I might want to change the look of this blog, but…

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I’m considering changing my theme to a completely different look, but I have a question for WordPress bloggers who have done this.

I’m really nervous about changing my theme because I’ve heard horror stories of people losing their posts, comments, likes, etc. I’ve also heard you can lose all your widgets and have to start from scratch putting them back up. Is that true? That would be a heck of a lot of work and I don’t have time to do all that.

Also, because this blog is becoming so much more active and popular (and fairly soon I will run out of space if that continues), I’m considering switching from WordPress.com to WordPress.org, which would mean I’d have to find an outside host. How do you find an outside host? Is it expensive? Are there free hosting sites? If I have to use an outside host, then what becomes the role of WordPress?

Switching to a WP.org account makes me nervous. When you import from WP.com to WP.org, what happens to your blog while it’s importing? Is there a chance it could get lost in the ether and disappear? The prospect of that scares me a lot. I’ve heard it’s happened to people.
I have no idea how to save a backup copy of this blog while it’s importing, or is that automatically done as part of the import process?

What happens to the sense of community? One of the things I love about WP.com is that sense of community and the ability to follow other WP bloggers. With WP.org do you still have that capability? I’ve been told you do not.

If I use WP.org, do I need to know how CSS works? I am not a web designer and even though I have the upgrade that includes CSS, I have no idea how to use it. 😦

Is there a way to compress or put old articles in an archive or zip file, without having to switch over to WP.org? I know, so many questions.

Any advice anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated.

24 thoughts on “I might want to change the look of this blog, but…”

  4. The only question I can answer for you is that hosting is about 10 bucks a month through HostGator. I’d imagine GoDaddy is comparable, but don’t know for sure. I think HostGator has a better rep.

    Here’s a link to the first video in a step by step series. BUT it leads you through from scratch, not importing. I’ll include it anyway, the whole channel is good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qtZN8IUZE8

    I counted 5 in the series. They’re about half way down on his upload page, but they aren’t one right after the other. They all start with the title “Passive Income, Create Niche Websites, Step By Step.”

    Good luck with the other questions too.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. I’d be careful changing themes, when my son Hammy set up his wordpress blog, he changed themes a few times until he found one he liked, everytime he changed a theme he’d lose widgets, or the ability to do this or that, and his dashboard layout changed with each theme change, I have trouble helping him figure out his current dashboard, it is the complete opposite of what I am used to and then some.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. incidentally…. you can buy more space without going to a self hosted site or ,org , just thought i’d mention that, I still have a ways to go before I have to start upgrading, but my first and probably only upgrade will be buying more space .

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Well, I’ve not switched to org yet but I’ve changed my theme. You have a preview and you can look it the new version there and decide if you like it or not. I did have to install some widgets once again but I thought it wasn’t anything that took me too long. And I lost no followers or comments, but I lost some pictures in posts.

    Liked by 1 person

    • I could try previewing. I’m not sure if I’m willing to have to replace pictures and/or widgets. I have to think about this some more before I make any decision to drastically change anything. I think this theme looks good, and I like the look of this blog–but I am getting a little bored with it.

      Liked by 1 person

  9. I’ve never changed themes, just backgrounds and colors, customized and stuff. I didn’t lose any posts or really, the essentials. I did have to redo a lot of my widgets.
    I don’t know where it goes when you transfer. Perhaps into the space where electronic funds go as it travels from one bank to another? Hanging out with odd socks…
    Site hosting is everywhere. If you Google, you’ll find gobs of web hosts, and they vary considerably in price. Some are about $30 a month, but they don’t protect you from spammers, and the ones that do also vary, but start around $200 a month. And those are start-ups. They adjust their rates and protections according to traffic. The expectation is that your traffic generates income and therefore, you can afford the rent.
    In terms of your audience, you can arrange to stay in the WP feed, although your format will change, like buttons won’t appear, depending. I follow two bloggers who began on WP and now are self-hosted, and I kinda don’t like it, because it’s comment or nothing, but I still read them.
    It really is overwhelming. If you’re serious about it, there are web consultants as well.

    Like

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