Chronicles of Nika

In the last article, I talked about blogging and using free blog sites for people who want to test out blogging first. This article is meant for those people who know or have decided that they will be blogging for some time and want to have a much higher control over what goes into their blog such as their domain name, blog themes, plugins as well as advertisements and sponsored/paid posts.

Before I start, I’d like to repeat that this is only based on my experiences and I am not an expert on this, so if you don’t trust yourself with tweaking computer files and is really nervous doing so either choose the free blog sites or ask your hosting technical support to do it for you. Its not hard to setup your own blog, but you do need to have patience and the willingness to learn and try things. This tutorial would be talking about using the WordPress blogging platform because its what I use in all my self-hosted blogs.

So if you are starting your blog on your own, the following are the steps you’d have to consider:

1. Register your own domain.

This is needed if you are to setup your own blog. Just think of a name that you’d like people to remember if they will be going to your blog. There are many domain registrars available such as GoDaddy, Namecheap and others. I personally use GoDaddy (because I got my first domain there) and Namecheap (all my new domains are registered there). It is easier for me to keep them organized under one or two registrars. Also there are available coupons when your search the internet to get the domains cheaper than the current prices. I also find it cheaper compared to getting your domain registered by your hosting provider.

You can use domain name checkers to see if the domain you are interested in is still available. I use Whois.net to see if the domains I want are taken already or if they are still available.

Also note that some people recommend registering your domains with a registrar separate from your web host provider. I do this for my blogs because it would be easier to terminate my hosting if I find the service poor and lacking. It can be hard to terminate your hosting if they hold your domain, they might use it as a way to keep you from leaving and moving to another host. I have my domains in GoDaddy and Namecheap and my hosting in HostPrestige (Previously, I used Jumpline but their hosting was a bit expensive for me to renew so I moved).

2. Find a web hosting provider.

After registering your domain, you must get a web host provider. There are many web hosting providers and they all have different plans offered to suit your needs. Although if you can’t find the plan you want from them, you can send them a message and ask for a tailored plan and web hosts do that for their clients. As I’ve mentioned in the note above, I’ve used Jumpline. I chose them because earlier this year when I got my first domain from GoDaddy, Jumpline had a one year free hosting plan for new clients. All I needed was to have a credit card and I can avail it. I took the opportunity since I don’t have much money on hand, and I figured I can save the needed funds in a year. My free hosting hasn’t expired yet, but my bill is coming soon. Starting May, I’ll be paying yearly which is a bit of a sum for me but since I am comfortable and familiar with their services already, I will not change my web host. (Unless I get a similar plan or a much better plan for free or a lower cost from other web hosting companies.) I did find a new host which is Host Prestige, I’m happy with my current plan and the owner is very accommodating especially when I needed technical help in moving all my blogs and their databases from my previous host.

The only problem is that their location is in another continent from mine, so I can’t call them when I have problems since that would make my bills even higher. What I do is just email them and wait for their response. So it is important to include in your decision your web hosting company’s location. (Although based from my experience with Host Prestige, they reply very fast within 24 hours, which is really good considering the timezone differences.) If you think you need to contact them every now and then because you are new to all these computer stuff, it is better to choose one that is locally available and reliable.

3. Choose your blogging platform and download it. (WordPress for this case.)

So you have registered your domain and purchased your hosting, while waiting for your web host to give you their name servers (You need your web hosts nameservers, because you will use this in updating your domain. The updated name server in your domain will help point that domain to your site. If you don’t update it, it will simply stay there with the dummy page which says, “This is the future home of YourDomain.com”.), go ahead and download the latest stable release of WordPress’ blogging software.

4. Download and install FTP program. (I use SmartFTP in uploading my files to my server. Skip this if you have other programs available.)

While downloading WordPress, go get an FTP program as well. I recommend SmartFTP because I use it and thats what I’ll be using in my tutorials. Its very easy to understand and use.

5. Download and install a file extracting program. (I use Winzip to extract my files. Skip this if you have other programs available.)

Same as above, go get a file extractor such as Winzip, and install it if you still don’t have one installed on your computer.

I will continue this tutorial on the next article. This is quite long already and also you need to receive the following from your web host which usually takes a day or two:

• Name Servers
• FTP address
• Account Username & Password

Without them, you can’t do much still. The next tutorial would talk more about setting your FTP, uploading your files, creating the database WordPress needs as well as other basic info needed in setting up your blog.

Important Reminder: Most hosts now use Cpanel and they usually have Fantastico. If you have Fantastico available and you don’t want to go through manual uploading and installing of WordPress, you can use Fantastico to install it for you. I’ll be talking about that in the next articles of this series.

Note: You can choose and read the next article of this tutorial series from the Blogging Basics Category.

So you’ve decided to save and go free on your first blog? Not a bad idea if you are new to blogging and still undecided if you will be blogging for a long time.

