The WMDD 4840 final assignment requires you to deploy WordPress to a live server and get a domain name.
In the materials below, there are three different ways to do this.
- Deploying to Amazon Lightsail
- Deploying via the control panel of a typical host company such as Namecheap.com
- Deploying to the WMDD Server with the Plesk control panel
Each alternative has its advantages.
Domains vs Hosting
To get a domain is simply to register a brand, so that the Internet knows how to find your site.
To get hosting means to rent space on a server to put your actual files, database, etc.
Through the Domain Name System (DNS), the Internet will know how to associate your registered domain with the place where your files are hosted.
When someone types yourdomain.com into a web browser, the browser first contacts the domain name servers, which looks up the domain name and sends back to the browser an IP address for where the files are actually hosted. In this way, the domain name system is like a hyper-efficient Internet phone book.
You can register your domain at the same place you get hosting, or this registration and hosting can be acquired through different companies.
Getting hosting and registration at the same place will save one step in the process of getting your site online.
If you do register with one company and get hosting from another, however, you will need to get some DNS information (usually 2 – 4 server addresses) from the host company and enter it into a form at the registrar’s website. This is referred to as changing DNS settings.
One possible advantage of separating the registration and hosting is that the prices of domain registration can vary, including via promotions. A typical domain registration costs about $10 for year, but this will vary by type of domain and by host. Some are really cheap, some are quite expensive.
However, some hosting companies will give you the domain for free, too, as part of a hosting package promotion.
Option One: Amazon Lightsail
If you’re a developer, you are, or will soon be, familiar with the Amazon ecosystem. The Amazon approach can be done cheaply. With new signups, your first three months will be free (or almost free).
Of course you would still need to register a domain, which can be done at Amazon or at a different registrar.
The Amazon option, however, requires considerably more technical setup than the other options.
For that reason, I would recommend this option only if you are a developer.
Below is a link to a video series explaining how to:
- set up an Amazon Lightsail instance,
- install WordPress on it,
- set up SSL,
- transfer a WP site built in MAMP to your Lightsail instance (using the amazing All-In-One WP Migration plugin), and
- make DNS changes to point a domain (registered with a different company than Amazon) to your Lightsail site
Loom Video Series:
Hosting on Amazon Lightsail.
Option Two: Host Company Such as Namecheap
The host company approach requires significantly less complex a setup procedure than the Amazon approach.
And host companies are always offering deals, so it can be done cheaply.
Some will even let you pay monthly, so if you want to put the site up only for the exercise, you can definitely do it for less than $10 —-including a domain registration, depending upon the top-level domain (.com, .ca, .xyz, .design etc) chosen.
Below is a video series that demonstrates:
- Registering a domain and getting hosting at the same company (namecheap)
- Uploading a simple HTML site to your host space
- Installing WordPress from a web interface (cpanel) with a couple clicks
- Moving a MAMP-built site to a live hosting environment.
- Moving a WordPress site built in MAMP to your host. That video shows how to uses Duplicator, which you are probably quite comfortable with by now.
For this process, I would, however, strongly recommend that you try the All-In-One WP Migration plugin. It’s easier to use than Duplicator, in fact, and it has some security improvements, too.
Loom Video Series:
Domain Names & Hosting Video Series.
Option Three: WMDD Server
Before deciding to use the WMDD server, please wait for an announcement from me: I just noticed that the latest PHP version I was able to choose was 7.4.28.
I will let you know if that can be increased (since most of us are using PHP 8 in MAMP). I’ve sent an email to Denis.
There is also another issue, maximum upload size, that needs to be addressed before we deploy to the WMDD server.
With the WMDD server, your hosting is free. You would still need to register a domain with a registrar, and, at the registrar website, make the DNS changes required to point your domain to the WMDD server.
Registering the domain will cost up to $15, depending on which type of top-level domain (.com, .ca, .xyz, etc) you choose.
To use the WMDD server, you will need to send a form to WMDD Instructor and all-nice nice guy Denis Bilette for him to set up an account.
I will put his email address in Brightspace, along with a link to the form.
The first of the two links below explain how to transfer a MAMP-built WordPress site to the WMDD Server using Duplicator.
Some of the screenshots may look a bit different: I think
I would recommend, however, that you use the amazing All-In-One WP Migration plugin. It is fast and convenient.
If the issues get worked out, I will post links showing you how to upload your site to the WMDD Server and do some slick security hardening.