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How to import BlogML file to WordPress

Posted in WordPress on January 6th, 2010 by Kent

BlogML is an open format derived from XML used mainly to store and restore the content of a blog. It was originally developed on GotDotNet community and widely supported by many .Net-based blogging tools, such as Community Server, Subtext, and dasBlog. So the chances are, if you want to move your .Net-powered blog to WordPress, BlogML is the best way to export your content out of your blog and import them into WordPress.

But the problem is WordPress doesn’t support BlogML out of the box.

image

So in order to be able to import the BlogML file exported from your old blog, you will need to do the following steps to add the BlogML import feature in WordPress.

1. Download “XPath.class.php” phpxpath open source project on sourceforge.

2. Upload the file in /wp-admin/ folder in WordPress.

3. Modify /wp-admin/admin.php file to add

require_once(’XPath.class.php’);

right after

require_once(ABSPATH . ‘wp-admin/includes/admin.php’);

4. Download “blogml.php” file and upload it to /wp-admin/import folder.

Once you are done all these, go back to import option under tools in WordPress Control Panel, and you will notice that the BlogML option now shows up.

image

Click BlogML, select the BlogML file you exported earlier and go

image

Depending on how many blog posts you have in the file, it may take a bit of time uploading all the content.

If, however, the upload process stops in the middle, you can re-initiate the import process and it’s smart enough to skip the items that had been imported earlier so no duplicates will be created.

If, however, you want to erase what you have imported and want to start all over again, you can try this bulk delete plugin to clean up all the content that had been imported.

That’s it, and good luck with the migration.

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  • Kelvin Kang

    Some errors in running the BlogML update script.

    I actually have no experience running PHP but I was hoping with some pointers, I could solve this issue. I followed the instructions from your entry but when I run it, I run into this error.

    Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 33554432 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 7753 bytes) in /[Directory]/wp-admin/XPath.class.php on line 1887

    I’m trying to run this on WordPress 2.9.1.

    Thanks.

  • Kent

    @Kelvin,

    are you running live on your web server hosted on hosting company? If so, maybe try it on your own test machine local first. That way, you can at least eliminate the web server issue.

    Just so you know, I imported my blogML file successfully to WordPress hosted on IIS server.

    Cheers.

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  • http://www.bustersanimation.com 211.138.124.232:80

    I agree with everything that was posted in this entry, I am a loyal reader so make sure you keep updating so frequently!

  • http://www.johnfly.com John FLy

    Great tips, helped me migrate from blogenginedotnet

  • http://www.gardenersreach.com Steven

    hi Kent,

    I’m trying to migrate as well from BlogEngine. It just won’t support my site anymore. But when I try and import a blogML file, nothing happens. At first I thought it was a size issue so I deleted most of my posts from the file and got it down to 13K. Still nothing, no errors and no imports. I have no experience with php so I’m not sure how I can find out what happened, any help you can offer would be appreciated.

    Steven

    • Kent

      Hmm…maybe check the permission on the folder to see if it’s allowed to write the file to it. During the import, wordpress has to have the permission to upload the file like images to the website.

      Cheers.

  • http://www.hikingsaltlake.com Jonathan Wood

    Hmmm… “Upload the file in /wp-admin/ folder in WordPress”? Is it just assumed we all know how to do this?

    I’m an experienced developer but know very little of PHP and am pretty new to WordPress. But, looking around, I don’t see any options like this. Are you sure this doesn’t require an enhanced WordPress account of some sort?

    At any rate, if you’re going to blog about how to do this, it might make sense to throw in a couple of words that explains just how this step is accomplished.

    • Kent

      I guess you might be using WordPress.com instead of hosting your own WordPress site, otherwise you wouldn’t be asking the same question. :)

      Cheers.

      • http://www.hikingsaltlake.com Jonathan Wood

        Ah, yes. I guess that’s what going on.

        I’d write my own converter if I thought I’d ever need to use it more than once.

        Thanks.

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