Thanks, folks. I ended up deciding that if WP was going to be potentially not supporting free sites anymore, there was no advantage to using them. So I bought a domain and will set up a WordPress blog within my existing hosting partition at HostGator. On 5/24/19, Richard Danek via Hidden-discuss <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net> wrote: > Sorry if this appears a 2nd time. Sam McClellan seem to have received it > when I replied (apparently only to him). > > ---------- Forwarded message --------- > From: Richard Danek <rcdanek at gmail.com> > Date: Fri, May 24, 2019 at 9:33 AM > Subject: Re: [Hidden-tech] WordPress.com question > To: Sam McClellan <sam at itabix.com> > > > I just tested Wordpress.com to see what's changed. I was able to select a > free site. It let me chose a name that was inserted before "wordpress.com". > So, the sites final name was rcdinfo.wordpress.com. I actually didn't > finish setting up the site. I just wanted to see where you were forced to > pay. *You still have the free option.* > > You have to look for it, though. (I found it at the top of the page in the > description above the table that has the different prices/levels.) > > Now, on to domain names. You can use any registrar to pick a domain name. I > use Google <https://domains.google.com/m/registrar/#> because they are only > $12/year. The price is higher for some of the newer domains (like > .photography). The thing is, once you have a domain name, you can change > its records to point to the Wordpress site. > > Here's an example. My wife and I have a baking show that we produce every > once in a while. I registered "oomas.info" on Google. So, that's my domain. > The site is hosted on Wordpress as oomascookiejar.wordpress.com. I used > website forwarding to make it work so that anyone going to " > https://oomas.info" gets forwarded to the Wordpress site, " > https://oomascookiejar.wordpress.com". > > The name in the URL banner always says oomascookiejar.wordpress.com. > Someone might object to that. I figure that once someone lands on your > page, they're going to use buttons and links to maneuver. Lots of sites > have long URL's at that point and no one seems to mind. > > So, free is still there. > > (I did find one registrar that supposedly allowed you to keep the " > oomas.info" name in the URL throughout. It might have been GoDaddy. They > wanted $20/year for the same domain name registration so I said NO to > that.) > > On Thu, May 23, 2019 at 3:31 PM Sam McClellan via Hidden-discuss < > hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net> wrote: > >> Maybe I'm misunderstanding, Wordpress.com does have a free account but >> you >> can't have your own domain with it. It should not require you sign up for >> a >> paid plan unless you want something that's not included in the free plan >> such as your own domain. >> >> https://wordpress.com/pricing/ >> >> Sam >> -- >> Sam McClellan >> Itabix, Inc >> Web Development, Hosting and Domain Registration >> sam at itabix.com >> http://itabix.com >> Main - 413.587.4600 >> Toll-free - 877-7ITABIX (877.748.2249) >> On 5/23/2019 11:17 AM, Mark D. Hamill via Hidden-discuss wrote: >> >> Unfortunately, that's not an option anymore. You have to buy a plan. The >> cheapest is $3/month for a blogger account. >> >> >> https://en.support.wordpress.com/domains/map-existing-domain/#steps-for-mapping-a-domain >> >> On Thu, May 23, 2019 at 11:12 AM Shel Horowitz via Hidden-discuss < >> hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net> wrote: >> >>> I'm trying to set up a freebie blog for a community group on >>> WordPress.com. It would be hosted on WordPress.com and not on a domain >>> of >>> ours. But after it has me set everything up, it's requiring me to buy a >>> domain sand sign up for a paid monthly plan. How an I set up a freebie >>> account as I've done in the past? >>> >>> Thanks! >>> >>> Shel Horowitz - "The Transformpreneur"(sm) >>> ________________________________________________ >>> Watch (and please share) my TEDx Talk, >>> "Impossible is a Dare: Business for a Better World" >>> *http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/11809 >>> <http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/11809>** >>> <http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/11809>* >>> (move your mouse to "event videos") >>> >>> Contact me to bake in profitability while addressing hunger, >>> poverty, war, and catastrophic climate change >>> >>> Twitter: @shelhorowitz >>> >>> * First business ever to be Green America Gold Certified >>> * Inducted into the National Environmental Hall of Fame >>> >>> http://goingbeyondsustainability.com >>> mailto:shel at greenandprofitable.com * 413-586-2388 >>> Award-winning, best-selling author of 10 books. Latest: >>> Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World (co-authored with Jay Conrad >>> Levinson) >>> >>> _________________________________________________ >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net >>> Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net >>> >>> You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tech Discussion >>> list. >>> If you would like to change your list preferences, Go to the Members >>> page on the Hidden Tech Web site. >>> http://www.hidden-tech.net/members >>> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: >> http://www.hidden-tech.netHidden-discuss@lists.hidden-tech.net >> >> You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tech Discussion >> list. >> If you would like to change your list preferences, Go to the Members >> page on the Hidden Tech Web site.http://www.hidden-tech.net/members >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Hidden-discuss mailing list - home page: http://www.hidden-tech.net >> Hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net >> >> You are receiving this because you are on the Hidden-Tech Discussion >> list. >> If you would like to change your list preferences, Go to the Members >> page on the Hidden Tech Web site. >> http://www.hidden-tech.net/members >> > -- Shel Horowitz - "The Transformpreneur"(sm) ________________________________________________ Watch (and please share) my TEDx Talk, "Impossible is a Dare: Business for a Better World" *http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/11809 <http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/11809>* Contact me to bake in profitability while addressing hunger, poverty, war, and catastrophic climate change Twitter: @shelhorowitz * First business ever to be Green America Gold Certified * Inducted into the National Environmental Hall of Fame http://goingbeyondsustainability.com http://transformpreneur.com mailto:shel at greenandprofitable.com * 413-586-2388 Award-winning, best-selling author of 10 books. Latest: Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World (co-authored with Jay Conrad Levinson) _________________________________________________