WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org

There are a few key differences to keep in mind when developing a theme or plugin for WordPress.com. We’ve outlined a non-exhaustive list below.

Comments

WordPress.com has a custom comment form that allows visitors to leave comments as guests or using their WordPress.com, Facebook, or Twitter accounts. This comment form is also available for self-hosted sites via Jetpack.

Core WordPress.com features

While WordPress.com is running on trunk WordPress, we’ve added a lot of bells and whistles in the form of features for every WordPress.com user and site owner. For more information about WordPress.com core features, take a read through the WordPress.com features category in the VIP Lobby and the WordPress.com features on the main WordPress.com Support site.

Custom Database Tables

Custom database tables are not supported on WordPress.com. You should try to work within the WordPress API and use existing storage mechanisms like Custom Post Types, Taxonomies, Post Meta/Custom Fields, and so on.

Custom Fields Meta Box

For security reasons, the “Custom Fields” meta box is disabled on WordPress.com. If your theme makes use of post meta, you should add custom meta boxes to allow users to enter data. The bonus is that this makes for a better user experience.

PHP File Whitelist

WordPress.com has a PHP file whitelist, which restricts direct access to PHP files that are not core WordPress files. This means that PHP files in your theme cannot be accessed directly, which goes against best practices anyway.

Plugins

Plugins on WordPress.com VIP are organized differently than a standard self-hosted/WordPress.org site, since on VIP your access is specific to your site’s theme folder. To use plugins on a WordPress.com VIP site, you add them to a “plugins” directory within your theme directory, and require_once/include_once them in functions.php.

Registering Users

By default, users registered through VIP-hosted websites are created as WordPress.com users, which means that the millions of users logged in to WordPress.com will also be logged in on your domain, making it easier for them to comment on your site. If you’d like to be able to register your own user profiles or create custom registration fields you’ll need to use a 3rd-party registration service, such as our partners at Janrain.

Server-side Cookie Handling

Because of full-page caching, cookies should not be accessed or manipulated server-side. Any cookie handling code should be done client-side.

Textdomains

For translations, WordPress.com uses the “default” textdomain and your theme should too.

Introduction to WordPress.com VIP

Welcome to VIP Documentation!

WordPress.com VIP is the team at WordPress.com that works with high-profile websites. As a part of VIP, you get all of the features that WordPress.com offers, plus customizations and a team of WordPress experts reviewing your code. By being a part of WordPress.com — the world’s largest WordPress installation with tens of millions of sites and billions of page views – you get bulletproof security and enterprise-level scaling. You can learn more about our services here.

First things first. You should already have access to our private VIP Lobby. Please make sure to subscribe to receive important updates by email.

The first step is to create a site at WordPress.com. The WordPress.com subdomain is only shown at the Dashboard, since we’ll be mapping a domain, and your visitors won’t see the example.wordpress.com URL. When contacting the VIP Hosting team please always mention the site’s WordPress.com subdomain.

Now we can start having some fun:

1. Theming your site. Provide us a zip of the theme and we’ll get started on the Theme Review process. Make sure you’ve tested it on your development environment first!
2. Adding users and content.
3. Mapping the domain. We’ll discuss with you the DNS changes to point your site to the WordPress.com VIP service.

If you have any questions, please contact us by using the VIP Support form inside your VIP Dashboard.