WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

This talk was given at WordCamp Milwaukee 2013 in the Foundation Friday User Session. We talk about the history of WordPress, the pros and cons of WordPress.com and WordPress.org, and how to decide which is right for your project.

Transcript

1. WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org Which is right for your project? Heather Acton @heatheracton78 http://heliointeractive.com WordCamp Milwaukee 2013 Foundation Friday June 7, 2013
2. Introduction
3. A Little History ✴ Who in the world is Matt Mullenweg? ✴ What is Automattic? ✴ What is WordPress?
4. Who is Matt Mullenweg? ✴ A cutie pie ✴ 29 years old ✴ College dropout ✴ Jazz enthusiast ✴ 2012 Forbes “30 Under 30” in Media ✴ Founder of Automattic ✴ Co-founder of WordPress.org
5. What is ? Matt Mullenweg’s company that is behind:
6. What is WordPress? Or better said, “What ARE the WordPresses?” WordPress.com is the free blogging service hosted and maintained by Automattic WordPress.org is the open source website framework also known as self-hosted WordPress, built originally by a team that included Matt Mullenweg
7. WordPress.com Highlights ✴ Blog for free! ✴ Over 200 free themes to choose from ✴ Mobile apps available to manage your site ✴ Visitor statistics are tracked ✴ Social sharing features ✴ Support included in your $0 ✴ Multiple author blogs ✴ “Reader” to subscribe and follow other WordPress.com blogs ✴ Paid upgrades for custom domain, custom design, additional storage ✴ Used by:
8. WordPress.com “Considerations” ✴ Advanced or custom functionality, like e-commerce, membership, or a social network is not available ✴ No pornorgraphic, racist, or otherwise offensive content ✴ If you want to leave, you can only take your content (not your theme!) ✴ You are bound by the TOS
9. WordPress.org/Self Hosted WP Highlights ✴ You choose your host, many with “quick installation” features ✴ 1700+ free themes (look/feel) ✴ 25,000+ free plugins (functionality) ✴ Many many MANY more premium themes and plugins available ✴ Custom themes and/or plugins can be built by developers ✴ Codex ✴ Forums ✴ WordCamps! ✴ Meetups ✴ 17% of the top 1 million websites run WordPress, and about 25 million total ✴ You can feed your family by building really nice WordPress.org sites
10. WordPress.org Considerations ✴ It’s easy. But not THAT easy. ✴ Secure and reliable hosting has a price. ✴ Custom development can get pricy. ✴ WordPress.org sites require routine maintenance, just like your car and a marriage.
11. So, which is right for your project? WordPress.com ✴ No need for functionality beyond the included features ✴ Mostly satisfied with one of the free themes ✴ Strapped for cash ✴ In a time crunch ✴ “Just want to try out this blogging thing” WordPress.org ✴ Desire a high level of visual customization and/or functionality ✴ Willing to learn ✴ Willing to perform routine maintenance ✴ Willing to hire help ✴ Prefer to own and control your site completely
12. Let’s Go WordPress!