Ok, I hope I haven’t thrown you off by the title alone but if your still with me, it’s probably because…well, You could be in a similar situation as me…clueless about WordPress but still wanting to transfer over from blogger. If so, this post is for you.
I’m not a programmer, I’m not a designer. I’m just a mama that’s determined to get what I want (without bleeding through the nose to get it, i.e. paying allot). Plus I love to learn new things. I’m all for giving props to those who do their talent well. I think they deserve to be paid for all they do. But sometimes that’s just not an option.
I’m a frugal blogger, posting about how to save money..going out and spending hundreds and even thousands of dollars is not an option. So my dear readers..I’m your frugal girl here to explain to you how little Ole me did it. Of course this blog is not perfect, and I’m not sure I want it to be. Think of it like this. When you move into a new home, would you like it completely furnished and done all at once or would you like to grow with your home and tweek it as you grow together? Each person I’m sure will answer differently. For me it’s to grow together. I think I’ve adapted this mentality over my life because I didn’t get things when I wanted them (still do not). I get them after much planning and careful consideration. Watch me grow again:
I WILL start off by saying that I already owned my domain name so this transfer will be slightly different than coming from the extension of “.blogspot.com“. If I could do it again, it would have been nice to have been able to purchase my domain name, tweak my template to my needs until satisfied and then forwarded my blog for all to see. But now I know, and you do too because you were able to see all the many changes I’ve made over the past week if you’ve clicked over to my blog. This conversion process will explain the details as I did it having prior ownership of my own domain.
- Day 1 – Clicked over and transferred my domain & created an account with Super Green Hosting. (this takes a little bit. I think it took about 4 hours to completion) and yes this is my affiliate link. I’m proud to put it up there, because I worked hard..LOL
- Day 2 – went to the Super green dashboard to do one click in-stall (this was a bit rocky because I had previously installed wordpress.org and needed to delete my previous uploads, very important)
- Day 3 - Rested from day 2
- Day 4 – Logged into my dashboard (let me tell you this took 2 days for the DNS to actualy change over) and uploaded my thesis theme.
- Day 4 - Backed up my blogger account (posts, comment…etc)
- Day 4 – Went to tools in WP Dashboard and uploaded my content from Blogger
- Day 5 – Since I couldn’t do anything last night (server went down) I started today adding widget, header, etc. Here is a great link to adding your header – can I just say this video is awesome and he’s very patient with his explanations of how to’s. Best video I found. Remember: Google is your friend
- Day 5 – Let me just say that Thesis Open Hook plug in is now my best friend! This enabled me to add my Header and simply make changes to my layout without going to the CSS coding side. This was huge. I’m not a coder at all, nor do I have allot of time to sit and try to. The best plug in EVER (for newbies like me)
- Day 6 – Played with my new BFF (open hook). Added the share the wealth buttons at the bottom of my posts. There’s also a great site for Thesis Hook Reference List (trust me, you’ll want this once you get the open hook plug in). I also added the Pop up RSS subscription plug in for visitors. If your reading my blog from a reader, click over now to see if it pops up for you. So cool!
- Day 7 – All about Photoshop. All of the headers, for example “featured video” was created in Photoshop. Found an image I liked, added some verbiage, then uploaded it to a host – I used Photoshop and tada, you get an HTML code and plug it in as a widget. So easy even for me.
I’m sure if I didn’t have kids, a husband, housework and well….me to tend to, I could have done this transfer in 2 days. But I’m real, with lots of life going on in every which direction and this is my real 7 day installation of WordPress.
I can not tell you how nervous I was attempting to do this without any knowledge of what the heck I was doing. And I can tell you there’s always help out there but not without a fee. It would have been great to have been able to pick up a phone and make a call to have a simple question answered without wanting to be paid or to do the entire project. If you are embarking on this process my advice to you is this: Take your time. It doesn’t have to be perfect and it doesn’t have to be completely done. Make it yours. This is your corner of the web. And when all else fails….shoot me an e-mail and I’ll see if I can help..LOL!
update: After speaking with my friend over at Attention Target Shoppers [she was hacked over the weekend] you need to make sure you have a robust backup system. Super Green did offer it and I did’nt opt for it but after hearing her story, I will.
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Great post. When I moved my blog, I didn’t have the luxury of time. I started one morning about 9 am and at 9 pm that night, I launched it. Start to finish – 12 hours. I used a different hosting company and I think that and not having children at home was the huge difference between how it went for us. It is all a huge blur for me though. Not only was I blazing through it because Google was going to shut me down, I was sick with a horriblecold and had enough cold meds running through me to start a pharmacy.
Like you, I already had my domain name and had been using it for months and months. I think you have a greater understanding of how Thesis works with “hooks”. I have grabbed the urls of your resources and will bookmark and study what I didn’t have time to learn when I made the switch.
Having already been hacked and infected with “the worst virus I’ve ever seen” (my programmer’s words) I must tell you that anything you can do to protect yourself is well worth it to include spending a little money.
To the best of my knowledge, you are the only blogger I know who is as determined as I am to do it all. My graphic designing skills lack horribly. I can do a few things but without much expertise and it all looks like a grandchild did it in kindergarten.
I did one other thing for protection. I took the login off the front side of the site. It is a widget and you just have to delete it. I don’t know that it will help, but my theory is that it would not hurt.
Your blog is looking SMASHING! You did such a nice job. Love those column widths too BTW. :::::snicker:::::
Thanks for being my blogging buddy and sharing your experiences.
I just love you to pieces Ginger! We will be talking soon
Girl, this post is just right on time for me! I have seriously been thinking about switching to wordpress, but as you stated I’m a frugal blogger and spending the money to have someone do it just isn’t in the cards. So, thank you for this post and giving me the confidence and info to do it myself!
You’ve done a GREAT job, by the way! You should be proud.
Thanks Lynn..it is allot of work but one I LOVE. Just wish I had more time to do it. If you have any question…ask away. I will help if I can.