WordPress.com as a recommended host

  • Resolved owlinatree

    (@owlinatree)


    10 years, 3 months ago

    Hi, I’m new to WordPress but want to build a website for a client using WordPress.

    Where I’m stuck is in deciding on the hosting. I don’t understand why WordPress.com is not featured on WordPress.org site as a featured host. I’ve read through a lot of recommendations on how to make sure you choose the right host (and the right theme) and I want to get it right from the get-go, since I have the luxury of a little time.

    It seems just from a novice standpoint that choosing WordPress.com as a host would work really well because it’s tied to WordPress.org and you’d probably be getting the latest knowledge on updates, fixes, support, expertise, etc. Is that correct to assume?

    Can anyone give any of their experience on WordPress.com as a hosting service for a WordPress-powered site using a premium theme?

    What am I missing? Thanks, so excited to start using WordPress!

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Tom

    (@tomfromtechnoteamblog)

    10 years, 3 months ago

    With WordPress.com, you can’t run the actual WordPress.org software, and you can only use the modified version for WP.com blogs. This modified version of WordPress doesn’t have plugins and things like that.

    Thread Starter owlinatree

    (@owlinatree)

    10 years, 3 months ago

    Thanks Tom. Oh, that doesn’t sound so ideal then?

    If WordPress.com is not a direct way to host and integrate with WordPress.org, I can’t exactly understand what’s the point.

    Appreciate the time you took to answer my question.

    bemdesign

    (@bemdesign)

    10 years, 3 months ago

    Just to add on to this – WordPress.com is basically a giant WordPress multisite run by automattic, a company that Matt Mullenweg helps run. Matt being one of the creative minds that helped develop WordPress (and continues to support its development).
    WordPress.com allows users to quickly (and fairly cost-effectively) run a website and let the WordPress.com folks do the server administration work, keeping things up to date and running smoothly and safely. But with the ease of use of this service comes some caveats – you only have a limited and controlled set of themes and plugins to use, you can’t install your own plugins or themes, and depending on the service plan you choose, you may have limited file space, and ads may be run on your site, etc. That’s not to say WordPress.com isn’t a great place to run a WordPress site – but it does mean you will need to play by the WordPress.com’s services rules and limitations and use their highly configured WordPress software on their servers. It’s not for self-installed WordPress sites which can allow you much more freedom (along with the responsibilities and risks that come from that). For more info on WordPress.com’s services see: http://store.wordpress.com/bundles/

    Thread Starter owlinatree

    (@owlinatree)

    10 years, 3 months ago

    thanks to everyone for helping me work through this.

    If anyone else is looking for answers regarding this matter, the answers above are very helpful and I also found a very simplified and good analogy of comparing the decision-making on self-hosted versus WordPress.com.

    http://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/wordpress-org-vs-wordpress-com/

    For myself, I just don’t know how difficult self-hosting would be so WordPress.com looks attractive. For $99 a year I can get no ads, one custom domain name and moderate bandwidth. Also I get the great functionality of the WordPress software without the headache of updating the software when a new version comes out. The themes on WordPress.com look great (there are 225 of them, I know I could find one that works and modify it slightly).

    I feel like most people who are commenting on this online (who are probably developers or designers) strongly lean towards self-hosting because of the amount of control.

    In the end it’s a personal decision and it’s great to have options. Thanks again.

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    🏳️‍🌈 Advisor and Activist

    10 years, 3 months ago

    Per the Forum welcome, we close topics like this due to the amount of spam that they attract. The WordPress team has provided a list of a few recommended hosting providers. For more details and other recommendations, please search through the forums or via Google (or your preferred search engine).

    (Note: By closing this post I neither support nor condemn the use of the servers listed on the wordpress.org official hosting page, and encourage you to search around.)

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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