Making the Move to Wordpress

"Baseball has been very very good to me." - Garrett Morris, in character, on Saturday Night Live

For the last three and half years, I have called TypePad home. TypePad has hosted Micro Persuasion since it launched in April 2004. Since then I have uploaded nearly 5,000 posts and, for the most part, the Six Apart platform has handled it all with very few glitches. I even once told Six Apart founder Mena Trott that TypePad changed my life. It did.

TypePad is a terrific platform for anyone starting a blog. However, lately it has been leaving me wanting more. I want a platform that is quicker; one where I can dabble. More importantly, I have become fed up having to constantly clear this site of spam.

Wordpress has unbeatable spam fighting features, thanks to its Akismet plug in. So, in the next few days or weeks, I plan to move my blog over to Wordpress.com. I want to stay on a hosted platform for simplicity's sake. However, there in lies the dilemma. I can easily move the domain, content and comments. However, I will lose all of the permalinks.

So here are my options. I would love your opinion.

Option A: Migrate all of the content and legitimate comments (the blog is unfortunately full of spam) over to Wordpress and lose all all permalinks.

Option B: Start fresh on Wordpress. This entails just moving the micropersuasion.com domain over. Under this scenario, the archives and all of the image links will remain here in tact for posterity but at the steverubel.typepad.com/micropersuasion URL (the "masked" domain). This too breaks all of the permalinks but at least leaves things in tact.

Option C: Nuke it all and start completely from scratch on Wordpress.

Option D (why do I sound like Michael Keaton in "Mr. Mom"?): Stay here and fight the spammers.

There are other options but they are more complicated and I want to make this as simple as possible. As always, I am eager to hear your thoughts. Perhaps I am missing something.

Comments

[Eduardo Arcos]

You CAN move all your content and preserve all permalinks using WordPress.com, it WILL need some sort of help from WP.com admins (probably contacting Matt would be a good idea) but the process seems to be very easy, just setting a max number of characters for the post name in the permalink.

If you need help I left my email address on this comment.

[Dario Salvelli]

There are some interesting post as this about the move from Typepad to Wordpress. I think that u have to migrate all content..for the permalink i think that u can play with .htaccess...

[Ike]

Hey Steve...

One cool bit about Wordpress is the way it handles Permalinks. You can essentially set the nomenclature in any format you like. It might take a little tweaking, but I'm willing to bet you can completely create the old Typepad structure - in which case PART of your problem is solved.

I think there may be issues in the way the images and attachments are stored, but if you maintain your Typepad archive as a repository for the old graphics and the like, it shouldn't be an issue.

I jumped to Wordpress a couple of years ago, and at the time there was no good way (that I knew of) to move from Blogger. So I rechristened "Accentuate the Positive, 2.0" and moved forward. Nothing to say you couldn't do the same.

I think it's going to be smoother than you think - and I'm pretty sure some of the high-end WP muckety-mucks will be willing to coach you through, as you'd be a high-profile convert.

(And spam-fighting is great over here - I recommend "Akismet" in combination with "Bad Behavior". They are the Raid and Bootheel that keep roaches off many blogs.)

[Tom Hespos]

I believe you can customize your permalink structure in Wordpress under Options/Permalinks. You should then be able to import your TypePad database into Wordpress and republish to the "masked" domain. If you use the same permalink structure, you should be able to save a lot of those inbound links.

Best of luck, Steve. I moved from Movable Type to Wordpress a while back and it was pretty painless. It's a shame Movable Type hasn't been able to keep pace with Wordpress + the Akismet plugin with regard to weeding out spam. I knew it was type to switch when I looked at the time I was spending de-spamming my Movable Type blog and testing new anti-spam plugins and CAPTCHA schemes.

[Rachel Clarke]

I used the Customise Your Permalinks Option, combined with a Plug in that changed my dashes to underscores to keep the Permalink structure when I moved from MT to WP 9 months ago. Seems to work. It just takes a little patience.

[wiley]

Option B.

[francine hardaway]

This creates a great opportunity for the Wordpress folks, because I want to do the same thing you do. Let's get Matt involved and see if they can create a set of instructions to move people from Typepad to Wordpress. I'm not troubled by spam (more on Blogger, where I started) I just think Wordpress has more cool ways to add cool stuff.

[John Fitzsimmons]

If I were you I'd leave everything on this blog as is and start wordpress with a new domain. This will keep all the permalinks in tact. Also, from an SEO point of view you will keep the link popularity and thus the authority of this blog. Then you can use this blog/domain to promote the new domain.

