Newbie Q – WordPress hosting limitations?

  • Soon, we’ll be launching a new blog for a small-town Chamber of Commerce, but must first choose a hosting company. The WP docs state “If you don’t need the flexibility of a full web host, you may consider getting a free blog on WordPress.com.” This suggests that WP hosting is limited, but doesn’t elaborate. What would we sacrifice with WordPress hosting?

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  • The main things off the top of my head:

    1) Small limit in number of page hits. I don’t think they’ll go mad or anything, but if you’re expecting tens of thousands of visits a day then it’s a little unfair to use a free system ?? A couple of hundred or whatever and I reckon you’re fine.

    2) Flexibility. That’s the main one. WP.com upgrade when they upgrade. You can use the templates they supply for the look and feel, not any of your own. You can use the plugins they supply, not your own. You can’t edit or customise your templates. And so forth.

    On the other hand, it’s *incredibly* simple to set up and run with.

    You pays your money, you takes your choice. I’ve gone for the self-hosting option as I like to fiddle and play with things like that. But for a simple blog, WP.com is just fine – as is *whisper*blogger*whisper* but I didn’t say that ??

    Also, on wp.com (where your URL would be something.wordpress.com) you can NOT have anything else on that place, only your blog.
    If you buy your own domain, then you definitely want to go with a hosting comany – otherwise it doesn’t look really professional for a Chamber of Commerce. On your own hosted domain you can install other scripts, webpages, not only a simple blog (if needed).

    You can use the templates they supply for the look and feel, not any of your own. You can use the plugins they supply, not your own. You can’t edit or customise your templates. And so forth

    IainPurdie, don’t forget that you can purchase more flexibility from wordpress.com. The prices are pretty reasonable, and you still avoid a lot of the headaches of hosting your own site.

    Here’s more info on what you can purchase from wordpress.com.

    Maybe this sticky from the wordpress.com support forums will help. It explains the differences.

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