Some blog owners, who publish multiple blogs with different subjects, may decide that some subjects would be better discussed in a different blog.
With various posts published in one blog, the owner may decide that those posts should be published in a different blog, to continue discussion. The question now is how to move posts, from one blog to another?
The dashboard "Export / Import" feature, which is now labeled "Import & back up", lets us copy pages and posts from one blog to another. Just copying all pages and posts, though, will create problems with duplicated content.
If you are going to move specific posts from one blog to another - and continue to publish both blogs - you have to add extra steps to the process.
Use "Import & back up", on the Settings - Other dashboard page.
- Export all content from the first blog.
- Import all exported content, to the second blog, as "Imported".
- Publish imported content, selectively, in the second blog.
- Delete content re published, from the first blog.
- Setup custom 404 or custom redirects, from the first blog.
- Remove imported yet un published content, from the second blog.
Export all content from the first blog.
Using the "Import & back up" wizard, on the dashboard Settings - Other page for the first blog, click "Back up Content". This will export all pages and posts, in the blog, to the file which you select.
To make it easier, label the posts that you want to "move" to the other blog, before you start "Back up Content".
I labeled my posts "Move".
Now, "Back up Content", from the first blog.
Use the file manager provided by your operating system, to create or select a file / folder, and actually save the file.
Import all exported content, to the second blog, as "Imported".
Using the "Import & back up" wizard, on the dashboard Settings - Other page for the second blog, click "Import Content" - then find and select the file just created. This will import all pages and posts, as exported from the first blog - and place the imported pages and posts in the special "Imported" status, on the Pages and the Posts dashboard pages.
Continue with "Import Content", to the second blog.
Select the file that you just created, above.
And having Imported everything, there are the posts - including those labeled "Move".
Publish imported content, selectively, in the second blog.
Using the "Pages" and "Posts" dashboard pages, select the newly activated "Imported" menu, as you wish. This will list all imported pages and posts, in turn.
Find the pages and posts that you want moved, select them, and click "Publish". If you labeled the posts to be "moved", simply display, and Publish, all posts with the designated label.
And, I Published the posts labeled to be "moved".
Note that, once Published, the "Imported" status is cleared.
Delete or revert content re published, from the first blog.
To prevent problems with search engines detecting duplicate content, you can delete or revert to draft status, each post in the first blog, the you just re published in the second blog. If you revert to draft status, you will have backed up content and a recoverable page / post URL.
Again, if you labeled the posts, you can delete or revert posts using the label.
Setup custom 404 or custom redirects, from the first blog.
You cannot use a custom redirect to automatically redirect from the first blog to the second. You can, however, setup a custom 404 page, in the first blog - or make custom redirects to a custom 404 page, in the first blog - advising the reader that the post just requested is now part of the second blog.
The reader will still have to intentionally click to jump into the second blog - but until Blogger blogs are not used as spam hosts, this will be necessary to avoid making your blog look like a spam host.
And as noted, please don't use this technique to re use a single blog. Duplication prevention will generate suffixed URLs, for pages and posts exported then imported to the same blog.
Remove imported yet un published content, from the second blog.
As a type of basic hygiene, once all of the posts are moved ("published"), remove all imported content that isn't published. If you ever repeat the exercise, you won't enjoy the duplicated content, that you will have to identify, from having Exported then Imported, twice.
The "Import & back up" #Blogger dashboard wizard can be used to copy pages and posts, from one blog to another. Actually moving content requires more than just exporting from one blog, and importing to a second blog.
http://blogging.nitecruzr.net/2016/06/blogger-magic-export-from-blogger-blog.html
https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!category-topic/blogger/hJ-WrGwnIFo
One of the most useful skills, when maintaining and publishing a blog, is backing up the content.
As you publish a blog, it's a very good idea to periodically backup the content - comments, pages, and posts. Sometimes, backed up content may save you hours of anguish.
Backed up content is not a waste of time or resources.
Backing up content - comments, pages (static pages), and posts (dynamic pages) is a very quick task - that consumes a minimal amount of resources.
Many people will benefit from a daily routine of backup. Backed up content can be used, in a variety of ways - if it is available.
Periodic backup of content is simple - and may save you much inconvenience.
Start from Settings - Other.
Click on "Back up Content".
Click on "Save to your computer".
Some operating systems may leave the browser, to save your content.
Click on "Leave".
Now, you use the file manager provided by your operating system, to select a file / folder, and actually save the file.