This is a tough option from a branding point of view but "Steve Rubel" is the real brand here and not the domain, "micropersuasion". Any other option will end up in you essentially starting from scratch. It will also end up creating a lot of dead links on other people's blogs who have linked to you.

There is one other option. But you'd have to have the technical cooperation of TypePad. It's called a 301 redirect. It's a server side response that tells a search engine or web browser that a page has permanently moved to a new location and the redirects them to it. In your case you'd have to do a redirect for over 5000 posts... so it might not be realistic.

The 301 option would be sweet though because it would pass your link popularity to the new locations, permalinks would not be broken (just redirected), and all would be well. But again, I don’t know if this would be possible using a hosted blogging platform link TypePad.

Good luck on whatever you decide. I’ll be sure to follow your RSS trail where ever it goes…

[mk]

Definitely don't stay. Think of all the blogs you could be writing (or other fun things you could be doing) instead of fighting spam. Life is way too short.

Keep the old blog here, it's like a spring cleaning - starting fresh, sort of, to bring new things about. It gives you freedom to explore other ways of presentation, too.

I also agree with the previous commenter, trying to stick with "micropersuasion" is a comfort for YOU, not for us. I have zero emotional/brand attachment to the site name (you, on the other hand, do). I read for Steve Rubel, and I trust he can come up with some other brand identity.

If you build it, we will come. :)

[Steve Rubel]

I have already heard from Matt and a member of his team so the move planning is already underway. it sounds like from what you are saying that I will be able to keep everything in tact. Very exciting!

[Hans De Keulenaer]

I've struggled repeatedly with the same issue, and admire you for sticking 3.5 years on the same platform. We've moved a few 100 posts from Wordpress to Drupal last year. Yes we lost all permalinks. Now we're a few 1000 articles, and hoping Drupal will meet our needs for a while.

I would in your case:
- transfer the typepad blog to a dedicated server (I believe you're currently using a hosted service)?
- direct micropersuasion to this server - so you keep all the links. If you where to loose the permalinks for 5,000 posts, I would expect a big drop in traffic - cf the long tail
- install the Wordpress blog in a subdirectory of the root - so all you're new permalinks would become www.micropersuasion.com/wp/...
- migrate the typepad content into the new blog, so that you have all your posts in a single repository (in parallel to the typepad blog)
- turn off comments for the typepad blog

Obviously, there is no perfect solution

[Farrell Kramer]

Eduardo's comment above I think is the way to go.

While it's true that wordpress.com does not offer the same flexibility to style your permalinks as does a self-hosted wordpress installation, wordpress.com does offer a VIP hosting service for blogs just like yours. I'm fairly certain the admins will be able to duplicate your permalink structure to keep your old post links intact.

I run my personal blog on wordpress.com and it's a great platform. You should just send a note to the address at the bottom of this page and I'll bet they can get it done: http://wordpress.com/vip-hosting/

For my 2 cents, you should preserve all the permalinks you have as a courtesy to your readers and to keep an intact record of all the great work you've done on this blog.

[OJ]

I was reading around Wordpress and this is what I found in their FAQ section:

" Can I use Akismet for my own blog that resides outside WordPress.com but using the API key from WP.com?

Yes! That's the point. Download the plugin and start relaxing. "

It seems like you can install a plug-in for your website and forget about the painful moving process.

Best regards,

OJ

[Steve Rubel]

Farrell, I didn't know about the VIP service. That's great. I suspect that 5,000 pages of Google Juice might be attractive to WP. :-)

[Doug Wick]

Steve, I vote for Option 2. Why:

- Leaving your past content here will allow it to remain with Typepad, indexed the way it is on searches. Relocating it is kind of like digging up an old-growth tree.
- Use the new platform as the opportunity for a re-design / re-launch (look-and-feel, info/tag architecture, features). I disagree with an earlier poster that said Micropersuasion is not a brand. I think it is, I like it and think it's good marketing, and by building that brand you will always have the option to take on more writers and make it bigger than just yourself.

[Cam Beck]

The long tail is your friend. It would be a shame to lose the body of content you built up over time.

[metin]

My choice would be Option-B. And then publish the link to the other site for the archives. However, would that in itself invite the 'spammers' all over again?

I am (was) thinking of switching to Wordpress too. But some of my readership is based and/or directed (in) to Turkey. And you may have heard a Turkish court banned Wordpress. (instead of banning a specific anti-defamatory website with the wordpress extension!)

Good Luck!

