Wordpress.com or Wordpress.org and other basic questions for a newbie

[mouldycheesefan]

Hi can anyone advise on whether Wordpress.org or Wordpress.com would be better for a newbie?
Also, where csn I go to get my blog professionally designed rather than an off the shelf template, including a logo?
Do I need a mac?
What about picture editing? Not photo editing but if want to add graphics etc to pictured
I am a technical no hoped is it possible for me to do this?!!

[olderthanyouthink]

Hi, I'm a web developer

I'd alway go for .ORG, it's what I work with everyday and there's much more flexibility in there. (Kudos for knowing that there's a difference)

You could ask someone like me to make a theme for you. I work for a agency which would be faaar too expensive (think ££££-£££££). But freelancer could be about £400 (that might just be me, I've never done it but have been looking into it). There's also sites like people per hour but that's probably not much different to off the shelf. There's a middle ground though of using a theme and having it customised. Similar for a logo depending on how complicated/ how many revisions.

Almost no one needs a mac, but they are pretty. (Only reason I can think of needing a mac is for iOS app development)

There's photoshop alternatives but I'm not sure what's popular among bloggers. You pay monthly for Photoshop now but it may not be worth it

I'm relatively technical but not a blogger, so I can answer some questions but not all (I have a blog, I liked making it and working on it but not using it so it's become a portfolio piece )

[olderthanyouthink]

Also .COM doesn't allow custom themes or even third party themes and plugins.

I think an important point is that blogging can be cheap/free or it can cost, a lot. Those beautiful blogs you often see mostly didn't start like that (unless the blogger has the skills or knows a guy/girl). It may not be worth it to get a bespoke blog made when you're starting out as you likely wont have a huge readership and ad revenue.

[mouldycheesefan]

Thank you so much, really appreciate your help. Great advice. 💐

[olderthanyouthink]

No problem

If you've got anymore questions or what some help just ask 😊

[SusanVelez]

I think anyone starting out should use WordPress on a self-hosted blog. I wouldn't put my hard work into a free platform, because you don't actually own the blog.

Say for instance you use the free Blogger platform, Google has the right to delete all your content without even notifying you.

It takes me forever to write content on my blog. The last thing I want is someone else to have control over it.

WordPress makes it easy to learn and setup a theme and get started blogging. You don't have to be a web developer or designer to get started. In fact, I don't recommend that you spend that type of money.

You can easily get a premium theme or get started with a free one, until you decide that is what you actually want to do.

There are several websites online that will teach you how to learn WordPress. I have over 8 years of experience working with it and on my blog I am writing tutorials that will help people with the techie side of blogging. If you need help, visit my blog and learn how to start a blog. bit.ly/2exAiOU

If you have any questions or need me to write a specific WordPress tutorial, let me know. I'll do my best to accomodate you. Just know that I can't always write tutorials on everything that everyone wants.

Best of luck to getting started, sometimes that is the hardest part.

Susan