WordPress is a great bit of software, and by far the easiest way to get up and running with it is to use the usually free hosted version at WordPress.com.
It’s even easier to get started than ever, with Learn WordPress.com – a cool new site taking you through all the features in 10 simple lessons.
I am sorely tempted to switch this blog over to WordPress.com myself. Currently I self hosted, meaning I downloaded the files from WordPress.org, paid for some web hosting, installed the software and then added all the plugins and themes I wanted.
I’ve done this for the last five years, but over that time WP has become more and more complicated and a bigger challenge to keep on top of. Hosting your own site is still worth it if you are desperate for a stylish custom template, or a load of cool functionality. But to be honest, DavePress is just a blog, and so could easily be hosted at WordPress.com.
I’ll let you know what I decide!
I’m the other way round – I’m hosted on WP.com but wonder if I’d be better having a WP.org install; however, I simply cannot fathom a reason why I would, other than probably having server space to deploy things that I’ve fiddled with (codey things) so I’m sticking with .com for now.
I think a few years ago there was a bit of a stigma that not having a self hosted site looked unprofessional, however I think in the age of Twitter, Facebook et al where people are more comfortable with using online tools to express themselves, there is more acceptance of going down that route.
To be honest Andrew, if I could get my export file to work properly I would have switched to WP.com by now.
Here’s two recent examples of why. The other day this blog was broken because of memory issues on the (shared) host. WordPress these days needs quite a bit of memory to run, and I ended up spending hours googling to find out how I edit my php.ini file to give WP more memory. I cannot be bothered with this.
Secondly, right now I cannot schedule posts on this blog. A couple of weeks ago it was working, now it isn’t. I could spend hours googling to find the solution – but I can’t be bothered.
A little while ago, I was a hobbyist WP hacker, and I liked playing around with it and trying out the latest plugins etc… but it’s got too complicated now and is beyond my modest tech skills. So I use WP purely as a content creator now, and for that, WP.com probably meets every need I have. Hell, I use the default WP theme on here, so it’s not like I’ll be missing out on much!
Hi, I’m the editor for Learn WordPress.com. If you have a minute, I’d love to know more about what you liked about LearnWordPress.com, didn’t like, etc.
Thanks! And it’s super easy to export your content to a WP.com blog if you’re tempted to make the switch.