14 Steps from Blogger to WordPress…

I did it!!

OK…for those of you who don’t have a blog and could care less about how I moved my Blogger posts to WordPress and why…this is not the post for you!! (I’ll write something more exciting later! Actually, wait a minute, not so fast…thing is, I had a few drinks while attempting the blog move so you might find it entertaining despite the tech crap! Read away!!)

For starters…I purchased my URL from Bluehost months ago. Then it sat there. Me…a little unsure if I wanted to make the move and really not knowing the consequences for doing so. However, one blogger after the next kept telling me “WordPress was the place to be.” Then, as part of the Graphic Design/WebDesign program I’m taking…we’re about to jump head first into learning WordPress so it seemed clear it was something I had to do! Furthermore, and probably more importantly, my blogger platform bit the dust a few weeks ago from years of installing and uninstalling far too many widgets and gadgets…hardly knowing what I was doing but dangerous enough to attempt the foolishness. I needed a fresh start and besides, commenting never did work properly and I hated people telling me they left me a comment and I never got to see it! I LIVE FOR THESE COMMENTS!!

So…this weekend, with the kids away, no man in sight and a house to myself, I cracked open a beer and away I went with the “Blogger to WordPress Migration.”

Here’s how I did it!

1. Searched like a complete fool for the username and password to the Bluehost URL site I purchased six months ago. Finally found it…then logged in. (Not sure why I chose Bluehost when I did…someone must have recommended it but I’m told “Go Daddy” is fantastic as well…plus Danica Patrick was the spokesperson for their commercials and what’s hotter than a good looking racecar driver!)

2. From the Bluehost site, I clicked on their handy dandy “Download WordPress” button…and held my breath.

3. Cracked another beer.

4. From Tools on the left panel, I chose Import. It asked me to connect to Blogger and Verify my account and I freakishly did everything they told me and watched in horror as it claimed it was uploading 504 of my 504 posts and a whack of comments. Then it told me to press the magic button and lo and behold it was done!

5. Sort of.

6. It didn’t work. Posts were missing and here’s what I discovered. I did a little fancy math which is ultimately insane as I don’t know my times tables but from what I could tell…it hated my drafts. I went back to blogger, deleted the multiple drafts of posts I’d started and never finished mostly because I wrote them when I was too ticked off and shouldn’t have written them anyway as I really don’t want them brought up in court. Then…I went back to the Tools/Import thingy and did it again! Presto…magic…not only did it work, but all the old drafts I’ve now deleted were oddly weighing heavily on my heart and it was like a massive purge of emotion to have the old crap gone!

7. YAY FOR ME!!!!

8. First for me, ADVERTISERS! I had to make sure I could get my advertisements onto the new site which was a deal breaker for me. I found it confusing at first as you add images through “media” then link though widgets and you need to know some HTML but the thing is…I do…and in the end, I could get my images working and linked back to my advertiser’s sites the exact way I wanted so all was good. Phew…I could move on.

9. YAY FOR ADVERTISERS!! (And to Rob Hansen for teaching me HTML!)

10. Next…I spent a few hours going through themes as I wasn’t really sure how to code a blog from scratch. Bottom line, I picked a really basic theme that’s responsive (works on phones, iPads etc…) and went from there. I made a new background in Illustrator and uploaded it, did the same for a header… both were fairly easy. Then…like a ninja…I headed into the background code of the template and messed with colors and a few other things until I got it looking the way I wanted. Honestly, you have to know what you’re doing in HTML and CSS or could really screw things up and I admit, at times, I was a little freaked out but I did it! Unfortunately, since I used a template, there’s lots of extra code that I don’t really need but I’m sticking with it for now and one of these days I’ll just write the HTML and CSS myself but for now…this is what worked for my timing and knowledge and besides, I was on my third beer!

11. I skyped with “The Tall Blonde” in France and told her to look at the new site I was building and was crazy disappointed when she said “Mom, I’m sorry, but you make websites look way better than that and I think you can do better.”

12. WTF?

13. She was right.

14. It sucked.

15. Back to the drawing board. Literally! I took out my sketchbook and tracing paper and went back to process and design and broke a few pencils and listed what I wanted and how I wanted it to look and drew myself a wireframe and then remembered that I was the Queen and OH MY GOD IT NEEDS A CROWN! So, I came up with a new idea for a header and a new background while still trying to keep it ultimately simple and work in the confines of the template and drew it all out… then put it in Illustrator… then got back to coding!

16. Questioned why I had children.

17. Wrote a post asking people to bring me beer.

11. Linked my new post on Facebook and Twitter and told people about my new website and how they should update their bookmarks and follow me on the new URL etc.

12. And it hit me! What about all of the old links and old posts and folks who bookmarked stuff they liked on Facebook and Twitter and what happens when they click on that old stuff and how does Blogger know I’ve moved and OH MY GOD years of writing and networking and trying to make a name for myself and all those people who are following me are suddenly gone and everything I did before is lost in cyberspace and what was I thinking… I cracked another beer.

13. After my panic, I did a bit of research and found this site! I watched the youtube video three times mostly ’cause I loved the guy’s accent and also because I think he said “bloopy” in the first sentence. In a few simple steps, he taught me how to upload a plugin to WordPress then do a few fancy things in Blogger that had me gasping through another panic attack but with some kind of magic hoopla and a few tense moments… it works! If you click on any of my old Blogger links, it re-directs you to the exact post in the new site!!!

14. YAY FOR THE INDIAN BLOOPY DUDE!!!

So there you have it. Ten hours, 14 steps and a half-dozen beer later and I feel fantastic… except for this wee nagging headache and a need for sleep!

PS… and this is only for my mother if she manages to read to the end of this post… I really didn’t drink while I was coding! Seriously… no one drinks and codes!

PPS… In case you’re looking at moving (house not blog), check out Thompson’s Moving… my brand new Advertiser! Welcome aboard!

PPPS… Click on all of my advertisers to see the links work. Support them! They support me!!!

PPPPS… If you’re in the neighbourhood, drop by. Oh, and bring beer (I’m seriously, totally, out!)

PPPPPS… Notice how the step numbers are all messed up?! I told you, I’m out of beer!