To import the content from the blog that is on Movable Type and TypePad platform, the first thing we need to do is to create an export file containing content of that blog. For the export file, we need to Sign In on the TypePad site. We will have to create an account on TypePad in case we do not have one. On Signing In, we are taken to the Dashboard page that displays several links to manage blog. We can use the links in the Dashboard to do several tasks such as publish posts, write comments, change settings, etc.
An export file can be created through the Settings page, so let us now select the Settings link from the Dashboard to open it. The Settings page contains several tabs that can be used to change the settings of Posts, Categories, Comments, SEO, Import/Export, etc. We select the Import/Export tab to see the options of importing and exporting contents from TypePad. A page is displayed as shown in below given figure.
Options of Import/Export tab of the Settings page
We can see the Import box displays the options to import contents from different platforms such as TypePad, Movable Type, WordPress or WordPress’s WXR file (RSS file). The Export box displays a message informing what the contents are that can be exported through the export procedure. Since, we want an export file, lets select the Export button found at the bottom of the Export box. On selecting the Export button, the contents of the blog are exported and a Download link appears in the Export box. On selecting the Download link, we are asked to specify the name by which we want to save the export file on our computer. Let us specify the name of the export file as mt-export.txt.
Note: The export file mt-export.txt contains the content of the blog on TypePad site
Now, since, we have an export file containing the data that we want to import in our WordPress blog, we can go ahead importing the file. Select the Tools->Import option from the main navigation menu to open the Import page. From the Import page, select the Movable Type and TypePad link to install the required plugin. A description page for the plugin, Movable Type and TypePad Importer appears on the screen displaying the information regarding the version, author, compatibility, etc. of the plugin along with an Install Now button. On selecting the Install Now button the plugin, Movable Type and TypePad Importer is installed on our server. A confirmation message appears showing the successful installation of the plugin along with two links, Activate Plugin & Run Importer and Return to importers where the first link activates the plugin and initiates the import procedure whereas the second link takes us back to the Import page. We can now select the Activate Plugin & Run Importer link to begin with our task of importing contents.
We get an Import Movable Type or TypePad page (refer to below figure) prompting us to specify the file that we want to import. Use the Choose File button to select the file from our computer. Here, we select the file mt-export.txt that contains the content of the blog on TypePad we just created through its export procedure. After specifying the file, we select the Upload file and import button to import its content in our WordPress blog.
Specifying the file to upload and import
Since the author(s) of the post that is imported may be different from the users on our blog, an Assign Authors page opens to assign the author that exists on our blog to the imported post(s) as shown in below figure. The page is for substituting the original author in the imported posts with the author(s) or users in our blog. We can even create a new user to be assigned to the imported post(s), if desired.
Assigning authors to the imported content
After assigning the authors to the imported posts, we select the Submit button to begin the import process. This way, all the contents of the blog in the TypePad platform are imported in our WordPress blog.
For more information, refer my book, Blogging with WordPress 3 for Beginners available at Amazon.