"Back up Content" is useful, in several tasks.
You'll find that daily backups uses a minimal amount of time, and computer resources. And even if you don't ever use the backed up content, you will be better off having it.
All of these tasks use the "Back up Content" wizard. Do this regularly - and you won't regret it. Just remember where you save the content. Setup one or more standard folders, on your local computer.
Using the "Back up Content" #Blogger dashboard wizard is a good task to do frequently - and regularly. It will save you a lot of time and trouble, if ever needed.
There are three possible dashboard wizards, used to recover a blog with a corrupt template aka "500 Internal Server Error".
- The Template Designer page.
- The Template page.
- The Template Editor ("Edit HTML") page.
With most blogs, one of the three can eventually be used, to install a clean, new template - and recover a blog that's offline because of the broken template.
Some blogs, unfortunately, cannot be recovered this way.
Some blogs have templates so badly broken, that no dashboard template wizard can be accessed - and used to restore the blog to operational status.
If there's no way to recover a broken blog by replacing the template, the next possibility is to recover the URL - and install a new blog at that URL.
- Create a new blog - with a clean, working, Blogger supplied template.
- Swap URLs between the old and new blogs.
- Export content from the broken blog - and Import to the new blog.
- Transfer / update Followers.
- Rebuild the template, and add gadgets.
- Provide notice to your Followers, readers, subscribers, and other viewers.
Create a new blog - with a clean, working template.
Use the dashboard "New Blog" button, and create a new blog. You'll only create the new blog, in this case, to recover the URL of the broken blog - so just use a random, non valued URL.
Choose a template similar to the one on the broken blog, from the dashboard Template page - and get your new blog online. Use a Blogger standard template, until you are satisfied that the problem won't continue.
Swap URLs between the old and new blogs.
Hoping that you can access the Settings - Basic ("basicsettings") page - first rename the URL Of the broken blog, to a second random, non valued URL. Then you can rename your new blog - created above - to the URL previously used by the broken blog.
Just Edit "Blog Address", twice, to swap URLs.
First, for the broken blog, to free up the current URL - then, for the new blog, to recover the current URL.
Now, your broken URL is back online, with a clean template - though without content.
Export content from the broken blog - and Import to the new blog.
Use the "Import & back up" wizard at the Settings - Basic ("othersettings") page for the broken blog, and export comments, pages, and posts. Then use the wizard for the new blog, and import the content just exported.
Transfer / update Followers.
If the broken blog uses Blogger Followers for community building, and you had a significant Followers community, the community will remain on the old, broken blog. This is the one down side of recovering a broken template using this technique.
Fortunately, the only specific problem is the effect upon the Followers community. The other half of Following - the blog feed - will be re established with the new blog, which will now have the desired URL being recovered. And the sooner you get the blog back online, the sooner you can rebuild / recover your Followers.
Rebuild the template, and add gadgets.
If you periodically back up the template, as you tweak it, this will be the easiest step in the recovery. Of course, since you are here because the template is broken, maybe you should rebuild the template, one step at a time. Try to not repeat the previous mistake.
Then add gadgets back, one at a time - and test carefully.
Provide notice to your Followers, readers, and viewers.
If you care about your community - Followers, readers, subscribers, and other viewers - a new post, briefly admitting to your mistake might be a good idea. You can even display your new post, as a Featured Post.
Sometimes, it's not possible to recover a broken #Blogger blog, using any of the Template dashboard pages, with a blog sidelined by a "500 Internal Server Error" broken template. If the URL has any value to you - or your viewers - you can recover it, using a new blog.
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Viewing comments, on some popular blogs, one may get the idea that not as many comments are being published, as are immediately visible.
With a large comment complement, comments are paginated - with some comments hidden behind a link, captioned "Load more". The "Load more" link is JavaScript based - and there is a problem.
The "Load more" link does not always work, on all blogs.
Comments on some blogs may be unreadable - with the "Load more" link not operational.
Some posts never display all comments.
Look at the bottom of the page, below the post.
And there is the "Load more" link.
And the link, as seen when one mouse over it, is shown to be JavaScript based.
And clicking on the link yields the caption "Loading ...".
And "Loading ..." never goes away - and we get no view of the missing comments.
I've seen this problem with blogs using both dynamic and non dynamic templates.
Both dynamic templates, and non dynamic templates, appear to use comments paginated behind "Load more" - and may exhibit this problem. I've seen this problem, reported in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, for both template types.
I have reproduced this problem, using two blogs.
