In short, http://domain.com becomes http://www.domain.com.
http://domain.com/index.php becomes http://www.domain.com
and https://domain.com/index.php becomes https://www.domain.com/index.php

Go check it out!

Great.  Here comes the excessive confusion as people upgrade and find that a huge portion of their blogs have broken, as they forgot to add on the stuff they use - or else didn’t realize that it had been removed in the first place.

What’s going to be removed?  Image uploading/management tool, User management tool, Page Creation, Link Management, Entry Import, ALL comment management, and the dashboard.

Out of all of those, I’ll be adding back everything but the image uploading tool, as I do all uploading through Ecto.  It’s amazing to me that they’re removing things that most bloggers use every single day.  Example?  Comment management - I do a lot of comment management, every. dang. day.  I do a lot of it through SK2, but some of what I do is through the standard WP interface.

Another example?  The Dashboard.  Sure, mine is customized, but since Spam Karma 2 no longer sends me new comment notices, I have to check the freaking dashboard, to see if new comments have been left on older entries.

Honestly, Matt, what are you guys thinking?  …and don’t tell me “oh, it’ll be easy to add things back in,” because it’s never that easy.

Much like the widgets availible for WordPress.com users, the WP Widgets system is designed to integrate with your blog, allowing WordPress users an easy customization of their sidebar.  The draw back?  It only works on certain themes (out of the box), and it can be a bit difficult to implement on others.

For more information on WordPress Widgets, check out its project page on Automattic.com.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve heard more and more comments - in more and more places - about people wanting to switch from Blogger to either WordPress.com, or a self-hosted version of WordPress.  The latest to take this leap is Aurelius (Blog: The Lost Legionary).  He’s going to be trying out the self-hosted version of WordPress, and - if he likes it - boom, time to transfer the template.

Which brings me to my point.  Just what does it take to transfer from Blogger to a self-hosted version of WordPress?

The answer?  Potentially, not much.

Here’s everything you’ll need to transfer:

• A web host
• A domain name
• a copy of WordPress 2.x
• a little bit of time

That’s it, amazingly enough.  Well, that’s assuming you don’t want to transfer your Blogger template, too.  We’ll get to that, in a minute.

The steps are simple:

• Install WordPress 2.x
• Run the import system, availible from the WP control panel/dashboard

…yes.  It really is that simple to get all of your Blogger posts into WordPress.

There’s one. small. problem, though.

Blogger traditionally uses .html permalinks.  Your permalinks look like this:  http://domain.com/year/month/title-each-word-truncated.html

Domain.com will either be http://whatever.blogspot.com, or your own domain, if you use Bloggers FTP publishing ability.

The problem with that?  WordPress’s default permalinks (once turned on) are: http://domain.com/year/month/day/complete-post-title-no-matter-how-long/

Blogger truncates the title after a certain length, and does not include articles (”a,” “an,” “and,” “the”).  WordPress uses the entire title.  SO, if you have your own domain, your permalinks will no longer match up.  There’s a way around this, but it’s long, involved, and requires some pretty good technical knowledge.  If you really want to attempt it, you can view the instructions at Justinsomnia.org.  If this doesn’t bother you, you’re fine.  If you were using a .blogspot.com domain, then it won’t matter.

So… you’ve imported your entries from blogger.  Now you want your old Blogger template, too.  Well, that’s a bit different.  WordPress’s templates are made up of multiple files.  These files consist of:

• header.php - The header file, typically including the opening html tags, head tags, and header of your blog
• sidebar.php - The side bar/menu of your blog.
• index.php - The main index file, that shows multiple posts on one page.  Like your default blogger view.
• footer.php - Your blog’s footer and the closing HTML tag.
• single.php - Your permalink page/individual entry page.
• page.php - WordPress has a function called “pages”.  These are like static entries that do not show on your main blog.  They’re usually accessible via an URL like this: http://www.yourwordpressblog.com/pagename/
• comments.php - The comments template.
• style.css - Your CSS/stylesheet.

It’s pretty easy to seperate everything into the appropriate files… it follows a pretty logical progression.  The only major difference is that WordPress uses PHP code to display things/posts, whereas Blogger uses custom HTML tags.

Switching your template from Blogger to WordPress will require learning the way WordPress handles its templates, and the commands to output post information.  If you really don’t want to learn it, then I suggest looking around on the ‘net for a WordPress template.  Do a Google search for “wordpress templates“.

