Discussions

Switching from Blogger to Wordpress.

Posted by compassionc • 9/04/07 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: blogger, html, problems, templates, wordpress

I have a few questions I hope people can help me with. I want to self-host my blog site.

1. Will I lose the customized template I made in Blogger and will I be forced to pick on of their templates without being able to customize it to match the one I have now?

2. What happens to the people who subscribe to my present blogger site, are they lost?

3. Does it effect my Technorati ranking, or and other page ranking for that matter?

4. How much work is involved to upgrade within Wordpress when new versions come out? Do widgets, plug-ins break, etc?

Anything else you feel may help me make an informed decision would be appreciated.
Thanks.
compassionatecouncil.blogspot.com

Rob

User Comments

9/04/07

PGWake

I run both and did look into chaging to blooger one to WP, wordpress can inport blogger with ease

The template I'm not sure about, but no doubt the one,s already available can be altered (if you understand php), depends where your members subscribe too?, mine subcribe viz feedblitz so it doesn't mater if I change blogs, I have only change joined Technorati so don't really know about the ranking although surely you just add new URL?, wordpress upgrades are easy, widgets and plug-in so far have caused me no trouble

I'm sure there are others here more knowledgeable than me so you may get a better reply

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9/04/07

ricardoolvera

I found WP far better than blogger, the widgets run smooth but it depends on the template you choose, not all templates can have'em. Some templates will let you change the header image.

Updating and administrating is very easy.

Overall I think that WP offers more diversity and flexibility vs blogger...

Also their templates look more pro.

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9/04/07

ShopLike

Hi Rob, I just recently did the switch myself. You wont lose rank or visibility as long as you have your own domain and host WP on your server. If you use WP's own domain site like you do on blogger you might lose some links and back links generated, as well rank. I bought my own domain name to save from the hassle of switching down the road. It really helps having your own domain.

As far technorati rank not sure. You can edit tech and also many others to point to your new site. I am not sure how that would affect it.

The folks that are currently subscribed depends on what your using? Feedburner? etc.. I would contact them to see how about switching domains. It shouldn't be a problem.

As far as WP usability. I like very much. There are tons of plugins and templates to choose from. You can transfer all your stuff from Blogger to WP. They have a migration tool in the settings it works pretty well. I would suggest try it and do it slowly. You can create WP account and slowly migrate your stuff over, make a beta site.

Good Luck,

Any ?'s Feel free to contact.
David
shoplike.us

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1. 9/04/07
  
  compassionc
  
  Thank you for your replies so far. I do use feedburner for my RSS feeds so I will contact them to find out about losing people.
  The more opinions the better, also, it helps when people share what they have gone through switching. I appreciate that. Thanks again.
9/04/07

compassionc

I've been fooling around with a wordpress blog and it seems incredibly cumbersome to customize. Very limiting in my first impression. Those of you with wordpress, did you customize your site, or pretty much use the templates they gave you?

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1. 9/04/07
  
  PGWake
  
  I used a template download, when I first used WP I hated it, after using blogger for 6 months,very limiting WAS my first impression. but once you get used to it I prefer it.
9/04/07

wares4life

I toyed around with this notion back in early 2006 and just plainly decided to purchase my own WP hosting package.

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9/04/07

couchmouse

I run Wordpress on a server using my own domain with a modified version of the Cutline theme. Most themes are easy to modify if you know a little PHP and CSS. Try to keep all your mods in a custom.css separate from the themes style.css to make upgrades easier. And make sure the theme is widget ready.
Feedburner also has a WP plugin for all your RSS feeds.

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9/04/07

EndohT

I just switched over for a month or so... basically blogger use html and wordpress use alot more CSS. (Correct me if I am wrong pls)

For Technorati wise, yes I lose all the Faves and I have to start accumulating them again. Either from new Faves on my blog or I took my own initiative to add those who Fave my previous blog. www.technorati.com/people/technorati/EndohT

For people who subscribe to your old rss, they will have to re-subscribe to your new rss feed. At least that's what is going for my case.

