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Moving from wordpress.org to wordpress.com - what effect will it have on my blog

  1. rhymeswithmagic
    Member

    Hello,

    I am currently using WordPress.org and started my blog May 2. I have about 14 posts and have started to be indexed in the Google blogroll. But I want to transfer my domain to WordPress.com. I am going to transfer my domain over to wordpress.com because I really don't need all that functionality.

    So what I was wondering was:

    1. Will my blog be offline for a couple of days while the transfer is made?

    2.) Will all the links I have already on other sites that read http://www.mydomain.com still reach me at my wordpress.com domain, which will be the same, but set up now on their servers?

    3.) Also, with wordpress.com, will I still be able to use www. or does WP drop that from the web address?

    4.) Will any links in google be lost or will they find my new site?

    Thanks for any help you can offer me,

    Rhymes

  2. thesacredpath
    Member

    1. Yes, anywhere from 24-72 hours for the nameserver change to take effect. Typically 24 hours does the trick, but sometimes it takes longer. It just depends on loads and such on the internet and how many changes are backed up.

    2 & 3. When you move over here and domain map to your domain name, the WWW will be gone from your domain name. WordPress does not map to subdomains. Everything will be automatically redirected from "www.mydomain.com" to "mydomain.com."

    4. As long as you used the "SEO friendly" permalink structure on your other blog (like the ones used here) there should be no issues and all the google links should work just fine because they will be identical.

    The default wordpress.ORG style is: "http://mydomain.com/?p=123"

    The permalink structure here is: "http://mydomain.com/2009/05/23/sample-post/"

    5. (You didn't ask but I'll mention it). If you have a lot of images, they will have to be moved over manually, and then the links in your posts will have to be corrected after you move them over. The reason the links will have to be edited is that wordpress.COM permalinks to images will be different (they will actually have the yourblogname.wordpress.com/files/2009/08/ structure, even with the domain mapping.

  3. rhymeswithmagic
    Member

    Thanks so much for your reply and assistance.

    Actually, you made me think of another question that I hadn't considered. When I move the blog over, am I moving over just the domain name or do my posts get moved over as well? I had assumed I would have to repost all my entries.

    My links are SEO friendly as per your example, so I should have no problem with the links directing to my new site. But they will be listed in Google as .www. Will that effect their being redirected over here?

    I hadn't considered the images. Thanks for alerting me to that.

    Thanks again for your help,
    Rhymes

  4. thesacredpath
    Member

    You will have to export your posts, pages, comments, categories, tags and such from your current blog and then import them into your new blog here (it all comes over in one file). Your links (blogroll) will be imported separately, but it is just a matter of pointing your wordpress.COM links import at the appropriate file on your current blog.

    This support search for "import" will get you up to speed on it: http://support.wordpress.com/?s=import .

    When someone clicks on the www link at Google, they will automatically be directed to the correct URL (without the www).

    It will be best to set the new blog to private at first (settings > privacy) move everything over and then when everything is moved and working here, do the domain mapping and point your nameservers at wordpress.COM.

  5. thesacredpath
    Member

    http://support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/
    http://support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/domain-management/

  6. raincoaster
    Member

    I was just asked about YouTube videos when you move: assuming you've used [youtube=URL] on your WP.com blog, will all those videos have to be edited after the move?

  7. rhymeswithmagic
    Member

    Thank you so much! I really do appreciate your help. I've tried looking, but I'm so new to blogging that sometimes I don't even know what terms to search for!

  8. thesacredpath
    Member

    Searching here is getting better, but it still leaves a lot to be desired and sometimes I have to try two or three times to find what I'm looking for and I've been here over two years.

    You're very welcome.

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