To wrap up WordPress week, I wanted to briefly cover two topics – moving your existing blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org and upgrading your WordPress.org blog.
Transferring Data from WordPress.com to WordPress.org
It is actually very easy to move your blog data from WordPress.com to a self-hosted WordPress.org environment.
- First, follow the instructions to set-up your WordPress.org blog on your server.
- Go to WordPress.com and login to your blog.
- Go to the “Tools” tab and select “Export”.
- Unless you want to restrict any content, click “Download Export File” and save the XML file to your local drive. This will export all of your posts, comments, tags, etc.
- Log out of WordPress.com.
- Login to your self-hosted blog.
- Go to the “Tools” tab and select “Import”.
- If you are importing the XML file you just created, choose “WordPress”. If you are importing data from another blog platform, choose that platform.
- Browse your hard drive for the XML file you created. Click “Upload File and Import”.
See – easy as pie.
Upgrading WordPress
There are very specific directions for upgrading your version of WordPress. I was very nervous about upgrading (what if I lost all of my content?). But I followed the directions and had no problems. I can’t stress how important it is to login to MyPHPAdmin and backup a copy of your database just in case. That way if something hinky does happen, you still have all of your data. There is a “Three Step Upgrade” and “More Detailed Instructions“. I followed the detailed instructions just to be on the safe side.
I hope that you’ve found my posts helpful and that I have demystified WordPress a little. I think it’s a fantastic platform for both blogging and as a simple CMS. If you have any questions about WordPress don’t hesitate to give me a holler!
