I started blogging almost three years ago using Google’s free Blogger. But as much as I love Google, Blogger seemed to be an afterthought for them and was very limited and rarely improved. The more I blogged, the more functionality I wanted and finally decided to move to WordPress (WP).
In the beginning, I used the totally free technology and hosting at WordPress.com. I soon discovered that the scripts/widgets I used on Blogger wouldn’t work with the blogs that WP hosts on their servers. Nor would I be able to add the scripts for the various plug-ins I wanted. I quickly realized that I had to move up to the next level: a WordPress blog from WordPress.org that’s on a paid hosting account.
Consequently, I embarked on the painful process of going from a WordPress blog hosted for free to a WordPress blog hosted elsewhere. It was painful because I had to first figure out how to set up WordPress on the new host. Then I had to FTP all the files to the Web host. After that, I had to learn the differences in how the self-hosted version of WP works.
Once I figured all this out, I had to go through every article I’d written and change all the links to point to the new blog. This was the most painful and too tedious to trust anyone else to do it. (If you know a better way I could have made these changes, please leave a comment to help others.)
My new blog is a work in progress. The following is the process I went through.
Set up new blog to share the server space with my Website (not a sub-Web, but a site that’s totally separate but sharing the same unused space). This way, I didn’t have to purchase another hosting package. (I had already registered the domain, SUITEMinute.com, and it was pointing to the Blogger blog. I changed this later.)
Located a Web host that accepted WordPress blogs. Fortunately, one of my Websites resides on a Linus server and that hosting company was also WordPress-ready. I had to go into the C-Panel of my Web host and use Fantastico to upload WordPress technology to the site. (Update: one of our readers made a video that demos how to do this using something similar to Fantastico. Check it out.)
Uploaded all previous articles to the new blog. I used a free FTP client, FileZilla, to get additional files to the new Web host. (If you’re not sure how to FTP, look at a free trial version of SmartFTP.com because they have a tutorial.) You’ll have to export your posts from the current blog and have them ready to FTP (Whatever blog technology you use should have instructions on how to export. Save the file on your desktop for convenience.) You’ll FTP often with WordPress (every time you add plug-ins, additional themes, etc.)
Registered a domain for the blog (or redirect existing nameservers). I had already registered the domain, SUITEminute.com, for my computer tips blog. This domain was pointing to my Blogger blog and later to the free WordPress blog. I went to my domain registrar and removed the forwarding command and changed the nameservers to that of the new host. While I was there, I registered the SWEETminute.com domain and pointed it to SUITEminute.com. (This way, I don’t have to keep spelling the blog name every time I mention it.)
Selected a WordPress template (theme) that is widget-ready. I like the functionality and “viralbility” that widgets add to blogs so I was keen on using a theme that was already set up for this. WP probably has thousands of themes to choose from. You’ll want to Google (free WordPress templates or themes) when you get ready.
Changed all article links to point to the new blog. Within a lot of my posts, I’d referenced and linked to other articles. Now that the URL for the blog had changed, I had to change all of these links. (After you get accustomed to adding plug-ins, try this one to Find and Replace. I could “Find” suiteminute.blogspot.com and “Replace” with suiteminute.com. This plug-in works through the entire database makes up your blog.)
Added a “move notice” on all old blogs. Instead of deleting the old blogs, I deleted all of the articles on them (because I didn’t want to get in trouble with search engines for having duplicate content). I put a “move notice” on each old blog with a link to the new one.
Changed feeder information for subscribers. I use Feedblitz.com to get my updates out to my subscribers automatically with each new post. The link was pointing to the old blog so all this had to change. I exported my subscribers to a text file. Then I created a new feed but nothing that I tried worked for getting my subscribers connected to it. I ended up sending them an email message asking them to go to my blog and re-subscribe.
Bottom line: if you’re going to become a serious blogger, start out with a hosted WordPress blog so you don’t have to backtrack later. If it gets too overwhelming, seek training (I’m a techie and I needed help). WordPress has training resources on their site, including a forum.
Did you go through a similar process? Let me know of anything else you learned along the way.
-Peggy Duncan, SCORE Atlanta
View more posts by Peggy
October 16, 2008
In my previous post, I promised to outline which files you should back up in your disaster planning efforts. Here is what I do (I use an online media vault that backs up everything automatically. See previous post.)
- My Documents Folder: My two main business folders are subcategorized into broad categories, then separated into smaller subcategories. Keeping like subjects together makes it easier to back up everything (and to find anything I need later).
- Outlook Files: You can back up Outlook to include your contacts, emails, calendar, tasks, and journal entries. You’ll want to back up the Outlook.pst file. You will probably also want to back up your signature files and rules if you’ve set them up. (To find out where these files are on your computer, use your Search function or Google it).
- Templates: If you create any templates (with the .dot, .xlt, .pot extensions), they’re automatically saved outside of the My Documents structure. To find out where your templates are stored, in Word, click the Tools menu, Options, File Locations tab. Double-click the location that reads User Templates.
- Downloaded Programs: These are miscellaneous applications I’ve either purchased or downloaded for free. I don’t have the CD. Instead of saving these in the default Programs folder, I put them in a separate one called My Downloaded Programs. If I have to restore my computer files, I won’t have to remember which applications I downloaded.
- My Books: These are all the files I have for all the books I’ve written. I keep these outside of my main business files folder and off my computer because the files are so large. In addition to being backed up on my external hard drive and online vault every day, I also burned these files to a CD (stored in a fireproof media safe in my office) and also saved them onto a flash drive that I keep with me.
- QuickBooks Files: In addition to being backed up on my external hard drive and online vault every day (if changes have occurred), I also back up my company’s accounting file on my computer’s hard drive (QuickBooks has a backup feature built in. Anytime it asks you if you want to back up, click yes! The file that is created is the one you’ll want to back up online, etc.).
- Internet Favorites. I’ve bookmarked some great sites and don’t want to lose the easy access. To find where your Favorites are stored using Windows XP, double-click My Computer, double-click the C: Drive, double-click Documents and Settings, double-click on your username folder. You should see your Favorites folder. (If you use Windows Vista, click the Start button, click the name of your computer, under Folders, you should see Favorites…back this up.)
- Pictures. Pictures I use on my Website are safe on the Web server. All others are saved in the My Pictures folder.
- Special Projects. I’m working on my family tree with the software Family Tree Maker and am backing up this file.
Did I forget anything? Let me know.
Simplify your life, and make data recovery one less thing you have to worry about. If you don’t think you have time to deal with this now, how will you find time to recover later?
- Peggy Duncan
September 11, 2008
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