Missing Things After XML Import

All my stats/pages visits are gone

You’ll need to speak to the folks over at wordpress.com about getting your stats transferred to your new self-hosted site.

I have broken images on certain posts

When you created the xml file, were you using the same domain name on wp.com as well as your new site?

Okay, so the Stats thing is normal? Who would I contact?

When I created the XML file, I was using the same domain Alongourway.com it was just on the free version of wordpress when I exported.
But not all posts with images were affected. Just some were…

What about the widgets/menus? Is that normal?

I guess the broken images are my biggest concern considering I don’t want to have to go back through all these posts individually to fix them..

so the Stats thing is normal?

Absolutely 100% normal. The stats you had were for your old wordpress.com site, so they now have to be manually transferred to your new self-hosted site.

Who would I contact?

Try posting on https://en.forums.wordpress.com/

When I created the XML file, I was using the same domain Alongourway.com

That could be part of the problem. Within the .xml file, there may have been references to Alongourway.com in image urls which led to a feedback loop when you tied to import them into the new site. The image aren’t actually in the .xml file. It just contains a link back to them so that the import script can grab and import them. A loopback occurs when you end up inadvertently trying to import images from the site that you are trying to import to – if that makes sense.

Do you still have the .xml file? I wouldn’t mind having a look at it to confirm whether or not this was the problem.

What about the widgets/menus? Is that normal?

Yes. The import file does not contain anything that relates to widgets, header images or menus. They are saved on a per-theme basis and can only be transferred from one site to another if you import the old site’s database – an option that is not available to anyone moving from wordpress.com. In the latter situation, you have to set them up again manually.

Thanks for responding to my posts, I really really appreciate the feedback.

Yes, I have the xml file on my home computer. I could share it later this evening.

How could I share it with you?

Can you send it via email to esmi [at] quirm [dot] net? I may not get a chance to look at the file until tomorrow but I will get back you if I find anything in the file itself that would explain your missing image problems.

It would also help tremendously if you could list the filenames of a couple of the images that are missing so I can focus the search a little. Oh – and the url of this topic too in case I forget it. ??

okay thanks. The other thing is I also have duplicates of all my images. This may be because I tried uploading it twice, so I may need to delete wordpress from blue host and start over. But that shouldn’t change the XML file I’m going to send you.

Here’s an example of the broken image issue..check out this post and click on the first broken image.
The image URL is really weird, and this is how I think most of the broken URL’s look with “i0.wp.com/www.alongourway.com” at the beginning. You are able to see the image when you click the broken icon…::scratches head::

p.s. I had the Expound theme when I exported, so the blog looked a lot better than it does not with the www.ads-software.com default ??

this may be because I tried uploading it twice

Yep – that’s what done it!

The image URL is really weird

I agree. It’s still referencing wordpress.com instead of importing the image. When you created the .xml export file, did you remember to check “All content”?

Yes, I definitely did all content.

Is there anything else that needed to be done with my wordpress.com site before exporting the xml or before import the xml to www.ads-software.com?

The only thing I was told to do was change the name servers from wordpress to bluehost.
I’m not sure if there’s anything else that would have an effect..

It may be worth mentioning also, I just bought the domain alongourway.com a few months ago. Prior to that it was alongourway.wordpress.com
I’m not sure if that changes how images were name or anything..

Either way, even my latest post, which I posted a couple days before export, has this weird image URL: “https://i1.wp.com/www.alongourway.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/img_3203.jpg”

but the images for those newer posts are not broken, even though they still have weird URLs

Is there anything else that needed to be done with my wordpress.com site before exporting the xml

I recommend postponing any export file creation until your custom domain name has been moved from the wordpress.com site to your self-hosted site (which can take up to 72 hours). That way, you should definitely avoid any loopbacks.

Prior to that it was alongourway.wordpress.com

Ideally it needs to revert back to that before the export is carried out.

How do I “revert back”? If I have the instruction I will follow then export again and send you that new file.

How do I “revert back”?

I assume the wordpress.com site can now be found at alongourway.wordpress.com, yes? It’s reverted back to its original wp.com default url now that the domain name has been changed to point to your new site. That’s what I meant by “reverting back”. You make the name server changes and then wait for up to 3 days for those changes to fully propagate (take effect) before creating the export file.

If I (or you) type alongourway.wordpress.com you will be automatically taken to alongourway.com

I can still get to the “https://alongourway.wordpress.com/wp-admin/” dashboard through wordpress.com

What are the steps to revert it back?

also, let me know if you’d still like to see the current XML file. I can send it your way tonight.
My name is Jenn.

If I (or you) type alongourway.wordpress.com you will be automatically taken to alongourway.com

Sounds like your DNS changes have not fully propagated yet.