pic of street sign with street names "website" and "blog"

2 Major Problems (with Solutions) I Had When Moving Sites

pic of street sign with street names "website" and "blog"

Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Moving a website from a free platform such as WordPress.com to one that is self-hosted can be a nightmare. (Just ask me. I know. I did this recently!) Problems will arise, but solutions can be found, if you know what to do and who to ask for help.

I was faced with several problems when moving from my old site to my new one. Some solutions were found simply by asking for help but others were found through trial and error. In this article, I will reveal two major problems I faced and the solutions I found. It is my hope that you can learn what to do and what to expect when moving your website by using my personal experience as a model.

Moving Posts – the easy part

I’m pleased to announce that I was able to move all of posts from my old site to the new one in about two minutes. It was actually easy.

All I had to do was:

  • go to my dashboard, and choose Tools then Export,
  • select what I wanted to move (Posts, Pages, or both),
  • download the file to my computer,
  • go to the dashboard of my new site, choose Tools then Import,
  • and upload the file from my computer to my new site.

I opted to move only my posts and not my pages, as part of the reason for having a new site was to design things a bit differently!

Redirecting – the hard part

My  blog was formerly called “Lorraine Reguly’s Life” but it is no longer accessible. If you try to visit it, you will be brought to “Wording Well” instead. Why? Because there is a redirect in place, which I purchased through the Store on WordPress.com for a cost of $13 per year. Read More

An Informative Web Hosting Guide (to help you make that all-important decision)

picture of question marks

This web hosting guide has been deemed excellent and informative due to its truthful nature and also because it contains numerous internal navigational links. Written by Lorraine Reguly, it consists of factual summaries of (and answers from) 14 web hosting companies. Feel free to share this with all of your friends and colleagues; you just never know who is thinking of creating a website and may be seeking web hosting!

Introduction to Owning a Self-Hosted Website

Like many of you, I started blogging for free. I didn’t get a domain name right away. I didn’t even know what blogging was all about, and I didn’t want to spend money until I was sure it was a necessity. When I finally made the decision to get my own website, I agonized over which company I would choose as the host.

In my quest to find the best web hosting company and the best web hosting package to suit (and surpass) my current needs, I spent a lot of time doing my research. Google became my best friend. We had an affair that lasted nearly three weeks.

I read countless articles about web hosting, but it wasn’t until AFTER I published this guide that I came across this one: Web Hosting Reviews. This particular guide reviews 27 different hosting companies and even goes so far to include their price, page load speed and up-time. (I wish I would have had THIS guide readily available to me back then!!!)

My guide is a bit different because of the information it contains.

During my quest, I even went so far as to send a letter of 21 questions to over a dozen different web hosting companies. (I also got on the phone and queried a few more.) Once I got a reply from each, I then asked if I could have their permission to publicly post their responses. Many said yes, and so in this web hosting guide you will see not only my letter that I sent them, but each of their answers as well.

Related: Best WordPress Hosting • TOP 8 Options Compared • 2017

Why Get Hosting?

I am not here to tell you why you should consider getting web hosting of your own, but I will tell you that there are both pros and cons to it.

For more information, refer to this article: Want Your Own (Hosted) Website? Consider These Factors!

The information presented in that article as well as this guide will help you decide:

  • whether or not you should get your own website
  • what hosting factors you should consider
  • which companies you should and should not consider when you finally take the dreaded plunge into the wonderful world of web hosting.

14 Web-Hosting Companies (some good, some bad)

The 14 companies that provide web hosting and are discussed in this guide include: Abivia, BlueHost, CanSpace Solutions, Cirrus Tech Ltd., EasyPress, GreenGeeks, 4GoodHosting, HostPapa, HostUpon, HostUtopia, InMotionHosting, NamesPro, Site5, and WebHostingCanada.

When discussing each web hosting company, I will state a few facts as well as offer my opinion, where applicable, based on the research I have conducted. I strongly recommend doing your own research into the web hosting companies you are interested in and select packaging options based on your web hosting needs. (There are more things to consider than initially meets the eye! You will discover this as you read and learn – like I did!)

Please also note that I did not edit their emails, either, although it is obvious that several people who responded to me could benefit from my services.

Also note that this guilde contains affiliate links. I have absolutely no problem endorsing these companies. Either I’ve used them myself or my friends have.

The ones I recommend are CanSpace Solutions, Bluehost, and GreenGeeks. 

 

Abivia is who I ultimately selected to be my first host, for a variety of reasons, but the tipping factor was the personal service I received from the owner himself. He also impressed me with his extensive knowledge and ability to explain things to me (a self-proclaimed non-techie) in a reassuring, easy-to-understand way.

