WordPress.com is a magnificent place when you decide to begin in blogging. You can work on your blogs, and publish on Internet, thus running at no price. When it is time to outgrow a WordPress.com blog, you can easily move towards WordPress.org. Though WordPress.org blogs are self-hosted, still they significantly own more command over your blog. With the use of WordPress.org, you can exhibit ads, upload plug-ins quickly in order to customize your blogs, and also have full charge over your theme.
If you’re keen enough to shift your ladder from WordPress.com to self-hosted WordPress.org, we’ve listed here few of the important tips how to migrate from WordPress.com to WordPress.org.
- Set up a Self-Hosted WordPress Blog
You’ve to execute quite many things irrespective of whether you are beginning new on WordPress.org, sans blogs, or changing from .com to .org. If you haven’t got a domain name, you’ll require one of them. You’ll also require obtaining hosting, configuring your name-servers, and installing WordPress.
- Installing a WordPress theme
When you move to WordPress.org, you get a great chance to use superb ranges of themes. Before making a switch, whichever theme you had, you should install the same theme adequately. You can either buy a theme from 3rd party theme developer, or you can look for in the directory of WordPress themes. In order to install a new theme, you should go to Appearance and then to Themes where you reach to Themes panel. Now you click on ‘Add New’ right at the page top. You require activating your theme before blogs on WordPress.com goes live. After installation is done, you can strike the activate button which pops up on the screen, or else by browsing your installed themes that is on your Themes panel.
- Setting up permalinks
Before migrating your blog, you would like to set up your permalinks in your .org installation, so you need to click on ‘Settings’ and then on ‘Permalinks.’ If you’re already having your own personal domain name linked to your blog, then you’ll like to choose ‘Day and Night’ as your setting.
- Data Migration: Shifting from WordPress.com to WordPress.org
The most stirring part that you would make now is to shift, and in fact bring freshness to your new blog.
- Exporting data from WordPress.com
Now you need to export your old blog, and to execute this, you have to click on ‘Tools’, and then ‘Export’. Here you would come across 2 options: Guided Transfer and Export. You can execute a Guided Transfer with the help of engineers at WordPress to shift your blog, or you can do it yourself also.
When you’ll click on ‘Export’, you’ll be asked what you like to export, and you should choose ‘All Contents.’ If by chance you do not like old blog pages on your new blog, you can easily erase them.
Then you should click on ‘Download Export File’ and thus the XML file will be saved automatically on your computer.
- Importing Data
Now you are set to go to your new blog by clicking on ‘Tools’ and then ‘Import.’ Here you come across distinct importers. You’ve can choose ‘WordPress’ for installing WordPress Importer plug-in. Then click on ‘Install now’ on the window which pops up. Once the installation is completed, you can click on ‘Activate Plug-in and Run Importer.’
You’ve to choose a file (XML file downloaded earlier), and then click on ‘Upload file and Import.’ You’ll be asked to choose an import author on the next page. Here you would like to choose ‘Download and significant file attachments’ before striking submit that would finally import all your important attachments, including your photos.
- Email Subscriptions
You would like to arrange your subscription service for new, fresh subscribers for signing on firstly on your self-hosted blog. Once you install Jetpack plugin by the help of WordPress.com, your staffs at WordPress.com will be transmitting your current subscribers from your WordPress.com blog to WordPress.org.
- Typing up loose ends
Finally you are done with the import of your blog. You will like to require obtaining plug-ins for creating your blogs look fanciful. If your URLs are not similar like earlier, then you will like to install a plug-in which will hold your 301 redirects. Though it is not needed, but you should ensure that all the SEO links that you’ve gathered surpasses through your new blog easily.
Therefore, you have got a perfect solution of migrating from WordPress.com to WordPress.org. So make the best use of WordPress.org after shifting from WordPress.com!