Domain Hosting at WordPress.com
I recently created a website, for a customer who wanted a shiny new blog on a WordPress server. I took the opportunity to use WordPress.com to do the hosting.
I set up the blog, registered the domain name, and then used a new feature (new for me, anyway) which lets WordPress.com use your domain name.
What this means, is that instead of “my_wordpress_account_name.wordpress.com” as your web address, you can have WordPress.com host “my_domain_name.com.au” which appears in the title bar of people’s web browsers when they’re viewing the blog. This costs US$10/year per domain, which I think is pretty good value.
How to do this
- If you have an existing domain, log on to the domain’s registrar. Change the delegation to WordPress.com DNS servers: “ns1.wordpress.com” through “ns3.wordpress.com”;
- From your blog’s dashboard in WordPress.com, go to “Upgrades / Domains”;
- Enter the domain you would like to appear as the address for your blog. This can be pre-existing or WordPress.com will register it for you (if the domain is available) for $5/year;
- Click “Add domain to blog”;
- If you don’t have any “WordPress.com credits”, you will be prompted to login to PayPal and purchase 10 credits (this will cost about AU$11.00);
- Return to the “Dashboard / Upgrades / Domains” screen. In the domain table you will still see the original “wordpress.com” address for your blog, with the function set as “your blog URL”. You will also see a new entry, which is the domain name you just paid WordPress.com to host. Click on the link that says “Put blog here”. Otherwise if you type the new domain name, it will just redirect to the WordPress.com address.
That’s it! Now if you type your new domain name, or your old “wordpress.com” address, you will see your shiny new blog. Most importantly, the address in the title bar will be your new domain name.
Happy blogging!
More reading; WordPress.com Support Forum on Domain Hosting.