Most tutorials and information that you come across about WordPress will be for the open source software that you can install on any server and do whatever you want with; often referred to as WordPress.org or self-hosted (because you have to manage the installation of WordPress on your host).
WordPress.com is a bit different. WordPress.com is a hosted, managed, and supported version of WordPress. This means that the WordPress software is already installed when you sign up, all upgrades are handled for you, some plugins and themes are already installed (you can’t upload other 3rd party themes and plugins) and there is forum, email and live chat support (depending on your purchases).
WP.com and WP.org both have their benefits, and there is even some middle ground when you’re talking about WordPress-specific hosts like WP Engine, Pagely, and Pressable.
Here’s a bit of an overview to help you decide, which one you might need.
|
|
|
Comments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I want to run a store, aka e-commerce |
Y |
N |
|
| I want a paid membership site |
Y |
N |
|
| I want my site to integrate with complex email marketing services |
Y |
N |
WP.com has a MailChimp widget and email subscriptions, but nothing fancier |
| I want to use custom themes and plugins |
Y |
N |
|
| I want to use WordPress multisite |
Y |
Y |
It depends a bit what you mean here, but WP.com is one massive multisite and you can make new sites in a snap |
| I don’t want to worry about updates and security |
N |
Y |
You always need to protect your password |
| I need lots of space for photos and videos |
Y |
Y |
Upload space depends on your plan for both platforms. |
| I’m new to creating a site and want to try it out |
? |
Y |
Getting your head around hosting and domains before even installing WordPress can be hard, but some hosts make it easier. |
| I don’t need a custom domain |
N |
Y |
By custom domain I mean your own .com, .org, .net type domain that you need to pay for. |
| I want a site that can scale |
Y |
Y |
For self-hosted setting up scalability will be your job. On WP.com you can have as many visitors and content as you want! |
| I want WordPress-specific support |
N |
Y |
Most hosts won’t help with WordPress-specific issues, just general hosting things |
| Free site for life |
N |
Y |
Even if you had a plan and domain on WP.com and let them expire, your content will survive. |
WordPress.org
WordPress.comCreate
The following videos show you what it’s like to sign up and create a new site on WordPress.com (there’s no sound on the videos: I made them for a presentation and talked through them, maybe one day I’ll add sound, but not today!).
Signing up is pretty easy; just take note that you can choose a free WordPress.com domain, or pay for a custom domain.
Once you’ve created your site and account there are some handy getting started guides.
Customise
In this video you will see how to navigate the WordPress.com dashboard and start building your site. The new dashboard on WordPress.com is different to the traditional WP Admin, which is usually shades of grey and has more crammed into it; the WP.com dashboard is blue and more streamlined. Apart from the cosmetic differences, the basic ideas behind creating content and customizing your site are the same.
For more information on customising your site, checkout the Customize support doc.
Settings
Here’s a brief overview of the settings, some of which are exactly the same as WP.org sites, but arranged differently, some (such as Publicize and Sharing) are extras built into WP.com.
Jetpack
If you like some of what you see above, but want to stick with your WP.org site because of themes and plugins (as I do), you can still take advantage of some of the features of WP.com (the new dashboard, security, sharing & publicize, and heaps more) via Jetpack.
Jetpack is a plugin that is written and maintained by Automattic (the folks that own WordPress.com) and it has boat loads of features that are in WP.com, and that you might otherwise install multiple other plugins for.
Here is a demo of installing Jetpack on a self-hosted site and how you can then manage that site via the WP.com dashboard.
For a few more details take a look at my previous presentation on Jetpack.
Thanks for post.. when i create a blog for my sis i really confused about jetpack… and before reading this post i don’t know difference between wp.com and wp.org