How do I upload a custom site?

  • Hello,

    I am a newcomer, so I don’t know how to use wordpress yet.

    I have a site I’ve coded with html and css and I want to upload it on wordpress. I have a free hosting plan.

    I have searched for instructions on how to upload your custom html code but, from what I see the tutorials are outdated. WordPress layout has changed.

    How can I upload my html and css files?

    Thanks in advance

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
  • Moderator bcworkz

    (@bcworkz)

    Unless you are determined to have your content within the WP environment, I recommend running your current site in parallel with WP. The only .html file in root WP is readme.html. Anything else can reside in the same root folder as WP. Your current site will continue to work as usual. Only when a request (such as a WP permalink) does not match any current files will WP handle the request.

    You could modify your current CSS so that your .html pages look like WP pages, or modify your WP theme to look like your .html pages. The site can appear well integrated.

    If you really want your content in WP, if it’s not too extensive or involved, you could manually copy/paste the main HTML content into WP pages. For more comprehensive sites this can become a pretty onerous task. There are services available that will convert sites from one platform to another. Usually like Wix to WP or something, but .html to WP should be feasible. These services are often based in India and are reasonably priced if your own time is worth anything.

    Thread Starter traintop

    (@traintop)

    Hi, Thank you for your message.

    I am going to ask a few dumb questions, so please be patient with me. I have just started so I have no idea what I’m doing.

    I recommend running your current site in parallel with WP

    My first question is, how can I run my site in parallel with WP? Does this mean that I have to use a different host?

    you could manually copy/paste the main HTML content into WP pages

    How can I paste the code inside WP pages?

    Thanks in advance

    • This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by traintop.
    • This reply was modified 4 years, 9 months ago by traintop.
    Moderator bcworkz

    (@bcworkz)

    There are no dumb questions here! It’s not like anyone is born knowing this stuff ??

    No separate host. All on the same server. I imagine your main .html site files reside in your server’s public html, perhaps with more in a few sub-folders. Unless there is a file naming conflict, you can install WP in the same public html folder. Since they are mostly .php files, conflict is unlikely. Your .html site will work as it always has. WP will pickup requests for its content because WP permalinks cannot be found as files on your server. Any time the server cannot find a requested file, WP gets control of the request.

    You can manually convert a .html file into WP content by copying the file content, HTML tags and all which occurs within the <body> tags, into a custom HTML block of the WP page editor. This will not include any CSS, so at first it won’t look right, but the content is all there. To get the CSS applied, perhaps the simplest would be to copy/paste the CSS rules into the Additional CSS panel of the WP customizer.

    If your .html file includes header, footer, and sidebar content, you may wish to omit those from the copy/paste into WP since WP themes typically add their own header, footer, sidebar content. You probably don’t want pages with two headers ?? Depending on the nature of your .html pages, there may be more to do than this, but that’s the gist of it.

    The other significant task if you keep your existing pages in parallel is getting both WP and your existing pages to appear similarly as one cohesive site. Some decent CSS skills would be very useful for this, but learning as you go is a reasonable approach. Your WP theme will likely require some modifications to get it to look like your other pages. It’ll help if the theme already has a similar layout. Maybe just the colors need adjustment. That can be done through the Additional CSS panel.

    For more extensive theme customization, do not be tempted to edit theme or WP core files. You can customize what your theme does by creating a child theme, which avoids the need to alter theme and core files directly.

    The other option would be to modify your existing pages to appear like your WP theme. Or perhaps a hybrid approach. Some theme changes and some existing page changes to get the look you are after.

    Thread Starter traintop

    (@traintop)

    bcworkz Thank you for your response.

    is getting both WP and your existing pages to appear similarly as one cohesive site

    Ah, now I’m beginning to understand.

    If I understood right, wordpress (the app) and wordpress hosting are two different things. I think it is important to make that distinction.

    In order to run my website in parallel, I have to first download wordpress the app, make a empty website and then associate this empty website’s content with mine.

    In my case the folder that I have stored my html and css files.Then I can upload it on wordpress hosting.

    Is this correct?

    The other option would be to modify your existing pages to appear like your WP theme.

    I think there was a tutorial about how to do this:

    To summarize the video I essentially upload my site as a wordpress theme.

    Moderator bcworkz

    (@bcworkz)

    There’s an important distinction regarding hosting. There are two kinds of “WordPress”. These forums are for the .org kind. There is also the .com kind. The WP .com kind provides hosting for subscribers. Their sites are based on the same basic WordPress software, but their version deviates from the .org kind in some fundamental ways.

    The WP .org version is for “self hosted” websites. Not necessarily hosted on your own computer. Most WP .org users use commercial hosting of some sort. The choice of host is up to you. Most commercial hosts offer WP specific account packages for those who are less technically inclined, though installation on a non-specific account requires very little technical skill.

    Users of WP .com have limited options on what they can do with their site in the way of customizing its appearance and functionality. WP .org users are free to do whatever they like with their site. The possibilities are vast for those with adequate coding skills.

    If you wish to be hosted on wordpress.com, it’s a great option for many people, but then you are in the wrong place. Head on over there to get started.

    If you want total control of your site, you’re in the right place. You’ll need a web server of some sort. It can be done on your own computer, but server administration of a publicly accessible site is not recommended for the inexperienced. Any commercial hosting will do, provided you steer clear of the free hosting services. A small sampling of possible hosts is found here.

    You will also need a domain name, which is typically not part of a hosting package, though most major hosts can act as your domain registrar as well. Doing so saves you a bit of trouble linking your domain to your host. Doing so when you have a different registrar is a fairly simple task.

    You may have a choice between Windows or Linux hosting. Either will work, but the user base of Linux is much broader, so better supported by the community. Your new hosting account might have a WP option you can click on to start installation. Or it might be pre-installed and you just need to do a basic setup. If not, get the download from the button in this page’s header ^^^^^. Extract it on your local computer, then upload the extracted files via FTP to your host’s server. More detail at

    How to install WordPress

    A WP “theme” defines the look and feel of your site. There are thousands to choose from. A new WP site has no content beyond an initial Hello World post, a sample page, and an outline privacy page. It’s up to you to create content. When you create content, the theme determines how it will appear on your site.

    While I have a lot of patience for helping people, I have little for watching videos. I cannot vouch for the relevance of the vid you posted. You have two options, leave your .html as it is, or copy each page’s main content into WP. If left as it is, you’ll likely need to do some customizing to keep .html and WP content appearing as a cohesive site. If you copy over the content only, the theme will control how it appears.

    Thread Starter traintop

    (@traintop)

    Great,

    Thank you for you time and information.

    I appreciate the fact that you took the time to explain things.

    Thank you again.

    Hello, let’s say I create a website using the WordPress software from www.ads-software.com on my local computer, now WordPress.com allows free hosting under the sub domain mywebsite.wordpress.com, so can I upload my website for free under that subdomain?

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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