Lorelle on WordPress is an excellent blog about WordPress. Her posts are often very useful and the blog is a great source of information. Since I am researching in order to decide where to blog in the future I have used some of her posts as springboards. There are lots of links and useful comments.
By the way, Lorelle runs that blog using the standard address “lorelle.wordpress.com” (she has other blogs elsewhere) while I have opted to use my own domain “fortyplustwo.com”. I see my own domain as a way to keep the same URL whether I stay at WordPress.com or move the blog elsewhere.
I currently run my blogs at WordPress.com which has its benefits (free and no need to worry about WordPress) but also limitations in things like themes and plugins (no java scripts allowed). Before that I have used WordPress at my own site for a while but decided to focus more on the writing, less on maintaining software at my site. I have also tried Textpattern and Joomla but decided to return to WordPress, this time in a hosted version which is why I ended up at WordPress.com.
In her post WordPress Versions – How Many and What’s the Diff? Lorelle sorts out which versions that exist. There is the official full version of WordPress, the hosted versions of WordPress, and the WordPressMU, the multi-user version of WordPress. Lorelle writes about each of these versions and then lists a series of questions under “Which Version Do I Choose?”. These questions are excellent and a great help in structuring why a certain version is your best option. Based om my answers I ought to return to WordPress at my own site since I want to be able to tweak WordPress (at least to some extent), use a theme of my own choice (and adjust it to my own style) and finally I want to be able to use some plugins.
This has made me start researching possible hosts for my blogs. A natural starting point is WordPress Web Hosting, information there is a bit out of date so check each host for prices and terms. Another list can be found at WordPress Hosting Directory. At Web Hosting Unleashed you can check reviews for the hosts that you consider. Lorelle recently wrote I Hate My Web Host, a really interesting post with lots of comments about hosting companies. I have also gotten valuable feedback from the discussion in LinkedinBloggers.
I administer my domains through Gandi since I want full domain ownership and control over my domains. It makes it easy to move from one host to another since I simply change DNS-servers, no trouble with getting my domains back from a webhost I intend to leave.
If you like me have several domains then take a look at Multiple Domain Hosting Guide to find some of the webhosts that will let you host multiple websites under one account.
My research this far has given me about a handful of possible hosts. There are WP-hosts like BlueHost, DreamHost and SiteGround. And then there are hosts like A Small Orange, Liquid Web, (mt) Media Temple and Spry. As usual both reviews and advice points in different directions, in the end it is all about going by your gut feeling. I will let this brew for a while before I decide where to run my blogs.
Update.
Here is a related post that is useful, Top 5 Reasons To Move From Free Hosting.
Update on June 28, 2007.
I have today moved the blog from WordPress.com to A Small Orange (ASO). After comparing facts about storage, band width (transfer) and price plus considering recommendations I decided to use shared hosting at ASO.
Update on March 13, 2008
Another move, see This blog has moved to Doreo.
I’ve seen a lot of blogs hosted by DreamHost. And I’d recommend it although I haven’t used. But I’d use next time if I need to transfer or manage a new domain.
Techcrunch is running on (mt), and they have a very unique service, grid-computing in the backend. If your blog has many accesses, then (mt) is also a choice.
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Thanks for the mention, also a useful tool is this where you can compare hosts to other hosts:
http://www.webhostingunleashed.com/compare/hosts
try it and let me know what you think, here is an example comparison between the hosts you mentioned, bluehost, dreamhost, siteground, a small orange, and liquidweb etc.
http://www.webhostingunleashed.com/compare/hosts?host=bluehost&host=dreamhost&host=siteground&host=a-small-orange&host=liquidweb&host=media-temple&host=spry&sort=default&dir=1&cat=web-hosting
I’m hosting my blog on blogger for the time being, but will eventually shift over to WordPress. At least that’s the plan. I’ve heard really good things about BlueHost.
I’ve also been realizing I need a paid hosting blog because the restrictions are too tight here for my uses.
I started looking around at the various options, not just using WordPress as blogging software…..they were one option of several. I found concerns about webhosts I’d recommend you read.
http://dirkgently.wordpress.com/2007/04/16/misleading-webhosts/
I’ve heard that Dreamhost are down a lot, which is not great. I’ve heard plenty of people say they are OK for unimportant sites, but anything of value wouldn’t be trusted to Dreamhost. It does mean that I won’t be using them.
I don’t have a recommendation, as I am still looking myself. I have decided on my platform though. It’s Dupral, which as a content management set up with multiple plug ins and uses, which includes blogs..as many as you want on the same site.
The simplicity and constant improvements at WordPress.com work for me, too.
I’m no internet tech expert, and like you, I’d rather concentrate on writing than on the web development aspects.
Although I acquired the domain name some time ago, up until now I’ve been using the .wordpress.com url.
There are pluses and minuses of retaining that address, and changing is also an issue which is likely only to become more difficult with time, as engtech has recently discussed.
Nevertheless, perhaps there’s no time like the present, and so to celebrate reaching 10,000 hits, I’ve just moved over to the http://roadsofstone.com address today.
The switch seems to have gone without any major hitches this far, so I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed …
As a new comer to blogging, what I am finding is that there seems to be little to choose between the various blogging softwares if your blog is part of your web site.
Sometimes the recommendations and advertising I receive for this or that blog host leave me more confused than informed. Is there a comparison table anywhere?
Perhaps, if you’re not to firmly locked in to WordPress as a blog, then you’d consider DRUPAL http://drupal.org/about. I’m chafing at WordPress because I think that there is more “content” “managing” and “exploitation” that I could do. Free sometimes is very expensive. I think I can do it “all”, whatever “all” is, with DRUPAL. I’m just blundering along and looking for “silver bullets” to the problems I think I have. I’d value your opinion before I throw down a couple of hundred bucks for hosting and hours learning and fiddling.
I do have a real job. Just no life!
Ah, those evasive “silver bullets”…
I have tried Joomla which is a CMS, content management system, similar to Drupal. But I found it too powerful, like driving a big bus when all you need is four seats. I have a real job too and in my opinion WordPress gives me more time for a life than a CMS would.
Personally never used wordpress, does anyone have any comments on it?
I was thinking of trying it out
How to find a good web hosting service?
You have to know what your site need before you sign up with any web hosting plan. Don’t even think that you can change your server any time if you don’t like it. It’s not easy at all.
Make a list of your criteria –>Find information of hosts that meet your need –>Go through all details regarding Reliability (uptime),Bandwidth (Data Transfer), Disk Space, Technical Support, Control Panel, Email Account, Inclusions, such as, CGI, MySQL, PHP, ASP,etc. Payment plans.–>Check up if what they do is same as what they say.
Follow above process and find a good deal. Some web hosting companies offer you incredible deal, such as, 300 GB Disk Space, 3000 GB Bandwidth ,6 domains in one account, 90-day money back guarantee, 24/7 technical support…, how much would you pay for all of these? It’s only $4.95/month.
Good luck
Kevin Chao
http://forb2b.com/web-hosting/index.htm
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Hi, If your looking for reliable hosting try HostMee.com they cover everything from domains, hosting, home business and advertising,
http://www.hostmee.com
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WordPress has become the most popular used platform in its category. A recent search i conducted on Alexa found wordpress.com to be number 22 in the top most visited websites “globally”.
WordPress not only makes it easy to create a blog but it has also been used to develop websites, simply because it makes it so easy to update.
Regards,
Richard