By now most of my regular readers have noticed there is something a little different over here at ModlyChic. The header has changed, the layout is different, threaded commenting works… all these little tweaks are part of the bigger change from Blogger to WordPress. Up until this point I have been a big advocate for Blogger and would likely still be blogging there if a couple things were different. So this is not a battle cry for all you Blogger and Tumblr bloggers to make the switch. If your system works and you are comfortable with it - stay with that.
But this is why I did make the switch…
- the commenting system. About a month ago I switched to Disqus in order to have the ability to thread comments. I loved the system, but not everyone loves it. Installing it gave me the ability to interact more with my readers but it also kept some readers from commenting. Not cool. I needed a system that was reliable, easy to use and allowed threading. As far as I can tell WordPress works wonders in that area.
- page load times. Recently a reader let me know my blog was taking longer and longer to load. I’m sure it is all the pictures and text that fills the pages, plus the long list of links from each FBFF adds a lot of loading time. I needed more reliability, shorter load times and the ability to add a ‘read more’ option to longer posts.
- originality in design. Blogger has come a long way, even in the last year. They have added new customization options and have made the look and feel of so many blogs more appealing, but I wanted more. And without knowing html coding I knew I would not be able to get the added features I wanted without switching.
- professional look. Now that I have experienced some blog growth and FBFF growth, I wanted a more professional looking appearance to showcase this passion of mine.
- peer pressure. Ok, I admit that a portion of the switch had to do with peer pressure. I’m not sure I would have made the move so quickly if I hadn’t been hearing from a number of fellow bloggers about the joys of WordPress and the deficiencies that exist in Blogger and the Disqus commenting system.
Now to the really crucial information… how easy was it? I’ll admit that is was more involved than I thought it would be. There are so many little tweaks that need to be made to transfer a Blogger blog to WordPress. I should have planned the move for a weekend when I had nothing else going on and I could calmly sit in a Starbucks all day and work on the changes. But, alas, I made the change on a busy hectic weekend, doing little tidbits here and there, until it was finally live on Sunday. It’s not perfect, there are still things that need to be tweaked, but the transfer is complete.
To be honest I would have been completely and utterly LOST without Beautifully Invisible’s step-by-step tutorial. Since I had no idea where to begin, how to move content, how to redirect links and set up a WordPress blog without knowing much html coding, I just followed her advice word-for-word. Seriously, I owe B a special shout-out, a good glass of wine and an amazing box of chocolates. She was my lifesaver through this and even tweeted me through one harrowing moment when my posts seemed to disappear. Beyond B’s amazing words of wisdom Google was my savior. I literally googled everything I couldn’t figure out and amazingly there is either a blog post or video tutorial that walked me through the process.
What stressed me out… (well it couldn’t all be rosy.)
- the disqus comments didn’t transfer. So after getting more comments in the last month than ever before I don’t have a single one to show for it. The plug-in that is supposed to allow for this doesn’t seem to be up to par yet. Not a huge catastrophe but a minor set-back of sorts.
- picking a wordpress design template. There were a few things I knew I wanted - threading comments, adjustable content area, a personalized header and a clean design. Trying to find one that encompassed all of this and still had the ModlyChic feel was almost my undoing. In the end I realized I wouldn’t get the look and feel I wanted with any of the free templates. So I did my research and purchased the thesis theme - best investment!
- the redirecting plug-in didn’t like me. For some reason the redirect plug-in decided a FBFF post from April of last year should be the homepage. I had no idea what was going on and why all I could see was this page, but a little google search and I learned that all I needed to do was de-activate that plug-in and everything should go back to normal.
Again, I want to stress the fact that a switch to WordPress is not a ‘must’ in fashion blogging. Take a look at some of the most successful blogs and they all run on different platforms. Kendi of Kendi Everyday is uber-successful on blogger, Jessica from What I Wore is on tumblr. So basically, I’m saying do what works best for you, your blog and your readers. For me, for ModlyChic readers and for FBFF contributors the change was needed.
Great recap. I have been on Blogger for six years and have often toyed with moving to WordPress. My husband uses WordPress and I love the backend and find it very easy to use. However I just haven’t made the move. Will be bookmarking this post if in the future I do decide to make the leap. BTW the blog looks great!
Allie recently posted..What’s In My Closet
Thanks!! I too have been using Blogger on and off for almost six years. I love so much about it, but it was really the commenting that got me to switch. Good luck if you decide to make the leap.