Plug-ins etc works perfect.

I have not really customised much other than my blog header. I am still trying to figure how to create new iFrames so I can add in other stuffs. I'm quite a noob at it, so I am being careful not to end up with broken codes.

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9/04/07

Danicanada

If you get a wordpress.com blog (they do the hosting) you have a lot less flexibility. With a self-hosted domain and wordpress.org, you have tonnes more flexibility. Ease of customization depends very much on which theme you choose, as some use more HTML and CSS and others more PHP.

I just made the switch from Blogger.com to self-hosted WordPress and I wish I had made the change ages ago. It's SUCH a pain to lose your technorati ranking (and there's nothing you can do about it), but the actual switching and importing is a breeze. Warning, if you have a lot of posts and are importing, you might have to restart the process many times. I have over 900 posts, and the system would hang after importing every 150 to 200 posts or so, but it would just pick up where it left off each time I restarted it. Also, if you use Haloscan for comments, there is no way you can currently import them into Wordpress using the latest version.

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9/04/07

demonicume

'1. Will I lose the customized template I made in Blogger and will I be forced to pick on of their templates without being able to customize it to match the one I have now?'

turning your Blogger Theme into a wordpress theme is easy. take your blogger theme, notate the side bars - scoop up a standard wordpress sidebar and hack them together. Widget functionality is easy, also. you don't even need to know PHP. seriously, copy the standard WP sidebar, paste all the code in your blogger sidebar - with some mods of course- and BLAM!!! WP sidebar. there's also plenty of documentation at WP.org

'4. How much work is involved to upgrade within Wordpress when new versions come out? Do widgets, plug-ins break, etc?'
things dont break upon upgrade unless you'vve got some dirty hacks in your code. I run WPMU and my entire site is built on spit, dirt and ducktape. upgrades are always frightening to me.

hope that help/
DemonC

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9/04/07

Carleenp

1. It is possible to adapt your template as another here has noted. There are also plenty of good free templates available.
2.Take a look at what feedburner offers for redirecting feeds and for handling the feeds for your new location. That way you can avoid losing subscribers. Just to be sure, also warn everyone in a post from the blogspot site about the new one in case something goes wrong and they need to resubscribe.
3.Since you currently have a blogspot address, you will have a new blog address and that will affect your google page rank. Basically, you will go back to zero for awhile until it catches up. That might not be as bad as it sounds. Just be sure to redirect folks from your blogspot address to the new one while google catches up. I know people who have switched without much loss in traffic and after a few months everything balanced out. I don't know about Technorati. I think you can edit and redirect things there.
4.The last big update to Wordpress broke widgets for me and the fix was a bit of a pain. But I don't think such issues are the norm. I have done a couple of the little security updates since then and all was fine.

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9/05/07

compassionc

Thank you all for such thoughtful replies. It is a bit scary deciding to switch or not to switch but all of your comments have been quite useful.
If anyone has any other suggestions I'd love to hear them.

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9/05/07

gmoney

All I use is wordpress. I have a company called blogredo.com
Don't fear the unknown, If you understand FTP I can show you how to do everything. I will be willing to set up a screen cast to help you out for free.
I don't use the widgets on wordpress, I use plugins which in my mind are more stable than widgets. I can give you more information if you like. If you would like I can also give you my phone number and we can discuss questions you might have.

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9/05/07

dillypoo

Ever since I started using wordpress I have not wanted to use any other blogging client. Ive had tblog, xanga, livejournal, blogspot and vox. My web host bluehost.com made it really easy an has wordpress auto-install.

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9/05/07

compassionc

Great. Thank you all. Gmoney, I'll probably get in touch with you in the next few days.

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12/13/08

Denford

The thing is that, you will have to pay to really get any benefits from switching. Paying upgrades you from the free WP to the more flexible one. If you can do that, why not design and set up anyway, it gives you more control, especially if you know how to create and optmise your self-hosted site.
Otherwise switching from Blogger to the free WP is not worth it

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