[Jeff Vincent]

Hey Steve-

I've been a (somewhat) loyal reader of micro persuasion for a few years now. I just recently moved my own blog, "How to Not Get a Job in Advertising" over to Wordpress. After a few compatibility problems between my Safari browser and Wordpress, I got Firefox and now the system works well. I hope you have no issues and I can continue to read your blog. If you have time, I'd love some feedback on my little journal in the blogosphere, http://jvincent.wordpress.com. Thank you so much for all your great insights, and keep up the great work.
-jv

[Josh]

Steve,
I'm curious. Have you decided if you are going with wordpress.com or a self-hosted wordpress solution. If you want to use the breath of available plugins, you will need to go with self-hosted. However, wordpress.com makes life a lot easier. Its just like Movable Type vs. Typepad.

[James Boike]

I like those "forced refreshes" in life. Start anew, enjoy a clean slate, leave the old as an archive document!

(In the spirit of Paul Graham's "Stuff," I'm leaving 10 boxes packed after my move and will get rid of them if I don't need that stuff this year...)

[Paul]

I would get a new domain, linked it back here (if needed), and for some good reasons too.

1. Dun lose any of your permalinks.
2. Opportunity to explore new directions in blogging/pr/marketing.

[Phil Ayres]

Steve, I agree with the previous commenter who instructed you to:

I would in your case:
- transfer the typepad blog to a dedicated server (I believe you're currently using a hosted service)?
- direct micropersuasion to this server - so you keep all the links. If you where to loose the permalinks for 5,000 posts, I would expect a big drop in traffic - cf the long tail
- install the Wordpress blog in a subdirectory of the root - so all you're new permalinks would become www.micropersuasion.com/wp/...
- migrate the typepad content into the new blog, so that you have all your posts in a single repository (in parallel to the typepad blog)
- turn off comments for the typepad blog

This seems like the best option. I have done this in the past with one of my blogs and it seems like a reasonable course.

[milo]

Recently I've moved a friend's blog fom typepad to own hosting with all permalinks working, just needed a plugin for the permalinks move, then all permalinks stayed intact.

[Kevin OKeefe]

You're painting with too broad brush to say "Wordpress has unbeatable spam fighting features, thanks to its Akismet plug in."

Using a customized MT platform with a cocktail of 5 spam filters, one of which is akismet, comment spam to our network of bloggers is minimal - and less than flows through akismet alone. In addition, there have been times when akismet has been down resulting in a huge flow of spam to blogs using akismet alone.

[Juan Pablo Tapia]

Option B. Absolutely.

[John Fitzsimmons]

"migrate the typepad content into the new blog, so that you have all your posts in a single repository (in parallel to the typepad blog)"
... Bad idea from an SEO point of view. You then risk a duplicate content penalty by the search engines.

[Jim Spice]

Since you've used your own domain name over the years instead of utilizing the generic hosted option (micropersuasion.typepad.com) you should have no problems. As others have pointed out, you just need to configure WordPress to write the urls the same way TypePad did.

Googling "typepad to wordpress" permalinks I found http://adamstiles.com/2005/10/painless_switch_from_typepad_to_wordpress/ which gives step by step instructions.

Just be sure not to give in to the temptation to install a gazillion cool plugins, or your load time will really suffer.

Good luck.

Spice

[Cyndi]

You've probably made your decision by now, but, if you can, and have the time, I'd see if WordPress can help you move everything over, including permalinks. Or, they might have another solution - they aren't open source for nothing.

The best experience for you would be to move over as if nothing has changed for you, except you have better features. Isn't that why we move over to any new thing? :)

Let us know what you do - it would be helpful to know how easy the process is.

[Ken Yarmosh]

Steve...just be aware that VIP hosting comes at a price. $600 to setup and $300 a month hosting fee...the latter is way more than you would pay for a normal hosting service. Perhaps they won't charge you in exchange to get another reputable name listed in their clientele.

[Tony Siino]

My suggestion is to redirect old permalinks using 301 Permanent Redirects in htaccess. I did it recently and seems like everything is going fine.
2nd input: your post slugs appears replicable in WordPress permalinks structure.
Write to me if you need more infos. Good luck!

[Karl]

Option E. Contact SixApart and ask them about your concerns.

I've used both Wordpress and MT in various projects and truth be told, the Wordpress community is now the more visible online community in some corners of the web. That doesn't mean it's the largest, or the best.

Before you go down a path that distracts you from what you really want to do (which is your work, not maintaining blog software or deleting spam), get some additional input from the folks who maintain the system you've already invested your time and effort in already.