Here are two recently reported cases, reproduced in my testing today. I do not know how long both cases may be active.
http://slifkinchallenge.blogspot.com/2016/05/thank-you-yehoshua-duker-and-yosef.html
https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/RotUfv8AwuU/discussion
http://istanbulkonstantinopel.blogspot.com/2014/03/study-in-turkey-2.html
https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/7Yau3KKR9mo/discussion
Noting that both blogs are (natively) published in countries that are subject to local country codes (Israel and Turkey, respectively), I will deny that to be a simple affinity - since I viewed both blogs from my browser, as "blogspot.com", as I reproduced the problem. That said, that is an interesting coincidence, no?
There are several possible causes of this problem. Adding the above observation, some of these causes may be more or less relevant.
- Comments feed setting.
- Comment feed content / corruption.
- Cookie / script filters.
- HTTPS Redirect.
- Occam's Razor.
- Post template corruption.
Comments feed setting.
Features like the comment reply option, and blogs published to dynamic templates, require a full comment feed. It's possible that comment pagination, behind JavaScript links, is similarly sensitive to the comments feed setting.
This detail will affect everybody - both blog owner(s) and reader(s) alike. And it will probably affect all posts, uniformly.
The solution for this problem would involve checking - and correcting - the comments and feed settings, for the blogs involved.
Comment feed content / corruption.
Similar to the problem with the Blogger blog post published location, it's possible that some unknown detail in the data could interfere with script functionality.
If the problem involves content in one post - or a comment on one post, it's possible that comments for one post could be affected; but other posts could paginate comments successfully.
This detail would probably affect everybody, uniformly.
The solution for this problem will require determining what feed content detail causes the problem. This will probably involve affinity diagnosis.
Cookie / script filters.
Any problem which involves a JavaScript based link, both cookies and scripts are always going to be involved. Any filter that interferes with either cookies (identity) or scripts (link functionality) will always be a possibility.
Filters may affect either blog owners and / or blog readers, uniquely. A problem that involves some owners / readers will likely involve filters.
Thanks to the effect of country local domains, cookie / script filters may affect individuals geographically.
The solution for this problem is to check / open up script filters - and then check / open up cookie filters.
HTTPS Redirect.
Both blogs, identified above, appear to not be using the "HTTPS Redirect" option. It's not impossible that this is another feature, broken by the SSL Rollout.
Occam's Razor.
Considering the most simple alternative, is it possible that paginated comments are simply inoperative? Maybe, because of (or incidentally involving) the SSL Rollout??
Post template corruption.
Comments are part of the post template. It's likely that proper comment functionality also requires a clean post template. This detail will probably affect everybody - though it's possible that there could be code that is sensitive to some owners / readers, but not others.
The solution for this problem is to reset the post template, on the blogs involved.
The bottom line.
This problem, if not incidentally solved by a Blogger code change, will probably not be diagnosed, immediately.
More examples of this symptom are badly needed. Right now, we have seen only a handful of people with blogs that are popular - and generate comments in sufficient volume - and have reported this problem.
Some #Blogger blog owners, who publish blogs with posts that receive large volumes of comments, report inability to display all comments published. Comments, when displayed in large volumes, are paginated behind JavaScript based links - and some links, when clicked, don't seem to work.
https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/7Yau3KKR9mo/discussion
https://productforums.google.com/d/topic/blogger/RotUfv8AwuU/discussion
Not all blog owners understand the connection between page / post import, and spam limitation.
We see the occasional question, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue, about page / post import, and daily publishing limits.
Why I can not import content, to my blogs?
Note that "Automatically publish" is selected, in the blog discussed here.
I've suggested a few times that use of "Automatically publish all imported posts and pages" is a bad idea, when importing many blogs - because it abuses the computer and home Internet connection.
Here, we see another reason for not using "Automatically publish".
Import, with "Automatically publish", will exceed the daily publishing volume.
Blogger limits daily posting volume. Any blog with more than 40 - 50 pages / posts, when it is exported then imported, will be a problem - if "Automatically publish" is selected during "Import".
"Sorry, you have exceeded the maximum number of entries."
If you import, and publish as you import, you will exceed the daily publishing limit. Your import will fail - because you are publishing more than the daily limit.
Without a daily limit, spammers could flood post their blogs.
If this limit was not in place, spammers could flood their blogs with pages and posts, by simply creating multiple blogs with multiple pages / posts, export from each blog, then import to other blogs - and publish while importing.