The blog looks really good and very professional indeed. I’m glad to see the switch went well.
I’m planning on moving to a self-hosted wordpress as well but the task seemed a bit too daunting for me at first. Your post encouraged me to keep on planning and go forward with this idea.
Just follow B’s tutorial and it will be smooth sailing all the way. Without that I would have given up because I had NO idea what the heck I was doing.
Congrats on the move, Katy! Feeling the WordPress love yet? 😉 The Thesis theme suits your blog magnificently.
I’m also so glad you decided not to keep Disqus as I’m one of those unlucky people it doesn’t work for at all.
Eva recently posted..Ode to Hermès Kelly Calèche
It’s funny how there doesn’t seem to be any reason behind who it works for and who it doesn’t. I for one, have never had a problem with it. But still a number of people do. The thesis theme is really perfect for my blog - so glad it exists and is easy to use.
Yay!! Congrats on the switch! I’ve been on WordPress from day one and I absolutely love it! Responding to comments on this platform is such a breeze!
Thanks for giving a little bit of a breakdown on your move to WP, your blog looks great in its new form but it’s nice to hear more about the how’s and why’s of the switch.
I’ll admit some temptation to do the same, although I tried to set up a WP blog once and found the WP dashboard unnecessarily confusing. I don’t have any problems with the back-end of Blogger (and actually use a Blogger-fied WP template), but the threaded commenting is crucial to me and I have definitely been having my problems with Disqus lately. My comments haven’t been syncing with Blogger for over a week now so all the comment counts on the main page are stuck at zero, which is relatively minor, but my bigger problem is actually with leaving comments - any time I try to leave someone a long(ish) comment on their blog using Disqus, it appears to post, then disappears from their blog and my dashboard if I refresh the page! So I have to either keep my comments succinct (which, um, I’m obviously not the best at), or split them up into more than one comment, which is obnoxious to commenter and blogger alike. Rrrrg.
the other emily
the other emily recently posted..do-over
Great post! xx
Reyna recently posted..Movie Quote of the Day ♥
Your blog does look very professional and chic on wordpress. I’ve noticed how easy the commenting is on wordpress, too, but switching just seems like such a hassle. And I don’t get a buttload of comments yet, so no need to switch right now. If I do decide to change, I will be coming back to this post!
amelie-fleurjaune.blogspot.com
This does look really great! I am thinking about moving to WordPress, basically just importing my Tumblr entries into an old, fully functional WordPress that I have elsewhere and changing the URL and name. Tumblr has been having beaucoup de outages lately, and I have web hosting of my own that I’m just paying for to do nothing. Have to wait for a weekend, though.
The new layout looks great. I use WordPress and am a fan. I’ve used Blogger in the past and had no real problems but for some reason WordPress works for my non-techy self 😉
It looks like wordpress has done you well - the blog looks great!
Kristine [Kristine. Or Polly.] recently posted..Tomato red- sushi and pizza
Thanks for letting us know why you switched! I like the new look and I prefer to comment with either wordpress or disqus
The new layout looks fantastic, you did a great job
All of my blogs have been on WordPress for years now, but I’ve used Typepad, Blogger and Moveable Type when writing for clients (and a long spell on Typepad myself), and I can’t imagine wanting to move from WordPress, it’s just so customisable, and easy to use. You’re going to love it.
I like the new look. I wish I had started on WordPress, since I don’t think that I’d be able to make the switch now. WordPress does have a great commenting system, especially since I’ve found Disqus to be full of bugs.
Thanks for the shout-out, Katy! If we ever meet in person (hopefully one day!) we can sit down and have that glass of wine together. As I said before, I am glad that the tutorial helped!
I switched from Blogger to WP for many of the same reasons as you, and don’t regret it at all. It’s a wonderful platform, and definitely WORTH the effort, but as you said, switching may not be the right thing for everyone. It certainly isn’t a necessity for a successful blog.
Regarding Disqus: you may want to contact them via twitter (@disqus) and see if they might be able to help you recover the comments you lost. You never know. Mine actually DID all import fine when I made the switch, but just like the Redirection Plugin, some things work for some but not others.
Regardless - new site looks great, loving the new header, and can’t wait to see what else you have up your sleeve!
B
P.S. In case you haven’t done so already, make sure you contact the Bloglovin’ people and ask them to update your profile to the new address. This will automatically move your followers over. (http://www.bloglovin.com/en/contact).
