Moving back to WordPress
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Dear WordPress –
Please can you help me?
I have a website, The Frame Blog (https://theframeblog.com/), which is an international magazine on the history of picture frames (yes, I know that it sounds totally weird, but it is quite well-thought of). It started out on WordPress in 2012, and progressed very happily until about 2014-15 when a cousin told me that the URL wasn’t very professional, as it was then https://theframeblog.wordpress.com/, and that he would write a piece of code on his Godaddy website, directing people from the wordpress.com URL to theframeblog.com.
He did that, and everything went on happily again until last year, when he told me that he was closing his website. I didn’t actually understand what that entailed, which of course was only the piece of code going, and I suppose now that everything would have gone back to how it was before; but I thought that it meant that I had to move to a new host to retain the address theframeblog.com, so that people could find me.
This took a while to happen, starting in November last year. as I had another website with a host which I tried for The Frame Blog, but he was incompetent, so I changed to my cousin’s host, Godaddy.com, as he said that it was good. The move has been going on since March, and has been bedevilled with accidents; the site has crashed several times, and has lost several articles; and now – having insisted all the way through that it was most important that the historic statistics from the WordPress site were moved along with the rest of it – having insisted over and over – I found now that it is too late, that this cannot be done.
I feel that I have wasted a huge amount of time and money to end up with something which isn’t nearly as good as the WordPress site I had, which was upgraded to include Jetpack, etc.
I want to ask now if I can move back onto WordPress, please? Can you help me? I am quite desperate; I have all these articles, written for me by curators and conservators and art historians all over the world, and it is being treated as though it doesn’t matter. I have p[eople subscribing all the time, and I don’t know whether they’re still subscribed, or are getting emails; it is all just awful.
Please can I come back?
Thank you –
Lynn
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi Lynn,
I’ll start by running through what I can see, to start with…
theframeblog.com is hosted by GoDaddy and was created using the self hosted version of WordPress, WordPress.org:
I see you also have a WordPress.com site (which we host) with the address, theframeblog.wordpress.com.
Just to confirm:
- Do you want to move the content that is currently on theframeblog.com, over to theframeblog.wordpress.com so the site is hosted by us?
- Use theframeblog.com as the domain for the site instead of your free address, theframeblog.wordpress.com?
Just let me know and I can look at your options :)
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Dear Gemma –
Sorry; I am so upset that I stupidly replied to the email, instead of to the link you sent.
Yes, that’s exactly what I’df like to do, please. GoDaddy is hopeless as a host; they promised that I could have my historic statistics moved across, and now they say that that was never an option. Is it possible to recover my historic statistics, going back to 2012, please? Also, a lot of people have subscribed to The Frame Blog since March – when this disastrous move happened – and I want to be sure that they can get emails (as before) each time a new article is published; and I also want to be sure that new articles have a link published on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, as before.
I did buy an upgrade to my WordPress site at some point, but it may have been over a year ago and perhaps this has lapsed: you must forgive me, but my daughter died last year, and I am vague about some details of things. If it has lapsed, I would like to buy whatever it was again, please, along with Jetpack (and I would also like to keep the domain name of theframeblog.com, as you note).
Thank you so much for your help; I have regretted so much ever letting my cousin persuade me to change the domain name and consequently getting me involved in all this upset, when I was perfectly happy with WordPress. I would be SO grateful if yopu could possibly put everything back as it was before.
With best wishes,
Lynn
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I’m so sorry about your daughter, Lynn :(
If you own the domain, you can definitely add a plan to theframeblog.wordpress.com and just point the domain here:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/domains/map-existing-domain/Just to confirm first, though, does https://theframeblog.wordpress.com/ have all of the content, or do you need to export and import from the GoDaddy site first? I noticed the latest posts are quite similar, but the dates are different, so I’m not sure.
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Thank you – you are very kind, and I do appreciate your replying so quickly.
The old site, https://theframeblog.wordpress.com/ , does I think have nearly all the posts, except the ones between March and early June, which were lost somehow when the site was transferred. The ones which look the same but have different dates are due to my starting to replace those missing posts on theframeblog.com; I have only done one of these – the Stefano Bardini article.
