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View Full Version : Go through wordpress diectly?



JacobBergeron
10-04-2011, 11:43 AM
I was going to host through a site like godaddy or host gator and use wordpress to make the site and manage it. However I noticed wordpress offers .com domains for only 17.00$/yr. Should I simply go through them instead of using another hosting company? The price seems to cheap, are there any down falls? does it really matter if I go through them or another hosting site?

vangogh
10-04-2011, 11:52 AM
What you're looking at going through WordPress directly is WordPress.com. They give you free hosting though they limit what you can do with your site. You'll only be able to use the approved themes and plugins of WordPress.com for example. The selection of both is growing though.

I think you're better off buying a domain and hosting WordPress yourself. You'll have more access to what's happening behind the scenes of your site, more control over what happens with it, a wider variety of options for what to do with it, etc. Setting up WordPress (from WordPress.org) on your hosting account gives you more independence than going through WordPress.org. You can get hosting for less than $100 a year, which I think is a good price for the extra independence it gives you.

That said there's nothing wrong with going through WordPress.com to start if you want. They're pretty good about making it relatively pain free to move to a self-hosted WordPress.org installation at a later time. WordPress.com can be a good way to start out with WordPress and get your feet wet, though in time you'll most likely want to move to a self-hosted install.

JacobBergeron
10-04-2011, 11:59 AM
Alright. Thanks Van for your advise. I will look at other hosting sites and take that route. Seems to be the smarter decision as I would like as much freedom to do as I wish as possible.

vangogh
10-04-2011, 12:24 PM
I have several clients on HostGator (http://www.hostgator.com/). I just checked and they do have a monthly option for $7.16/month. That price comes down in half if you're willing to commit to 3 years, but they did have the monthly option.

I usually get my domains from GoDaddy. I like having all my domains in a single place. If you register a domain through GoDaddy just watch what you're clicking on. They'll make the link you want next in the signup process very small and make a big button leading to an upsell big and obvious. Check your cart with them before giving them your credit card information.

JacobBergeron
10-04-2011, 07:39 PM
I went with GoDaddy as I found them to be reasonably priced with their short term commitment packages. I opted for the tri-monthly billing cycle as it allows me to reevaluate my web presence every ninety days.

Now the next task is to create the site using wordpress, I like how GoDaddy has the instant page which allows me to put at least basic info online for the time being.

Thanks for the guidance Van, I appreciate it as always.

vangogh
10-05-2011, 12:25 AM
Glad to help. GoDaddy isn't my favorite hosting just so you know. I do have clients who use them and haven't run into any issues, but I've heard enough complaints about them to make me choose someone else. Again I've never had any problems with them so don't be nervous.

You should be able to install WordPress through your control panel (or whatever they call it) with GoDaddy. I'm pretty sure there's a link to click that will install it for you. You'll have to enter an email address for the admin account. You should be able to rename the admin account on install too and it's a good idea to make it something other than admin. I think the initial password is auto generated for you, though you can change it later.

It really should be a simple matter of a few clicks to have it all installed. Once you have WordPress up and running let me know and I can help walk you through a few things.

Business Attorney
10-05-2011, 10:08 AM
I'm no internet pro, but my advice would be to stay away from hosting with companies that provide their own custom control panel, dashboard or whatever they may name it (e.g., GoDaddy and 1&1). Maybe if that is the only website you ever have, you will get used to it, but I have found that the custom control panels are often not as intuitive or as complete as the cpanel control panel that most hosting companies use.

vangogh
10-05-2011, 10:47 AM
I've used cPanel so much now anything else looks strange to me. cPanel isn't the only control panel, but it's definitely the dominant one for linux servers. I have been able to find what I need in GoDaddy's control panel, but it usually takes me a few extra minutes.

JacobBergeron
10-05-2011, 05:29 PM
Alright Van, I have gone through the installation process and was sent the confirmation email that wordpress had been installed. In this email it says to enter the url it gives to "launch" wordpress. I enter that url into my browser and it just brings me to my GoDaddy instant page, which is not wordpress at all. Any ideas?

vangogh
10-05-2011, 07:05 PM
Could you send me the URL so I can take a look? You can send it in a PM if you don't want to post it directly.

JacobBergeron
10-05-2011, 07:14 PM
I have pm it to you

vangogh
10-06-2011, 01:02 AM
It looks like WordPress is up and running. Are you seeing it yet?

billbenson
10-06-2011, 11:46 PM
Glad to help. GoDaddy isn't my favorite hosting just so you know. I do have clients who use them and haven't run into any issues, but I've heard enough complaints about them to make me choose someone else. Again I've never had any problems with them so don't be nervous.

Don't confuse domain registration and hosting either. GoDaddy is a good domain registrar as long as you don't get tricked into the upsells.

GoDaddy as a host IMO is ok as a starting point for many but ultimately not a good host. Plan on changing down the road when you get more familiar with things.

Stay away from 1 and 1 and Network solutions. They both have a history of screwing customers.