Talking About WordPress – WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org, Windows Live Writer, BlueHost.com, DreamHost.com, VPS, Blogs & Blogging, Plugins & Templates – RRPG023

WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

Jim and I discuss WordPress, the free blogging software that makes it easy for anyone start their own web site with freely–available site templates and plugins. Jim is the experienced one having set up and run his WordPress–based web site theaverageguy.tv for the last few years now. I’m just a beginner who’s recently set up a blog so I can post some of my tech–related articles and stuff. At this point, I want to use my site as a sort of catch–all where I can post some work–related articles as well as personal tech notes and scribblings that I’ll revise over time.

Jim talks about the WP plugins he uses and a number of other WP–related items. It’s good stuff and a lot of it, coming from an experienced web site administrator who’s been at it for a while.

There are two types of WordPress sites – one from  WordPress.com which WordPress themselves hosts for you, and one from WordPress.org which you must provide hosting for. Our friend and fellow podcaster Christian Johnson hosts theaverageguy.tv which is based on WordPress.org for Jim on a VPS. Jim uses WordPress.org because it’s more flexible. It allows him the site folders via FTP and he can get at the CSS if he needs to. WordPress.com allows neither of these things, but that’s ok. It’s really meant to be more first–time user friendly. A little bit of HTML knowledge can be useful, but it isn’t necessary. Windows Live Writer sees to that.

Windows Live Writer for Editing

For writing and editing our WordPress sites, Jim and I both use Windows Live Writer which is part of the Windows Essentials package. I’ve used it for these RRPG posts, but apparently now that I’m running my own blog, I’m trying to do too much with it or at least more than it was intended for. Jim talks me off that ledge, suggesting that I need to simplify my formatting approach and kind of let Live Writer have control. Jim’s right, of course. It makes sense and I’ll change my approach going forward.

A head’s up about Window Live Writer…

It crashes. Occasionally. <sad trombone> And it’s a bit unnerving when it happens, but then it always seems to pick right up where it was before the crash. Just so you know.

Recommended Hosting Providers

For hosting, the guys in live chat during the show recommended either of these two providers:

– Rich

Rich’s RPG is a podcast hosted by Jim Collison and Rich O’Neil in Google+ Hangout. We talk tech with like–minded folks, covering stuff that’s interesting to us. No outlines, no agenda, no worries. And we welcome newcomers. Got your headset and a bit of free time? Join us on the show by contacting us at: podcast@theaverageguy.tv or rich@theaverageguy.tv

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