Does the old site have all the stats, going back to 2012, though? – I can only see those for June, possibly because Jetpack has disappeared? Is there any way of recovering them? Can I upgrade the site as I did before and recover them? How much will all this cost, and could it possibly be done quite soon, please? I think that I will need some help…
Thank you again, and best wishes,
Lynn
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Hi there,
The old site, https://theframeblog.wordpress.com/ , does I think have nearly all the posts, except the ones between March and early June, which were lost somehow when the site was transferred. The ones which look the same but have different dates are due to my starting to replace those missing posts on theframeblog.com; I have only done one of these – the Stefano Bardini article.
You can then import only the new posts. This can be done by only selecting to export the posts published since March.
Does the old site have all the stats, going back to 2012, though? – I can only see those for June, possibly because Jetpack has disappeared? Is there any way of recovering them? Can I upgrade the site as I did before and recover them?
Looks like you transferred the stats from WordPress.com when you moved your site to GoDaddy that’s why you cannot see them anymore. Are you sure that you cannot view them on your current site?
How much will all this cost, and could it possibly be done quite soon, please?
You can start with the Personal plan and if you feel that you need more features or storage space then you upgrade to another plan at any time.
If you have any other questions, just let me know and I’ll be happy to help.
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Thank you so much for considering all my questions. I’m afraid that four new posts were lost in the move from WordPress to GoDaddy, but I can reload them – I shall have to.
I kept asking GoDaddy if they could assure me that the historic statistics would be transferred and the collection of statistics retained, and they kept assuring me that this would happen. However, since moving, and insisting on speaking to someone technical instead of just someone on the phone, I have been told that this couldn’t possibly have been done, and that they don’t provide for the collection of statistics. So the statistics couldn’t have been transferred – so does that mean that they have been destroyed? – I had well over 800 WordPress and email subscribers; have I lost those, too? This is a complete disaster…
I can send you screen shots of the statistics at present on the WordPress.com site (unless you are able to see them here: https://wordpress.com/stats/month/theframeblog.wordpress.com ); for some reason, I can see statistics going back to July last year, and those for a year’s worth of The Frame Blog, which doesn’t make sense, if everything ended in March this year, when the site moved. And there only seem to be six followers, so, if I do come back to WordPress, what happens to all the people who would be expecting to get emails with new articles…?
Please can you get them back, somehow? What about Jetpack? Why is that no longer on my old WordPress.com site? What shall I do?
With best wishes,
Lynn
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Hi there, I’ve taken a look at your stats and viewed the summaries, and I’m seeing stats from August 2012 to June 2018, so it looks like all your stats are there. Click the following link.
https://theframeblog.wordpress.com/wp-admin/index.php?page=stats&view=table&blog=39291641
I do see that April, May and June are showing down from the averages for the other months.
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I am so glad that they are still there in some form; the recent numbers have plummeted because I think that most people are now looking at theframeblog.com on GoDaddy, instead of theframeblog.wordpress.com, which is where these statistics are. The site on GoDaddy is not collecting statistics, in spite of assuring me that it would; nor does it seem to be recording or saving the email addresses of subscribers, so it is all deeply depressing.
How do I start trying to move back to WordPress, with an upgraded site and Jetpack, as I had up until March, please?
Thank you, and best wishes,
Lynn
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Hi Lynn,
Don’t worry, we’ll help you get back on track.
Reading through the last few replies, it sounds like you have all the posts and pages you need on theframeblog.wordpress.com. The only other thing I wanted to ask is, do you want to move the followers from theframeblog.com to the new site on WordPress.com? We can transfer followers between WordPress.com and Jetpack connected sites — this is something we can send more information about if you are interested.
A plan can be purchased from the Plans page whenever you are ready:
Just let us know when you’ve done that and we can look at the next steps.
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Thank you so much; I am very grateful.
I’ve just purchased two years of the WordPress Premium Plan for $180 (https://wordpress.com/checkout/thank-you/theframeblog.wordpress.com/30366499), so if you could help me reinstate everything, please, I should be so grateful – the statistics and the followers/ email subscribers…?
