Hi I've run a website since 2001, using CMS for the last 6 years of that. It's a music review site and has about 7000 articles on it. I've reached the point where it needs an overhaul and I feel a blog would be better suited to the field. I'm loath though to lose the 7000 articles but appreciate it's unlikely there's any mechanism to convert them. So what does a fella do to somehow best incorproate them into the new site, especially as I hope to continue with the same domain name. Any suggestions would be most welcome. Paul
The conversion from one CMS to another is always difficult. You can write a script to transfer your articles from one database to another but than you must really know how the destination-cms work and how the dependencys in the Database are. Another way is to use some macro-recording tools like iMacros for Firefox to help you in the manual conversion. Either way is mostly time consuming. If you go with macros there is a good chance that you don't brake anything in the new CMS because you do anything manual, only automated. It is the best way to go if you don't know the new CMS very good and you get results fast.
My recommendation for a professional and fast solution is to post your query on GetAFreelancer.com and pay a professional programmer for the plataform migration. It can cost you some money but it´s worths.
Thanks for your posts, lads. Cash is short, we're a hobby not a business so we have to do everything ourselves and I'm certainly no web guru... If conversion is not possible, is there an obvious easy way to make the existing documents searchable within the site? Also if I'm to setup Wordpress on my server is there anything I should look out for that might risk stopping my CMS from working. Cheers
There is easier way, making the querys in wp_posts table and then converting to desired category on wordpress... this is done manual and its pain in the ass... Try to find some MYSQL or SQL coder and ask him how much will he charge, thats fastest and easiest and secure way. P.S. im not SQL expert and i know i wont do it for less than 50$ per hour and your 7000 articles could take up to 4-5 hours... so its expensive work.
May not be as tricky as people think: You could export the previous content directly from the previous SQL database, and import to directly to the new (WP) SQL database... the only problem being the file size limit ... that's 2megabytes if I'm not mistaken. Start by checking the size of your current database, if it's under 20 MB you can just export / import one year at a time. If you're going down the DIY route, start by creating a new database (preferrably on a new server just to make sure you don't make a clumbsy mistake). Then try to export/import the database content via cpanel in .SQL format, and take it from there. Make sure to backup the old database before you begin, just in case.
I think it is not very difficult to migrate to wordpress. Transferring the content is not a big deal, as it can be done in 2 or 3 hrs. The only thing that requires a big time is designing your theme.