WordPress.COM and Permalinks

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  auxclass · Member · Aug 2, 2010 at 3:29 am

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  I am considering moving an existing site to WordPress.com, I see the Domain Mapping and such so I can keep the original URL and also the email. The big problem is that the existing Permalink structure is the ugly default. My site is modest but I do get some search engine traffic and the Boating Safety Information seems to help people. I will map the existing Domain so at least the base address would stay the same.

  Is there any way to minimize the impact / crash / 404 errors etc. short of going back in time two years and starting with matching Permalinks? I have some sites and friends that do link to specific Posts. I also have a Page set up as an Index of Posts / Articles so visitors can find individual articles easily

  I do have the option of keeping the site at the old host and changing the Permalinks there and moving later.

  Yes hindsight is great, but any words of wisdom or advice?

  Thanks for any help.

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  sl1k · Member · Aug 2, 2010 at 4:35 am

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  Hi There!

  I recommend contacting staff directly for a accurate answer… → http://en.support.wordpress.com/contact

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  auxclass · Member · Aug 2, 2010 at 3:24 pm

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  @slikbonez

  I have sent this also to the staff – I am also hoping to see what others have done or had happen to them.

  Thanks

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  ranh · Member · Aug 3, 2010 at 5:06 pm

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  Hi Auxclass

  If I understand correctly, you currently have a self-hosted WordPress.org blog that uses the default permalink structure (i.e., exmaple.com/?p=99), and you want to make sure that links don’t break when you switch to WordPress.com?

  If this is the case, you have nothing to worry about. While WordPress.com uses a different structure for permalinks, it still understands the default WordPress.org permalink scheme. If you do a redirect on your old domain and import your content to WordPress.com, any links with the default link structure will still work on you new WordPress.com blog.

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  auxclass · Member · Aug 3, 2010 at 8:23 pm

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  You understand correctly.

  I assume I could do the Export / Import first, then do the redirect? Then there should be no confusion for users other than Google could see duplicate content if they scanned the move to site on WordPress.COM.

  I tried to Export and Import three Posts (created a new Category called “Export Test”) based on a Category and everything looked great, even go the email that said “Imported OK” but the Posts never showed up on the Import site (WordPress.COM) but I think it is some failure in the base WordPress software as I tried the same operation on a desktop install and it did not work either. BUT a full Export / Import to the Desktop brought all the Posts over.

  I do have an issue with the pictures, PDF files and other graphics as they are not in the default wp-content directory, the files did seem to point back to the original web site, but it looks like either move a pile of files before the move or after the move, but if that is the only catch I guess that is not too bad.

  thanks for the help!!