Domain name clarification/issue.

Hi
quite new to forum and not really technical so I need a bit of help, although I can follow clear instructions. I use Wordpress and posted there but am not getting a response so I'm trying here as it's more directly related.

I started a blog about a month ago. I'm new to this so a bit unaware about some things. I registered a .com domain but perhaps naively I didn't specify www. so it's http://
I thought this might be a problem but I've since seen quite a few blogs with http:// so is this actually O.K?

I installed Wordpress but my content is viewable on .com/wp not .com as I'd intended, which just shows a landing page for my host company. Again is this an issue? I already have users and when I look at my stats 99% come from bookmarks so I don't want to lose the users I've already acquired.

I recall seeing in the settings menu on Wordpress a box which shows the location of the site which is .com/wp so I imagine this is like a sub-directory of the main site. If I just deleted the /wp characters would my content be viewable on .com and would my bookmarked users still see it?

Any replies much appreciated, just want to get answer to this so I can move forward. Also I'm looking for answers so I can learn and do it myself not ones from businesses offering their services.

Thanks

 

Yes, a domain name without www is acceptable and, in fact, many people prefer not having a www (I am one of them). However, your DNS should be set up to have A Records pointing to both the www and without-www versions so if someone does type your domain with a www prefix, they can still get to it. You should pick one version of your site: www or without-www. Search engines like Google will treat the www and without-www as two different sites. After you determine which you like, you should set up a redirect/rewrite so anyone typing www will be automatically redirected to the without-www version (if that is your preference to have no www).

Yes, it most certainly is an issue. Your Wordpress files should be in your domain's root folder, not in the /wp/ subfolder. If you want to change this, you will have to copy/move your files from the .com/wp/ folder to the root domains folder .com. After you do that, you can set up a redirect in htaccess so anyone using a bookmark to your .com/wp/ location will be redirected automatically to .com.

No. You have to copy the files from your .com/wp/ folder to your domains root folder (.com). That setting in Wordpress will have to be changed after you move your files to the appropriate site. Before you move, disable any plugins you may be using. Please see this link below about moving Wordpress for more information:

http://codex.wordpress.org/Moving_WordPress

Moving your files and changing the configuration setting (as you mentioned) should not take more than a few minutes. Are you on a webhost using cPanel? If so, it should be an easy move.

 

Hi

Thanks for your very fast reply and laying out each step to take in a logical manner. I'll follow your guidance and hopefully it will work out O.K.

Many thanks