WordPress.org

1. SandyBeach
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   OK, this is my first post here, so hello, and thanks to anyone in advance who can help me out!

   I am looking into using wordpress.org for my next website. I've used Typepad before for a blog, and currently have a MobileMe site built in iWeb. But I need better tools and capabilities (like Google adsense, other ads, forums), and just generally a more flexible and powerful platform. wordpress.org seems like it might be the ticket. I'm looking to create a site like Engadget, Gizmodo, TUAW, etc., with a SQL structure attached that allows people to comment AND upload stuff (a la icanhascheezburger).

   Here's the rub: I have read a bunch of stuff about wordpress.org and am still totally confused about what it can and can't do, what the back-end architecture is, how to set it up, etc. So far I've been unable to get the answers I need from my pro blogging friends, people on twitter, or any of the FAQs I've seen. So I'm hoping some folks here might be able to help me. My questions are much more about the architecture and abilities of wordpress.org--not technical coding stuff.

   If this is the wrong forum for this, just let me know, and I'm happy to go somewhere else to get my questions answered. But everyone here seems pretty knowledgeable (and nice, to boot), so I'm hoping you folks can give me a hand.

   Questions will follow if this seems like the right place to ask 'em.

2. SandyBeach
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   So before I lose my nerve, here are some questions:

   1. Can I put Google adsense ads on my wordpress.org website?
   2. Can I put videos on my wordpress.org website?
   3. Apparently with the wordpress.org system/architecture, I will be using wordpress software on my own computer to build my site, which is then "hosted" on a commercial host like Laughing Squid that I buy a hosting account at and then link to the domain name of my website. Do I need an ftp program like Transmit (by Panic) to copy/update the date on my Mac up to the mirrored files on the host computer at Laughing Squid? Or does the wordpress.org software have something built-in that does that? (I'm used to clicking "Publish" when working in iWeb to instantly ftp new files up to my MobileMe-hosted website, and I don't know how wordpress.org works.)

   Thanks for any answers!

3. Samuel B
   moderator
   Posted 2 years ago #

   1. Can I put Google adsense ads on my wordpress.org website?

   yes - you can add the code manually or use a plugin to assist you if code illiterate

   2. Can I put videos on my wordpress.org website?

   yes - there are options in the back end editor to do this and there are also several plugins to assist if needed

   Apparently with the wordpress.org system/architecture, I will be using wordpress software on my own computer to build my site, which is then "hosted" on a commercial host like Laughing Squid that I buy a hosting account at and then link to the domain name of my website.

   you can certainly do that but most folks just install it to their host space and modify as they go. If you want to test before buying, so to speak, use the following guide to install it on your computer
   http://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress_Locally_on_Your_Mac_With_MAMP
   I hear installing it on a mac can be a pain...

   Do I need an ftp program like Transmit (by Panic) to copy/update the date on my Mac up to the mirrored files on the host computer at Laughing Squid?

   If they don't have a one click install you will need an ftp client - you can update the software and install themes and plugins through the wordpress back end. Knowing how to do things manually puts you ahead of the game, though.

4. SandyBeach
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   Thanks, samboll!

   Yeah, I learned from a friend last night that the whole (old) iWeb/MobileMe architecture is not used with wordpress.org. The wordpress.org software, and all your pages, get installed on the host space you pay a hosting service for. It all lives there, and you edit your pages through a web interface from your computer (is that right>). Instant "publication" because you're editing/changing the code (your pages) right were it exists on the web server where it's stored.

   So I guess it's all really stored in the cloud (including the wordpress.org software used to edit all the pages and themes and widgets).

   I didn't even need to download and install the wordpress.org software on my Mac. In fact, instead, I should be installing it from wordpress.org directly to my space on web space hosting company (whoever I choose to go with). Now I know why so many hosting companies offer to set it up for you. Eliminates the middle man (my computer).

   So here's a question: what happens if I want to change to a different software (other than wordpress.org) 2 years down the road? How (well) is everything in wordpress.org format (including all the php pages) going to convert to something else?

   I've already been burned (once) by iWeb. All the pages I created in iWeb looked like crap when pulled into Dreamweaver or Coda, so it was too hard to convert.

5. batrachoid
   Member
   Posted 2 years ago #

   The ease of converting WordPress depends on what you want to convert it to, of course. And two years is a looooong time in software land so any guess made now would probably be way off but one would hope that compatability issues would become less intense.

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