Gosh – it will be SUCH a relief!
I moved the domain name (theframeblog.com), and also the domain name of my personal website (lynnroberts.co.uk) to GoDaddy, so what do I do about those? I would like to use theframeblog.com with my WordPress site, and to move my personal site onto WordPress, too.
Thank you again, and best wishes,
Lynn
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Lynn, do these stats look familiar?
https://wordpress.com/stats/day/znz.405.myftpupload.comAnd are these the correct followers?
https://wordpress.com/people/followers/znz.405.myftpupload.comIf that’s the correct site, I think we can get those transferred back to theframeblog.wordpress.com . Please confirm and we’ll go from there.
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Oh, thank you – those are definitely most of the WordPress (206) and email (600) subscribers, which is splendid, and I would definitely like those moved across, please.
The statistics are fine for those shown in days and months, the latter going back to August last year, 2017. However, when I try to look at years, there is only 2018, which is rather daunting. What has happened to the time from August 2017 back to August 2012? – and why is there nothing for 2017 under years, when the months from August to December appear? Can you find the earlier stats…? Please? Why did Jetpack disappear? and having the missing stats gone with it?
Anything you could do to help restore things would be very kind.
Thank you and best wishes,
Lynn
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@theframeblog I’m not sure why it only shows 2018 on the years page. I’ll see what I can find out for you.
But here’s what I’ve done for now:
– Since that is the correct site, I’ve moved the followers from it to the WordPress.com site
– I’ve also merged your stats for you so they’ll all show up on the WordPress.com site.
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Thank you – that is immensely kind.
Strangely, however, you seem to have restored all the statistics back to 2012, but the followers are shown as 0… (?) – this is still at https://wordpress.com/stats/year/znz.405.myftpupload.com
Thank you – Lynn
(Sorry – must go to bed – it’s 1.42 over here!)
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Hi Lynn,
You’re looking at the wrong site :)
Your followers have been moved to theframeblog.wordpress.com and can see them here:
Followers:
https://wordpress.com/people/followers/theframeblog.wordpress.com
Email followers:
https://wordpress.com/people/email-followers/theframeblog.wordpress.com
Also, can you please let us know if you plan on using the domain theframeblog.com so we can help you transfer it or map it to your site here.
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Oh, dear – it is very confusing – sorry! However, the stats on this site still only show the single year 2018 (https://wordpress.com/stats/year/theframeblog.wordpress.com), whilst the six years’ worth of stats that I really want are here: https://wordpress.com/stats/year/znz.405.myftpupload.com. Is it possible to merge the latter with the former in some way, please?
I do want to use the domain theframeblog.com; at the moment this name has been moved to GoDaddy, so do I need to get it transferred from them to WordPress to enable you to do this?
Thank you so much for putting up with all these probably very naive and stupid questions, and for helping me.
With best wishes,
Lynn
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PS Thank you particularly for corralling all my followers and subscribers in the right place :)
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the stats on this site still only show the single year 2018
I can confirm that. We’re still looking into that and will update you here when we have more information.
do I need to get it transferred from them to WordPress to enable you to do this?
You’re welcome to transfer it here:
https://en.support.wordpress.com/incoming-domain-transfer/prepare-domain-for-transfer/Or you can keep it with GoDaddy and just map it:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/domains/map-existing-domain/You will need a plan either way. I hope that helps!
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Please forgive the big gaps in this correspondence; it is hard to deal with work and this and our circumstances.
There is a place with the stats going back to 2012, but I have no idea how this relates to the rest of the site: I have become so confused with the different bits of The frame blog which have mushroomed, including the ghost site to which I was apparently uploading the articles between March and June.
I have bought an upgrade to my WordPress site; it is the Premium one – this is what you mean by ‘a plan’?:
Order Summary
(redacted)
Item Price
WordPress.com Premium
theframeblog.wordpress.com
(Expires: July 2, 2020)* $180.00
Total $180.00I will contact GoDaddy, and get the domain name transferred, but I didn’t want you to think that I had stopped accepting your very kind and necessary help, thank you…
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