Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
10
ADDING UPGRADES, AUDIO,
AND VIDEO
Upgrading Your Blog
There's a smooth upgrade path from a WordPress.com blog to a hosted
blog using software available from WordPress.org. In this chapter, we
describe the upgrades you can get for a WordPress.com blog: Custom
CSS, unlimited private users, hosting space upgrades (including audio
hosting), removal of all ads, and VideoPress. These upgrades cost from
about $15 to about $90 per year each.
All of these upgrades are steps toward a hosted blog using
WordPress.org software, which is described in Chapter 11, “Installing
and Upgrading WordPress Software.” Our hope is that this topic makes
the process of adding WordPress.com upgrades to your blog a smooth
one.
Having all these options is part of the strength of the WordPress offer-
ing. This smooth path also allows the entire WordPress effort to operate
in hybrid form. Automattic, the company that owns the WordPress
brand, has several products, including WordPress.com, which are sup-
ported largely by sales of these upgrades. Yet the WordPress commu-
nity, largely made up of volunteers who provide most of the support for
WordPress software, is far larger than just Automattic and its staff.
From an evolutionary point of view, it might be interesting to you to
know that WordPress was initially only available as software from
WordPress.org, beginning in 2003. Many, many people found that they
could arrange hosting or set up their own computer as a web host,
download and install the software, and run it successfully.
