Operation Self Host

I write this post as a plea for help:

Today I purchased the domain aliontherunblog.com.

I’d like for that to be the new home of Ali On The Run. (Yes, sadly, aliontherun.com was taken.)

I thought I could just upgrade through WordPress and my blog would move itself and blog life would be happy and beautiful.

Soooo I was wrong about that.

I love being supported by WordPress because it’s never crashed on me or failed me, but I think I’m ready to make the leap to a self-hosted blog.

I can throw down the lingo but I don’t even really know what that means.

Fellow bloggers and techies, I come to you in search of help. I’d love for you to leave any input you have in the comments. Are you self-hosted? Why or why not? Which host do you use? Do you like it? Love it? Despise it?

Of course I’d also like to give lil’ Ali On The Run a facelift as well, so if you’ve got a favorite designer, feel free to throw some names out there as well.

Also, cost is a factor. I’d like to find someone who will do all of this work and do an awesome job and then I can pay him/her with a hug and some trail mix. (Not really, but I don’t want to throw down a ton of money on this.)

Any advice you can offer would be amazing!

Ali

Ali

0 Responses

  1. Hi Ali,

    I saw your post on deciding between WordPress.com and self-hosting and thought to drop you a line.

    As a starter, self-hosting is totally worth it. It’s a little painful in the very beginning and sometimes you miss the comfort blanky of WordPress.com, but again, it’s totally worth it. There is a lot more design flexibility, more plugins available, better stat tracking, and better RSS and e-mail subscription services.

    The tricky part is actually switching over to self-hosting. The downside is that it’s harder and more complicated than it seems. The upside is that if you know what your doing and you’ve done it a couple of times, it’s not that hard.

    If you’re interested, I’d be happy to help you with the transfer. I’m starting to offer a blog transfer service for WordPress.com users, and I’m offering my services for free to the first 15 clients. I’m able to do this if you buy hosting through one of my affiliate links which pays me a small commission and compensates for my time. Essentially you’ll be getting a free blog transfer on your hosting companies time. 🙂

    Let me know if you’re interested. Also, if you have any questions about hosting, there are three providers that I recommend and one that I don’t recommend. My personal favorite is Host Gator because they offer the best prices. (They also have a lower commission, but I’d rather that people are happy with the best deal.) If you’d like to use them, I have a coupon for 25% off that you can use. Here’s the coupon: gatorhosting25off.

    If you have any questions at all, send them my way, and I’ll be happy to answer.

    Good luck with everything.

    p.s. The website that I’m creating is http://www.blog-tweaks.com. It’s not finished yet, but you can still check it out. If you need some extra design work or need advice on premium themes, I’d be happy to help with that as well.

  2. I bought my own domain through Bluehost when I made the switch…I haven’t had any problems! I remember finding some website to help me transfer the blog and it wasn’t all that hard…it didn’t take very long either!

  3. I am self hosted because I like having my own web address. Plus if I was ever so inclined, I could make it prettier. Alas, that’s at the bottom of my priority list right now. When I moved from blogger to a self-hosted wordpress site, there was a plug-in that moved all my posts over. It took five minutes.

  4. I purchased my domain a few months ago through Go Daddy and also use their hosting service. The hubster did all of my design and helps out with techie issues, so far we haven’t had any problems with the Go Daddy servers/customer service yet 🙂

  5. I also use bluehost and have had no problems at all with them. Also, I have a lot of help – my husband does freelance web design and so I kind of have an in 🙂 Send me an email if you want help – he’s still relatively new at it (aka cheap or can be bribed with baked goods, etc 🙂

  6. I wish I had some sage advice. I do not. I do know that my blog is hosted through Bluehost and I just keep paying for it because I never have any problems. I had to find a very tech-savvy friend to help me with everything else because I have no idea. I am also going to return to the comment’s on this post. I’d love to read the advice from people who know what they’re talking about. Good luck with the upgrade!

  7. Ooh, I’m interested in hearing about your transition! I think about doing that too, but I have no idea how and blogger is just so easy! Good luck!

  8. Hey Ali!!! Enjoy your blog a lot. Keep up the good work!! Have you heard of squarespace.com? Check them out. I’ve heard good things. And they’re sites are amazing looking. I’ve never used the service myself but take a look. Can’t hurt. Good luck with the new site!

  9. I used the Blog Fairy for my design and loved her: http://theblogfairy.com/

    I am self hosted through Bluehost. I actually just renewed with them for the next 3 years because I have been so happy. It is worth it because you have the ability to install really helpful plugins and change your blog style outside of basic WordPress looks.

  10. I have no clue about self-hosting, but I’m curious to see responses as well. I have to admit, I read Katy’s post on self-hosting, and intimidation is creeping up. I can’t wait to see what you end up doing!

  11. Self hosting is the way to go.

    I use Hostgator for my 15 domains and they have some great tools to get wordpress installed in minutes (maybe less) and there are so many free themes out there i would say play with it and see if you really need help.

    I don’t know how easy it will be to move your existing site to a new self hosted version because i never tried but that is probably the most tricky part of all this.

    But one word of advice take a good hoster, there are loads of hosters out there and in my like 10+ years with hosters i switched 3 times and i my current hoster i use for 4 years now and really no plans of leaving this one because it always works. (and support is great)

  12. Oh boy, I can’t wait to read all the responses you get. I purchased my domain through bluehost & integrated it to wordpress.org (or something like that).. That was a very frustrating night. I still don’t have a clue what all I can do & I sort of feel like I wasted some $$$.

  13. I spent my winter break moving my blog from a hosted WordPress to a self-hosted WordPress site. Most FRUSTRATING 5 days of my LIFE! BUT it was completely worth it! I purchased my domain through Network Solutions for 3 years and then my hosting for 2 years through Blue Host.

    I also wrote a post in January after everything was said and done with some “tips.” Don’t know how helpful (I’m NOT an expert by any means!) it will be but here’s the post if you would like to take a look…

    http://www.thesingingrunner.com/2011/01/01/making-the-switch-moving-to-a-self-hosted-blogging-platform/

    Good luck and if you have any questions, feel free to shoot me an E-mail! 🙂

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about ali

I’m the creator of the Ali on the Run blog and the host of the Ali on the Run Show podcast. I’m also a freelance writer and editor, a race announcer, a runner and marathoner, a mom, and a huge fan of Peanut M&Ms, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (way better than the first one!), and reliving my glory days as a competition dancer in the early 2000s. I’m really happy you’re here.
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