Thanks for going over the ins and outs of moving to WordPress! In the end everything looks great so it seemed to work out well for you
It’s weird, I just switched from WordPress to Blogger, sort of on the fly, for a lot of reasons. Mainly, my small blog was featured in Freshly Pressed (the WordPress front page) without my consent, which meant that about 50,000 extra people were able to learn where I went to school, my hometown, etc. which is really scary. I don’t know, that really turned me off of WordPress, but perhaps it’s just me! I miss WordPress in a lot of ways (the threaded comments) and I lost a lot of my regular readers because I wasn’t able to notify them of the change without alerting all the new (and a little creepy, a few of them) readers. By switching to Blogger, I was able to reestablish what I wanted my blog to be, but I lost a lot and I do miss WordPress. I wasn’t able to move all my posts over from WordPress, but I might be working with WordPress Support to move everything to another WordPress account. Who knows. I was pretty shocked by how WordPress publicized my blog without notifying me (and yes, I realize that it was a huge honor to be chosen, but it didn’t feel like it!) and the disruption it caused for me and my regular readers.
Those are just my thoughts though! I think it really depends on the person and deep down, I know WordPress fit me the best, but things happen. I’m glad you found the right fit. <3
XO Michelle
Michelle recently posted..Healthy eating & loving yourself!
Michelle, are you talking about WordPress.com? May I ask why you decided to switch to Blogger instead of a self-hosted WP blog? Freshly Pressed is a wordpress.com feature. It’s unfortunate that happened to you, but i don’t think you would have had to worry about that had you switched to a self-hosted site. I’m interested to hear why you decided to switch to Blogger since you seem to think WP was a better fit for you.
Beautifully Invisible recently posted..Copyright Infringement- The Coveted vs The Coveted
It was WordPress.com. I felt extremely violated by the fact that my blog (a relatively private little fashion blog - I never wanted to be internet famous) was advertised without my consent. I don’t have the technical know how to upgrade to a self-hosted blog, nor did I have anyone to help me. After I was featured on FB, I actually experienced two people who became incredibly obsessed with me, potentially stalkerish, (in the three days that I remained on FP) and so I was actually worried about my safety when I switched (and switching to blogger gave me the option to change my URL, blog name, etc., while I was able to keep all my previous data private). I prefer WordPress.com for a lot of things, but I like that Blogger allows me to customize more. I would love to return to WordPress, but like I said, my main priority when I switched was my safety and privacy and the quickest option was going to Blogger. :\
Michelle recently posted..Healthy eating & loving yourself!
Whoa what a nightmare. Makes me think about the importance of keeping some information private for safety.
As you now i’m a huge WP and thesis fan so i’m really happy you made the move and went with thesis. I wish B’s tutorial had come about before i made the switch as i had to google everything when I moved. The blog looks really professional now and if you need any thesis related assistance let me know as i’ve quite heavily reformatted mine
fuyume recently posted..30 Things I Want To Do The Year I Turn 30
I’ve been following you for a while and just thought I’d drop a quick comment to say congrats on the switch! the blog looks great but still does have the modlychic feel and all that in a busy weekend is a huge achievement if you ask me! also keep up the good work your blog is lovely and has provided me with some very useful tips and general guidence as I’ve only just entered the blogging world!
Bea x
http://www.aestheticsandaudio.blogspot.com/
Great post. I have read similar discussions about this before. I have always been on wordpress and I am actually working to make tweaks and changes and your site looks great! Are you being hosted by wordpress or doing shared hosting?
I’m having a valentine’s giveaway on my blog if you’d like to check it out. xx
devorelebeaumonstre.com
Your blog looks amazing, I love your new header as well. Congratulations on making the switch!! I have been tossing the idea around, but I’m pretty happy with Blogger. The only thing that I really like on WordPress is the commenting system…
Kirstin Marie recently posted..I think Ill have that next time instead of pudding
Your wordpress blog looks fantastic. And I’ll admit your switch has been the most convincing so far for me to consider moving back to WordPress. But I’m lazy, and a tech-luddite. So I’ll blog away on blogger with the likes of the Sartorialist and Fashiontoast, etc.
But one day, perhaps.
Congrats to you on the move. It looks fantastic.
the Citizen Rosebud
I hear you, Katy. I started to make the switch and when my incessant hollering of “I just don’t get it… Why won’t it (fill in the blank)” seemed to threaten the sanctity of my marriage, I took a breath, a break, and will try again when, you guessed, I have more time.
