How to Import Posts from Tabulas to Wordpress
I have to admit, the main reason I was reluctant to switch my blogging software of choice before was because I didn’t want to get rid of the old blog entries I’ve collected from 3 years ago. I searched for tutorials on how to import posts from Tabulas to Wordpress when I started this blog, but, apparently, that kind of query wasn’t as popular as Blogger-, LJ-, Motime-, or MovableType-to-Wordpress imports, hence no one bothered to come up with a tutorial for it (or maybe I just wasn’t looking enough :D). To somewhat give justice to my archives, I resolved to just place a link from here to my old blog. For months, I wasn’t thinking about moving my old entries anymore until today when I was helping a friend move hers from Blogger to Wordpress. :)
I’ve known for a while that posts in Tabulas can now be syndicated through RSS but I don’t know why it never crossed my mind to use that to migrate my previous weblog. So yes, I used the RSS feeds of my old blog in Tabulas to move my archives here. It sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? However, there is one catch: this will allow you to import journal entries and categories, but not the comments. Oh well, better than nothing, right? :D
If you’re familiar with how to import posts from an RSS feed, then I’m sure you’ll know what do from here. But just in case, you’re not, and you would like to know more about how I moved my posts, then please read on. I have to warn you though, the task is very tedious! :blank:
Before we start, the following are assumed:
- You have an existing account with Tabulas. (duh! :P)
- You have a running Wordpress blog. If you don’t, you may want to install Wordpress first before continuing.
- You have made up your mind to migrate your posts to WP! LOL. :P
Now that you’re ready, follow the next simple steps:
- Open http://xml.tabulas.com/username/rss.xml in your browser.
- Once you’re seeing the xml version of your posts, click File in the browser’s menu.
- Choose Save As and specify a temporary location in your computer (eg: your Desktop).
- Open the file you just saved (eg. rss.xml) in Notepad.
- Go to Edit and select Replace (or simply press ctrl-H).
- Type <![CDATA[ in the Find What textbox, and leave the Replace With textbox blank. Hit Replace All.
- Repeat Step 5.
- Now enter ]]–> in the Find What textbox, and leave the Replace With textbox blank. Hit Replace All.
- Save your file.
- Now log in to your Wordpress Blog.
- Click on Manage and choose Import.
- Choose RSS (import from an RSS feed) from the list.
- Click on Browse and choose the rss.xml file you saved earlier.
- Hit the button Upload file and import. By now, you should be able to see some posts imported to your WP blog.
Incidentally, since Tabulas only displays 10 RSS feeds at a time, it also goes without saying, that moving your posts from Tabulas to Wordpress will also just be 10 posts at a time. :D
To get the next batch of (10) RSS feeds, you need to login to your Tabulas blog and set the first batch of (10) posts to Private/Draft. (Do not delete them!) The idea behind this is you need to prevent the 10 posts you’ve just moved to WP from appearing in your RSS xml file. Once you’ve set them to Private/Draft, the next batch of (10) posts should be the one to appear in your RSS feeds. Repeat steps 1-10 over and over again until you’ve reached your last post (which is your first entry ever) in Tabulas.
I know it sucks. It requires so much time to finish importing. I, even, haven’t moved all my posts yet! :D For now, I guess this is a good enough solution for you and me. Hopefully somebody will come up with a plugin for this soon! :)
[EDIT: 2/9/07]
The owner of Tabulas has answered my question regarding the comment RSS. Sadly, he says that Tabulas has none. :(
Here’s a screenshot of the e-mail. Click image for larger view.
[/EDIT]
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