Understanding WordPress
A WordPress Setup Walk-through
What's Inside?
Quickly start your own WordPress website for personal or professional use. This website gives you access to video tutorials, plugins and other resources to get you up and running. You will be guided through purchasing hosting, installing/setting up WordPress, installing the best plugins, working with themes, creating content, setting up an eStore, connecting the site with Google tools, and more
What is WordPress?
wordpress.COM overview
When we think of WordPress our minds often jump straight to WordPress.com. This is not bad, but it does tend to confuse what WordPress really is. Think of WordPress like a free program you can download on your computer. WordPress.com is actually a business that has installed the WordPress program on their computer and allows you to access it. This is nice of them because you don’t need to worry about installing the program or paying for the computer (or web hosting) that the program is installed on. Since it is on their computer you have many restrictions on what you can do with the program. WordPress.com then charges you if you want to have additional functionality (custom domain name, access to CSS, additional storage, etc). Using WordPress in this way is what we refer to as .COM.
wordpress.ORG overview
Since WordPress is just a free program we can actually install it on our own computer or hosting account. This does require us to purchase hosting through someone like Bluehost. Bluehost and other hosting companies make it really easy to install the free WordPress program, which gives you total control over the program. You can change any of the files, you are set up with a custom domain, and you have as much storage as your hosting company provides. Using WordPress in this way is what we refer to as .ORG.
We will be using .ORG
You will be taught how to use the .ORG WordPress method on this website. You will need to purchase hosting and a domain name, and then you will install the free WordPress program on your website. Please make sure that you are not using the .COM method. This will not work with the instructions outlined on this site.
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to use a free wordpress.com?
A free wordpress.com account is free for the basic setup. If you want your site to look professional, be customized to you, have nearly limitless functionality, and many other benefits you will need to pay either way. The tables below break down the costs of using a .COM and .ORG WordPress account.
| Features | .COM |
| Hosting | FREE |
| Domain Name | $5-$13 |
| Advertisements | YES, but you don’t get the money |
| Plugins | Only Approved (free & paid) |
| Themes | Only Approved (free & paid) |
| Custom Design | $30 |
| Space/Audio Uploads | $20-$290 |
| No Ads! | $30 to remove ads |
| Total Cost | $65+ |
| Features | .ORG |
| Hosting | $60-$80 |
| Domain Name | Included with hosting |
| Advertisements | You can setup your own ads if wanted |
| Plugins | ANY (free & paid) |
| Themes | ANY (free & paid) |
| Custom Design | FREE |
| Space/Audio Uploads | Unlimited/Free |
| No Ads! | FREE No ads by default |
| Total Cost | $60+ |