Sounds confusing, right? It’s really not.

What you need to know about WordPress is that it’s an easy, powerful, and very flexible platform for blogs AND static websites.

What you may not know is that the WordPress community is very large, which means you’ve got a ton of information, documentation, and helpful people (like me) ready to get you started with WordPress.

Note: I am referring to an installed/self-hosted version of WordPress (available at WordPress.org), not the free, hosted sites on WordPress.com

Ready to get your hands dirty with WordPress? This is what you’ll need:

1. Web hosting selected (with needed minimum requirements) and purchased
2. A domain name selected and registered
3. A backup / export of your current blog’s content (optional)
4. A theme / design for your new blog (and pertinent files)
   
5. FTP client software and/or web FTP access to your hosting server
6. WordPress installation files and instructions
7. Bonus: Importing content from existing blog (optional)
   
8. Bonus chapter: not so quick, but very dirty: Modifying old URLs and Images for the new blog

That’s it! You’re ready to go.

Let’s break down each piece:

1. Web Hosting Selected (with needed minimum requirements) & Purchased

WordPress has some minimum requirements to run, and most hosting providers will give you this information in the FAQ area or possibly specify if they are WordPress-compliant. If you don’t see this information, don’t hesitate to email the provider before committing and purchasing your web hosting. Some providers may even offer WordPress as a “pushbutton” or “1 click” installation which means they are not only compliant, they’ll walk you through the installation! Read server requirements for Hosting WordPress so you know what requirements your web hosting provider has to have to run WordPress. {Read the WHT article about How to Choose Web Hosting for your Site}

Really quick & dirty: buy web hosting from one of WordPress’ web hosting partners

2. A Domain Name Selected and Purchased

For the purposes of this example, I’m assuming you’re moving from a free blogging platform with an existing (free) URL like myblogname.oldblogsoftware.com, and you’re interested in moving to a hosted WordPress installation on your own domain. If you don’t have a domain yet, read the {WHT article: How to Buy a Domain and What to Do With It}. In this case, as mentioned above, you want to buy web hosting for your domain.

Really quick & dirty: most domains can be purchased directly from your web hosting provider and you can do it during the setup of your web hosting account or directly after.

3. A Backup of your Current Blog’s Content (Posts and Pictures!)

WordPress can accept just about any blog’s content on the planet. Your job is to find out how to export the content of your particular blog and save it to a safe place on your computer.

Here are some shortcuts for the most popular blogging platforms – if you are given a choice, you’ll want to export in XML format:

• Export content from Blogger: Dashboard>Settings>Blog Tools >Export Blog or read How to Export on Blogger’s Help Forum
  
• Export from TypePad: Export/Import on Six Apart’s knowledge base – (they actually go into quite a bit of detail about moving from TypePad to WordPress)
• Export from Movable Type: Exporting content from Movable Type
• Export from LiveJournal: Log into LiveJournal’s Export page
  
• Export from Posterous: it has the functionality available via their API, but someone still has to write an exporter (Nov 09)
  

You’ll also need to download pictures and other content you’ve uploaded in your current blog. If you’re using Flickr for your images, and you embed the HTML code directly into your posts, you won’t need to do anything.

Really quick and dirty: Pay a friend to do this for you. Or dinner works, too. But not pizza – don’t be cheap, man!

4. A Theme / Design for your New Blog (and pertinent files)

I could write several posts about choosing a theme, but for now I will keep it simple: visit blogs (if you’re reading RSS feeds, click through!) and start noting which sites make you sit up and take notice and what you don’t like. Then start to understand what kind of design you’re looking for with your new blog (2 columns, dark, rotating header image, red, etc.) and then go here to narrow down your choices: WordPress Themes

I suggest downloading at least 2-3 blog themes that you like, so after you get your content imported and the themes uploaded, you can switch from one to the other if you find your favorite theme doesn’t suit your content. You may also consider paying someone to make you a custom design, but for now let’s just concentrate on a clean free design for the first iteration of your WordPress blog!

Really quick and dirty: Use one of the 30+ free themes that are automatically included in your WordPress basic installation, accessible via the Administration panel : Appearance > Themes.

