I’ve been a LiveJournal paid member since 2001, and now I think the time has come to move my blog.
I’ve been working on this project behind the scenes for several weeks, which is why I haven’t been posting lately. My goal is to move to a self-hosted blog, probably running WordPress, and to have posts over there automatically be crossposted here (for those of you who still use LiveJournal).
In theory, that would make the move seamless. The entire blog would be on franklinveaux.com and also here at LiveJournal, and comments would be synced so that people could comment here or there.
In practice, it’s turning out to be a problem. The LiveJournal WordPress importer is buggy; when you move a large blog like mine, it tends to import comments attached to the wrong posts. There seems to be a subtle bug in the regex that parses the LiveJournal XML feed, and I suck at regex, so I can’t fix their bug myself.
So for now I will continue to blog here, while I work on getting the blog copied over there.
Why am I moving?
LiveJournal has, increasingly, been creating problems for me. They have a really difficult time getting the spam problem under control (for a while, I was averaging more than two hundred spam comments per day, though that has slowed). Paid accounts are expensive for what you get. And worse, there is now some question about what it even means to have a “paid account” any more–the devs are apparently moving to a model where the friends feed is radically different and the notion of “paid accounts” will give way to a model where users pay for specific features of LiveJournal.
So, I think it’s time to move. I’ve allowed my paid account to expire, and I’ll keep you posted on what happens as I sort out how to transplant eleven and a half years’ worth of blogging to a new home.
When you figure it out, let me know. I’ve opened an account at Dreamwidth, but having been using it yet.
I hate the idea of leaving LJ. *sigh*
When you figure it out, let me know. I’ve opened an account at Dreamwidth, but having been using it yet.
I hate the idea of leaving LJ. *sigh*
In case it helps, made this move (blog with WordPress, auto-posting to LJ) about 18 months or so ago. After a whole bunch of setup work (which he ranted about at length, eg this post and some earlier ones), it seems to work fairly reliably — I’ve continued following him on LJ, rather than via my other feed aggregator setup. I do remember the import process being the cause of much grumbling, so you might want to look for what solutions he found.
Ewen
In case it helps, made this move (blog with WordPress, auto-posting to LJ) about 18 months or so ago. After a whole bunch of setup work (which he ranted about at length, eg this post and some earlier ones), it seems to work fairly reliably — I’ve continued following him on LJ, rather than via my other feed aggregator setup. I do remember the import process being the cause of much grumbling, so you might want to look for what solutions he found.
Ewen
I’ve been a paid member here for slightly less time – since 2003 – and I too, have just let my paid account lapse. This has always been my personal blog, with my more ‘professional’ writing hosted on WordPress, but I still don’t care to lose my posts nor the comments. I’ll be watching you (and others) to see what works best.
I’ve been a paid member here for slightly less time – since 2003 – and I too, have just let my paid account lapse. This has always been my personal blog, with my more ‘professional’ writing hosted on WordPress, but I still don’t care to lose my posts nor the comments. I’ll be watching you (and others) to see what works best.
I have a permanent account so I’ll still be here, but I post from dreamwidth. The importing and crossposting is near seamless.
I have a permanent account so I’ll still be here, but I post from dreamwidth. The importing and crossposting is near seamless.
I recently set up a mirror account at Dreamwidth and I highly recommend it. It imported all my LJ entries quickly, and cross-posts from there to here automatically (once I had found the correct radio button to push) and so far I really like it.
I recently set up a mirror account at Dreamwidth and I highly recommend it. It imported all my LJ entries quickly, and cross-posts from there to here automatically (once I had found the correct radio button to push) and so far I really like it.
If you able to provide my with the samples (at least those you’re describing on http://wordpress.org/support/topic/comments-import-to-wrong-posts) to reproduce, I’d give it a try to fix the importer since I possibly suck less.
If you able to provide my with the samples (at least those you’re describing on http://wordpress.org/support/topic/comments-import-to-wrong-posts) to reproduce, I’d give it a try to fix the importer since I possibly suck less.
another +1 for dreamwidth.
But worst case, I’ve got prior experience in porting stuff from LiveJournal (I know brad, hachi, dormando and the others from my MySQL days)
another +1 for dreamwidth.
But worst case, I’ve got prior experience in porting stuff from LiveJournal (I know brad, hachi, dormando and the others from my MySQL days)
Woof, I wondered what that wall of your posts on my friends list was about. Side effect of the transfer process, then.
Good luck on the new blog – I can understand the issues you’re having with LiveJournal, certainly.
Woof, I wondered what that wall of your posts on my friends list was about. Side effect of the transfer process, then.
Good luck on the new blog – I can understand the issues you’re having with LiveJournal, certainly.
I have pages of “messages” from you with “Deleted Post” and I about freaked out.
I stopped by here to check in on people I care about.
So Hi. <3 Good luck with your move.
I have pages of “messages” from you with “Deleted Post” and I about freaked out.
I stopped by here to check in on people I care about.
So Hi. <3 Good luck with your move.