM on October 11, 2020
I have a free Wordpress.com account, and it actually couldn't be easier to make simple posts.
The most futzing I did was in the initial layout and design - I got a little too up my own ass in terms of figuring out what style I wanted, what widgets I wanted, should it be two columns or three, etc., but after fussing about that a while I finally just snapped out of it and went with something fairly simple, uploaded a header image, and got going. The agita I went through wasn't so much about Wordpress being difficult as it was me getting seduced by fancy bells and whistles for a few days before I realized they wouldn't fit my blog anyway.
Now, creating a post is simply a matter of clicking the big "Write" button at the top left, typing what I want to type, picking a category or two for my post if I want, and then hitting "publish."
I upgraded to buying my own domain, which costs only about $60-80 a year; but I could have been totally free if I wanted.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:39 PM on October 11, 2020
The most futzing I did was in the initial layout and design - I got a little too up my own ass in terms of figuring out what style I wanted, what widgets I wanted, should it be two columns or three, etc., but after fussing about that a while I finally just snapped out of it and went with something fairly simple, uploaded a header image, and got going. The agita I went through wasn't so much about Wordpress being difficult as it was me getting seduced by fancy bells and whistles for a few days before I realized they wouldn't fit my blog anyway.
Now, creating a post is simply a matter of clicking the big "Write" button at the top left, typing what I want to type, picking a category or two for my post if I want, and then hitting "publish."
I upgraded to buying my own domain, which costs only about $60-80 a year; but I could have been totally free if I wanted.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:39 PM on October 11, 2020
I'll nth wordpress.com. I have been using them for probably 15-ish years. My current blog is on their second tier paid plan. I played a bit with my own hosting a number of years back, and I wouldn't do it again.
I find their block editor hard to use, but that might just be me. I don't find it intuitive at all. That's the only negative thing I can say.
posted by kathrynm at 8:34 AM on October 12, 2020
I find their block editor hard to use, but that might just be me. I don't find it intuitive at all. That's the only negative thing I can say.
posted by kathrynm at 8:34 AM on October 12, 2020
I still self-host Wordpress. It's not a huge chore, but cleaning up after Automattic screw up yet another spam filter can be a pain.
posted by scruss at 9:54 AM on October 12, 2020
posted by scruss at 9:54 AM on October 12, 2020
Response by poster: Thanks for all the answers everyone! All very helpful to hear.
posted by likethenight at 5:25 PM on October 12, 2020
posted by likethenight at 5:25 PM on October 12, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Ferrari328 at 1:28 PM on October 11, 2020 [1 favorite]