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This is a follow up to a long series of questions seen here before. That is the most recent one I could find, and it is about a year old.

I am trying to help out a friend, to just get him started up with a WP blog for easy creation of static web content for a non-profit they want to start. I have been brought in to help them set it up, not a long-term thing. They wanted me to host on GoDaddy, and I clearly had problems with that. I also explained WP needs to be updated regularly lest they be an example of what not to do. I am considering a hosted WP.com instance with their own domain name, but it missing just the right stuff. Does anyone recommend some good full-service hosting other than Dreamhost and the list on wordpress.org? I am just curious, and I would greatly appreciate advice from the vets here.

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I know you specify "other than Dreamhost", but...I just recently set up a wordpress site for a non-profit using Dreamhost. If it is a true, registered-with-IRS-non-profit, Dreamhost offers free hosting to 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. So that may be an additional factor to consider.

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  • This is very interesting to know. I will keep that in mind.
    – songei2f
    Sep 16, 2010 at 11:19
  • It appears that Wordpress migh actually offer what I asked for. After seeing your mention of this, I thought it was worth considering. @David Mackintosh might have something to say about their promises re upgrading consistently. Thanks for your input.
    – songei2f
    Sep 16, 2010 at 11:46
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There's a difference between "just set up" and "full-service". With Wordpress, the difference is critical.

If someone "just sets up" Wordpress for your friend, the inevitable security and version updates become his problem. Because WordPress is so popular, vulnerabilities are specifically targeted by spammers and link-spam generators. You have to stay up to date.

This becomes even more time consuming if you use third-party themes and plugins to extend Wordpress functionality. The problem will be that eventually your theme and/or plugins will no longer be compatible with some mandatory security upgrade.

I say this from personal experience.

The worst-of-all-possible combinations is the dreaded "Click-and-Install" packages offered by many hosting companies. This rolls an automatic install of Wordpress for you, but keeping it up-to-date is your problem.

The simplest, most-secure way to deal with this problem is to use Wordpress.com as a host with their domain name. They restrict your usage as much as possible to ensure that when security updates happen (and they happen automatically for you) they don't impede what you are trying to do.

There is a trade-off between functionality and maintenance-free.

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  • I am well aware of these issues. I was hoping someone would enlighten me on a service that does Wordpress hosting and I guess update management. I have been researching parallel to this q on SF. I have yet to find something, so I guess the answer is no.
    – songei2f
    Sep 16, 2010 at 11:22

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