Makin' a website with Wordpress

[Jaybell]

So I need to make a nice blog website thing, and wordpress seems like it'd be fit to do so. But web design ain't really my forte, so this may sound pretty dang dumb but that's what this forum is for so HERE GOES:

Instead of making the domain derp.wordpress.com, can't I make it just derp.com? How would I go about doing this?

[phill]

Step one, find hosting that supports php and mysql.

Step two, purchase derp.com.

Step three, download wordpress from http://wordpress.org/.

Step four, install it on your hosting and set it up

Step five, start blogging

Step six ????

Step seven profit?

[Necrotic]

So I need to make a nice blog website thing, and wordpress seems like it'd be fit to do so. But web design ain't really my forte, so this may sound pretty dang dumb but that's what this forum is for so HERE GOES:

Instead of making the domain derp.wordpress.com, can't I make it just derp.com? How would I go about doing this?

The long answer:

You would need to find a domain registrar service or agency that handles domain names. You have to pay a certain amount for it, usually $10-15 a year, then it's yours. You'd pretty much have to do this if you want derp.com. All your Wordpress hosting would give you is the blog, nothing else, but at least it's free.

You will also need a web host. The internet is choc-full of them, seriously. A decent host that runs PHP (programming language Wordpress is based on) and has MySQL databases (used by the blog system to store data) costs about $30-70 a year depending on your needs. For your purpose, you can probably go with a cheapo service because all you're doing is blogging.

Some web hosts provide domain registration for a fee, but sometimes going through a domain registrar service is nice because you get more control over your domain.

Those are your major hurdles.

[Kanthos]

My blog is set up exactly the way you want. I use domainsvision.com as a host ($3.95/month if you buy a year at a time), and domainsatcost.ca to register the domain name for something like $12 CDN/yr.