Three Things You Need to Use a WordPress Theme
All of our themes are specifically built for self-hosted WordPress websites which use the WordPress CMS (Content Management System).
If you don’t already have a self-hosted WordPress website, but would like to use one of our themes then you will need to set one up. Alternatively, if your website is on a different platform, such as WordPress.com, Blogger, Squarespace or Wix, you can move your website’s content over to a self-hosted WordPress website.
Whether you are setting up a WordPress website from scratch, or you are moving over to WordPress from a different platform, are three main components that you need in order to create your website and start using a Snug theme.
Let’s take a look at those three components:
Web Hosting
Hosting is the space online where your website and all the files that power it will live.
Hosting packages can be purchased from a web host and these can be paid for either monthly or yearly. The price of hosting can vary depending on which hosting provider you choose to use and the type of hosting you opt for.
There are two main types of hosting you should consider; shared hosting and managed WordPress hosting.
Shared hosting is when a single server hosts multiple websites. Because you are sharing a server and therefore sharing the maintenance costs, this is often the most affordable option.
Managed WordPress hosting is specifically for WordPress websites and is therefore tailored to deliver the best possible performance for WordPress users. WordPress is usually already installed for you, so you don’t need to worry about setting this up yourself, and things like backups are all handled for you. Because of these extra featured, this type of hosting is usually a little more expensive than shared hosting, but if you don’t feel confident with the behind the scenes of running a website, it might be worth the investment.
If you have a larger website with lots of content and a very high volume of traffic, you might need to look at something like cloud hosting or a dedicated server.
It’s worth doing some research about hosts before you hand over any money. Ideally, you’ll want a host that is affordable, that has great customer service with live chat functionality (so you don’t have to wait around for emails or hop on a phone call), that has good uptime and that is fast. Here at Snug we use Krystal for our hosting and they tick all these boxes!
While you can find free hosting packages online, we strongly advise that you don’t go down this route. Free hosts are unreliable and may delete your website at any time. They’re also slow and sometimes add advertisements to your website without your permission. It’s 100% worth investing in hosting.
Domain
A domain is simply the URL of your website. So for example, our domain here at Snug Designs is snugdesigns.co.uk.
A domain can be purchased from a domain registrar, such as Namecheap, and must be renewed annually. Usually, a domain will cost you around £10 a year, but this could be more depending on the extension (e.g. .com, .co.uk, .info, .org, etc.) you decide to use.
You need to choose a domain that isn’t already owned and used by someone else. To check if the domain is available I recommend heading over to the Namecheap website and entering the domain name you want to use. If the domain is available, you’ll be able to add it your basket, and if it isn’t available it will say “Make offer”.
If the domain isn’t available to purchase, you can make an offer to the owner of that domain but the normally charge an absolute fortune. Buying and selling potentially popular domains is a lucrative business! So if you don’t want to fork out a lot of money, we recommend looking at using a different domain extension or picking a different domain altogether.
You don’t have to purchase your domain from the same place that you purchased your hosting from, but you might find it easier to do so.
Once you have purchased your domain and hosting, you will need to point your domain at you hosting account so that the two work together and you can start creating your website.
WordPress CMS
Once you have web hosting and a domain that is connected to your hosting account, you are are ready to install WordPress.
The WordPress CMS is completely free to download from the WordPress website.
You can install WordPress manually on your website using their installation process which they say should only take 5 minutes, but it could take longer if you don’t have any experience of working with databases.
Fortunately, many web hosts come with free tools such as Softaculous, Fantastico and Installatron which can be used to install WordPress easily and quickly without having to manually create a database or touch a single line of code.
As previously mentioned, if you choose a WordPress managed hosting package for your hosting, WordPress is usually already installed on your website and ready to start using straight away, so you don’t even need to worry about the installation process. This is definitely one of the benefits of managed hosting!
If you have any questions about hosting, domains or the WordPress CMS, feel free to send us a message using our contact form and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!
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