WordPress, Domain Names and Web Hosting Basics

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org

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Tips on Choosing a Domain Name and Hosting Provider

By Chris Burgess, @chrisburgess (Slides will be posted on Meetup after the talk)

Who am I?

what co-workers think I do

what my family thinks I do what my friends think I do what society thinks I do

what my clients think I do what I actually do

Image credit: http://twistedsifter.com

Chris Burgess @chrisburgess

•  Worked in IT with a passion for

web technologies for almost 20

years.

•  Run my own business helping

clients tackle the web and run a

few of my own websites.

•  Run training workshops to help

keep me on my toes!

•  Regularly go to Meetups and co-

manage WordPress and

Melbourne SEO Meetups.

What am I going to cover?

I’ll cover…

•  What is WordPress?

•  What is WordPress.com?

•  What is WordPress.org?

•  WordPress.com VS WordPress.org

•  Domains

•  Hosting

What is WordPress?

•  Now grown to be the largest self-hosted CMS in the world

•  Used on millions of sites

•  Seen by tens of millions of people every day

•  Everything from the documentation to the code itself, was created by

and for the community.

•  WordPress is an Open Source project

–  hundreds of people all over the world working on it (more than

most commercial platforms)

–  free to use it without paying anyone a license fee and a number of

other important freedoms

WordPress…

•  Started in 2003 by Matt Mullenweg

•  Single bit of code to enhance the typography of

everyday writing

Source: h*ps://wordpress.org/about Image: h*p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ma*_Mullenweg

There are LOADS of CMS platforms…

WordPress is the most popular by far…

Image: h*p://trends.builtwith.com/cms

How do I get WordPress?

There are 2 flavours …

images.goodfood.com.au/2013/10/18/4840227

WordPress.com and

WordPress.org (commonly referred to as self-hosted)

WordPress.com

WordPress.com

Example of a WordPress.com site

Image: h9p://tpvswp.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/blix.jpg

WordPress.com

Get a free website. Some limitations.

•  Commercial enterprise owned and run by Automattic a company that was

started by the founder of WordPress

•  Shared hosting platform that uses WordPress

•  Anyone can get a FREE hosted version of WordPress

•  Uses the same WordPress software that you can download from

WordPress.org

•  Great for people new to websites

•  Easy to setup from many different themes available

•  Spam protection, backups, security and upgrades are looked after for you

•  There are ads with the free account

•  You can upgrade to a paid account within WordPress.com if you outgrow your

free account

•  You can migrate to self hosted site at any time

WordPress.com prices

vip.wordpress.com

What is WordPress.org?

WordPress.org

WordPress.org…

Free download and DIY. No limits.

•  You’ll need a domain name and hosting (we’ll cover this

later).

•  Ability to use free (and paid) WordPress plugins (software

functionality) and WordPress themes (look and feel)

•  Support forums and the WordPress Codex

•  You have more flexibility with this option

•  You may need some technical knowledge (or help) to be

able to set up and run the website

•  You are responsible for backups, upgrades and security

of your site (although most hosts help with this)

WordPress.org typical pricing

•  It’s free to download a copy of WordPress

•  Pay around $10 per year for a domain

•  Pay around $100 per year for “basic” website hosting

•  With some technical knowledge you can learn to do

updates, backups, maintenance and monitoring

otherwise you may need to allocate some time or budget

to get professional help when needed

Which one should I use?

WordPress.com WordPress.org

“I just want to blog – can’t someone manage the hard

stuff for me?”

Beginners Hobbyists

Limited Budget

“I need more functionality, control and a

professional site”

Businesses eCommerce Community Applications


•  Free •  Free hosting (limited

storage)

•  Free wordpress.com

domain

•  Looks after all the

updates, backups and

security

•  Paid upgrades available

•  Free to download,

but… •  Pay for hosting

•  Pay for domain name

•  You need to look after

the updates, backups,

maintenance,

monitoring and security


•  Easy to setup and

maintain

•  Harder to setup and

maintain (although not that

hard if you come along to these

meetups!)

•  Need some technical

knowledge

•  Need to have access to your

cPanel and/or FTP to be able

to install

•  Some hosting providers do

offer a one click install

•  Generally free account not

seen as very professional •  Displays ads on your site

(could be your competitor)

•  A subdomain doesn’t look very

professional e.g

example.wordpress.com

•  There are premium upgrades

you can use to achieve some

customisation e.g own domain

and remove ads

•  Looks more

professional •  Complete control of how

your website appears

•  Remove footer links

•  No ads (unless you want

your own)

•  Complete control to

extend and integrate

with other systems


•  Harder to modify •  You can’t modify the

source code

•  You can’t use plugins

•  Restriction on themes

•  Easier to modify •  You can modify the PHP

source code

•  You can use/buy a theme

and upload it or build your

own (using PHP, CSS etc.)

