Preparing to Move Your Existing Blog to WordPress
So you have a blog on a different blogging system and want to move your blog to WordPress? WordPress makes it relatively easy to pack up your data and archives from one blog platform and move to a new WordPress blog.
WordPress lets you move your blog from platforms such as Blogspot, Typepad, and Movable Type. It also gives you a nifty way to migrate from any blogging platform via RSS feeds, as long as the platform you’re importing from has an RSS feed available. Some platforms, such as Myspace, have some limitations on RSS feed availability, so be sure to check with your platform provider.
For each blogging platform, the WordPress.org platform provides you with a quick and easy-to-install plugin that allows you to import and use your content right away. The importers are packaged in a plugin format because most people use an importer just once, and some people don’t use the importer tools at all. The plugins are there for you to use if you need them.
WordPress.com, on the other hand, has the importers built right into the software. Note the differences for the version you’re using.
Bloggers have a variety of reasons to migrate away from one system to WordPress:
Simple curiosity: The use of WordPress — and the whole community of WordPress users — is generating a lot of buzz.
More control of your blog: This reason applies particularly to those who have a blog on Blogspot, Typepad, or any other hosted service. Hosted programs limit what you can do, create, and mess with. When it comes to plugins, add-ons, and theme creation, hosting a WordPress blog on your own web server wins hands down.
In addition, you have complete control of your data, archives, and backup capability when you host your blog on your own server.
Ease of use: Many people find the WordPress interface easier to use, more understandable, and a great deal more user-friendly than many of the other blogging platforms available today.
Both the hosted version of WordPress.com and the self-hosted version of WordPress.org allow you to migrate your blog to their platforms; however, WordPress.com accepts several fewer than WordPress.org does. The following is a list of blogging platforms that have built-in importers, or import plugins, for migration to WordPress:
Blogger
Movable Type and Typepad
LiveJournal
Tumblr
RSS feeds
WordPress.com
Depending on the size of your blog (that is, how many posts and comments you have), the migration process can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes. As with any major change or update you make, no matter where your blog is hosted, the very first thing you need to do is create a backup of your blog. You should back up the following:
Archives: Posts, comments, and trackbacks
Template: Template files and image files
Links: Any links, banners, badges, and elements you have in your current blog
Images: Any images you use in your blog
Backing Up Your Blog Data on Major Platforms
| Blogging Platform |
Backup Information |
| Movable Type |
Click the Import/Export button on the menu of your Movable Type
Dashboard; then click the Export Entries From link. When the page
stops loading, save it on your computer as a .txt file. |
| Typepad |
Click the name of the blog you want to export; then click the
Import/Export link in the Overview menu. Click the Export link at
the bottom of the Import/Export page. When the page stops loading,
save it on your computer as a .txt
file. |
| Blogger |
Back up your template by copying the text of your template to a
text editor such as Notepad. Then save it on your computer as a
.txt file. |
| LiveJournal |
Browse to LiveJournal and enter
your information; choose XML as the format. Save this file on your
computer. |
| WordPress |
Click the Export link on the Tools menu on the Dashboard; the
Export page opens. Choose your options on the Export page and then
click the Download Export File button; next, save this file on your
computer. |
| RSS feed |
Point your browser to the URL of the RSS feed you want to
import. Wait until it loads fully (you may need to set your feed to
display all posts). View the source code of the page, copy and
paste that source code into a .txt file,
and save the file on your computer. |
This import script allows for a maximum file size of 128MB. If you get an out of memory error, try dividing the import file into pieces and uploading them separately. The import script is smart enough to ignore duplicate entries, so if you need to run the script a few times to get it to take everything, you can do so without worrying about duplicating your content.
Converting templates
Every blogging program has a unique way of delivering content and data to your blog. Template tags vary from program to program; no two are the same, and each template file requires conversion if you want to use your template with your new WordPress blog. In such a case, two options are available to you:
Convert the template yourself. To accomplish this task, you need to know WordPress template tags and HTML. If you have a template that you’re using on another blogging platform and want to convert it for use with WordPress, you need to swap the original platform tags for WordPress tags.
Hire an experienced WordPress consultant to do the conversion for you. You can find a list of available WordPress consultants, assembled by the folks at Automattic (the company behind WordPress).
To use your own template, make sure that you save all the template files, the images, and the stylesheet from your previous blog setup. You need them to convert the template(s) for use in WordPress.
Hundreds of free templates are available for use with WordPress, so it may be a lot easier to abandon the template you’re currently working with and find a free WordPress template that you like. If you’ve paid to have a custom design done for your blog, contact the designer of your theme and hire him to perform the template conversion for you.
Moving your blog to WordPress
You’ve packed all your stuff and you have your new place prepared. Moving day has arrived!
These steps are for moving your blog from one blog platform to WordPress. These steps assume that you already have the WordPress software installed and configured on your own domain.
Find the import function that you need by following these steps:
On the Dashboard, click the Import link on the Tools menu.
The Import page opens, listing blogging platforms from which you can import content (such as Blogger and Movable Type).
Click the link for the blogging platform you’re working with.
