Yesterday, Ti asked me what moving to self-hosting entailed. I answered her with a long, rambling email, which she then suggested I post. So apologies for the rambliness, but it was a very long, very involved (4-day) weekend. Also, keep in mind that I moved from Blogger, so I also had to adapt to WordPress. And sorry for my exuberence with the parentheses…I kind of approached my response like I approached my move.
My response to Ti:
If you use a simple theme and don’t want a lot of customization, it shouldn’t be that bad.
But. I like to play with the coding (which can be dangerous, because I don’t really know what I’m doing)…which is how I get my custom background and header and colors. So I spent at least a day finding a theme that would allow me to make the changes I wanted.
Then I had some bugs I had to figure out how to fix. My feed was wonky…I spent yesterday working on that. My sidebar disappeared to the bottom for awhile (but only on certain posts)…that took Sunday to resolve.
Plus, I already had my domain name and was using it, so there was that. I think I did things backwards. Because as soon as I linked my domain name to my web host people were seeing the WordPress blog as I went from theme to theme to theme to design to design to design.
There’s got to be a good order to do things in, I’m just not sure what. I’m guessing…
-Buy a domain name.
-Figure out who you will self-host through, and set up that account. You might be able to get the domain name through your web host. I already had my name through Google. And my web host is Bluehost. That was actually easy. Bluehost has lots of tutorials. Set up WordPress through bluehost (or whatever host you choose).
-Import your blog to WordPress. This actually was really easy for me, but I know bethany had issues, and a few other people.
-Find a theme that works (there are literally hundreds…and if you just set up WordPress, you can’t use them all…you have to self-host or upgrade to get into the good stuff. But if you Google WordPress themes you can see how they look (but not necessarily how they will perform for your blog)). Tinker with it. Tinker with it some more. Add widgets. Add plugins. Figure out how it all works. Delete plugins. Add more plugins. You get the picture… I’m picky…I knew I wanted the navigation bar under my header, the background color of the comments to match my blog. It’s the stuff like this that took me HOURS to figure out. If you stick with a theme with a white background, life will be SO much easier.
-Let people know you moved and pray they update their feed reader.
If I had it to do over again I would have done some research before diving in. As in, what I needed from a theme, what features I wanted to focus on (are threaded comments important to you? how many columns do you want?), what I wanted my blog to look like (as in will you need a custom header, background images, what hex colors do you want to use), is it possible to redirect feeds, how am I going to let people know I moved… Also, I think I’d ask people what problems they had and how they resolved them. So you know what to avoid, or what you might encounter. I did so much by trial and error I don’t think I could explain what all I did. I just kept Googling error messages and problems until I found something that worked.
I do like my blog and how it works (especially the threaded comments…I hated blogger’s pop-up window!), although I haven’t checked all my past posts…I’m sure there are some issues lurking. And I still have to finish the sidebar. But would I recommend self-hosting? I’m not sure. It’s a lot of work (plus about $100 for the domain name and the web host). I think you need to block out time to do it (or pay someone and hope they get right…evidently that doesn’t always work out well for people either).
I think it’s much easier for people already on WordPress to self-host. For us blogger people…not so easy. I’d quiz former blogger-bloggers and see what other people say.
So there you have it. My experiences all jumbled together. I would highly suggest polling others before making the move and getting a list of problems that you might encounter, as well as a list of people that might be able to help you work through them.
Also, I discovered today that my blog displays a slight gap between the header and the body on certain versions of certain browsers. So now I have that thought lurking in my head and bugging me. It’s seemingly never-ending.
Do you have anything you’d like to add about moving to a self-hosted blog? Any tips or warnings or corrections to my ramblings?
You did such a great job. I’m impressed with how much you customized it!
.-= Nymeth´s last blog ..The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively =-.
Thanks Nymeth!
That does sound like a lot of work – I don’t think I’m ready for it right now.
.-= Kathy´s last blog ..Wondrous Words Wednesday =-.
3 words…Giant. Time, Suck.
I’m full of admiration; I can’t even figure out stuff for non self-hosted blogs!
.-= rhapsodyinbooks´s last blog ..Review of “Reversible Errors” by Scott Turow =-.
Breaking stuff is a great incentive for learning what to do.
I think after the 1st of the year I will try to find someone to just do it all for me. Wait, that’s scary too. Er… I will think on it more.
.-= Ti´s last blog ..Review: The Danish Girl =-.
I know some people have had success, so that might just be the right way to go. Just ask around for recommendations.
I’m lucky to have a couple friends who do web design, and one of them suggested I register with godaddy.com. So I did. She then designed my blog header for a reasonable fee, and moved everything over from blogger to the wordpress platform for me. I don’t think I could have done it all on my own like you did! Yours is looking good!
