How to convert a Typepad blog to a WordPress blog

How to convert a Typepad.com blog to a WordPress blog

I have been blogging for a very long time at the Questions and Answers blog www.qandablog.com that is hosted via typepad.com. But I have known for a very long time that,
1. I wanted to be working in WordPress, the most popular Content Management System (CMS) in the world, so that I can easily help my clients with their web pages and blogs etc
2. From a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) perspective, it is much better to be blogging at your main domain, in this case www.waynemoran.com so that you are driving traffic to your domain and not the generic typepad.com domain.
So yesterday I realized that my hosting company (www.gate.com ) had all three of the top blogging engines available in the easy scripts section of the web site. They have Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress and as I have been talking with a client recently who has a need for Moodle, which is a CMS for educational provider websites, I realized my provider has that tool also.

Anyway, I decided to turn on WordPress for my sight. That process was easy but then I immediately broke out in a cold sweet thinking how in the world am I going to get all my content from my last blog over to this new blog? I woke up at 3:30 last night thinking, yes worrying about this. Gosh there has to be a way to convert this. So early this morning I ran off to Google and searched for “convert from typepad to wordpress” and shazam I found this awesome post from www.blogstrategies.net
http://www.blogstrategies.net/2009/01/28/import-typepad-to-wordpress/

So I went to my Typepad blog and logged in.
I went to the help page http://www.typepad.com/account/help and searched for export which points you to this page http://help.typepad.com/import_export.html and under the Export Section I found this little point

To create an export file, go to Blogs > Settings > Import/Export and scroll down to the Export section. Click the Export button to generate the export file.
I saved the file locally as mt- export.txt. This is important for later. Then I ftp uploaded this file to my new blog directory on my web host under the new directory wp-content.
In the article above it says to
“Next, sign-in to WordPress, click Tools in the left sidebar and Import. Select Movable Type/Typepad. Choose the second option for importing – “Or use mt-export.txt in your /wp-content/directory.” Click Import, and give WordPress a few moments to do its magic, and import and convert the data.”

Well, being I am on a slightly newer version of WordPress things are a little bit different. When you go to the Import menu on the left of the form you 1st have to install the import script or at least I did in my environment. I selected
Movable Type and TypePad: Import posts and comments from a Movable Type or TypePad blog.

When I did that, it gave me a warning that this script as not been tested with this newer version of WordPress so I stopped for a moment. But being the intrepid developer that I am I decided to continue on. Once it is installed you get to choose to upload a file from your computer or import mt-export.txt. This is where the ftp file from above is important. I selected this second option and off it goes.

In a minute or so I get the message Converted 1279 posts. Wow, now this is awesome! It has saved me hundreds of hours.

You can see the results here http://www.waynemoran.com/blog2/

Now I still need to work on the design and make sure it is getting into Google and all that but to know that I have quickly converted the content is a huge miracle.

So thanks for the info and happy blogging!!

Error: Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2024/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server?

About wpadmin

As a Minnesota based photographer and artist I have been greatly influenced by the Upper Midwest. I focus my skills and energies on landscapes, cityscapes, architectural, fine art and portrait work. My best work comes from images first painted in my mind. I mull over a prospective image for weeks or months, seeing it from different angles and perspectives, then finally deciding what to capture. The result is images that deeply touch people's emotions and powerfully evoke memories and dreams. My images are used commercially by companies and organizations ranging from Financial Services firms, mom and pop Ice Cream shops and The Basilica of St Mary to communicate their shared vision and values. Book and magazine publishers have featured my images on their covers. My photographs also grace and enhance the decor of many fine homes.
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26 Responses to How to convert a Typepad blog to a WordPress blog

  1. Guy from India says:

    Hi,
    Great post shared by author. I appreciate it. Thanks for sharing this post. I appreciate it. Keep posting updates.

  2. bluechip says:

    I have noticed many changes in your blog and they are like improvements for you.
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  3. Farooq Khan says:

    Its really great ways to convert according to client requirements, i work for a web development and design services company we often receive such queries from our clients where they demand to do such ordinary tasks.

    • Error: Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2024/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server? waynem says:

      Thank you so much.. I really apprecaite it.

  4. Chris says:

    Great method of demonstration to convert and But we can create one more blog with existing blog name -that too works good.

  5. The Development Company says:

    I am fully agreed with the above ideas and suggestion for the improvement in your business. It is really nice and superb blog.

    • Error: Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2024/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server? waynem says:

      Thank you for your thoughtful ideas.
      Have a great day.

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    • Error: Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2024/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server? waynem says:

      Thanks so much for your feedback..

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    • Error: Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2024/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server? waynem says:

      I am glad you are enjoying it.. Share it with your friends.

  8. Maruti Ritz says:

    Your blog is quite remarkable. Its articles are rather good and I like it particularly very much. I really hope to make a good friend with you.

    • Error: Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2024/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server? waynem says:

      Thank you so much..

  9. How do I do SEO says:

    Select the best way for getting the good business and choosing the some innovative way for improvement the business as well as ranking.It is really nice and innovative blog.

    • Error: Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2024/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server? waynem says:

      Thanks so much for your thoughts.

  10. lilyMix says:

    My friend and I were arguing about this! Now I know that I was right. lol! Thanks for making me sure!

    • Error: Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2024/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server? waynem says:

      I am glad I helped you out do your friend.. 🙂

  11. The post is very informative. It is a pleasure reading it. I have also bookmarked you for checking out new posts.  

  12. Martin Desjardins says:

    Hi there great post. My company might have to move around a dozen typepad blogs in the near future and I’ve seen services that offer to do it for a fee including image transfer, posts, comments, everything.

    My question is, since I don’t have access to any typepad blog right now, does the WP import feature takes care of images as well? if not I might go with the services I found.

    • Error: Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2024/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server? waynem says:

      No, it will not grab the images but if you keep the old site up then your new posts will actually just point back to the old ones.
      Or if you really need to you can export them from Typepad and then just ftp them to your new site and then simply change the urls in the posts.

      I know it is a pain but it is better than nothing..

      Velvet Blue is a great plug in that quickly changes all domains in your blog to some other domain.
      http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/velvet-blues-update-urls/

  13. Ashley, the Accidental Olympian says:

    My question is about your images. How did you make sure those got moved over from your old site? Did you have to open each post and add images into your new WordPress site? Did your permalinks move over as well?

    • Error: Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2024/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server? wpadmin says:

      I actually kept the old site so I do not care that much.. but you can go into the old site and copy all the images and then move them over and then update all the links. You can actually update the links with a sql query if you are very good. 🙂

  14. Cord Blomquist says:

    Wayne, I’m wondering if you had any problems gettings your images to transfer or problems with internal links, permalinks, or formatting. I’m the co-creator TP2WP, a product that converts TypePad’s export file to WordPress’s own XML standard. This makes moving from TypePad to WordPress as easy as moving data between two WordPress blogs. So, rather than shoehorning incomplete data into WordPress and then fixing the errors afterward, we clean up the data before import ever happens. And our service supports the full transfer of permalinks, comments, images, and other files. Let us know if you have any data cleanup needs as we’d be glad to help you out. We hope your readers may find ourTypePad to WordPress conversion service useful as they plan their move from TypePad to WordPress.

    • Error: Unable to create directory wp-content/uploads/2024/03. Is its parent directory writable by the server? wpadmin says:

      It all worked for me.. Thanks.

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