That being said, congrats! It looks fantastic! It does appear more polished and professional. B’s not the only one who deserves a glass of wine and some chocolates, you do too!
Quick question, I don’t see where I could subscribe to the comments. Did I miss it? (Yes, I’ll check back if you get a chance to reply.)
Fabienne Jach recently posted..Favorite body parts
i swear to God, every day it gets harder to justify NOT being on wordpress. i will just keep whispering to myself, “if it’s good enough for Scott, it’s good enough for me.”
Cate recently posted..Photo of the Day- Camel
No lie, about three weeks ago I spent about 10 hours picking, unpicking, customizing, uncustomizing an insane amount of themes.
Courtney recently posted..On Being a Feminist Beauty Blogger
LOVE the new blog!!!!! So brave to make the move. I think about it from time to time but am just too scared!!!
Emily recently posted..Ladies Who Lunch
the new look and feel of your blog is fabulous - bravo Katy for putting in all that time and effort!
I really like the simple ‘cleanness’ with all the white, and the simplicity of your sidebar. I’m actually in the midst of giving my personal blog a minor facelift. I’ll still be on Blogger, but the color scheme and fonts will change.
Kinsey Michaels recently posted..Bitterly Frigid
Thanks Kinsey (not Kendi). Looking forward to seeing your re-design too. It’s time consuming but all the tweaking is kinda fun too.
I have been debating a move like this for eons (well really since I discovered how much easier everything is supposed to be on WordPress). I have done nothing, but I fear this laziness will one day have to come to an end. Thank you for such a great post with so much guidance for us blogger people who are debating a change. I just have to take the plunge. Ugh.
noelani recently posted..Boston Symphony Orchestra- Project Beethoven
Lani - If you really want to make the move I say go for it. But I will warn you - the move is difficult but once everything was in place the blogging is a lot easier.
You must be so savvy to make that switch. I’ll admit, I am totally spoiled. The only reason my blog exists is so that “the fella” can have a guinea pig for his blog development. So my site is a purchased domain and it is built from the ground-up. So is Everybody, Everywear. I’ve learned the most basic of basic HTML. I don’t know how you all do this stuff!
The Auspicious Life
Linda W recently posted..Seeing Spots
I don’t know about that. I just followed B’s instructions, googled a lot and things worked. You’re lucky to have someone testing on your blog. It must make things so much easier to have that internal support to lean on.
From my point of view, your switch has seemed really smooth to a reader. I’ve been wondering about purchasing my own domain name and beginning to think bigger, in part because readers have begun to complain about their comments being eaten! Did you have this problem at Blogger?
Terri recently posted..Blue 9- The Mad Hatters Tea Party
Thanks! That is so encouraging to hear. I never had a problem with Blogger’s commenting system, my only dilemma with it was the inability to thread comments. I think whether you move to Blogger or WordPress purchasing your blog’s domain name is a smart thing to do. You wouldn’t want someone else coming along at some point and snatching it up before you could get it.
This was a good post. I like what I have now but it is good to know what others thing.
I want threaded comments but I also love the tie in with blogger and picasa. I did switch from LiveJournal to Blogger but really my husband did all that. He told me he wouldn’t be able to get my old comments but he did.
Colleen recently posted..A Days Worth of Twitter
Hello!
I am in the process of moving my blog from tumblr to WordPress and coincidentally am considering the Thesis theme as well. How do you like Thesis so far?
Love the blog and the new look,
Lindsay
Lindsay recently posted..Friend Friday- The Tech Geek Side of Blogging
Love the Thesis theme. To me it is a lot like Blogger in its simplicity and ease of use. Good luck with the move.
Thanks for the detailed overview of your move.
So many of my friends are doing it too, but the whole thing seemed way too scary for me to try.
You put in lots of useful info and it really put the whole process into focus for me….
Jen O recently posted..Great VINTAGE FASHION blogs
I just want to say I am just newbie to blogging and truly savored your website. More than likely I’m likely to bookmark your website . You definitely come with amazing well written articles. Thank you for sharing with us your website.
IT”S AWESOME!!)) at the last second of this video THERE IS SUCH A FUN)
http://rutube.ru/tracks/4113820.html?v=e56227a8dc929bd09a41f4b14a05100e
Pingback: Beat the Bookstore
Thomas Jefferson~ The bulk of mankind are schoolboys through life.
Pingback: ModlyChic Turns 6!