- Setting Up WordPress, DNS and Email
- You want to setup a blog and get a mailing list, and have experience with tech in various forms, such as programming skills or familiarity with Linux. But even with some tech skills there’s so many options out there. How can we post content, and, yes, tweak things, while avoiding unproductive rabbit-holes of configuring servers, DNS, WordPress etc.?
- While keeping an eye on the cost?
- There a number of different features that we will consider – for me these are from most to least important
- Custom domain name – for professionalism
- E-mail – actually 2 pieces
- E-mail list system to allow people to join and build audience
- Send and receive email from the domain name (and not e.g. our personal gmail account)
- WordPress software – everywhere and has many plugins
- Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP (LAMP) server – I don’t care about this, it is more of an implementation detail and terminology I saw in setting up Linode.
- The basic outline is:
- Linode – 1 cpu, about $5/mo
- 1-click wordpress.org install
- Chose preconfigured LAMP stack
- DNS manager
- also useful to check out:
- you will need to give an email address per this DNS Start of Authority – MxToolbox
- to make your blog connect using https this is a simple guide https://www.linode.com/docs/guides/how-to-install-certbot-on-debian-10/
- Namecheap DNS about $10/year
- Mail
- Mailing list ConvertKit free tier
- Linode’s one-click wordpress.org install allows us to install the Convertkit WordPress plugin which gives us the mailing list signup
- Tutanota mail service paid tier about $12/year
- gives the DNS records we need to enter into Linode’s (or Namecheap’s) DNS manager
- Mailing list ConvertKit free tier
- Linode – 1 cpu, about $5/mo
- More setup details coming!
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