If you want to learn the WordPress templating system, then grab a big cup of coffee, and pay a visit to the WordPress Codex.  You’ll be looking for the pages dealing with themes and layouts.

If you’re using a template made by someone else, you must get permission before converting it to WordPress. (It could become a copyright issue, as the individual had only released it for use on the Blogger service, and not any others. Often, the majority of templaters are fine with your transitioning the template, so long as you keep in place any promotion links, etc…)

If you really, really want your Blogger theme transferred to WordPress, then you could contact me.  However, as a general rule, I do not do Blogger template transfers for free.  If you’re willing to send me a few dollars via PayPal (we’ll discuss the amount, once I see how involved your template it), then I can most likely transfer your template.  You would provide me with your Blogger index.html template file, and I will provide you with a .zip file containing your new WordPress template, along with installation instructions.  (Note: If you are already in conversation with me about a template transfer, and you are unable to pay anything, I’m sure we can work something out.)

Before you even ask, I don’t normally do template transfers for free, because it is a time consuming process.  It takes, for a simple template, a few hours.  For a complex template, it can take several hours.  Needless to say,  I don’t always have that much time to dedicate to things.

So, there you have it.  The above post gives you the basic low-down on switching from Blogger to WordPress.  If you’re just wanting to transfer the posts, you’re fine.  If you’re decidedly set on transferring the template, as well, then you have some work ahead of you.

As always, I’m here for your questions.  I’d also like to hear your success stories, or any tips you’d like to give someone switching from Blogger to WordPress.

For more information, and screenshots, visit the Shuttle Wave One article at Broken Kode.

Share This ]]> http://www.fyreplace.com/2006/03/10/wordpress-shuttle-project-updates/feed/ http://www.fyreplace.com/2006/03/01/wordpress-new-plugin-simpletagsplus/ http://www.fyreplace.com/2006/03/01/wordpress-new-plugin-simpletagsplus/#comments Wed, 01 Mar 2006 08:33:13 +0000 Fyre http://www.fyreplace.com/2006/03/01/wordpress-new-plugin-simpletagsplus/ Announcing a new plugin, SimpleTagsPlus. This plugin is an extention of the existing SimpleTags plugin, that allows for not only technorati, but also flickr and del.icio.us tagging. For more information, or to download, please see the SimpleTagsPlus page.

I am utilizing the Spam Karma 2 plugin, and receive daily reports in e-mail about the number of comment spams blocked. I’ve noticed a weird trend, lately. One day, SK2 will block maybe five or six spams (up to, say, fifteen, max). The next day, it’ll have blocked over 200 spam attempts. Often, upon reviewing logs, I discover that the spam bot posting the comments is hung up on a single entry, and has attempted to post more than two hundred spams to one entry. Incidentally, this mass-spamming is what prompted SK2 installation in the first place (an entry wound up with 230+ moderated spams).

It just makes me wonder what the heck is going on. The spammers aren’t going to stop spamming, but the fact that I have over two hundred a day, at least three or four days a week - often the multiple comments are on a single entry - makes me blink.

Has anyone else noticed this trend?
Technorati Tags: Spam Karma 2, Spam Karma, WordPress, spam Share This ]]> http://www.fyreplace.com/2006/02/08/spam-recent-troubles/feed/ http://www.fyreplace.com/2006/01/26/internet-users-quick-to-judge-16012006-abc-news-online/ http://www.fyreplace.com/2006/01/26/internet-users-quick-to-judge-16012006-abc-news-online/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2006 06:46:35 +0000 Fyre http://www.fyreplace.com/2006/01/26/internet-users-quick-to-judge-16012006-abc-news-online/ Internet users quick to judge. 16/01/2006. ABC News Online — A new study shows that Internet users judge the layout of a website within 1/20th of a second. Amazing, yeah? Really makes you wonder about your own layout. It’s made me wonder about mine, hence this post.

What do you think about my layout?

If you could change one (or two, or three) things about this layout, what would it/they be?

If you could choose any other layout for this website that currently exists as a WordPress theme, which would it be (and, if you can, please include a link), and why?

What do you like, what don’t you like, etc…

Thanks, folks. After all, this site is for you. If it was just a personal journal, I wouldn’t need all of this, and could just as easily make due with black text on a white background with no layout whatsoever. I really appreciate the input of my readers.

