convert custom MySQL blog into WordPress

  • Resolved catwingz

    (@catwingz)


    10 years, 2 months ago

    I have been asked to convert an existing static site with an attached custom MySQL blog into WordPress. The static site is straightforward enough, but the blog is a question mark. Google finds 72 pages/posts, most of which are probably in the blog because the site is pretty small. I know there are a lot of scripts and tools for importing Blogger, LiveJournal, Drupal, etc. into WordPress, but this one is custom and we don’t know yet how well the fields in the database are going to line up with WordPress – or how closely they might correspond to any other named blogging platform. Thus, none of the existing scripts and tools can be relied upon, and all of the information I have been able to find disregards the possibility of the source being custom.

    Some guidance here would be a HUGE help! Without more information or some guidance it is sounding to me like there are two possible strategies.
    1) A lot of manual work with the database which my counterpart could do, albeit with no idea how time consuming this might prove to be. Making sure the links all line up is a part of the concern.
    2) A lot of cut & paste used in the process of creating all new WordPress posts, followed up by an extended round of 301 redirects.

    Can anyone offer any suggestions or a proven strategy? Some way to automate this reliably would be a wonderful thing.

    Thank you

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)

  • Hello,
    I am not sure if this will work since it is a little complicated, but we will love to help you sort this out.
    Please read this (it is a reference point) to see if that solve your problem.

    Both of your options would work, and they both have good and bad points.

    For me, it would come down to the volume of content that’s being transferred. If it’s a few hundred bits, then I’d think about doing it manually. If it’s a few 1,000, then a custom automated system would be a better idea.

    Thread Starter catwingz

    (@catwingz)

    lopwalj, I guess I am confused. I had reviewed this page before and you seem to be pointing at the part for RSS feeds. Is this correct? When I read the caution about extra lines within paragraphs possibly not turning out right I sort of cringed. If I had to individually review 60+ blog posts I think I would be better off with the cut & paste approach. At least then I would know everything was there without having to scrutinize it. Please let me know if I am misunderstanding.

    catacaustic, I’m not sure about the content volume in those terms. I went back to the client and told her we would need to see the MySQL file before we could quote a price because there was no way to predict the complexity of the job. I haven’t been hired yet, so this is a big question mark. If they cooperate this thread can go to the next step.

    Thanks to you both

    One thing to note…

    WordPress does do it’s own formatting, so using cut-and-paste from another system could result in incorrect formatting anyway. Unfortunately there’s really no way around checking things manually.

    Thread Starter catwingz

    (@catwingz)

    Good to know. Thanks

    Glad to hear that! We hope you be able to sort this out.
    Please do not forget to mark your topic as “resolved”.

    Thread Starter catwingz

    (@catwingz)

    We asked to see the file before quoting them a price. they don’t appear to be comfortable with this, so the issue is moot. Oh well!

Viewing 7 replies - 1 through 7 (of 7 total)
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