Click the Install Now button to install the importer plugin to begin using it.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
archive
1. (noun) A list of previous blog posts, in chronological order. 2. (verb) To place files or blog posts in a safer place (on DVD or another server) for longer-term or backup storage.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
attribute
Used in an HTML tag to give an instruction to a Web browser. For example, in This link goes to <a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a>, the <a> tag gets an attribute (href) and a value ("http://www.google.com") to go along with the basic tag. In this case, the attribute indicates to the browser that what comes next is a hypertext reference — in this case, a Web page.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
blacklist
An often-centralized list of e-mail addresses, URLs, and IP addresses used by spammers that are then forbidden in any blog post on your blog. With an up-to-date blacklist, a lot of spam is stopped before it becomes a comment.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
block
To stop all contact with a MySpace user. He can’t comment on your blog page or send you any message that you actually receive.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
blog
A combination of the words Web and log. Bloggers (individuals, groups, or businesses) post a chronological log of information. Content is determined entirely by the author(s) of the blog; many are personal journals.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
blog post
An entry in a blog, possibly containing text, images, and other media.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
blogger
The author of a blog.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
blogging policy
Outlines what you’re allowed to post in your blog.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
blogging software
Technology that enables you to blog. Can be either hosted or nonhosted.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
blogroll
A collection of links used or recommended by a blogger.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
cookie
A short piece of computer code, stored on your computer, that enables Web sites to remember certain settings and information the next time you visit that site.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
Dashboard
A kind of control panel in Blogger that shows you the blogs you’ve set up, giving you access posting, using help resources, or even creating another blog.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
definition list
A type of HTML list that gives a term and then its definition and has built-in spacing to lay out those elements properly.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
disk space
Amount of room available on your hard drive.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
domain
A domain is the address, or main URL, that people type in the browser to get to your Web site. The domain name you choose can’t be used by anyone else.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
domain registrar
A service that enables you to register a domain name.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
entry
An single posting in a blog containing text, images, or other media, or any combination of those things.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
Facebook
A social-networking service that enables you to keep in contact with families and friends via the Web.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
Flickr
A Web site that allows you to share, organize, edit, and otherwise manage your photos.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
Friend List
Your virtual online address book in MySpace. You can become someone’s friend by either sending a fellow MySpacer a Friend Request or by being on the receiving end of a Friend Request from another MySpace user.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
hosted services
Manages the data, software, and Web hosting of a blog; the blogger just manages the content.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
HTML
The computer coding used by Web designers to create Web pages.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
hyperlink
A navigation tool that allows a user to go from one Web location to another by clicking. Hyperinks (or just links) are typically underlined.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
hypertext reference
In HTML, the address that a hyperlink connects to when clicked. For example, in This link goes to <a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a>, the hypertext reference (href) is http://www.google.com. Hyperlink references can also jump to new positions on the same page, open a new e-mail message, or begin a file download.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
link
Short for hyperlink, a navigation tool that allows a user to go from one Web location to another by clicking. Links are typically underlined.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
Mom test
A self-test that flags inappropriate blog posts. If you’d let your mom read the post, then it’s probably passed the Mom test. Specifically, don’t blog about topics you think will hurt others; don’t blog about others without their permission, even about topics you consider inconsequential; and don’t identify friends and lovers by name without their permission.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
MySpace
A social-networking service that enables you to keep in contact with families and friends via the Web.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
MySpace profile
Your MySpace identity. It can contain as much or as little information about you as you’d like.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
news aggregation
The ability to aggregate news by using RSS feeds. Having a news aggregator included with your blog package allows your site to pull in information from another blog.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
nonhosted service
Blog software that you set up on your own Web server. It allows you to take on all responsibilities related to maintaining your blog.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
ordered list
Contains items that must be listed in a particular order, such as a list of ranks or preferences. It may also indicate a list of steps for the reader to follow.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
pinging
An automated notification system for search engines and newsreaders, letting those services know that your blog has been updated. A ping occurs when one computer asks another whether it’s there; the second computer confirms its presence.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
post
1. (noun) An entry in a blog containing text, images, other media, or any combination of these. 2. (verb) The act of creating and/or uploading a blog entry.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
private profile
A MySpace profile that’s limited on who can view it, such as only people on your Friend List.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
public domain
The status of publications, processes, and product designs that are free from copyrights and/or patents and are available for anyone's use.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
social network
A service, such as Facebook or MySpace, that enables to keep in touch with people you know — and meet people you don’t know.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
spam
Unsolicited electronic messages sent in bulk that may be commercial, nonsensical, or malicious. In addition to e-mail spam, blog comments and blog forums can be targeted by spammers.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
tag
A relevant keyword associated or assigned to a piece of information, such as an image, a blog entry, or a video clip. Tags are usually chosen informally by the content creator or by the online community; they help give content to nontext media and organize information for ease of searching.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
Trackback
A technology that tracks references to a blog posting that occurs on other blogs. They allow bloggers to link to blog posts on related topics.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
transparent
1. Being honest and truthful on your blog. Also means that you admit mistakes and engage in dialogue with readers who leave comments. Considered proper blogging etiquette. 2. Integration of applications, programs, and media from different sources in such a way that the end user is unaware that the content is not self-contained.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
unordered list
unordered list is a series of bulleted items and is used for lists that don’t require numbering.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
video blog
A blog consisting of video files, or the practice of placing a video file in a blog post.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
video-sharing service
A service, such as YouTube, that enables you to share video with others.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
Web host
The Web server where you software, graphics, and other files live online.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
Web server
Technology that looks at what Web page is requested and then feeds the browser the appropriate file. It does most of the hard work of serving Web pages to visitors coming to your Web site.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
whitelist
A list of preselected users who are allowed to comment on your blog.

Blogging & Social Networking Glossary
YouTube
A video-sharing service.