Tech Research

Reclaiming A Domain of One’s Own?

Posted by AJ on

Reclaim Hosting looks to be a simple and affordable solution for anyone looking to migrate a WordPress site to their own host before that graduation day rolls around. At the starting price of $30, Reclaim Hosting it is also the backbone to the Domain of Ones Own project. Geared  to universities, students, graduates, or even school staff or faculty, one can be off and running with managing their web presence for roughly the cost of a tall drip cup of coffee ($2.50usd a month to host your site).

“For those just starting out with few requirements, get a site up and running quickly with plenty of power to start building and grow.”

Reclaim Account Dashboard
Wordpress for me…

Learning

A few glitches I’ve discovered in this process:

  • Using WordPress import tool is great for moving pages and posts. BUT
    • Site export from wp.wwu or WordPress.com can fail:
      • Importing images that are larger in size
      • Not reattached “featured images”
      • Does not take all Theme data
        • Hard WP settings like menu settings, pages etc. seem to migrate
      • If the old site is NOT publicly visible at time of import, assets like photos will not re-download to server.
      • Header authentication for Google Analytic/Web Search Tools and Pinterest doesn’t seem to work fully.
        • Unable to connect without errors
      • Still LAME that WordPress as a platform does not have 2FA by default
  • Plugins are your friends for
    • Google Analytic
    • SEO optimization
    • Caching (if needed)
      • I find the basic JetPack solves 99% of most optimization issues a typical user will come across.
    • Comment engine killer
    • Spam comment
    • Brute force attacks
  • Gravatar
    • An easy way to centralize your avatar identity if you comment a lot in the WordPress ecosystem
Gotta an app? Need an app? Roll it on your server
On server or off server backup (free)

Preliminary Conclusions

Why go the route of Reclaim Hosting as opposed to signing up for WordPress.com?

  • cPanel = awesome flexibility
  • 2GB of site storage/ 1GB of ram for the “Individual” accounts
  • If you use or need plugins, this option is a 1/10th of the cost of the “Business” site option on WordPress.com
  • If you use or need to use custom styles (CSS) or themes, this is 1/3 the cost
  • If you want to spin up something other than WordPress, like Grav or just a simple static site: options are available as it is a server, not just a single service.
  • Domain registration, and migration, is available.
  • On and off server back up options are available.
    • Easy integration to Google Drive, with scheduling, to back up your site provides users with a simple way to back up their site.
  • Literacy in the basics of:
    • Strong password and account management is needed
    • Domain mapping and DNS configuration
    • Using SSL for https everywhere on site

Resources