Okay so that you’ve been a person of WordPress.com for some time now. Issues have been fairly good up to now, however you’ve come to a degree the place you’re able to transcend WordPress.com. You wish to set up plugins and customise your themes. You wish to actually begin monetizing your web site and be in full management. Nicely you're on the proper place. Whereas in the present day’s article received’t focus on the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org, we are going to check out a query that plenty of customers have been asking us: how one can transfer your present WordPress.com weblog to a self-hosted WordPress.org web site. On this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to present you how one can correctly transfer your weblog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org. We are going to cowl how one can switch your whole WordPress.com content material to a WordPress.org web site (sure this embrace pictures). We will even cowl how one can hold your whole search engine rankings together with how one can redirect your present customers to your new web site. Are you prepared? Let’s begin transferring your WordPress.com weblog over to your new self-hosted web site.
Issues You Want Earlier than You Begin
You will have to have a site identify and a good web hosting company that is aware of WordPress. We extremely advocate that you just use Bluehost as a result of they gives you a free area and 50% off their internet hosting plan (particular for Wpget customers). Bluehost can be an formally beneficial internet hosting supplier of WordPress.
In case your WordPress web site already has a customized area identify, then don’t fear. We are going to cowl that as properly. Lastly, you will have entry to your WordPress.com account, so you'll be able to simply transfer your whole posts, pages, pictures, feedback, and different knowledge over to your self-hosted WordPress web site.
Earlier than you get began with this migration tutorial, we wish to let you recognize that we will migrate your web site for FREE as a part of our Free WordPress Blog setup service. This shall be much less trouble for you, however in case you are somebody who likes studying and doing issues your self, then observe our step-by-step tutorial beneath.
Video Tutorial
Should you don’t just like the video or want extra directions, then proceed studying.
Step 1: Exporting Information from WordPress.com
Register to your WordPress.com account and go to your weblog’s Dashboard. Click on on Export underneath Instruments menu.
Clicking on the Export instrument will take you to a brand new web page the place you may be requested to decide on between Free or Guided Switch.
Select the Free possibility by clicking on Export. On the subsequent display screen you may be requested which knowledge you wish to export. Choose “All Content material” and press the Obtain Export File button. An XML file shall be downloaded in your laptop which is able to include your whole posts, pages, pictures, feedback, customized fields, classes, tags, navigation menus and different data.
Step 2: Establishing WordPress
Now that you've exported your WordPress.com knowledge, the subsequent step is to arrange a recent WordPress set up in your webhosting. WordPress may be very straightforward to put in, and it solely takes just a few clicks. Now we have a step-by-step tutorial on how to install WordPress within 5 minutes. After getting put in WordPress, it's time to import your content material into your new self-hosted WordPress web site.
Step three: Importing Content material into Self Hosted WordPress Web site
To import your outdated content material from WordPress.com to your new web site, you have to click on on Instruments » Import possibility in your self-hosted WordPress.org dashboard.
Subsequent click on on WordPress. You can be requested to put in the WordPress Importer plugin. As soon as you put in it, activate and run the importer plugin. It'll take you to a display screen the place you may be requested to add your WordPress.com XML file that you just downloaded in step 1 of this tutorial.
Notice: in case your file measurement is bigger than 2MB, then you might have two choices. One is to ask your webhosting firm to extend that restrict quickly, so you will get on with the method. The opposite possibility can be to separate your file through the use of a WXR file splitter.
While you begin importing, you'll have the choice of assigning your outdated content material to a present person or create a brand new person. You’ll even have the choice of importing your outdated attachments (you wish to just be sure you test this field to make sure that your pictures are imported).
Step four: Importing Your Blogroll Hyperlinks
Should you had been utilizing the Hyperlinks characteristic in your WordPress.com weblog to retailer blogroll or different hyperlinks, then you have to observe these directions to export and import them. Customers who weren't utilizing this characteristic can skip to Step 5.
Blogroll hyperlinks are exported in OPML format. It's an XML format which lets you export and import your hyperlinks and hyperlink classes. Your WordPress.com hyperlinks have an OPML file situated at an tackle like this:
http://instance.wordpress.com/wp-links-opml.php
Exchange instance along with your WordPress.com weblog’s subdomain. In case you are utilizing a customized area along with your WordPress.com weblog then your OPML file could be accessed by visiting a URL like this:
http://www.instance.com/wp-links-opml.php
Your OPML file will open in your browser window and you have to reserve it to your desktop. Press CTRL+S (Command+S on Mac) to save lots of the file in your laptop.
Now that you've a backup of your WordPress.com hyperlinks, the subsequent step is to import them into WordPress. Nonetheless, self hosted WordPress doesn't have a hyperlink supervisor enabled by default.
Very first thing you have to do is set up and activate the Link Manager plugin. The plugin’s web page says that it hasn’t been up to date in final two years. That’s as a result of it didn’t want updating and you'll confidently set up this plugin.
Upon activation, the plugin will add a brand new menu merchandise in your WordPress admin bar labeled ‘Hyperlinks’.