Also, what are some of your favourite website layouts (best layed out, etc…) and what are some of your least favourite (worst)?

Incoming Links will search the Technorati cosmos feed for links associated with your blog. Upon finding them, it will display the last ten, in unordered list format. This is not a post-by-post plugin, this plugin finds links for the entire blog, and it appears to be the first one of its kind.

Needless to say, there are a couple of drawbacks.
First, the plugin requires your sidebar to use the standard unordered list for layout. The plugin must be wrapped in <ul> tags, and prints its own title portion, wrapped in <h2> tags. This limits the layout possibilites, “out of the box.”

Second, the plugin has a fixed number of entries it displays, 10. This is not configurable without editing the raw code, itsself - and I mean diving into the code, this isn’t variable set.

Thirdly, the plugin lists whatever Technorati shows in the feed, which can be odd, sometimes (normally, the link text). In this case, I think it needs to be re-written to simply show the title of the blog linking, with link back to the blog in question.

A couple of hacks of the script later, and I’ve added control over the number of items displayed (defaulting to ten), and I’ve removed the default title/header tags. I’m not releasing it, though, as it’s not my script.

All in all, Incoming Links 1.0 is definately a great start, and will most defiantely come in handy. Great way to encourage link-backs.

Technorati Tags: wordpress, wordpress+plugins

• Akismet
• Adsense Injection
  
• Comment Quicktags +
• Evermore
• Full Text Feed
• Fuzzy Recent Posts
• Feedburner Feed Replacement
• Follow URL
• FireStats
• Google Sitemaps
• Gregarious
• Landing sites
  
• Official Comments
• Plugins Used Plugin
• runPHP
• Related Posts
• Subscribe To Comments
  
• Search Meter
• SimpleTagsPlus
• Subscribe me
• wpLicense
• WP-ContactForm: Akismet Edition

1. Blogs of the Day: Helps keep track of blogs, and works as a “popularity contest.” You can see my current ranking in the right-hand sidebar, bottom.
2. Comment Quicktags: Adds those nifty quicklinks for bolding, italicizing, etc… over the comments textbox.
3. Angusman’s Feed Copyrighter: Puts the “copyright” notice into my feeds. I found my content being syndicated onto another website without my permission, so I added this in.
4. Dashboard Options: Removes the RSS feeds from the dashboard, and will let me add custom text, php, or feeds.
5. FlickrRSS: Pulls my Flickr photostream via username, tag, username and tag, or everyone. I use it on my about page.
6. monthchunks: Creates that nice archive month list in the left-hand sidebar.
7. myStatus: Works almost exactly like the PHP_Currently script I used in the old layout. May, or may not, eventually be included on the about page.
8. Official Comments: Turns “official” comments (i.e., by me, and users of a certain rank) a different background color.
9. Feedburner Feed Replacement: I screwed something up when setting up WP to re-direct to my feedburner feed. I said screw it, and loaded this little plugin.
10. Plugins Used Plugin: Generates the above list (can also do it in a table, but it breaks my layout to do it that way).
11. Related Posts: How I generate the “related posts” links at the bottom of each individual entry page. (Most definately uses very fuzzy logic.)
12. RunPHP: Allows me to put php code into my entries and pages, and have it execute (how I call the flickr, last.fm, and Plugins Used plugins).
13. SecureImage: Generates the CAPTCHA image in the comment form.
14. BlogPulse Link: Generates the BlogPulse search link at the bottom of each post.
15. Cosmos Link: Generates the Technorati Cosmos search link at the bottom of each post.
16. Smart Link: Allows me to use quick link syntax such as the above wordpress link.
17. Subscribe Me: Generates all of those “subscribe” buttons in the right-hand column. I modified the plugin, slightly, to remove the header it includes, and a couple of other small details.
18. Tiger Style Administration: My Tiger style is stronger than your spider kung fu! Seriously, though, Tiger Style creates a much nicer administration interface to WordPress.
19. WP-ContactForm: Generates the nice “Contact Form” in my about page. I can actually slap it into any place I choose, including entries.
20. WP Audioscrobbler: Allows me to display my last played tracks from [Last FM->http://www.last.fm].

Well, there you have it. All of my plugins. I’m working on making one, myself, for a “link log” in the sidebar, to house those quick-posts of simple links. Enjoy those plugins.