If Blogger is to control spam, they have to limit page / post publishing. With the daily limit of 50 pages and posts / 24 hours, that is slightly more than 1 page or post every 1/2 hour - allowing for no sleep, or other non blogging activity.
People have to be encouraged to do something, besides publish - or how do you get material, for the blog? If people are going to publish a blog - and do other things besides publish a blog - there has to be a daily limit.
Genuine blog owners have to not spend all their time publishing their blogs.
Blog owners need to be encouraged to publish blogs with informative, interesting, and original content - so people will read the blogs, and search engines will index the blogs. Automated blog content, a favourite way of "bulking up" a blog with spam, has to be discouraged, to give genuine blog owners a chance.
Without a daily limit, people who publish blogs with personal content would be at a disadvantage to spammers who publish pages and posts with automated content. Using Import, with no limits, would be an excellent way to publish spam in a never ending daily activity.
Use "Import & back up" in 3 steps, to avoid the limit block.
- Export pages and posts, from one blog.
- Import pages and posts, to a second blog.
- Publish imported pages and posts, at a limited rate, selectively.
That is the best way for genuine blog owners, to use the Export / Import ("Import & back up") option.
#Blogger has a daily page / post publishing limit, to encourage blog owners to publish blogs with informative, interesting, and original content. Automated page / post publishing is allowed - but subject to a daily limit.
Without a daily limit, spammers would abuse the Blogger infrastructure, with mass produced and scraped content - and Blogger would become one more spam haven.
Blog owners who need to export blog content are reporting confusion, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.I'm trying to export my blog, but when I click "Settings > Other", there is no "Export" option!
Not all blog owners realise that the "Export" wizard is now "Back up".
Changes in functionality may perplex blog owners, too.
There are various ways to use "export" and "import" features, that may involve Blogger, and non Blogger content hosts.
Not all content will transfer, equally well - whether a Blogger or non Blogger host is involved, as either the source or target. The Blogger blog owner, using "Import & back up", will be responsible for resolving any differences.
"Import & back up" is now used to export and import Content (pages, posts & comments).
"Import Content" is used, as previously.
"Back up Content" is the former Export wizard.
"Import Content" is used, as previously.
When you import content, consider the multiple possibilities of XML files.
- Archive / Backup comments, pages, and posts.
- Archive / backup templates.
- Publish newsfeeds in Atom and RSS.
Observe the nature and source of any XML file, whenever importing. "Import Content" will work best, with comments, pages, and posts backed up from Blogger.
- It may, or may not, work with content Backed up ("Exported") from other content hosting services.
- It may, or may not, work with templates, Backed up from Blogger or from a third party source.
- It won't work, with newsfeed content - or other XML data files.
And, as always, be careful when using the "Automatically publish ..." option, any time you import content.
"Back up Content" is the former Export wizard.
"Backup Content" will be most useful, when used to Import content to another Blogger blog. It may, or may not, work to Import content to another content hosting service.
"Backup Content" is most useful, when you plan how to use the content being backed up. And you will benefit, from regular use.
When moving content from, or into, another hosting service, note limitations.
Every content hosting service - Blogger, Tumblr, WordPress, and many many others - will have their own data management policies. A backup / export file, created under any one service may, or may not, work under another service.
If you experience problems, you'll be arbitrating diagnostics provided by the source and target tech support groups - whatever you can find. You will be the point person, in dealing with any problems that involve multiple hosts.
Moving content between services is not a project for the beginning Blogger blog owner. It's similar in complexity to using a Blogger custom domain outside Blogger.
The recent redesign of the #Blogger dashboard "Export / Import" wizard, at Settings - Other, has perplexed some blog owners.
Not everybody knows that "Backup" is the same task as "Export". And few blog owners understand the complexities of using XML type files, with different sources and targets.
The option provided some time ago, to the embedded comment form, to allow "threaded" comments, is becoming quite popular.
Unfortunately, the "Reply" link does not always work. Blog owners and readers alike complain.I click on "Reply", and nothing happens!
This problem appears to have accelerated recently, possibly resulting from the hasty rollout of the new anonymous comments CAPTCHA - but there are other less obvious possibilities, too.
The threaded comments "Reply" feature, a seemingly minor addition to the Blogger code base, can have problems with a number of issues.
- A Full Blog Feed.
- An up to date post template,
- The Google "One account" login, and cookie filtering.
- The recent addition of the anonymous commenting CAPTCHA.