Your WordPress web site is now able to managing hyperlinks and blogrolls and you'll safely import them. Go to Instruments » Import and click on on Blogroll to put in the OPML importer.
Upon set up you may be redirected to the importer. The place you have to add the OPML file you saved earlier and click on on import OPML file button.
WordPress will now import your hyperlinks and hyperlink classes from the OPML file. It is possible for you to to see the progress and on completion you will notice the success message.
Step 5: Setting your WordPress.com weblog to non-public
The ultimate step can be to set your WordPress.com weblog to non-public. Should you don’t wish to redirect your outdated customers to your new web site, then go forward and observe this step. Go to the Studying web page underneath Settings tab, out of your WordPress.com Dashboard and choose the final possibility, “I would really like my weblog to be non-public, seen solely to customers I select”.
Consideration: When you have been writing for someday, and you've got a loyal viewers, then it doesn't make sense to depart them hanging. Moreover, in case your weblog has been on the market for some time, then chances are high that it's listed in Google and different search engines like google. It's best to hold all of the search engine juice and simply redirect your outdated customers to your new weblog.
Step 6: Redirecting Guests and Preserving search engine optimization
Redirecting customers to new location with a 301 header is the usual answer to maintain search rankings whereas transferring a web site from one location to a different. Because you don’t have entry to .htaccess on WordPress.com, you can't make any adjustments by your self to retain search engine rankings. Nonetheless, WordPress.com provides a paid improve, Web site Redirect, which supplies this performance.
Go to WordPress.com weblog’s dashboard and click on on the Retailer menu merchandise. The improve you're searching for is known as Web site Redirect. On the time of scripting this tutorial, this replace was moderately priced at $13 USD per yr. This improve supplies 301 redirect which permits your web site’s guests and search engines like google to be mechanically redirected to your new web site.
A few of you'll ask how lengthy ought to I hold paying for this Offsite redirect characteristic? The reply is for so long as you wish to. Nonetheless, we personally suppose that 2 years can be sufficient time in your outdated customers to memorize your new area identify
In case you are altering domains, then one other factor you wish to do is replace all in publish URLs. Should you ever inter-linked your posts, then these hyperlinks need to be up to date. Use our article on how to update URLs when moving your WordPress site.
Incessantly Requested Questions (FAQs)
We wrote this text in January 2013 and since then we’ve obtained tons of nice questions. Quite a lot of which we’ve answered by way of e mail or in feedback, so thought it could be good to compile it at one place the place everybody can see them.
What occurs with my WordPress.com Subscribers?
Fortunately, WordPress.com means that you can migrate your subscribers with one situation. You will need to use Jetpack plugin which provides the identical subscribe performance that you just had at WordPress.com. As soon as you put in and activate the Jetpack plugin, you would wish to contact the WordPress.com team and ask them emigrate the subscribers for you. Our hope is that within the later variations of Jetpack, this can turn into simpler and customers will have the ability to do it themselves.
Are you able to assist me switch from WordPress.com to WordPress.org for FREE?
Completely. We provide migration from WordPress.com as a part of our free WordPress blog setup service. Should you want our help, then merely signup. It’s free
What are the prices of switching to WordPress.org?
WordPress is free. Nonetheless, there are some minimal web hosting prices. We advocate that you just learn this text on: Why is WordPress free? What are the costs and what is the catch?
I already paid WordPress.com, can I get a refund?
Sure, you'll be able to. Should you just lately bought a customized area or a paid plan from WordPress.com, then you'll be able to ask them for a full refund.
Notice: Area registrations could be canceled inside 48 hours of registration. Plans and different purchases could be canceled inside 30 days of buying.
Will my pictures break?
No they won't. While you switch utilizing the import file, all connected pictures are downloaded and the hyperlink is up to date. Nonetheless there may be one caveat that we seen. In case your picture URL begins with recordsdata.wordpress.com, then they won't be transformed. Should you discover that the picture URL has not modified and nonetheless factors to WordPress.com, then we advocate that you just use import external images plugin, and it'll handle that.
I registered my area by WordPress.com, can I nonetheless transfer?
Sure you'll be able to. WordPress imagine in empowering customers and giving them full management of their content material. If you have already got a site identify by WordPress.com, then all you want is a webhosting account. We advocate that you just setup with Bluehost or any of those different WordPress hosting suppliers. Throughout the signup part, you may be requested do you might have a site or wish to register a brand new one. Merely choose the choice that I've a site identify, and insert the area that you just registered at WordPress.com. Subsequent factor you would need to do is change the nameservers to level to the internet hosting supplier. We’re in a position to help with this as a part of our free setups service. You may as well ask your webhosting supplier for assist.
Will my web site go down after I change?
Should you do it appropriately, then NO. The tactic we’ve advised above will be sure that your web site by no means goes down. Should you’re anxious, then know that we're right here to assist. You’re welcome to make use of our free setups service at anytime.
We hope that you just discovered our information on switching from WordPress.com to self-hosted WordPress.org to be useful. When you have any questions, then please tell us by leaving a remark beneath.
