Hey all! I’m still in the process of setting up my domain, but I am curious if it’s totally ok that I go with a Wix site over a Wordpress? The site needs to be very user friendly, and my crew opted for this WYSIWYG tool over wordpress.
Wix is fine for single sites; when you buy a domain on wix, it is merely a pointer to a single site that they host. You cannot do any of the Domain Camp activities in Wix or a domain hosted by WordPress.
The domains we are talking about are both the address of the domain name plus the web hosting for multiple sites, not just one, and not just WordPress but a suite of other tools.
I’m not going to try and say this is better for your purposes, but there is nothing in Domain Camp that is going to help you with Wix.
I’ll agree with Alan. For the money, you’ll get a lot more mileage out of your own custom domain hosting over Wix (particularly with the camp activities).
Another consideration to think about is that there currently aren’t any good/easy methods for exporting data from a Wix site to move to other solutions down the road. Wix simply doesn’t provide any. This means you’re more likely to be locked into using their service which also has less flexibility than those offered by a Domain of One’s Own solution.
Ohh, thank you both for this extra insight. To clarify, I haven’t purchased a domain from Wix, I would like to have my own domain, but Wix has my colleagues sold on it’s UI for a site, so the current plan is to use our own domain, to host a Wix site build. I also have my own Wordpress, and would like to bring that under this one domain as well - definitely not buying the hosting from Wix or Wordpress.
I am curious about Chris’s helpful add on info that it’s challenging to export content from Wix to move to another solution. I’m going to research a bit further, and again, thanks for the knowledgeable insight!
Definitely check into this but I don’t think these two statements are possible in conjunction. My understanding of Wix is that it is a proprietary system like Squarespace in that you have to host with them to use their tools.
I think that may have been the case at one point, but I don’t think it’s the case any more. Based on their available plans, you can connect your own domain at every level, just maybe not on the free version.
Right, you can connect a domain to their hosting. I think that’s the point of confusion here. You can use a domain registration (a custom URL whether registered through them or externally) with their hosting platform to use their site building tools. What you won’t be able to do is buy an external hosting account like Reclaim Hosting and still use Wix alongside WordPress and the other tools and methods that are a part of this camp (full disclosure I have no affiliation with the Domains Camp, but I do run Reclaim Hosting so have a good sense of what’s possible or not on our platform). Not going to comment on the pros and cons of Wix versus other platforms, I think they have their place. But the points folks earlier made about it being an entirely separate and proprietary platform with less control apply here.
OK, thank you for this clarification, it’s very helpful! I’m back to the drawing board I think. My challenge is that I’m not the creator of content for this site - so while I might feel comfortable with blogging via Wordpress, several others are less so, and I am having trouble finding a tool that balances openness and portability with an easy authoring UI. This was why I was considering Wix.
Maybe I should just do the camp with my own blog, and stop trying to dovetail these two projects…
The whole idea of a domain is that it’s not just one tool. One possibility we cover in week 2- you can create a subdomain on your site, like crewsite.jesslyndw.ca that will redirect to the Wix site your crew is creating. It’s not huge, but it let’s your domain be like the traffic director.
I would say WIX is not okay! If you read their policies they do not allow for export. Your content will get trapped forever.
Having a wix account better than no Domain at all, but make sure the solution you choose allows you to own AND move what you own
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BlockquoteYour content will get trapped forever.
That is crummy! Thank you for these cautions - I’m back to the drawing board, starting with just getting in and setting up my own domain in Reclaim Hosting. I’m going to start there and assess - I think just having a domain will solve a few of the problems I’m having, and then I may not need to look to Wix.
Another great strategy for people who want a plain website with no blogging interactions (I use HTML for my home page and do all my social stuff on a subdomain using a blog from CPanel)
Is to try a remixable website on Glitch. Then you can export it and upload to your Domain. here are a few examples:
Being able to see your website as you make changes can really help.
There are also a ton of CMS applications in CPanel that you can use to launch a website.
Ping me if you need help with anything!
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Thanks buddy I just started my new website and using html and css for making my one page website. longboardpro.com how can I live it on google . thanks
Wix is good for online Business Card Type websites. i.e. a website that rarely changes over time, and is there to help promote a business for example.
As other have mentioned though not being able to export and move your website is a huge disadvantage of Wix and similar platforms.