Do you want to host a wordpress blog ? I know the answer is YES …  and I have another question for you -  “WHY”. Why do you need a self hosted wordpress blog ?

To own yourowndomain.com ?
To Experience and  Experiment ?
Make money with ads ?
Anything else ?

If you already have one …..

If you already have a self hosted wordpress, I need to know; what made you sign up for one ?.

So, here is the second part of “Finding the Right Host for your Blog“.

Server Requirements : Wordpress server requirements are simple, ( as long as you are planning not to host wordpress MU,  or plugins that require additional features and resources ). Lets go straight to wordpress.org, and check out server requirements.

PHP 4.3 or greater
MySQL 4.0 or greater
The mod_rewrite Apache module

If you are too lazy to check this out, wordpress has an email template that you can send to your “would be” host, and then just wait for their answer. Okay, don’t get confused. Most of the webhosts support all these 3 on all of their linux based plans.

Additional features/offers : Now it’s time to check for some additional stuff !! . Do they give you something extra ? like, Google Apps ready ? A free premium theme  ? A collection of themes and plugins ? Free domain name ? contests ? Coupons ?  Competition in Webhosting industry is really HUGE. Make use of it, get more features addons and more  !!! [Read more →]

Yes !! another question for you. Is it easy to set up and manage a self hosted wordpress blog ? Or, is it a difficult job ?

My experience ?

Installing a new wordpress blog : 2 to 5 minutes.
Uploading a theme and making changes : 10 minutes
Uploading basic plugins and activating them : 5 minutes

Yes, setting up a new wordpress blog, including installation, theme, and plugins, -  30 minutes maximum. Well, this is after you get your hosting account activated. So, after you sign up for a hosting account, you will have to wait to get it activated. Sometimes it will be done within 30 minutes or less. If there is any issue with your payment, it may take little more longer, depending up on the kind of issue.

After you sign up, there is something called “DNS propagation”, which may take 24 to 72 hours. Once this is  done, ie - an active account, and DNS propagation completed, you are almost done. Because, as I told you, installation and set up will need only less than 30 minutes.

So -

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Thanks for your feedback on my previous post, about backing up your wordpress blog. Most of them, were extra tips. Here they are….

1 Niyaz “The problem is that we cannot backup other files like images using this method.”

2 xylene was trying to remember something… “there was some site which will convert our blog into pdf. Any idea which one?”

( I think its this one http://www.expresspdf.com/ConvertHtmlToPdf.aspx )

3 Suda “Good for newbies, but I think when I read WP FAQ first, they ha warned us that its not the way to backup everything and it puts too much load on server if people start using it madly

Suda, and his tip : Backup your Blogroll.

I found a way to backup and import *blogroll* from one blog to another or just backup. May be you already know this.
go to http://yourblog.wordpress.com/wp-links-opml.php where *yourblog* is your own blog URL.

For example in dinu’s case, his blogroll can be exported as OPML file using link http://www.offlineblog.net/wp-links-opml.php

P.S> Dinu, if you think this is a useful tip and people are gonna miss this comment being on old post, you can add it in your TIPS as usual, all people eagerly read them

I am using HTTRACK Website Copier from ages and its really effective. I think I will write a post/tutorial for it soon. It won’t help in moving data to new site but its the best way we can backup a website i.e. downloading it as it is to local machine.

Also that PDF conversion site is superb, it converts page with all images included. Not the page as it looks though, it takes just content in PDF but its worth the trouble.

I got an email from Poonam last month “Tell me how should I take backup of my wordpress blog, in case wordpress blocks my blog or something?” she asked.

Yes, what if something happens to your blog ? You need a backup right ? Okay, just three steps, let us generate and download a backup of your wordpress.com blog.

1 On you dashboard, click “Manage”
2 Now, “Export”
3 Now, “Download Export file”

Okay, just three steps, let us generate and download a backup of your wordpress.com blog.

You will get an xml file. Now, save your back up somewhere ( and don’t forget where you saved it Okay ? ). You can save it on your computer or attach it to an email and keep it on your email account …. hmmm what is your choice ?

Now, How to Restore your Blog from Backup

Remember one thing before you do this. You can not restore individual posts this way ( unless you have downloaded author specific files, - ie, if you have more than one author for the blog ). Now, read on

1: Click “Manage”
2: Now, “Import”
3: Select “Wordpress:
4: Click “Browse” and locate the backup file
5: Now, “Upload file and Import”

Done !!

Now, what if you need a back up of a post that you accidentally deleted ?

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