Org or Com? What to do...
December 21, 2010 1:02 PM
How hard would it be to migrate a wordpress.com blog to a wordpress.org site?
It looks like wordpress.org would be more flexible, especially in terms of adding things to a site. But I'm not sure I want to get into a full week's worth of work trying to switch... would it be complicated? I'd really like to hear from a few folks who have tried to do such a thing. I've done some limited research, but I guess I'd rather hear the lowdown from some MeFi's, whom I trust more than the Wordpress sites themselves. So, should I bother? And, if so, how do I bother?
It looks like wordpress.org would be more flexible, especially in terms of adding things to a site. But I'm not sure I want to get into a full week's worth of work trying to switch... would it be complicated? I'd really like to hear from a few folks who have tried to do such a thing. I've done some limited research, but I guess I'd rather hear the lowdown from some MeFi's, whom I trust more than the Wordpress sites themselves. So, should I bother? And, if so, how do I bother?
They are 2 separate things I think. wordpress.com is where you can host your blog as yourname.wordpress.com which is obviously what you are doing now.
wordpress.org is the site for the software itself. You can download it and install it on your own server, download plugins etc.
I don't believe .org has hosting for blogs. If you want that through Wordpress you only have .com or you download the software from .org, & pay for hosting somewhere else.
posted by jontyjago at 1:06 PM on December 21, 2010
wordpress.org is the site for the software itself. You can download it and install it on your own server, download plugins etc.
I don't believe .org has hosting for blogs. If you want that through Wordpress you only have .com or you download the software from .org, & pay for hosting somewhere else.
posted by jontyjago at 1:06 PM on December 21, 2010
And this page for info about how to migrate your old posts/categories/pages.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 1:07 PM on December 21, 2010
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 1:07 PM on December 21, 2010
fascists... I saw that page, but it doesn't exactly explain what the specific steps involved would be. I get a host and then what? I guess I'm looking for explanations of what happens after that.
posted by madred at 1:07 PM on December 21, 2010
posted by madred at 1:07 PM on December 21, 2010
Okay:
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 1:14 PM on December 21, 2010
- Get a host
- Install the actual wordpress software to your shiny new server
- Export the content from your old blog
- Import the content to your new blog
- Set up your domain name to point at the new blog
- Go through and make sure that all your images and uploads are displaying properly. Re-upload/link them if necesarry
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 1:14 PM on December 21, 2010
I have done this. Basically you get a host, preferably one that has wordpress already installed on their server [dreamhost is one hosting provider that does this]. The three parts of this are
1. Your own domain. You pay a domain registrar for this. Once you own the domain...
2. you pay someone to host it for you. Often places that host will also take care of registering the domain so these two steps are often combined, but they can be distinct form each other, then you need...
3. Wordpress software installed and running. If you're unclear on what this entails it's best to make sure your provider can do this for you. At the point at which wordpress is set up, there is an import command built into Wordpress. So you'd go to the URL that your hosting provider gives you for the wordpress install they've put in your account and log in and it will look an awful lot like your old wordpress panel, assuming everything goes properly.
So, you can export the data from your wordpress.com blog and save it into a big file on your local computer. Then you can log into your hosted version of wordpress and use the import command under the Tools heading. This page explains it a little better [scroll down to wordpress], there may be a way to do a direct export - import rather than two separate steps, but it's fairly straightforward.
posted by jessamyn at 1:16 PM on December 21, 2010
1. Your own domain. You pay a domain registrar for this. Once you own the domain...
2. you pay someone to host it for you. Often places that host will also take care of registering the domain so these two steps are often combined, but they can be distinct form each other, then you need...
3. Wordpress software installed and running. If you're unclear on what this entails it's best to make sure your provider can do this for you. At the point at which wordpress is set up, there is an import command built into Wordpress. So you'd go to the URL that your hosting provider gives you for the wordpress install they've put in your account and log in and it will look an awful lot like your old wordpress panel, assuming everything goes properly.