5. FTP Client Software and/or Web FTP Access to your Hosting Server

You’ll also need a FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client software so that you can transfer files from your hard drive to your web hosting server, including most of the WordPress installation files (if you don’t have assisted installation through your web hosting provider) and your blog’s content like themes and photos. I suggest FileZilla FTP Client – it’s open source!

Really quick and dirty: Your web hosting may provide a web interface to upload files via web FTP, so you won’t have to install anything additionally, but you may find an FTP software to be easier and faster.

6. WordPress Installation Files and Instructions

You can always find the latest version of WordPress at: http://wordpress.org/download/ – you’ll need to save this to your computer. Then you’ll want to get started with Installing WordPress. You’ll especially want to have the detailed instructions page as well as the Famous 5-minute installation pages open.

Really quick and dirty: Use one of the WordPress hosting partners with 1-click installation for WordPress. Otherwise, you’ll definitely want a friend who’s installed WordPress before to help you with this – bribe them nicely!

7. Import Content from Existing Blog (optional)

Now you’ve got a working version of WordPress with some default content. Now to import your content. After you’re logged on as administrator, Click on Tools to expand the submenu on the WordPress administration panel. Next, scroll down if necessary and click Import to show the various import options. Next, click your previous blog’s type and follow the directions. Read more about Importing content from other blogging software into WordPress.

Geek Tip – only for the adventurous: If you have a large blog, you may get an error uploading your content as the uploader times out. MAKE A COPY/BACKUP of the original import file you downloaded from your previous blog interface. Then take the file and divide it into two or three pieces (you’ll want to make sure you cut off before the <ENTRY> or <POST> XML tag)

Really quick and dirty: It can’t get much quicker or dirtier than this. Be content.

That’s the end of the quick and dirty guide to Getting Started with WordPress. Below is a bonus chapter that has to do with cleaning up after yourself and your move.

8. (Bonus) Modifying Old Internal URLs and Images for the new blog

Chances are, if you’re a decent blogger, you’ve linked to yourself at some point, or often, within your posts. While WordPress will change the structure of your posts’ permalinks (URL) from oldblog.oldblogsoftware.com/mypostname to www.newdomainname.com/mypostname when you import your content, it will not change any internal references to your content. Oh dear, what’s a blogger to do? If you’ve got a friend who is comfortable rooting around in your database (MAKE A BACKUP FIRST BEFORE ANYONE PLAYS!), they can do a find and replace in your wp_posts table and do a partial replace (find: oldblog.oldblogsoftware.com substitute with: www.newdomainname.com).

If you don’t have any friends like that, or you prefer not to take chances, I can only say you’ll just have to go in by hand to each post, update the URL and save the post again. I suggest starting with your 10 most recent posts (more likely to be seen with random “Older posts” browsing) and your top 10-20 most popular posts and update the URLs.

Geek Tip: You’ll want to understand permalinks well when you import your blog – if your old blog post URLs were structured oldblog.oldblogstructure.com/day/month/year/postname, and your new blog’s URL structure is www.newdomainname.com/postname, you’ll have to pay attention when updating your URLs.

Anything I’m missing from the Quick and Dirty Guide? Let me know.

Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/photonoob/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Have a question for Ask The Geek? Send it to me.

Dear Geek,

I have three different websites and I’m wondering if I should consolidate them: a website built with a template wizard, a blog on a free site, and another website hosted for free. They are all three at different locations as I have tried to keep our cost down, but need to consolidate, focus and try to use one platform if possible. I am thinking to go towards WordPress, as it seems like it supports static web sites and blogs, but just hope it works with Mac.

What about merging my two sites, blog and web for the B&B on one site, like WordPress? I am worried to have my web for the Inn get lost or lose what little page rank I have.

Thanks,
Dispersed and Confused

Dear Dispersed and Confused,

It seems like a simple question, but there’s quite a few things to address:

• Using WordPress with a Mac
  
• How to Maintain PageRank
• Hosting and Managing Multiple Sites

Let’s take a look at each one.

