Moving From WordPress To Square Space
This Blog entry covers:
Why I moved the blog,
topics I’d like to write about moving forward,
how you can move your blog,
the overarching idea behind the blog,
and where to find my older entries.
After Blogging on and off of Wordpress since 2009, I decided to make the move from WordPress to Squarespace. In reality, I had dreams of learning web development, but I wasn’t really interested in pursuing the interest - or at least not in the foreseeable future.
So, I gave up on WordPress.
I LOVE Squarespace. I love how intuitive it is, I love the ease of use and I love how DIY it is. If there’s anything you don’t know, you can search Google and find the resolution to it. Wordpress is a great platform for those interested in using it from a developer standpoint. Squarespace, on the other hand, continues to upgrade its services and is userfriendly with its built-in guides. Think of it as Sqaurespace is to Apple as Wordpress is to Android. I've gotten fed up with the constant changes with WordPress, not understanding the difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org - worst of all - losing my content from 2017 to early 2019. I wrote some really heartfelt posts that I can't find on the web archive of the internets.
Hello!
Taken at my first Squarespace Circle Event
Left, Kelly - a really great friend and accountability partner I met from an online community. Right, Keshna Donia, author of this blog :) We we attended a Squarespace Circle event in December 2 2019
So with that, I'm done with WordPress. I've decided to focus on the platform that I understand - and to back up all of my writing. Typically, I write in a few places - all of which can be accessed on my iPhone - the notes app, the day one app or Evernote app which can also be accessed on a web browser and my phone.
The other thing I wanted to do was continue to keep my personal blog alive. Build that as my "lifestyle brand" and eventually combine doniastudio and keshnadonia as one platform.
I love how Monique Head of previous blog MotorCityMoxie transformed her blog. She increased her offering and now has a coaching platform. I've been browsing through the web archive and realized not only was she an avid reader, but she also shared a few parts of her life as well. I loved some of the categories she wrote under so much that I'd like to incorporate them into my lifestyle blog.
A few of the topics I'd like to borrow:
These topics are borrowed from Monique’s old blog. But I expand on why;
weekly mani - my friend and I used to paint each other’s nails, and I love pretty nails. You can follow my Pinterest board here.
Sunday's best - I never thought myself to be fashionable but I love dressing up for church on Sundays. I also loved seeing what was thrift-ed from other fashionable women’s blogs and how they dress it up.
beauty - hair make-up and the likes - because when you look good you tend to feel good about you.
wellness - my fitness struggles, health issues, and topics covered today in the wellness community.
my fancies - things desired, but not yet achieved.
and I'm adding in topics like
money, - because I wish to be debt-free
food, - because Chris Do likes to reference building your cookbook, so why not share food and amazing recipes?
culture, - because I’ve learned so much about my own family history and dynamics
style, - beyond the Sundays best, and can incorporate interior design, and fashion
faith - because it’s part of my belief system, and who I am
and travel.- because I enjoy exploring the world.
ART/design/creativity - I need something that will sum up this category. Art is my favorite subject, and it’s not limited to fine art, digital art or creativity in only the visual sense, so it’s a topic worth exploring.
A few of the above topics mentioned are from the Squarespace template - Skye. I believe some are repetitive so we shall see how it goes.
How I moved My Blog From Word Press To Squarespace
To move everything I used a blog post by Nesha Woolery. The only thing I didn’t like, as I scrolled to the comments section, it seemed to no longer be moderated. I hoped there is a way to leave old comments, but close the commenting section on Squarespace. That is something I saw in the past on WordPress.
When I was stuck with the blog post I used the very detailed article found on Squarespace regarding DNS and CNAME records. When I saw my old content wasn’t loading, I followed this article and then I imported all my old content using this post.
Why make it a lifestyle blog?
I'm quoting my husband when I say, "People are like diamonds, they have many facets". I think this can be a good thing and a bad thing. However, let us lean towards the good. I find that I am genuinely interested in different topics, keeping a lifestyle blog along with my studio blog helps me categorize my thoughts. It’s taken me some time to get to this point, to start niching down and categorizing things. It’s easier when people can put you in a box to understand what you do, then expound on it. I believe it will be a helpful resource to link back to when I am somewhere in the future. For now, I know what the past looks like. It’s messy. But if you are curious the previous blog lives here.
As I close out this entry I’d like to ask of you two things:
Sign up to my mailing list to become part of the tribe to stay up-to-date on the personal endeavors of my life and
Would you be interested in me remaking a step by step video tutorial and blog post on how to move your own blog from Wordpress to Squarespace? Leave a comment below because otherwise, I’m writing to myself on the world wide web.