WordPress.com, WordPress, and WordPress.org

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• Accessibility
• Admin Bar
• Browser Issues
• Dashboard
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• FAQ for MLB.com Bloggers
• FTP Access
• Getting Started
• Introduction to WordPress.com
• Making a screenshot
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• Register a Blog
• Security
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• WordPress.com Home Page

The distinctions between WordPress.com, WordPress, and WordPress.org can cause some confusion. Let’s clear them up.

WordPress.com is brought to you by some of the same folks who work on WordPress, the open source blogging software.  WordPress.com is a hosting platform that utilizes the same WordPress software that anyone can download from WordPress.org.  With WordPress.com, the hosting and managing of the software is taken care of by the team here at Automattic.  With the freestanding WordPress software, you need to install it on your own server or a 3rd party hosting provider.

WordPress.com Benefits

• It’s free and much easier to set up
• Everything is taken care of: setup, upgrades, spam, backups, security, etc.
• Your blog is on hundreds of servers, so it’s highly unlikely it will go down due to traffic
• Your content is backed up automatically
• You get extra traffic from the WordPress.com community — including blogs of the day and tags
• You can find like-minded bloggers using search and the reader
• Your dashboard is secure (SSL) making it even safer to log in on shared networks

WordPress.com Cons

• We provide 180+ themes (and adding more every day) which you can modify and edit the CSS, but you cannot upload a custom theme*
• You can’t modify the PHP code behind your blog*
• You can’t upload plugins

* The VIP program on WordPress.com for high-traffic and high-profile sites allows you to run custom themes, custom PHP code, ad code, and WordPress plugins.

WordPress (self-hosted) Benefits

• Ability to upload themes
• Ability to upload plugins
• Great community
• Complete control to change code if you’re technically minded

WordPress (self-hosted) Cons

• You need a good web host, which generally costs $7-12 a month, or thousands of dollars per month for a high traffic site
• Requires more technical knowledge to set up and run
• You’re responsible for stopping spam
• You have to handle backups
• You must upgrade the software when a new version comes out
• If you get a huge spike in traffic (like Digg or Slashdot) your site will probably go down unless you have a robust hosting setup

WordPress is free blogging software. With WordPress, you can install themes and plugins, run advertisements, edit the database and even modify the PHP source code. Anyone can download the software for free from WordPress.org, but it must be installed on a web server before it will work. Web servers are generally not free. Hosting your own WordPress software can be fun and rewarding, but it also places full responsibility on the blogger. If you mismanage your web server, you could lose your entire blog.

If you’re looking for a WordPress-savvy web design or software development firm, check out the CodePoet Directory, a directory of consultants who specialize in building beautiful and efficient WordPress sites.

WordPress.org is the website where the free WordPress software can be downloaded. For no charge, WordPress.org provides downloadable blog software, community mailing lists, community support forums, documentation, and free themes and plugins.

WordPress.com is different. You do not have to download software, pay for hosting or manage a web server. When you sign up for a WordPress.com blog, you will get a URL like “andy.wordpress.com” or you can map a domain so your blog is available at “example.com” without the “.wordpress.com” portion.  You do not control the software or the database; FTP and shell access are not included. WordPress.com is based on a multi-site version of the WordPress software which does not permit uploading of PHP themes or plugins (although many popular plugins are built into WordPress.com ).  Popular JavaScript embeds such as YouTube are supported, but for security reasons some of the lesser known embed codes will be stripped out.  CSS is also restricted by default for security reasons, but you can purchase a paid upgrade to gain the ability for full CSS editing.

For no charge, WordPress.com provides web hosting, unlimited database storage with redundancy and backups, automatic software upgrades, community support forums, multi-lingual administration and themes, real-time traffic stats, comment tracking, blog and post rankings and other features not available anywhere else. These features will always be free for blogs started on WordPress.com; if you ever find yourself being charged for these at WordPress.com, pinch yourself and wake up!

WordPress.com is a commercial enterprise owned by Automattic, a company started by the founding developer of WordPress and staffed by full-time developers, designers and support agents. It runs a multi-site version of WordPress. Developments sponsored by Automattic are regularly contributed back into the WordPress software so the community can benefit.

WordPress.com offers paid upgrades as a way to provide premium features without forcing bloggers to host their blogs elsewhere. These upgrades are optional. Basic blogs will always be free on WordPress.com and the basic services will continue to be upgraded with better features.

Last modified: May 11, 2012