Here are the steps to migrate your content from your practice site on WordPress.com to your self hosted site with your own domain. In class we discussed the limitations on free WordPress.com.
Things on self hosted sites not available on free WordPress.com:
- use your own domain for your web address
- install and use Plugins
- install and use Themes
- eCommerce – to sell products/services
Step 1: Export your existing content
The first step is to download all your content from your existing blog on WordPress.com.
Log into your account, and from your website front page, click on the “My Site” menu in the upper left corner.
At the bottom of the menu, click on “Settings.”
From the menu at the top of the page, click on the rightmost option, “Export,” and then click the blue “Export All” button on the right:
Wait for it to generate your file (the bigger your blog, the longer it will take).
When it’s complete, you should see this message:
Instead of waiting for the email, you can just click the “Download” button to download the file now.
The file will include all your posts and pages. However, it won’t save your general blog settings, widgets, or other settings, so we’ll have to set those up in your new blog.
Step 2: Import your blog content
Log in to your dashboard from www.yourblogdomain.com/wp-admin (replace with your actual domain).
From your dashboard, navigate to Tools > Import near the bottom of the menu:
You’ll need to temporarily install a special plugin in order to upload your file.
At the bottom of the list under “WordPress,” click on “Install Now.”
You’ll see a message at the top that the importer was installed successfully. Click on the “Run importer” link.
Click the “Choose file” button and select the file you downloaded from your WordPress.com blog. Then click the blue “Upload file and import” button.
Now, the importer will give you a few options:
Select your own username from the dropdown menu to assign the imported posts to yourself.
To make sure any images and other multimedia is also imported, check off the “Download and import file attachments” checkbox.
When you’re ready, click the “Submit” button.
Success!
Step 3: Finish setting up your new blog
Be sure to double check your posts to make sure they all imported correctly, and fix any formatting issues that may arise.
You’ll be able to use any theme or plugin you want now, so take a look at the possibilities! Check out these theme reviews and plugin reviews to get ideas and inspiration. There are thousands of themes available for free in the Theme Repository on WordPress.org and plugins in the Plugins Repository on WordPress.org.
Here is a link to a good article on how to earn money from your blog, definitive guide to making money as a blogger to get started.