Switching from XSitePro Website To WordPress Blog

20 Aug 09 7:06 am

Hi Missyo,

I found a blog where she changed her site from XSitePro to Wordpress. These are the steps she followed:

1. Install Wordpress on the root directory of the domain. The index.html file of the website automatically overrides the index.php file of the blog, so the website stays up in its original form while you’re working in the background.
2. Create the database and all the other stuff that has to happen to get the blog up and going.
3. Create the posts with the current articles from the site. Create the contact and about pages, and get the privacy policy and TOS links – all the basics.
4. Start deleting the XSitePro pages from the server
5. Do all the design work of trying out different themes and color schemes, loading the sidebars, and installing adsense and banners.

Hope this helps :)

Cheers,
Michelle

20 Aug 09 3:17 pm

Yes - I also switched from XsitePro to WP and what I did was to first backup the existing contents and then installed WP. I again did a backup and then I started deleting the XSite Pro files (I did delete some WP files by mistake, which I restored from the 2nd backup).
One other thing you can keep in mind is that most of WP files will be WP* and most of the XsitePro ones will be *.php

21 Aug 09 2:56 am

Also, one way you can keep the xsitepro stuff around for at least a few days to make sure you have everything covered is to simply rename the index.html file to something like index2.html or index-back.html. That way, if you do have any problems and want to revert back, all you have to do is rename that file back to the original name. Then, once you are sure you no longer need the xsitepro files, you can delete them.

As for renaming the file, that should be easy to do through either an ftp program or through your site control panel.

I did this recently myself, so I know it works :D

Grady

17 May 12 5:05 am

Shouldn't you set up 301 (moved permanently) redirects for all those old .html pages/files? Otherwise everyone who has links to your old html pages will get 404 (Page not found) errors. And what would that do to your Google ranking?

I use the "Redirection" WordPress plugin for easy 301 redirect creation. And every day, look at those Redirect plugin logs to see if anyone is getting 404's. Click on the green circle at the end of each log entry to create another 301 redirect for any logged errors from outside your site. Be sure to set the Redirect settings to only show 404 errors, or your logs will get very big very fast.

Another WordPress plugin I believe is critical is "WP-DBManager" Install it and setup scheduled database backups.
Don't depend on your web hosting service to backup your WordPress installation.
Use a combo of WP-DBManager for your databases and the standard WordPress export/download and backup functions for the other parts of your blog. See the WordPress site docs for the methods. I do a full download backup of my blogs and all folders (and those of my blog clients) every month - plus an automatic WP-DBManager backup to the web site and a download to me via email every week. It's saved me from a disaster at least once.

It purely amazes me how people depend on their computers and websites for their livelihoods - yet don't do decent backups! Please see my "Windows Wisdom" blog for a complete discussion on computer backups, business recovery and the need for a "Business Continuity Plan". {Warning: leads to affiliate backup product links}

Hope this helps...
_jim coe

17 May 12 5:44 am

Excellent question - sorry I forget to mention that.

301 (page moved permanently) redirects happen on your server, before Google (or anyone else) sees your pages. Therefore they are completely invisible to Google.

If you search Google's advice for webmasters, you'll see that Google recommends 301 redirects when you move a page. 301's help Google maintain their index.

Another thing. Don't forget to test your pages to be sure your redirects are working. There may be a slight pause the first time you use one.

Also, always check your "Google Webmaster Tools" account from time to time for broken links. After fixing those with your Redirection plugin, you can select the broken link in that GWT list and set it to "Fixed" (or "Cleared", or whatever I don't remember the exact word Google uses).

Cheers!
_jim coe