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Free Plugin by Samuel Wood (Otto) v0.9.3

Blogger Importer

Imports posts, images, comments, and categories (blogger tags) from a Blogger blog then migrates authors to WordPress users.

Blogger Importer

The facts

Rating
3.1★ from 57
Active installs
50k+
Price
Free
Last updated
21 Oct 2024
Added
May 2010
Requires WP
3.0
Tested up to
WP 6.6.7
Downloads
2,487,263

Our analysis

AI-assisted

Blogger Importer is a WordPress plugin designed to transfer blog data from a Google Blogger site to a WordPress.org installation. It facilitates the import of categories, posts (including published, scheduled, and draft), comments (excluding spam), and images. However, it does not import pages, widgets, templates, or comment and author avatars.

This plugin is suitable for users looking to migrate their content from Blogger to WordPress, particularly those who want to preserve their categories and posts while transitioning their blogging platform.

Best for: This plugin is best for individuals or bloggers transitioning from Google Blogger to WordPress.

What it does well

  • Imports categories, posts, comments, and images from Blogger
  • Free to use from the WordPress.org directory
  • Active installation count of 50,000
  • Regularly updated, with the last update in October 2024
  • Includes actions and filters for extending functionality

Where it falls short

  • Does not import pages, widgets, or templates
  • Some users report issues with IFrames being stripped from content
  • Known performance issues with larger transfers
  • Requires specific PHP extensions for proper functioning

Verdict

Blogger Importer offers essential functionality for migrating content but has some limitations and known issues that users should consider.

From the developer

Samuel Wood (Otto)'s own description of Blogger Importer, lightly tidied.

The Blogger Importer imports your blog data from a Google Blogger site into a WordPress.org installation.

Items imported

  • Categories
  • Posts (published, scheduled and draft)
  • Comments (not spam)
  • Images

Items not imported

  • Pages
  • Widgets/Widget Data
  • Templates/Theme
  • Comment and author Avatars

Reference

  • https://www.simplepie.org/

The following were referenced for implementing the images and links

  • https://wordpress.org/plugins/remote-images-grabber/
  • http://notions.okuda.ca/wordpress-plugins/blogger-image-import/
  • https://wordpress.org/plugins/cache-images/
  • https://wordpress.org/plugins/tumblr-importer/
  • https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/14525
  • https://wpengineer.com/1735/easier-better-solutions-to-get-pictures-on-your-posts/
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20211121020918/http://www.velvetblues.com/web-development-blog/wordpress-plugin-update-urls/
  • http://wordpress.stackexchange.com/questions//media-sideload-image-file-name (not working)
  • https://code.tutsplus.com/a-guide-to-the-wordpress-http-api-the-basics–wp-25125t

Known Issues

  • Some users have reported that their IFrames are stripped out of the post content.
  • Requests for better performance of larger transfers and tranfers of images
  • Review of behavior when it re-imports, partiularly are the counts correct
  • Review using get_posts or get_comments with the appropriate parameters to get the counts and exists instead of using SQL
  • Incorrect notice, PHP Notice: The data could not be converted to UTF-8. You MUST have either the iconv or mbstring extension installed. This occurs even when Iconv is installed, could be related to Blogger reporting 0 comments
  • When the importer is running it’s not possible to stop it using the stop button
  • Blogger’s count of comments include those not linked to a post e.g. the post has been deleted.

Filters and Actions

These actions and filters have been added so that you can extend the functionality of the importer without needing to modify the code.

Action – import_start – This is run when the import starts processing the records for a new blog

Action – import_done – This is run when the import finishes processing the records for a blog.

Filter – blogger_importer_congrats – Passes the list of options shown to the user when the blog is complete, options can be added or removed.

Read the full description on the official page →

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