I selected CanSpace to be my second host because they made me an offer I simply couldn’t refuse! I have to say that they also give me excellent service, answered all my questions and made switching to them easy and painless! They handled everything for me (I’m not techie and they did all the work!).

I was also told that Bluehost and GreenGeeks would do the same.

Read More

I’m Officially Moving! WORDING WELL is Being Born!

Image courtesy of Boians Cho Joo Young / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Boians Cho Joo Young / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

THIS IS MY FINAL TRUE TALES TUESDAY POST – please pin the announcement that Wording Well is being born! 😀

It’s official! “LORRAINE REGULY’S LIFE” is moving and will be renamed. Yes, the internet is giving birth to WORDING WELL as we speak. Unfortunately, the labor may last a bit longer than just one day, but the new site  – which has been in the back of my mind for a while – is honestly and truly being born right now!!! Read More

I Need Blogging and Website Advice – My Cry for Help!

Image courtesy of Pong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of Pong / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I really need some guidance, and I am asking you for your advice.

By the way, this is officially the 100th post on this blog.

Is it time to get my own site?

Sunday morning sadness has me contemplating life and blogging again. I am well aware that I did not post a Featured Friday post the other day, and this was intentional. You see, I’m torn between blogging for free and getting my own website. 

I also wanted to do something special for my 100th post, and was going to post my announcement that I’m going to be moving to my own site, but I need some questions answered before making that leap. I know I’ve mentioned this a few times already, and there are two things holding me back: my fears and my unwillingness to start fresh. I’m used to how things work right now, and I’ve been looking for answers all week long.

I’ve also been doing research for the past week, looking for domain names and searching for possible hosts. I have even been designing a logo and image to use on a new site I want to create. On one hand, I’m really positive, but on the other, I’m really depressed and confused.

I don’t often write posts and then hit the “publish” button anymore; I schedule my posts. Not this one, though. This one is going live as soon as I’m done. I’m really frustrated at the moment and am starting to have a love-hate relationship with blogging.

Some days I simply love it and can’t get enough of it, while other days I dread turning my laptop on. I know you all have felt this way at some point, haven’t you?

Today, I am appealing to you to

1. forgive me for posting on a Sunday.

2. help me answer some of my questions

3. give me a virtual hug. (I really need one. I’ve been recovering slowly from my recent surgery and really hate how my leg looks. I got the rest of my stitches out on Friday and it’s going to take longer than anyone expected for me to get better. Yep, I’m sad and depressed, and I’m not handling things very well.)

What’s really frustrating is that I’m not technical and hate feeling inferior.

When it comes to blogging, I cannot help but compare myself to others. I think we all do that, but don’t ever want to admit it. As a perfectionist, this is particularly hard for me, because I want to know how to do certain things and, despite searching endlessly for answers, experimenting with different programs, testing things out, I still cannot seem to learn random things, even when I ask others for help.

Yep, searching endlessly is really starting to piss me off.

So now I’m appealing to you. Yes, YOU. I need your help.

I’m going to ask you some questions, and if you know the answers to any of them, I’d like for you to either (a) tell me in the comment section or (b) email me privately at lorrainemariereguly@gmail.com with your response.

Here are my questions:

1. If I move to my own site, how are my followers going to know when I’ve published a new post? (Yes, I’m still going to use WordPress as my blogging platform.) I ask this because I have followers via email but more via the WordPress reader.

2. How do I get my posts show up in your WordPress reader?

3. Will you still have the option to “like” my posts? What do I have to do to give you that option?

Image courtesy of cooldesign / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Image courtesy of cooldesign / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

4. How are images like this one (of the guy holding a stop sign) created? I’d like to learn how to make some of my own for my blog posts, without having to rely on others to do so.

5. If I get my own site, will I have to install a commenting system or does one come with it? Or do I have the option of upgrading to a CommentLuv system, and how much will it cost?

6. If I get my own site, will I have to install sharing buttons or do they come with it? Or do I have the option of  installing something like SexyBookmarks or SassyBookmarks, if that’s what I want? Or can I upgrade to something like Share+? Do you have one you’d like to recommend?

7. How do I make things downloadable? For example, say I have a Word document or handout booklet that I have created and want to give to my readers, and instead of giving them a FREE PDF Planner, how can I make this something they can download?

I’m sure I have more questions, but for now, these are the ones I currently need answers to – and I’m relying on YOU to help me out.

I’d also like you to share this post on as many social platforms as possible so that all of these questions get answered. I know that there are helpful people like me out there (I help others whenever I can, out of the goodness of my heart) and we need to tap into their brains and hope that they’ll step up and share their knowledge.

Thank you for coming to my rescue. I hate feeling frustrated and stupid.