• Using WordPress with a Mac

First of all, from a user standpoint WordPress can be administered from any operating system, because you are going to access it through a website interface, so don’t worry about using your Mac with WordPress. As long as you have a web browser, you’ll be able to access the WordPress management console correctly. WordPress can also be installed on both Linux and Windows operating systems, but you probably won’t need to worry about that – your web hosting provider will. Check the WordPress requirements and confirm that WordPress can be installed with your web hosting provider – most providers will specify this information in the FAQ or even provide 1-click installation services. If you don’t see it, don’t be afraid to send an email before buying a particular service.

I’m a WordPress fangirl, and I am using it on both blogs and static websites. So I say, come on over! You can import your free blog with WordPress quite easily. Start by checking out the WordPress forum – it’s very detailed and has articles on everything including Importing Content from various blog platforms into WordPress.

Second, I think your instincts are right to try and consolidate your business’ blog and website on the same domain. In fact, I think that free blogs should never be used for business-related websites as you want to build your brand on your own domain if possible. You’ll definitely want to read my article about buying a domain: {Read WHT article : How To Buy a Domain and What to Do with It}

• How to Maintain PageRank

PageRank is a value that Google assigns to a website and certain pages within that website. While not all of the elements of this calculation are known, it is safe to assume that regularly updating your website and the number of incoming links to your content are important to affect your site’s PageRank.

It’s probable you will lose PageRank by moving your content to a different domain. But, the PageRank you had previously attained was technically  someone else’s property/domain. Wouldn’t you rather see it attributed to www.yourdomain.com instead of blogspot.com or another free blog site?

This is perhaps the hardest part of moving a website, but I can assure you that the Internet is constantly changing and updating, so you’ll have many more chances to regain PageRank by putting good content out in the future. Starting over with PageRank is best done sooner than later.

I recommend moving your free blog to a blog hosted under your domain and then with the new launch:

1. Contact those sites still linking to your old site and (gently and politely) ask them to update their blogrolls.
2. Plan a series of content for post-launch that are compelling and link-worthy to jumpstart your Page Rank recovery.
3. Use Google’s Webmaster Tools to register your website and start tracking it in Google (don’t forget to use a statistics tool like Google Analytics to track your content!)

You’ll be well on your way to getting back your PageRank.

• Hosting and Managing Multiple Sites

This is something that bears further investigation based on the web hosting providers you’re considering. Some web hosting providers will allow you to host multiple or unlimited domains for the same price. Note that I’m not referring to two different domains pointing to / associated with identical content, but two distinct and separate sites, hosted with a single provider and paying a flat (monthly) fee.

Note that some of these solutions may not be ideal for sites with large amounts of traffic, but that is something that can be evaluated (by regularly checking your statistics) periodically to see if you’d need a more robust solution.

I don’t want to suggest a particular provider, but trying doing a Google search for “hosting multiple domains” “web provider multiple domains” to get started at finding a provider.

Hope this helps you get started,

Sara Rosso (aka WHT’s In-House Geek)

What is Domain Masking?

Domain Masking is sometimes called a “pointer domain.” If we are to continue our example of a postal system mentioned in DNS in Plain English, is like having your mail sent to a P.O. Box. It’s not a physical address, and the “final” destination is another location entirely. You’re hiding the final address from the sender for whatever reason.

Domain Masking is usually offered by your domain registrar as a service. [How is this different from Domain Forwarding? Read Domain Forwarding in Plain English]

If you set up Domain Masking for a blogspot blog, for example, you might consider the following:

www.domainname.com is a Domain Mask for domainname.blogspot.com

When someone types in www.domainname.com, it’s really forwarding to domainname.blogspot.com without the address changing in the address bar (the part of your browser where you see the URL beginning with “http://…”. The user continues to see www.domainname.com in the address bar although the site and its contents are really from domainname.blogspot.com.

Why Use Domain Masking?

If you have an existing site that is being hosted free (like a blog from Blogger or WordPress.com) being able to give out a short URL or address may be a benefit to you. Also, if you’re not ready to pay for hosting, it’s a quick way to utilize your domain name.

Why Should I Think Twice about Domain Masking? Does it Matter?

It definitely matters to Google. If you will rely on search engines for any traffic, then you need to seriously consider if you need to use domain masking or if you can find another solution, such as Domain Forwarding or Switching Your Web Hosting.