.-= Valerie´s last blog ..World Citizen Challenge: “We Look Like the Enemy” =-.
Aha, the best advice yet…find techie friends!
I am feeling change is in order. I’m happy where I am so I’m not looking to self-host. But your paragraph about knowing what features and such you want–I’m so lost. I don’t know what I want. And that’s where I’m stuck. Anyhow, that’s neither here nor there. I appreciate you posting about your switch-over experience. It definitely gives me something to think about.
I’m happy for now, but will remember your experience if I ever decide to move from Blogger.
.-= Beth F´s last blog ..Thursday Tea: Mind Scrambler by Chris Grabenstein =-.
Resisting temptation to try this myself. But I am noting your helpful post for future reference
.-= Joanne´s last blog ..Review & Giveaway ♦ Wait Until Twilight =-.
Aww, come on, you know you want to.
Seriously…don’t do it right before starting school!
Thanks for sharing! I’ve thought of switching to WordPress but I’m so comfy with blogger at the moment… Anyway, I think you’ve done a great job, Jill!
.-= Melody´s last blog ..Wordless Wednesday =-.
Comfortable is good!
I just moved my blog over the last few days — your list seems pretty accurate to all the stuff I had to do. If I could do it over again, I’d have made a better plan before I started rather than just going through the process randomly like I did. I feel like it would have been a little less stressful if I’d done better planning
.-= Kim (Sophisticated Dorkiness)´s last blog ..Check Out My “New” Blog! =-.
The new site looks great, I’ve updated my feed reader.
I switched to self-hosted about a year ago (also WordPress on BlueHost). I’ve been thinking I’d like to change my setup ever so slightly (would like the main page to be wider, and perhaps have 3 columns), but I don’t have the time to tinker with it now. I’m making a wish list so I have a plan of attack (step 1, learn what CSS is!)
As for your check list, it looks complete to me. The one thing I might add is … if you’re thinking you’d like to change “someday,” do it sooner than later. I don’t know if there’s any way to redirect incoming links, so any inbound links, technorati/alexa/google etc rankings will be lost.
And buying a domain name is only $10-15 a year. I think that’s a smart thing for anyone to do (so http://www.myblog.com will redirect to your .wordpress or .blogspot blog)
Hey, what do you know … I have a lot of parentheses (and ellipses), too!
.-= Dawn – She is Too Fond of Books´s last blog ..Book Giveaway: *The Curse of the Good Girl* by Rachel Simmons =-.
I am impressed with the new digs. Now I have to figure out how to change the URL in my sidebar! LOL
Given the challenges that you faced I think that I shall just stay put.
.-= Jerry´s last blog ..Photo Hunt – Orange =-.
I am really impressed! Great job. I really like the minor changes that you made and am glad that you are happier with the new wordpress blog.
I found this post so interesting. One day I might switch over. Still need to learn more about html and stuff first though. I recently set up a iWeb website for work. That was interesting. I screwed it up after a week when I decided I wanted to make a new first page. Deleted the old one and lost all the links! I have also set up a few blogger pages but nothing like what you have just done.
If I ever do decide to go it on my own, I am contacting you
Oooohhhh, just read Jerry’s comment and realized I didn’t change my link on my sidebar either for your blog! Did it in google reader but forgot about my sidebar link for you. Off to do that now!
.-= girasoli´s last blog ..boat ride to Isola Pescatori =-.
Me again… ok that was really strange! I went to change your link on my sidebar and it is already changed to your new blog link! I swear I did not make that change!! Did a gremlin do it?? Very strange! fizzythoughts.com is your new blog url now isn’t it??
.-= girasoli´s last blog ..boat ride to Isola Pescatori =-.
Well, I’m getting your feed OK so it seems to be working … I didn’t do anything special. And I love your little doodads. Thanks for posting this … I’ve heard a lot of people tell me I should self-host but I didn’t feel ready. And I hate that I started out with Blogger — I realized about 6 months in I had made a mistake and should probably have gone with WordPress. I was actually thinking of taking this little trip in the new year so this post is quite useful. I will be bookmarking. My ace up my sleeve is my computer geek husband … I try to do things myself but when I screw it up, I call him in and get him all aggravated and mad at me .. but he can usually figure it out.
.-= Jenners´s last blog ..BBAW … Be Sure to Vote and Write =-.
Congratulations on the move! Your new blog looks great!
It is weird that your feed broke for me, but not others. I recommend letting every know you are planning to move, so they can check their feed is up to date. I’m so sorry I missed this – I’m feeling really guilty for taking a month to notice that you’d disappeared. I promise to keep a better eye on you in future!
.-= Jackie (Farm Lane Books)´s last blog ..Hotel du Lac – Anita Brookner =-.