This document summarizes a presentation about transitioning from WordPress.com to self-hosting a WordPress site. It discusses common questions about the transition, what WordPress is, the differences between WordPress.com and self-hosting, how to install WordPress, understand the site structure, migrate content, customize with themes and plugins, and whether self-hosting is the right choice.

1. 
CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jeff Vier @ Flickr
From Wordpress.com
to Self-hosted
The Vancouver WordPress Meetup Group · March 27, 2014
Luiza Libardi · @luizalibardi

2. 
Access public slides
http://luizalibardi.com/slides/wordpress-self-hosted.pdf

3. 
Roadmap
• Common questions
• What is WordPress
• WordPress.com
• Self-hosting
• Installing WordPress
• Understanding your site
• Migrating content
• Customizing
• Self-hosting: is it for me?

4. 
Common questions
• How do I transition from wordpress.com?
• Why should I do this?
• Is it for me?
• Can I handle my own WordPress site?
• Do I have to code?

5. 
What is WordPress?
Content Management System (CMS)
Top 3 Content Management Systems
a.k.a. publishing platform
50% 17% 6.4%
Source: http://visual.ly/most-popular-content-management-systems-2013

6. 
What is WordPress?
Open Source
GPLv2
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used, free
software license, which guarantees individuals, organizations
or companies the freedom to use, study, share, and modify
the software. The GPL guarantees:
• the freedom to use the software for any purpose
• the freedom to change the software to suit your needs
• the freedom to share the software
• the freedom to share the changes you make

7. 
• Create an account
• Free hosting
• Free subdomains name.wordpress.com
• Abide to their Terms of Service
• Restricted customization
• No access to FTP files or database
WordPress.com
   

8. 
Self-hosting: WordPress.org
• WordPress CMS repository (no login required)
• Themes and Plugins repository (no login required)
• Information about WordPress (no login required)
• Forums (login required)
   

9. 
Self-hosting: choosing a hosting company
Minimum requirements to run WP:
• PHP version 5.2.4 or greater
• MySQL version 5.0 or greater
• Memory usage 512MB
Also good to check:
• Active 24/7 support
• Uptime
Useful resource: https://wordpress.org/about/requirements/

10. 
Self-hosting: Filesystem and Database

• Files have a name and path (folders)
• Files have metadata associated with them
(last modification date, media type)
• Content is accessed through an FTP
software (such as Filezilla or Fetch)
• Content is a series of entries in a table
• Content can be "connected" to other
entries in the database system
• Content is accessed through an online
management system
WordPress uses PHP (programming language) to store and retrieve data from a database.
Databasefilesystem
More about WP database: http://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/beginners-guide-to-wordpress-database-management-with-phpmyadmin/

11. 
Installing WordPress
 root
 wp-admin
 wp-content
 wp-includes
index.php
license.txt
readme.html
wp-activate.php
wp-blog-header.php
wp-comments-post.php
wp-config-sample.php
wp-cron.php
wp-links-opml.php
wp-load.php
wp-login.php
wp-mail.php
wp-settings.php
wp-signup.php
wp-trackback.php
xmlrpc.php
If your hosting company doesn't provide a
automatic installation:
1. Download and unzip the WordPress package.
2. Create a database for WordPress on your web server, as well as a
MySQL user who has all privileges for accessing and modifying it.
3. (Optional) Find and rename wp-config-sample.php to wp-config.
php, then edit the file and add your database information.
4. Upload the WordPress files to the desired directory on your web
server.
5. Run the WordPress installation script by accessing the URL in a
web browser. This should be the URL where you uploaded the
WordPress files.
Detailed instructions: https://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress

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Understanding your site
How do I access my Dashboard?
Go to http://yourdomain.com/wp-admin

19. 
Understanding your site
Where are my posts stored? Why aren't they in the FTP?
Post contents are stored in the database along with comments, users, links and relationships.

20. 
Understanding your site
Where are my images and uploads?
Everything you upload via Media uploader, on your
Dashboard, goes to the uploads folder located under the
following structure: root/wp-content/uploads
The media is organized in subfolders named after the
year-month of the upload date.
 root
 wp-admin
 wp-content
index.php
 languages
 plugins
 themes
 uploads
 wp-includes
index.php
license.txt
readme.html
wp-activate.php
wp-blog-header.php
wp-comments-post.php
wp-config.php
wp-cron.php
wp-links-opml.php
wp-load.php
wp-login.php
wp-mail.php
wp-settings.php
wp-signup.php
wp-trackback.php
xmlrpc.php

21. 
WordPress.com offers a Site Redirect service available at the Store.
Migrating: redirect the readers
Detailed instructions: http://en.support.wordpress.com/site-redirect/
http://yoursite.wordpress.com
http://yoursite.com

22. 
Export your posts from WorPress.com
Migrating: bring your content

23. 
Import the posts to your website
Migrating: bring your content

24. 
Import the posts to your website
Migrating: bring your content

25. 
Import the posts to your website
Migrating: bring your content

26. 
Now, the fun part!

27. 
Customizing WordPress: Themes
What are Themes?
Get them at http://wordpress.org/themes/
Same content
Different views
More about Themes: http://codex.wordpress.org/Themes

28. 
Customizing WordPress: Themes
WordPress.com Self-hosted
Always work with Child Themes!

29. 
Customizing WordPress: Themes
Where to learn?
• w3schools CSS Tutorials
• w3schools HTML Tutorials
• A Beginner’s Guide to HTML & CSS
• An Advanced Guide to HTML & CSS
• WordPress Masterclass on Lynda.com

30. 
Customizing WordPress: Plugins
Plugins are pieces of
code to extend the
functionality of your site.
More about Plugins: http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugins
What are Plugins?
Get them at http://wordpress.org/plugins/

31. 
Customizing WordPress: Plugins
WordPress.com Self-hosted
Always check Ratings and Support!

32. 
Jetpack is a WordPress plugin released in 2011 that enables you to use features previously
only available on WordPress.com on your self-hosted WordPress.
Customizing WordPress: Plugins
• Stats
• Email subscriptions
• Social networking comment
system
• The WP.me URL shortener
• Embedded media
• Automatic posting to social
networks
• Grammar checker
• Embedded galleries
• CSS editor
• Mobile theme
• Sign in using your
WordPress.com log-in
credentials
• Alert you the moment that
downtime is detected
• And more...
Download link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/jetpack/

33. 
Self-hosting: is it for me?
$ Costs
• Domain (~$10/year)
• Hosting (~$20/month)
FYI: Worpress.com offers
domain mapping for $13/year
 Time
• Learning
• Developing
• Designing
• Creating content
• Promoting your site
 Goals
• What is your site for?
• Who is your audience?
• Comparative advantage:
what do you do best?
Interesting article: http://on.mash.to/1jED6q6

34. 
Thank you!
 luizalibardi.com
luizalibardi