Background
I like to make things difficult for myself.
Under Blogger, I was hosted by Blogger for free, and I had purchased a custom domain name from GoDaddy.
I also created 5 other subdomains under FabulouslyBroke.com, and that proved to be a bit of a WTF moment for me in some areas.
Let’s start with the basics of what a website is, and what you will encounter if you do set up something on WordPress (custom hosted or not).
What is webhosting?
For the life of me, I couldn’t find any analogy or anything that could help explain what webhosting and how the guts of a website works, so I made a simple diagram that I hope will help.
Click on the image to make it larger.
As the image illustrates, Bluehost (your custom hosting provider) will store all the files that make up your ENTIRE blog.
It is the technical guts of your website, and your actual website.
WordPress is only the middleman in all of this.
It is just like a software that has been installed on your website, to help you create posts, upload images and install cool plugins to make your blog look good and function properly.
WordPress creates those PHP or Web pages, that are then “published” on your blog, stored on Bluehost.
If WordPress didn’t exist in this trilogy, you’d be going straight from BlueHost to your Blog, but you’d have to create actual webpages coded in HTML or PHP.
WordPress creates that coded post for you, and it also manages your drafts, and does a lot of other very, very cool things.
I hope that helped.
What is the difference between the BlueHost CPanel and the WordPress CPanel (Dashboard) I am going to have?
BlueHost CPanel
A Bluehost CPanel is just the control panel (CPanel) for the hosting package, called your Hosting Server.
It’s the guts of your entire website that you can go in and set up.
It’s going to show all the technical stuff behind it like setting up email addresses, filters, forwarders, installing script packages, etc.
It has NOTHING to do with the platform where you blog, add images, add pages, links and all the other cool things we do as bloggers, that’s WordPress.
(Technically, you can upload whatever you want to your Hosting Server and get a link to it, but you will need an FTP program (also called an FTP client) like FileZilla.)
A BlueHost CPanel forexample, looks like this:
Click on the image to make it larger.
As you may notice, you can set up email accounts from your custom domain like:
And you can take a look at your website stats (I’ve blanked mine out) as well as install things on the host server.
A WordPress CPanel, wp-admin or “Dashboard”
This is where you log in to do all the basic bloggy stuff we’re used to, using this URL:
http://YourBlogName.com/wp-admin
To log in.
This is what it looks like once you’re inside:
Click on the image to make it larger.
Pretty cool huh? It’s a dashboard like in Blogger, but wayyyyy more organized.
You can think of WordPress as an online interface to the actual Hosting Server provided by BlueHost.
Anything you upload or blog, pictures, videos, pages, links, widgets, plugins… they are all uploaded to your BlueHost Hosting Server, or your “website” to be stored, rather than hosted on someone else’s server, like Blogger’s Free Blogspot Host.
To illustrate this point:
Here’s a screenshot of what my hosting server looks like using FileZilla FTP to log on to it (the guts and glory):
This is the initial section. The guts of a website.
The folder public_html will be familiar to many of you, because it’s the face of your website and where everything is published or installed.
The rest of the folders are technical server folders you don’t really need to know about yet.
As you dig deeper, entering into the public_html folder, you can actually see WordPress installed in those wp- folders.
There’s wp-admin (the folder that lets you log in to write posts and upload images).
There’s wp-content that stores all the plugins, widgets, links and images you upload using WordPress.
So heading into the wp-admin folder, you can see that images are included in there under the images folder, your css files which are “Cascading Style Sheets” to help define a clear, consistent look for your blog.
You can also see a lot of .php pages. These are templates for all aspects of your site.
For example, the comments.php is the layout you can define for how comments are left, created and shown on your blog.
I hope that helped!
Why I moved from GoDaddy Hosting to BlueHost
I decided to move my domain from GoDaddy to BlueHost because I hate the way GoDaddy is laid out.
It’s horribly difficult to understand where to click to get what you want.
And, trying to get all the information required for the move to BlueHost was a whole other headache in and of itself.
It’s also VERY easy with BlueHost to install WordPress. They literally do it for you.
Check out these screen shots from my BlueHost CPanel
You get a list of scripts you can install. There’s one called WordPress.
Click on Install.