Google doesn’t like duplicate content, and with Domain Masking, it sees two domains with the same exact content. What will happen? Google has not released their exact policy on Domain Masking but they make it clear that duplicate content will only get indexed once, and it may not the URL or domain that you prefer.

I Still Want to Use Domain Masking. What Do I Do?

Make sure you use 301 (Permanent) Redirects if given a choice by your domain management.

It may be possible to do this in the settings when you select Domain Masking, or it may require access to the administrative console of the server, so it’s possible that this will not be available to you.

Ready for More? More Resources on Domain Masking:

• What is DNS? DNS in Plain English [When I Have Time]
• Domain Masking [Wikipedia]
• Webmaster Guidelines and Duplicate Content [Google Help]
• Will Domain Masking Impact my SEO? [Your SEO Plan]

Image by eyesplash

When you type www.google.com into your browser, how does it end up at the simple search interface we know and love? When you type in a web address, the part after “http://” and before the first “/” is considered to be the domain of the page.

DNS is very similar to the postal or telephone addressing system most countries have, with two main components: a name, and a more detailed, numerical address. If you’re sending a letter to someone, say, Jennifer who lives in Manhattan, you’d address it such:

Jennifer Johnson

100 5th Avenue

New York, NY 10027

With the Internet, the “name” is called a domain, and the “numeric address” part is an IP (Internet Protocol) address. But unlike sending a letter, as a regular user on the Internet, you don’t have to know the numeric address of your site, just the domain name!

Each domain (in the form of http://www.domainname.com) has a specific IP address it corresponds to. This IP address indicates the “home” or server where the image or web page being requested is being housed.

DNS: The IP Address

The IP address has the following general format:

xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx – where each ‘xxx’ is a number from 0-255.

If you have a dedicated IP address, there will be only one domain at your “house” address. Very few commercial hosting options offer dedicated IPs with their basic plans, and usually there are hundreds to thousands of domains being addressed to the same server. So your address is more likely to be an apartment building instead of a single-family house.

The format of DNS with regard to IP addresses is simple, and in this article, we’ll focus on just one type of DNS entry – for the website. In a “DNS Address Book” you’d see the following: domain name IN A IPAddress.

www.google.com IN A 209.85.129.99 (for this example, google.com’s IP Address)

DNS Name Servers: Your Global Directory Assistance

Another important player in this DNS world is the “name server” which is the equivalent of your local post office. They know where you live and that when a letter arrives with your name and address, they confirm and ensure that it reaches its final destination.

Each domain has just one name server that is in charge of keeping that domain’s information and IP addresses. Simply, when your change your IP address or “home,” your domain’s name server passes the word on the internet (with the help of routers, which we’ll talk about later) to the rest of the internet so a request directed to your website will find you.

What Happens When You Change Web Hosting

{Read WHT article: How to Buy a Domain and What to Do with It} If you were moving your physical house, you’d have to notify the local post office or city hall with your new address. With your website, since you’re moving your data from one “house” to another, you need to update your site’s address, too. Usually this will require you changing the IP address to reflect the new hosting company’s server where your information will reside. Your hosting company can provide the correct IP address for you.

• In the DNS, you’ll delete the current “address” and then insert the new IP address of your new hosting.
• The name server notices that the DNS for your domain has changed, and usually within 24-48 hours, the name server will notify the rest of its network, which in turn will propagate the information throughout the internet.
• The next time someone types in www.domainname.com, the request will be sent to your new adddress!

Advanced DNS Questions

• Can you have multiple IP addresses for a single domain? Yes, much like Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, sites which are very popular often have multiple “houses” – and often this is done with sites that have a lot of traffic and are using multiple servers to meet the demand.
• Can multiple domains respond to the same (IP) address? Yes, as mentioned above, many commercial hosting solutions offer low-priced hosting because they can put hundreds or thousands of sites/domains on the same server since the traffic demands are so low. Depending on the traffic that comes to your site, you’ll probably never notice.

Ready for More? More Resources on DNS

• WHT article: How to Buy a Domain and What to Do with It
• Wikipedia: DNS
• Webopedia: DNS
• How Stuff Works: DNS

Image by saschaaa