Transferring from blogger/blogspot to joomla

So, I'm hoping to make a website for myself, which I want this blog to be a part of. But how to do it. Well, at first I thought I'd just have it as a feed, but actually I want to incorporate it fully into the joomla site. So.... here's what i found on the amazing thing called the internet:

Found on this forum

1. Export xml from blogger
2. import to wordpress
3. export from wordpress to joomla

Looks like wordpress is the go-between. Not found anything more recent then 2009, so maybe there is a straight blogger to joomla extension?

Found a how to website with information on the wordpress to joomla conversion. Need to install JoomBlog extension.

Also found this blog on how to do it. Costs $15 to by feed2post though

Just had a quick search on the extensions directory for joomla and found this PLo Blogger, which duplicates blogs on your joomla site onto your blogger site. This would be a good way to have them both up and running, and not loose any followers and such.

The question is: Is it worth the hassle? Perhaps keep blogger going, and make a new blog for other things on the joomla site. Might be the best thing to do?

Joomla notes

Thought I'd best take some notes because I might just forget how I ever did it. So:

• Make a module for everything you want to place on the page, with exception to the articles
• Theres a Banner module
• theres a search module
• theres a menu module
• etc
• These modules require you to designate them a position. This is set out in the template you are using. If you change template you'll have to change all the position. (there always named differently)
• To view the positions, I found this forum. Basically in templates, go to options, switch on "preview positions" then whereever you are on the actual site, just put "?tp=1" without the speech-marks.
• When in the menu manager you can assign different menus to different modules. I think this is so you can have a few different menus for different areas. All you'd have to do is make another menu module and put that in a different position.
• To edit a templates stuff, I saw on a tutorial that there are lots of options which come with every template. I couldn't find these with Beez template, but with all you can edit the html, and also the css. So it's totally changeable!

I shall add to this list of useful hints over time.

which Content Management System to use?

What with all the new websites about these days, with constantly updating and interactive elements, it is too daunting to learn php or asp so why not use a content management system?

Well, I think I'll try some out and then I'll be more able to answer that question. I had a quick look around and found this informative blog, which gives a nice little list of free ones. Here are some of the most popular and nice looking, and almost most importantly, free:

• Joomla
• Drupal
• WordPress

I'll carry on here when I've had some playing about.


Well, I'm still having a good look at Joomla. Seems good but a little complicated when you first have a look at it. I'm finally getting there. Here's what the joomla site currently looks like.

I've just found this wiki which describes how to begin templating, which is ultimately how I will make the website. It'll take a bit of getting used to, but essentially all I'll have to get used to is using the special php references to put the content in. You then use CSS to style all the html you made in the template.

Whilst looking through the joomla wiki I found that it might be easier to start off editing the "beez" template, which they claim to be highly adaptable! Heres the wiki