Type in where you want it to install (usually on the “root” folder. Leave it at the default).
And sit back and relax. You will see a little bar showing you the progress of the installation.
Once it’s done, you just go to your WordPress CPanel/Dashboard to log immediately into your website using this url:
http://YourBlogName.com/wp-admin
It’s really that easy. 5 minutes.
But after the 5 minutes, you have to check on the installation and then import your blog onto WordPress which is dead easy.
Do you lose money for the custom domain name you paid for?
No, you don’t lose the money you paid for the domain.
I had purchased the domain name for a period of about 3 years (the secret’s out! I plan to be around for at least that long..!) and all it does is just transfer your custom domain name from one host (GoDaddy) to another host (BlueHost), and it keeps the same period you’ve previously purchased for.
BlueHost will not charge you for the domain name switch, because it waives the fee, as you are a new customer.
You will however, have to pay for a hosting package.
What’s the difference between a custom domain name and a hosting package?
A custom domain name is just the URL like http://www.FabulouslyBroke.com
A hosting package is the server or the services behind the actual name.
On Blogger, I was hosted for free. When you switch to WordPress, I do believe you have to get a custom hosting package.
I believe you cannot be hosted for free on WordPress, unless you want to switch to a domain name like http://FabulouslyBroke.WordPress.com and give up your custom domain name.
Someone please correct me if I am wrong!!!
Update: So yes. I was wrong. Very wrong.
You can be hosted FOR FREE on WordPress with your own custom domain name, but I do believe that you are restricted by the same rules as in Blogger
- No special email address for your custom domain name
- You cannot adjust the theme for your own pleasure — have to pay each time
- You cannot advertise with Google Adsense, etc
- You cannot upload your own pictures or play with PHP installations on your server
- Actually, no access at all to their server, I presume
- You have little control over the site, but a custom name. Score?
- It’s free. SCORE!
Next: The basics on moving from Blogger to WordPress
- Switching from Blogger to a Custom Domain
- Switching from Blogger to WordPress Part 2
- More Blogger Tips & Tricks
- List of WordPress Plugins
- Blogger: Creating a favicon
Ginger
on Sep 16th, 2009
@ 10:29 AM:
Yay! I’m glad you’re doing a tutorial like this. I have just about had it with blogger and their faux-html.
I used to be a web designer back in the day and it kills me when they insert all this useless crap into my posts and I can’t format properly. I’ve heard that WordPress is most excellent however, and am definitely considering the transition.
Plus, then I can host my own files & subdomains again. I would love to have those options once more!
Anyway, to answer your ??? on WP and free hosting:
Wordpress.org is the organization that sort of created the cool “application” that you are using with Bluehost. You are correct in stating that it requires a third party host to work.
Wordpress.com is where you can be hosted for free, like on Blogger, but with less cool features and stuff that the .org program offers.
Your blog is looking really good on WP so far, much less cluttered than it was before. I’ll probably end up moving over soon once I decide on a host & package, and how I’m going to pay for it.
Ginger´s last blog ..make it from scratch! – September 15, 2009
Eric
on Sep 16th, 2009
@ 10:33 AM:
I believe you can have a custom domain on WordPress.com, but you have to use WordPress.com as your registrar. Moving your domain from GoDaddy to WP is possible, but self hosting is definately the way to go. I am self hosted (through a friend’s server space) on WordPress for NarrowBridge.net, IsraelSituation.com, and HWChet.com. I moved them all over, one by one, from Blogger. I love the freedom of self hosted WordPress.
If you are serious about blogging, like FB, I suggest you move from Blogger or WordPress.com to a self hosted WP blog. Just my humble opinion.
Eric´s last blog ..Mint.com to Be Purchased by Quicken Owner Intuit
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Sep 16th, 2009
@ 12:21 PM:
Eric I actually already… moved.
That’s why I’m writing these tutorials.
(To a self hosted WP blog.)
negative_net_worth
on Sep 16th, 2009
@ 1:17 PM:
I like the new look too, FB, but I don’t get your updates on my blogger dashboard anymore
I’m sure it’s related to the switch, but it makes me sad! I still stop by every day, I just sometimes miss new content.
negative_net_worth´s last blog ..Fabulous GIveaway at a Fabulous Blog!
