Tag: selfhosted

Three Things Noone tells you about going self hosted

Three Things no one tells you about going self-hosted

Migrating a blog hosted via WordPress (wordpress.com) or Blogspot to a self-hosted site is a rite of passage. At least, it felt that way for me anyway. It’s a huge step for bloggers alike, but it comes with added responsibility – and a bit of work to get it there in the first place.

I spent a lot of time researching how to migrate a blog before I took the plunge and found plenty of information out there. Confident I knew everything there was to know, I took the first step to make my blogging dreams come true.

A common expression is that you don’t really learn to drive until you have passed your test… and I found this process to be much the same thing. Each and every one of us will have a different experience. In my research, I was never really told what to expect once my blog was successfully migrated. If you are looking to find out a little more on that subject, then you’ve certainly come to the right place!

My experiences are written from the perspective of migrating a site from wordpress.com to wordpress.org. Whilst one the points I am going to make you aware of is exclusive to WordPress, I think the other advice is non-platform specific. I hope it is of some use to you. 

 

Transferring a domain is not an overnight process

Throw laptop frsutration
Source: GIPHY

Whilst this piece of advice is certainly out there, I was stubborn to accept it. I tried everything I could to try and get my website live once the transfer of my domain had been processed. The transfer in itself took a couple of days to process, during which time my blog was still live via wordpress.com. Once I had authorised WordPress to action the transfer, however, I had to wait a couple of days for the DNS server to update before my domain would show as a live website.

There really is no way around this. Believe me, I tried. Try to set up your website before these settings have updated and you’ll find yourself up against a brick wall. Sure, it’s new and exciting and OH MY GOSH… but you’ll have to rein it in for a day or two.

I repeat. No. Way. Around. This.

Patience, friends. I wasn’t and the temptation to make my laptop pay the price was unreal.

 

WordPress Import software is flawed

Anger, frustration girl
Source: GIPHY

Finally, your website goes live. It has no content, but, FINALLY, it is live. Once you have installed the necessary software to get your blog up and running, the next step is to export your old blog or website. Once you have the export, you are going to need to import that file into your new dashboard.

But there’s a catch. I referred to numerous sources when encountering the glitch personally and it appears to be a long-term problem. I found that the WordPress importer software didn’t import ANY of my media files. So, I had to import them all again manually.

Doesn’t sound like too much of a problem, until you realise that all your blog posts are trying to link to media files that are no longer located where they used to be. Thankfully the WordPress dashboard has a means of detecting broken links, and this monitors everything for you. After my initial import failure, I had just over 300 broken links to fix. I still have just about 200 left to fix. It’s not a small task, but it isn’t difficult either.

My advice, set aside time for unexpected IT technical issues. Even if you don’t particularly have the know-how, the internet is a wonderful thing. The greatest commodity you can have in the first few days of setting your new site up is time.

 

Spam Comments

You’re going to start noticing lots of comments. Great, right?

Not necessarily. A lot of these (and I really mean a LOT) are going to be spam. Thankfully, there are some great plugins that can filter out the vast majority of spam comments. Some are still flagged in your spam box, so you will have to review/delete them yourself.

By way of example, in two and a half weeks since going self-hosted, this is the number of spam comments I’d had:-

 Akismet Spam Comments

Realistically, I’ve only had to manually review and delete a further 12-15 or so comments, so a lot of the hard work is done for you. At present, I am only using the free version of Akismet, but depending on your blog content, you may have to opt for a paid subscription to cover you. If you are looking for coverage yourself, as ever the best thing to do is shop around. There are plenty of options out there.  

If you have had an issue that I haven’t mentioned above, or any other advice, please let me know in the comments! There are so many different sources out there; it can be difficult to know where to turn.

 

Sunday Summary June 2018

Sunday Summary – 24th June 2018

Good evening folks! Another week draws to a close and it’s time to share my weekly progress (aka Sunday Summary) with you. I anticipated that this week was going to be less productive than my previous week, because:-

  • Last week was a good week for me, by any standards
  • I have had a redecoration project planned

 

I had a couple of days of work this week (yay!), but due to redecorating, they were FAR from relaxing!. As a result, I can’t say I managed to read as much as I hoped to. I’ve also been doing my fair share of writing blog posts, so I suppose I can claw that time back in the next day or two instead.

 

Books Read

My week began with finishing Blackwing by Ed McDonald – and what a way to start a week. I devoured this book in about two days, which speaks volumes about how much I enjoyed it! With a page count of approximately 380 pages, I am actually pretty impressed with myself on this one!

I swiftly moved on to Death in Dulwich by Alice Castle, first of two books in the London Murder Mysteries series I am reviewing next month. So far I am 28% through the book, which isn’t horrendous progress, but I would have liked to have read a little more on this one. Perhaps next week will be more fruitful.

My review copy of Ravencry arrived this week and I haven’t been more excited for a book in a little while. As I am due to be reviewing this early next month rather than mid next month, I started reading this as well. Admittedly, this is why Death in Dulwich was put on the back-burner – a girl has to prioritise somehow! I’ve acquainted myself with the first 45 pages or so, but after this, I had to prioritise redecorating, so I’m no further than that.

All in all, this isn’t the worst week I’ve had reading – actually taking the time to look at it properly; it doesn’t seem as bad as I thought it was. Maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on myself.

 

Books Discovered

I’ve added Bard – The Odyssey of the Irish by Morgan Llewellyn to the TBR on the recommendation from a friend. We were discussing our mutual interest in historical fiction books when he told me about it. Since Ireland is close to home, it’s only fair to learn how and by whom the country became inhabited.

I read a fantastic review of The Court of Broken Knives by The Tattooed Book Geek today; such a good review that it makes me want to read it for myself. I want to try and read more from the Dark Fantasy sub-genre and this seems like a good place to start!

 

 

Coming Up…

Three Things Noone tells you about going self hostedI already have tomorrow’s post prepared for you – which is a rarity on my part! It’s a topic I decided to write about a couple of weeks ago. You may know that I recently transferred my blog from wordpress.com to wordpress.org. After researching and completing the process, I felt there wasn’t much information out there about what to expect after going self-hosted. Hopefully, my post tomorrow will give you a few pointers about what to expect.

 

I’m really looking forward to sharing Wednesday’s post as it was kindly contributed by the author of A Conversation with A Cat, Stephen Spotte. I was recently provided with a copy by OpenBooks in exchange for a review. Stephen has prepared a humorous insight into his book and the top cat that inspired his work, Jinx.

Naturally, my review of A Conversation with A Cat will follow on Thursday. I hope you can take a minute or two out of your day to check out my thoughts.

 

Sunday Summary June 2018My Sunday Summary will take usual pride of place – and I hope to be sharing news of a more productive week.