So, you can export the data from your wordpress.com blog and save it into a big file on your local computer. Then you can log into your hosted version of wordpress and use the import command under the Tools heading. This page explains it a little better [scroll down to wordpress], there may be a way to do a direct export - import rather than two separate steps, but it's fairly straightforward.
posted by jessamyn at 1:16 PM on December 21, 2010
Get a host that supports a Cpanel install of Wordpress. Dreamhost probably does that. I know GKG.net does. You'll have to buy a domain name and a hosting account. Then click the button and make Wordpress magically appear on your new site. Meanwhile, export your site at Wordpress.com. Import it into the new blog and you should be 90% of the way there. You may need to play around with themes and widgets to get set up just like you want it, but that part is half the fun, IMHO.
posted by COD at 1:18 PM on December 21, 2010
posted by COD at 1:18 PM on December 21, 2010
Wow. This is very helpful. You're like my very own IT staff...
posted by madred at 3:13 PM on December 21, 2010
posted by madred at 3:13 PM on December 21, 2010
Well, I have to say... after dinking around with this for the last few hours, this is NOT an easy process. Actually, I'm lost enough that I can't even figure out which questions to ask. It didn't import any of my links, my theme is different, and there don't appear to be many themes for me to choose from in the .org realm. Am I missing something? I looked into importing my blogroll, but those instructions don't appear to work for me...
Flip! This is what I was trying to avoid! But, jessamyn, your directions were helpful, I think this is a user (me) error.
posted by madred at 4:24 PM on December 21, 2010
Flip! This is what I was trying to avoid! But, jessamyn, your directions were helpful, I think this is a user (me) error.
posted by madred at 4:24 PM on December 21, 2010
You'll have to install your own themes. If you were using one from Wordpress.com you will likely be able to find something similar to that. You can google the wordpress theme viewer [I'm having trouble getting it to load right now] to find one that was like the one you were using.
As far as the links, I assume you mean the sidebar links that may have been on your blog before? Off the top of my head I'm not sure how to do that. You can noodle around a little on the codex [this may be outdated] to find importing options. The good news is that your blog exists in two places, so you don't have to "flip the switch" until you've got the new blog the way you like it.
I'll be happy to help more with theme stuff if you've got questions. The short set of steps is
- find theme you like
- download theme to your own blog
- upload theme into the themes directory of your wordpress install [your host probably has instructions on how to do this]
- activate theme from within wordpress
posted by jessamyn at 4:33 PM on December 21, 2010
As far as the links, I assume you mean the sidebar links that may have been on your blog before? Off the top of my head I'm not sure how to do that. You can noodle around a little on the codex [this may be outdated] to find importing options. The good news is that your blog exists in two places, so you don't have to "flip the switch" until you've got the new blog the way you like it.
I'll be happy to help more with theme stuff if you've got questions. The short set of steps is
- find theme you like
- download theme to your own blog
- upload theme into the themes directory of your wordpress install [your host probably has instructions on how to do this]
- activate theme from within wordpress
posted by jessamyn at 4:33 PM on December 21, 2010
Wordpress themes are not stored in the SQL database, just the reference to them, so you'll have to copy them over separately -- it looks like the guide jessamyn linked to failed to mention this! I'm assuming the wordpress.org hosting holds a lot more themes by default, but you should be able to copy your theme, if not export it. Your theme appears to be elegant grunge.
Assuming the blog in question is tartlittlepigggy, I can offer a bit more advice. I can see a few plugins that you'll have to find and install as well. I can't say what all you've got but it should be available in the admin menu. This is probably what's powering the twitter updates and links widget. The blogroll at the bottom looks like it's just an image in footer-outer-wrapper.
posted by pwnguin at 4:46 PM on December 21, 2010
Assuming the blog in question is tartlittlepigggy, I can offer a bit more advice. I can see a few plugins that you'll have to find and install as well. I can't say what all you've got but it should be available in the admin menu. This is probably what's powering the twitter updates and links widget. The blogroll at the bottom looks like it's just an image in footer-outer-wrapper.
posted by pwnguin at 4:46 PM on December 21, 2010
et al,
I found this tutorial on YouTube. I think I do better with visual demonstrations in concert with your very helpful explanations.
I was hoping to avoid this mess... I will now be obsessed with this project for weeks. I taught myself how to use Photoshop this way, and I LOVE being able to work with it, but sheesh! It's like giving a crack head some new fangled pipe: she won't put it down, no matter how complicated it is, until she gets the crack.
posted by madred at 1:07 AM on December 22, 2010
I found this tutorial on YouTube. I think I do better with visual demonstrations in concert with your very helpful explanations.
I was hoping to avoid this mess... I will now be obsessed with this project for weeks. I taught myself how to use Photoshop this way, and I LOVE being able to work with it, but sheesh! It's like giving a crack head some new fangled pipe: she won't put it down, no matter how complicated it is, until she gets the crack.
posted by madred at 1:07 AM on December 22, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by thsmchnekllsfascists at 1:05 PM on December 21, 2010