Going free for the first time is a good idea if you are unsure of your desire to blog because it is definitely cheaper than going for the paid route if you end up not wanting to continue blogging after a few weeks of starting one. Having a free blog is perfect if you started to feel like stopping blogging for some time and decide to continue again after a few months or years because it will most likely still be there (unless the blog site that you joined with closed down), unlike self-hosted blogs whose existence in the world wide web depends on how long their domain name is registered and how long their hosting plan is paid for.

There are many free blog sites that offer basic accounts for new bloggers. Here are a few of the the free blog sites I’ve tried:

1. Live Journal is one of the first blogsites I joined. Its clean and easy to use. There are available upgrades also if you are interested in them.

2. WordPress is one of the best free blogsites I’ve tried. Its easy to understand and it allows upgrades so you can get your own domain while still hosted, and other additional features. When I checked, there were around 61 available theme/layouts to choose from and there are also a few plugins that you can use as widgets to customize your blogs. You can’t have ads and sponsored posts though so that might be a factor to you if you are interested in placing ads on your blogs. I think amazon is allowed though.

3. Blogger is another free blogsite which is easy to use. There are some pre-installed themes you can choose from, or you can change it by editing the html and stylesheet. You can also add several page elements, such as javascript codes and another good thing is you can have ads there. You can have adsense and other ads as well as sponsored posts although some companies prefer non-blogger blogs for sponsored posts. You can also easily redirect a domain you bought and use it on your blogger blog.

4. Friendster – If you already have a profile there and is interested in creating a personal blog its quite easy.

5. Myspace same as #4

6. Multiply same as #4

Remember that free blogs are best if your purpose are not related to monetization as well as controversial issues. Some blogsites suspend or terminate free blog accounts if they violate their company’s TOS (Terms of Service) and policies. Make sure that you read their TOS before making blogs related to monetization and controversial issues so you would be sure if your planned content is within their accepted use.

Note: You can choose and read the next article of this tutorial series from the Blogging Basics Category.

One of the first questions I asked myself when I started planning my first blog was the question,

“Do I want to spend money on it or not?”

I would assume that you are already aware of what you would like to blog about before thinking if you are willing to spend a few bucks or not in creating your blog. Asking yourself if you’re willing to spend some money on your blog is important because once you have started your blog and it has been established with a good amount of readers, it it will be hard to move on a brand new domain because of the following reasons:

1. Your readers are used to the domain you have before, thus you have to inform them that your domain would change so they can update their links.

2. Your entries linked by other people would be lost if you deleted your old blog. (I read that there are available 301 redirects, but I don’t understand the way it’s done yet.)

3. If you opted not to delete your old blog, you might have duplicate content since lot of your entries would be the same as the ones in your old blog since I assume you would import them rather than leave them there and start from scratch. (Once again there is the 301 redirect but as I’ve said in #2, I’m still new and haven’t understand how to fully do it without breaking something.)

4. It might take longer to get indexed again by Google, which is hard in case you have a really good traffic going on in your old blog before (or if you have PR already).

There are other good reasons as well but those ones are what comes to mind most of the time. Another thing important in determining whether you would spend or save would be the control and customization of your blog. Most free blogsites enable you to customize your blogs in a limited way such as choosing themes/designs on the available selections they offer. Also, you do not have much control in your blogs like installation of plugins and other themes/designs that you might want for your blog. If you want a higher control and customization level, you must be prepared to spend a few bucks to be able to get your own hosting and domains, where you can pretty much do anything you like with your blog structure, functionality and design.

Also, you have to take note that free blogsites have their own disadvantages especially if you are planning on monetizing your blog. Free blogsites like wordpress.com does not allow its bloggers to put up advertisements as well as paid posts in their blogs. Doing so will result in getting your blog suspended or worse… get it deleted. So take caution before thinking which way to go. Investing a few bucks in getting your own domain for a blog that is intended to be used for monetization is the best and most practical route. Domains are cheap at $9-$11 per year (even if you convert it using the current exchange rate which is around P430 per year) and there are many affordable hosting plans offered in the internet. There are plans that is geared for a single blog (which goes for around $1-2 a month) and there are other plans for people with more blogs (average of $4-$6 per month).

Once you’ve decided if you’re willing to spend a few bucks (a month or a year) to get a blog that you can control and customize to your whim or save money by choosing a free blogsite to host your blog, you can get started on choosing which service providers would give you the most suitable platforms and packages depending on your needs.

Note: You can choose and read the next article of this tutorial series from the Blogging Basics Category.

So you’ve finally decided to start your own blog? That’s great. But before you actually start that blog, you have to determine what you want to do with that blog.

What are your plans for it? What is your blogs purpose?

I am asking you that question because the next step discussed in this series would be deciding whether to spend money on getting your own domain and hosting, or merely getting a free blog. You might just be interested in making an online journal to chronicle daily events in your life or you might want to create a blog to inform people about controversial issues and such. You might also be interested in creating a blog for monetization. Take the time to determine your plans (both present and future) for the blog you want to create. Then you can easily determine whether you would want to spend money on making your blog or not.

Note: You can choose and read the next article of this tutorial series from the Blogging Basics Category.