Migration From Blogger Classic To Blogger Beta

I have several Blogger blogs, among the various websites and other web presences that I maintain. Two of my biggest blogs - PChuck's Network, and The Real Blogger Status - simply can't be migrated, given the current level of problems, and of design deficiencies, in Blogger Beta. The latter blog, which I call RBS, absolutely won't be migrated until there are no more Classic blogs. Maybe it won't be migrated at all.

How can I continue, without developing RBS, even after everybody else takes the plunge and moves forward? Simple - I have RBS Beta, in addition to RBS Classic. RBS Beta will contain all issues specifically related to Blogger Beta. Now eventually, RBS Beta will contain most of the content that I write, relevant to blogging. But RBS Classic isn't going to disappear.

I'll retain both blogs, and in the tradition of the web, use static hyperlinks between the two, in various mirrored posts. And I'll use dynamic digests, from syndicated feeds. Portions of the most current 5 to 7 posts, in either blog, will be visible in the other.

I used FeedDigest, which takes the syndicated (Atom) feed from each blog, creates a custom feed with the title and a small amount of content, from each post, and makes a small feedlet in javascript. I put the feedlet from each blog, into the template of the other.

• I setup RBS Classic, and added a feed from RBS Beta.
  • Into the template (editing the HTML) for RBS Classic, I put the FeedDigest feedlet from RBS Beta.
  • I installed that into the footer of the blog, right below the end of the posts.
  • I put an anchor tag at the top of the footer.
  • In the Sidebar, under Key Articles, I added a link labeled "Real Blogger Status - Beta Feed", which jumps me straight to the anchor tag, and to the bottom of the page.
  • See the details, if you like.
    • Check out the code.
    • Check out the display.
  .
• I setup RBS Beta, and added a feed from RBS Classic.
  • Into the template (using the GUI Page Layout editor) for RBS Beta, I added a Page Element (HTML/Javascript), in the footer.
  • The FeedDigest feedlet went straight into the new page element, which was placed right after the bottom of the posts.
  • I put an anchor tag at the top of the page element code, in the title of the element.
  • In the Sidebar, under Links, I added a link labeled "Real Blogger Status - Classic Feed", which jumps me straight to the anchor tag and the bottom of the page.
  • See the details, if you like.
    • Check out the code.
    • Check out the display.
  .

The dynamic feeds will simply complement the static links. I use a lot of static links in all of my blogs. Without hyperlinks, my blogs would be a bit less useful.

In some IT migration strategies, this is called a bridge. I suspect that this looks complicated, at first glance. It was simpler to do, than to write about. The whole job took maybe an hour. Writing this, with the examples, took an entire evening, and then some.

Migration Feed Example - RBS Classic, with a feed from RBS Beta

I setup an account at FeedDigest, and created a custom feed from The Real Blogger Status - Beta.

• Here's the code provided to me by FeedDigest.
  

  <script type="text/javascript" src="http://app.feeddigest.com/digest3/UZULGEIPQN.js"><noscript><a href="http://app.feeddigest.com/digest3/UZULGEIPQN.html">Click for "The Real Blogger Status".</a> By <a href="http://www.feeddigest.com/">Feed Digest</a></noscript></script>



• Here's what it looks like, coded in the template of The Real Blogger Status - Classic (with various line breaks added, to prevent the old post / sidebar alignment problem).
  

  <hr />
  <p align=center>
  <a name="BridgeFeed"><strong>
  The Real Blogger Status - Beta</strong></a>
  </p>
  <p>
  <script type="text/javascript" src="http://app.feeddigest.com/digest3/UZULGEIPQN.js">
  <noscript><a href="http://app.feeddigest.com/digest3/UZULGEIPQN.html">
  Click for "RBS Beta7".</a> By <a href="http://www.feeddigest.com/">
  Feed Digest</a></noscript></script>
  </p>
  <hr />



• Here's what it looks like, at the bottom of The Real Blogger Status - Classic.

Migration Feed Example - RBS Beta, with a feed from RBS Classic

I likewise created a custom feed from The Real Blogger Status - Classic.

• Here's the code provided to me by FeedDigest.
  

  
  <script type="text/javascript" src="http://app.feeddigest.com/digest3/PEXJUYD3JV.js"><noscript><a href="http://app.feeddigest.com/digest3/PEXJUYD3JV.html">Click for "The Real Blogger Status".</a> By <a href="http://www.feeddigest.com/">Feed Digest</a></noscript></script>
  



• I created a HTML / Javascript page element, using the Beta Layout Editor, and added that to the bottom of the page. I copied the FeedDigest code into the new element.


• Here's what it looks like, at the bottom of The Real Blogger Status - Beta.