Karl

[Adam Stiles]

You don't have to lose your permalinks. I wrote about my experiences doing the same here:

http://adamstiles.com/2005/10/painless_switch_from_typepad_to_wordpress/

[BeachBum]

What will happen to your PR? Your current PR of 7 is hard to achieve and may not travel when you change platforms.

If SPAM comments are the problem, isn't there a way to just fight that?

BeachBum

[GTD Wannabe]

I just moved from Blogger to WordPress. I was able to import my 300 measly post into WP. However, I noticed that even though WP allowed me to customize the permalinks so that they looked similar to the ones that Blogger was using, they weren't perfect. It seems to have to do with the way the slug is formed. For instance, a post entitled "The Way to the Future" in Blogger had a slug like .../the-way-to-the-future.html, but in WP, it would remove the "the".

So, I sucked up the fact that the permalinks would be busted. The content was still there at least. On my old Blogger pages, I put a header telling people that the blog was no longer maintained, and pointed them to the new one.

I'm thinking about going through all 300 posts to make sure my internal permalinks point to the new blog, but not the old one. But, man, 300 posts is still a lot.

My recommendation - don't start from scratch. Bring over your stuff, as much as you can. Leave the old blog as an archive, but mark it so that people landing there know that it's old, and point them to the new blog. Best of both worlds :)

Good luck with the switch!

[GTD Wannabe]

I just moved from Blogger to WordPress. I was able to import my 300 measly post into WP. However, I noticed that even though WP allowed me to customize the permalinks so that they looked similar to the ones that Blogger was using, they weren't perfect. It seems to have to do with the way the slug is formed. For instance, a post entitled "The Way to the Future" in Blogger had a slug like .../the-way-to-the-future.html, but in WP, it would remove the "the".

So, I sucked up the fact that the permalinks would be busted. The content was still there at least. On my old Blogger pages, I put a header telling people that the blog was no longer maintained, and pointed them to the new one.

I'm thinking about going through all 300 posts to make sure my internal permalinks point to the new blog, but not the old one. But, man, 300 posts is still a lot.

My recommendation - don't start from scratch. Bring over your stuff, as much as you can. Leave the old blog as an archive, but mark it so that people landing there know that it's old, and point them to the new blog. Best of both worlds :)

Good luck with the switch!

[knn kanda]

Hi Steve. I was so suprise your decision make.
We(Japanese) will be maybe follow you,I think.
We got same problem of you.
and your blog is very influential in Japan too.
take care of yourself and I will expect.

[Margie Zable Fisher]

Hi Steve,

I just switched from Typepad to Wordpress, too. Seems like everyone is doing it, and I'm reading about it in lots of blogs.

From a P.R. perspective, I wonder what Typepad is doing about it, or if they even know about it?

Love your blog.

Best,
Margie Zable Fisher

[Mark]

Hello Steve Rubel, this is Mark from ProBloggers Matrix. Congratulations!! You will never, ever regret switching to WordPress. It's open source, which means there are thousands of developers worldwide working to make this blog platform better and more secure. There are thousands of excellent colorful themes available to you and hundreds of useful plugins associated with WP. You are making a profitable move and your blog and brand will be all the better for it. Your decision to move to WP also illustrates your dedication to your readers and advances your brand.

I have been reading your blog for at least 18 months. It's entertaining, educational and very interesting to read. I have learned a lot from it and am integrating some of the information you impart into my blogging and social networking campaigns.

Thank you very much for blogging. I'll always follow your dazzling RSS feed!

Ready.........Set.........BLOG!!!!

[Paul J. Thomas]

just keep this blog as a time capsule and resource, and always keep a prominent link to it in the sidebar- then start fresh in wordpress.

[Tim Anderson]

The choice of blog platform is less important than keeping the permalinks. I moved to (self-hosted) Wordpress a year or so ago, and jumped through hoops to keep the old permalinks working. Otherwise, it is frustrating to find snippets of posts on Google or elsewhere and then find the original posts and comments are inaccessible. Don't break the web!

Tim

[Nigel Cheshire]

Sorry to be late to the party. I like option B. I can attest to the value of Akismet, having gone from deleting literally hundreds of spam comments every day to maybe on a month. Felt like a large weight had been removed from my back.
Good luck and keep up the great work.

[Amit Agarwal]

I am a bit surprised that none of the Typepad folks have commented here.

Anyway, I would tick Option A but with a twist - you move this blog to WordPress and then use the following custom Permalink struction so you won't miss any existing Google Juice.