- The threaded comments script, and recent script filter updates.
A Full blog feed is required.
Many blog owners are not aware that the "Reply" option won't be available, without a Full Blog Feed. Go to the dashboard, and look at "Allow Blog Feed", under Settings - Other - Site feed.
For threaded comments, you will need a Full Blog Feed (for both comments and posts) - and this will exclude private blogs.
Any "Allow Blog Feed" selection, other than "Full", will be a problem.
An up to date post template is a good idea.
Threaded comments, like every other post and comment feature, works best on an up to date post template. Any time threaded comments stops working, and you have not changed the blog feed, try resetting the post template. Now, here's hoping that you have not made extensive post template tweaks.
The identity of the person who wants to reply is useful.
Threaded Blogger hosted comments code, like threaded Google+ hosted comments, other commenting scripts, and many other Blogger features, needs access to the login cookie, to identify the person preparing to comment. Because of the use of the Google "One account" login, "third party" cookie filters must be examined.
Anything that interferes with the CAPTCHA will be a problem.
The recent addition of the anonymous comment CAPTCHA, appears to have caused some problems. This may be an matter for Blogger Engineering to correct.
Anything that interferes with scripts will be a big problem.
All Blogger scripts, including the script which services the "Reply" link, are subject to script filtering. Script filters are subject to update, on every different client computer - generally without notice to the computer owner. Always check script filters.
Blog owners and readers, alike, need to be aware of the issues, to use Blogger effectively. Threaded comments are no exception to this requirement.
We see periodic signs of confusion, about publishing a blog to a dynamic template, in Blogger Help Forum: Get Help with an Issue.My blog seems to load - but it just sits there, spinning gears!
orThe dashboard Template wizard tells me that dynamic templates are not available, for my blog!!
These are two blog owners who are not aware of the requirements of the dynamic templates - and who can't figure out why they see the Spinner of Death when loading the blog.
Most people know that private blogs cannot be published to a dynamic template - but not everybody realises that this is not an arbitrary or capricious restriction.
Whether you publish your blog as Private or Public - if you do not publish a Full Posts newsfeed, a dynamic view won't work.
Dynamic views retrieve blog content from the posts newsfeed - and without a full posts newsfeed, a blog can't be displayed in dynamic view. This may be one more reason why Blogger eliminated on the fly switching to dynamic views.
The comments section, similarly, retrieves content from the comments newsfeed. If the posts newsfeed is properly set, and the comments newsfeed is not, you (and your readers) will see the spinner of death when clicking on "Add a comment".
Look at the dashboard Settings - Other page. In the "Site feed" section, look at "Allow Blog Feed". You should see "Full". Anything besides "Full", for comments or posts, will eventually be a problem.
Allow Blog Feed: Full.
If you don't see either "Full", your blog (and any comments) can't be displayed, using a dynamic view. Neither "Short", or "Until Jump Break" can be used, with a dynamic view.
For a dynamic template blog, no other setting will do.
It's that simple. Without Full Comments and Posts newsfeeds, you cannot publish a blog using a dynamic template.
Either use the Template wizard, and select a non dynamic template - or use Settings - Other, and enable a Full feed.
As the New Blogger GUI (2011 Improvements) continues to gain support, there are still features missing, being identified occasionally.
One interesting group of blog owners, who seem to feel overlooked, includes people who publish podcasts - and who use the Link field in their posts.How do I link my PodCasts, using the New GUI?
This setting is not apparent, in the New GUI menus and wizards.
It's possible that alternate solutions are available, for this audience.
FeedBurner includes a podcast option, SmartCast.
FeedBurner, in the Optimize - SmartCast section, includes a selection to "Create podcast enclosures from links".Makes podcasting easy in feeds that normally cannot support it. Link to MP3s, videos, images, and other digital media in your site content and SmartCast creates enclosures for them automatically. Optionally adds elements required for a richer, more detailed listing in iTunes Podcast Directory and sites using Yahoo Media RSS.
When SmartCast is examined, we see a useful array of choices for links.- any rich media file
- audio files only
- video files only
- images only
- do not create enclosures
Maybe the links are not needed, in Blogger?
It's possible that the Links feature is not needed in Blogger, to support PodCasting - because it is available, in a much richer functionality, in FeedBurner.
That said, we now note a new feature, "Enclosure Links", available in the "Post settings" menu in post editor, after being enabled using the "Enable Enclosure Links" option in Settings - Other - "Site feed".