•  You can use plugins to

extend the functionality of

your site (in my view the

most important feature!)


In summary, it comes down to your

specific needs.

For more help on using WordPress visit:

http://wordpress.org/support

http://codex.wordpress.org

http://easywpguide.com

Domain Names and Hosting

Jargon Buster!

What is…

•  Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

•  World Wide Web (www)

•  Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

•  Web Server

•  Web Browser

•  Internet Service Provider (ISP)

•  Domain Registrar

•  Domain Registry

•  Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML)

•  PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP)

•  Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

•  IP Address (192.168.1.212)

•  Domain Name (example.com.au)

•  Web Host

•  Content Management System (CMS)

Think of it like a house…

Image: h9p://dodynamic.com/latest-‐news/a-‐website-‐is-‐like-‐a-‐house/

Domain Names

The address the internet uses to find a

website

.com.au .net.au .org.au

.id.au .asn.au

.com .net .org

Common domain name extensions…

.io .info

.co .tv

Soon you can get .anything

.me

Examples of good domain names

•  Here’s a list from DNTrade of the Top 10 domain sales

over the last few years in Australia:

1.  CarLoan.com.au $200,000+

2.  Cruises.com.au $110,000

3.  HomeLoan.com.au - $100,000+

4.  Hobart.com.au - $65,000

5.  HomeLoanCalculator.com.au - $33,001

6.  CarInsurance.net.au - $30,001

7.  MySuper.com.au $28,001

8.  CreditReport.com.au - $27,500

9.  CurrencyConverter.com.au - $27,500

10.  CreditCards.net.au - $22,002

How to choose a domain name

•  Keep it short

•  Clear business use

•  Easy to spell

•  Easy to remember

•  Passes the radio test

•  Usually best to try avoid using numbers and hyphens

•  Unique

•  Generally most prefer a .com for an international business and .com.au

for an Australian business

•  Check the domain is available. Type it in to your browser or check

availability at your registrar

•  Check out local marketplaces for ideas or to make an offer on an

existing domain

Some popular domain name registrars and prices for an available .com.au

$19.95 2 years

$49.95 2 years

$19.98 2 years

$49.95 2 years

Some popular .au domain name marketplaces…

How do I register a domain name?

•  Get an account with one of auDA’s accredited registrars

•  Check the registrar offers the domain extension that you want and the

price for registration

•  For an Australian country code top level domain (ccTLD) like a

a .com.au or .net.au you need to:

–  Be an Australian resident with an ABN or ACN

–  For .org.au you must be a non-commercial organisation (e.g charity)

–  Domain must have a close and substantial connection with your

business

–  Visit the auDA domain name eligibility and allocation policy rules for

more information

•  No restrictions for registering Top Level Domains (TLDs) like .com, .net

or .org

How much does a domain name cost?

•  If it’s not currently registered typically around $10 per

year

•  If it is currently registered you have a couple of

options:

–  Choose different extension or domain

–  If the domain is not being used yet you could approach

the owner to buy it (you can do a WHOIS search at

AusRegistry to get the contact details)

For more help and info on domains visit:

http://ausregistry.com.au/

http://www.auda.org.au/

https://www.dntrade.com.au/

Hosting

Image: h9p://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/3712908/burnt+bitch/31#31

How to choose a hosting provider

•  Server location: Australian vs International

•  Features: What storage, bandwidth, email and other

quotas do you get? Does it offer cPanel?

•  Price: How much do they charge? (Expect to pay around

$100 per year to get basic hosting)

•  Support: What support do they provide and how? Tip:

Test it out before you buy to see how they respond to you.

•  Feedback: Check out the online customer reviews and

feedback (talk to the people at this Meetup!)

•  Platform: Recommend Linux/Unix platform.

Popular Hosting Providers

Check out my blog post on Australian hosPng providers: h9p://chrisburgess.com.au/australian-‐web-‐hosPng-‐providers/

Monitoring

•  Free uptime monitoring for 1 website with Pingdom

For more help on Aussie hosting visit:

http://www.webhostingtalk.com.au

https://www.dntrade.com.au/hosting

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum/116

Recap time!

•  What is WordPress

•  What is WordPress.com

•  What is WordPress.org

•  WordPress.com VS WordPress.org

•  Tips on choosing a domain name

•  Tips on choosing a hosting provider

The end…

Hey Chris! I want more!

Get yourself

along to the WordPress

Meetups ☺

Question Time!

Other Sources: h*p://en.support.wordpress.com/com-‐vs-‐org/ h*p://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/11/14/com-‐or-‐org/ h*ps://wordpress.org h*p://wordpress.com

Technology

WordPress, Domain Names and Web Hosting Basics