/%year%/%monthnum%/%postname%.html

Good luck Steve.

[Mark]

Does Typepad not have an Askimet-type widget to help you with the spam?

Despite what people say about Blogger, I use Blogger on a daily basis and I have no trouble with spam whatsoever. Wordpress on the other hand has given me nothing but problems on the two occasions I have tried to switch over.

If I were you, I would move everything over to Wordpress (keeping the micro persuasion domain name), delete the Typepad blog and rebuild your Permalinks over time.

Whatever you do, PLEASE don't delete your content completely as you have written some fantastic stuff. Especially the Gmail nerve center posts. It would be very bad to lose it.

[Oliver Willis]

I would advise you not to switch. I made the change from Wordpress to Typepad 2 yrs ago because Wordpress is simply incapable of handling a lot of traffic unless you have tons of cash to invest in infrastructure. Expect every time you get a traffic spike, in addition to your already considerable traffic, for your site to lock up and die. Wordpress hits the database every time a page is loaded and that's just bad.

[Neville Hobson]

Some good advice and tips here, Steve. And if you have the WordPress folk working with you, then I would guess you'll end up with a pretty smooth migration, assuming that's what's happening, ie, taking all your content from here over to your new WP.com home.

I made the switch from TypePad to WordPress 18 months ago and have not regretted it one bit. My solution was an easy one - left the TypePad blog as an archive with it's existing domain and started over on WordPress with a new domain. One big difference, though - my WP blog is self-hosted, not WP.com.

One of the flexibilities that gives you is total control over look and feel. With any hosted service, you do have limits as to the theme (the look and feel) of your blog although you have an option with the TypePad Pro service level to get at your templates. Only you will know how important this is for you.

Interesting comment earlier re the MicroPersuasion brand. I'm sure many people read this blog because you are the blogger. So would it matter if you left that name here and started over in WP.com with a new name, eg, SteveRubel?

I think it would matter. It seems to me that MicroPersuasion.com is a pretty valuable name. I guess it much depends on your own brand strategy.

Time to get some of that Edelman social media smarts on the case ;)

[Dan Rood]

Steve -
Use your influence as a premier blogger to work with TypePad to update it's system. It is a win -win for both. You get a better product and you can evangilize about your great experience with them. In turn they will get more users. You could even help them create a spin off or a hybrid program.

You have invested in them and hopefully they would be willing to invest in you.

Good Luck. I will keep reading what ever decision you make.

[Widgett Walls]

I would go with B. Keep this here as an archive, link back to it, and such. Moving the URL over might smack you from an SEO perspective, not sure what you could do to prevent that...

[Will Donovan]

I'm interested to hear more of your story on this. I have found Wordpress to be an extraordinary platform for blogging, but there has been a call at my company to migrate to a blogging module in their upcoming website based upon FarCry. Given how much I've enjoyed working with Wordpress, I'm interested in your initial reactions, as well as your long term considerations.

[Lee Aase]

I echo the Option B advice. I started my blogging on Wordpress.com because Scoble was here. I love the open source nature of the project, and it does seem to be getting better all the time. This is a great opportunity for Matt & the Gang to help you make the move as seamlessly as possible, because another high-profile blogger on the system will help others just starting blogging to choose wisely.

Akismet is the spam killer for blogs, just like Facebook is for email. Occasionally I'll get trackback spam on Wordpress.com, but Akismet spares me enormous amounts of junk. I can only imagine how much spam you have to fight.

If you can find ways to keep your permalinks, great. But moving to a platform where you can have your conversation without the shouting of spammers will be well worth it.

[Nick Garner]

I've been mograting a 2000 post blog across platforms. One solution is to 'clone' the whole site and just put them into a static site i.e. leave them as flat HTML pages. and maybe embed a link telling users you have migrated to a new platform.

That way you will never loose any trackbacks.

Alternatively, you could export the content into wordpress and with some manipulation you should be able to replicate the URL structure. It looks like you hav done the links by month and date folder structure, so it should be easy enough.

I hope that helps

[Andrew Murphy]

Steve,
this comment is a little late but the Blog i360 platform (which is a specialized wordpress platform on steroids)could be a good choice for you.

Regards,

[Andrew Murphy]

Steve,
this comment is a little late but the Blog i360 platform (which is a specialized wordpress platform on steroids)could be a good choice for you.

Regards,

[totti]

halooo

good

http://www.moon25.com

http://www.moon25.com/vb

[ulrich wollers]

was ist Deine Domain wert
which is worth your Domain
--------------------------------
http://www.deine-domain.info/