First of all, clearly, I am not a computer expert, I just pick up a few things here and there since most of my friends are. This is strictly a laic experience as you will be able to tell.

A blog on a hosting platform like WordPress.com is relatively easy to manage and you learn a few things as well. When you want more options, say, with designing the appearance, or want access to the code, you have to switch to self-hosting. I did some research and decided to transition to Bluehost. The reason was it had the most recommendations comparing to all the other options and as written on their sites, Bluehost hosting has good support for transitions from WordPress hosting.

There is a guide through the process but there are also details that should be mentioned but aren’t, at least I didn’t come across any of this. I’m emphasizing this last sentence as that might be exposed somewhere and I just didn’t find it. I wouldn’t have a problem with this normally, but everyone kept telling and writing about how easy the transition was. Just say it can be challenging, where some problems can occur and we’re fine.

Here is an example of how my transition went and where problems occurred going from WordPress to Bluehost:

First of all, I was lucky (or smart) enough to have backed up all the posts promptly as I was posting them, because when I exported the blog, it didn’t contain all of my posts. Some were missing. I tried more than once, same story every time. So when the site was successfully established I had to post the missing posts again. Then there was the transition of subscribers, likes and stats. There are no instructions on how to do that and no warnings to pay attention to that specifically.

When the transfer was successful, I searched on how to transfer the subscribers and likes. There are no instructions on how you can do this on your own, I only found help through WordPress support forums. A kind woman there did all of that for me – transferred the stats, subscribers and likes. She only couldn’t do it for the posts I had to post again due to poor export.

After more than a week of all this craziness I finally thought everything was set and done I realised I couldn’t reach my blog as it said it was unsecure. So I searched again and found the reason was in an inactivated SSL certificate. Nowhere in the instructions did it say anything about this. I paid not a small amount of money for self-hosting and now nor I, nor my readers could reach my site. I tried to activate the certificate myself but I couldn’t. Beforehand I didn’t even know I needed that as WordPress would take care of this automatically. I know this is completely clear to a lot of people in the site managing and blogging business, but I also know, I’m not the only one who learned about this for the first time. Then, a few days later, as if nothing ever happened, I got an email from Bluehost saying I was now able to order the certificate. For free as it is a part of the self-hosting price. It would just be a lot easier on my nerves if they made this clear in the beginning – that it would take a few days before one is able to order and activate the SSL certificate. So I thought I finally fixed everything and could dedicate fully to blogging.

This month my latest problem appeared (self-hosting for 3 months now): as every month I got an email the SSL certificate has been renewed, but this time it apparently wasn’t. Just as I scheduled a new post, the certificate stopped working. No one could read the post and I couldn’t even log in to my WordPress site. All this money and time for some nonfunctioning of a certificate that my site is now unreachable. I turned to Bluehost’s help which is only available by calling or by live chat. They don’t have an email helpdesk. The down side is you have to wait for someone to be available to chat with and then wait by the computer as they »solve« your issue. I chatted to a kind man, he renewed my certificate as I exposed the problem, but did nothing else as the site still wasn’t working. I asked him if this kind of problem appears often. He replied: »No, just at the renewal.« So every month… He didn’t tell me if this issue can be resolved by the site manager – myself. The certificate got activated in four days (while Bluehost says it takes 24 hours at most) and the blog was finally available.

The point I’m trying to make here is – if there’s an issue with your blog/site, you might depend completely on other people, the managers of the self-hosting platform to resolve your issue. This might work for some, as they may not have the time or knowledge to address the issues themselves. But I for one, want to solve my issues, whatever they be. I like to do that because one can learn a lot through their process. And it only depends on me when the problem will be resolved.

To avoid most issues, make a list before you decide to do anything about transitioning your blog to a self-hosted site. Everything you need to have on the new platform and everything you want to move. Here are some things to keep in mind:

1. backup: have every post (with photos) saved in your computer and on an external hard drive, even two of them if possible;
2. do your research – where would be the best for you to transition to according to your needs and goals about your site;
3. once you decide on the platform, read the instructions on how to transition very carefully;
4. make a list of everything you need to transfer (posts, photos, subscribers, likes, stats, widgets, etc.);
5. when you export the original site, check well if every post is there;
6. follow the transition instructions thoroughly;
7. be patient.

I am not trying to discourage anyone from going to self-hosting at all, just letting you know what to look out for and what can happen. I wish I had someone telling me all this before I took the jump – which I don’t regret.

Did/does anyone else have this SSL problem? Or any other problems regarding transitioning to a self-hosted site and then managing it?

If you have any advice or anything to share on this topic, you are very welcome to share it in the comments!