The Day My WordPress Blog Got Deleted


When I went to log on to my blog today, I found out that

My WordPress Blog Was Deleted.

I've been tutoring someone in blogging and today when I logged into my WordPress dashboard, it says the account has been suspended. I'm getting flashbacks from Google. In other words, there is no explanation or mercy. No recourse. It's just gone.

My friend has a lot of information on her various blogs but no business. I can't see how it might be violating the terms of service. We ran no ads. Anyone have a suggestion?

Here's what WordPress says:

Blogs are suspended if they are found to be in breach of the TOS.

We do not contact you first to ask that content be modified or removed.

You cannot have that blog name back.

You cannot have the blog content back.

Matt (owner of WordPress), what gives?? This is unduly harsh – it seems you should know what term you are violating and be given an opportunity to correct the problem. I haven't seen this problem and it's tough to swallow that all that work can just vanish with no warning.

IMPORTANT ADVICE: Don't use a free WordPress site – pay for your own web host.

I was new to blogging in 2005 and didn't know how to host my own. Now I use Siteground, one of my advertisers. They have an easy blog installation using simple scripts that makes it easy to install WordPress. It will cost about $3.95 a month and it's well worth it. They will walk you installing WordPress if you call them – and they are open 24/7. The first website transfer is free. I also love that they will charge you by the month instead of by the year. When you're just starting out that helps you budget.

Once you're paying for hosting and using the free version of WordPress, you have more control over your blog. WordPress can't delete it. You're cleared to use your blog for business purposes and to make money on ads. You can use better WordPress plugins. When you use the free version you're taking your chances. If you get caught, bye bye blog.

Web Hosting

In this case, WordPress is a dictatorship and there's not a lot you can do about it.

WordPress Blog Restored…and Deleted Again

UPDATE: Nov. 11, 2008: After a lot of anxiety and hustle, my WordPress blog was restored. However, about 6 months later, it was deleted again. After talking to someone I know who works for WordPress I learned why it got deleted. It was for 1 spam link that I put in a post when the site was new. At that point the link was not spammy but the site changed. Or I just didn't know better. That's no excuse though…it still got deleted. Years of work, gone.

I was able to log in to get the backup file because I know Joseph Scott who works for WordPress. But I couldn't remove the link (I don't know what link it was so I'd just be guessing anyway) or keep the domain.  I gave up. All my search engine results now say that the blog was deleted because it violated the terms and conditions. For ONE LINK. Ridiculous. I love WordPress — except on this issue.

I took my blog from the free WordPress blog to paying for hosting. I went with Bluehost (which I no longer recommend for several reasons, including that my site was down for days more than once) and everything transferred over except the comments. I lost all of my comments.

Years of Work Lost

This mistake cost me dearly. I lost rankings, I got discouraged about blogging. It set me back years. So please listen to my advice and DO NOT get a free WordPress blog unless your blog is just for a journal and you don't plan on earning money on it.

Please warn other bloggers and share this to keep them from making the same mistake I made!

My WordPress Blog Got Deleted

If you're using the free version of WordPress or Blogger and plan to start making any money from your blog, please get a paid version today. Blogger doesn't have a free version, they host your blog for you, so at least get your own domain name so it's not something like www.newspapergrl.blogspot.com

You need to either go with Blogger or pay for a webhost.

Siteground is a good place to start.


27 Comments
  1. Kevin Delaney September 17, 2007
  2. Laura Moncur September 17, 2007
  3. Joseph Scott September 18, 2007
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