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Sep 16th, 2009
@ 1:43 PM:
I think it’s definitely related to the switch. Could you use Google Reader instead? It’s an RSS Feed that’s (I daresay) easier to use than Blogger Dashboard..
Doctor S
on Sep 16th, 2009
@ 4:46 PM:
OOOOWWWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I am going to be following you closely through the transition! I do like the new look, I have been meaning to switch myself. We will have to tweet-icate about some things that you dealt with. I already have the bluehost stuff and some other urls on that server, I am just having trouble finding a new theme to push my blog to, I dont wanna purchase any of these wp themes out there but I dont like the free ones. I need to take a day off and do this ish!
Doctor S´s last blog ..Jon Stewart Begs Lebron James to Join Knicks
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Sep 16th, 2009
@ 5:01 PM:
Any time. It’s just part two coming up that’s a general overview, but you can probably spend a week or two reading an article here and there in your spare time in between your MBA work.
I really suggest reading WordPress Codex closely and getting the hang of the technical jargon before moving on.
And if you’re on Bluehost, that makes it WAY easier. I can def. help out on Twitter when I’m around.
Julie
on Sep 16th, 2009
@ 5:49 PM:
Hey!
I’m so glad that you finally made the move. The blog is looking awesome.
Like others said, you can have your custom domain name in wordpres.com but if you have a blog there you can’t have as much freedom as you have with the self-hosted blog.
I’m hosted by Site5.com (I recommend them a lot) and I also bought my domain name on GoDaddy.com.
Julie´s last blog ..Object of Desire September 13th, 2009
Mandy
on Sep 17th, 2009
@ 12:10 AM:
Congrats moving to wordpress! I love wordpress and I would never leave. haha. Yeah I totally understand with all the subdomains and they make you go a little wtf. lol
Mandy´s last blog ..De-cluttering
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Sep 17th, 2009
@ 7:49 AM:
@Julie Thank you. I think it’s better without that heavy clunky Blogger code. It seems to load faster.. or is that just in my head?
@Everyone Okay, so there are restrictions to blogging there with a wordpress.com hosted page, but I guess it’s a lot like in Blogger where you’re restricted to not being able to upload your own things to their server, no custom email addresses etc.
I’ll go add that in now. Thanks everyone.
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Sep 17th, 2009
@ 7:49 AM:
@Mandy Thank you!
Foxie
on Sep 17th, 2009
@ 8:57 AM:
I just ended up buying my domain through WP, so everything’s all there and no weird hosting stuff or any of that for me to worry about.
I’m not all that into it, as long as it all works the way I’d like it to work! (Or maybe someday I’ll get more into it… We’ll see. Buying the domain name for mine was crazy/scary enough for me. Makes me sound lame, ha.)
Foxie´s last blog ..Nice Mods, Tiny Budgets
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Sep 17th, 2009
@ 1:01 PM:
That’s a good point. Forgot about being able to buy it through WP!
Switching from Blogger to Wordpress Part 2 « Fabulously Broke in the City
on Sep 18th, 2009
@ 7:23 AM:
[...] COMMENTS: Leave me a comment Did you miss Part One? The Overview & Background on Switching from Blogger to WordPress [...]
New Domain! Good-Bye Blogger!
on Sep 20th, 2009
@ 2:43 AM:
[...] talked about it, I showed him Fabulously Broke’s very detailed ‘how to’ on how to make the switch and he said “OK – lets do [...]
jblethen
on Jan 4th, 2010
@ 8:41 PM:
Under "Why I moved from GoDaddy Hosting to BlueHost" at the end you say "then import your blog onto WordPress which is dead easy." I bought a website from BlueHost, installed WordPress, then tried to import my wordpress.com blog. When you try to import it says "(maximum size 2MB)". The file I exported from my wordpress.com blog is bigger than that. When I tried to import the blog I get an error message. Not so dead easy. Help!
FB @ FabulouslyBroke.com
on Jan 5th, 2010
@ 10:08 AM:
Oh!
I have no idea about moving from WordPress.com to WordPress, but it was really quite easy from Blogger to WordPress.
Have you tried the WP forums? Or ask Mrs. Micah from Finance for a Freelance life. She deals with WP stuff a lot.