Dominoes

Image source.

 Back in 2012, Google's Knol project collapsed and I used WordPress to make the Encyclopedia of Future Science.

When I began experimenting with WordPress blogs in 2012, I had been using Blogger since 2005. I found the WordPress user interface to be annoying, so I've done far more blogging by means of the Blogger platform.

In the old days, it was possible to archive Blogger blog content using a Google-generated XML file. Those Blogger "backup files" could be easily imported into WordPress (see the Exodemic blog for an example where I moved blog posts from Blogger to WordPress). In 2013, the contents of the wikifiction blog fit into 3.6 MB XML file. By 2016, the wikifiction archive file had grown to 13.7 MB.

Google is creating a copy...

During 2025, Google changed the way that Blogger blogs are saved and archived as a set of files (see this description). I used the new Google Takeout method and ended up downloading over 20 GB of files for all of my Blogger blogs.

As shown in the image to the left, Google apparently has no way of providing users like me with a quick estimate of how long it will take to prepare Blogger data files for download. I was told that the process could take "hours or days" to complete.

In my case it took about 4 hours for Google's Takeout system to prepare my Blogger backup files for download. The next question was how quickly Google would send the archive files to my computer as a download.

My internet service provider can supply me with download speeds over 100 Mbps, but it still took about half an hour to download the nearly 20 GB of zipped files for my blogs.

64,998 files for the contents of my Blogger blogs.

Four folders for the exported files.

Google provides options for the size of the zipped files that Takeout generates. I asked for 10 GB files and I got two of them.

One of the most confusing aspects of using Takeout for archiving Blogger content is that Google treats images and videos differently. Blogger has a "mediamanager" that deals separately with the images and videos from blogs.

Blogger's "mediamanager". Sample videos.

The image to the left is a screenshot from Blogger's "mediamanager". This "mediamanager" can be accessed within a Blogger blog at Settings > Manage Blog  by clicking on the link for "Media from your blog". I have relatively few videos in my blogs (44 videos).

Under "Albums", there is usually one image album for each blog (such as Trysta and Ekcolir), but through the years, I ended up accumulating six different albums for the wikifiction blog (see the image below).

Some of my Blogger image albums. There are six different albums for the wikifiction blog.

image source

 Musical Albums. For many years, Blogger stored images as Picasa albums and some of those albums eventually became available for viewing through Google Photos. A couple of years ago, those old Picasa albums were taken out of Google Photos, but they are accessible now through Blogger's "mediamanager". One of the more mysterious image albums that is accessible through "mediamanager" is called "Blogger Pictures" and it has 215 images from the early years of my use of the Blogger service (see the image at the very bottom of this blog post). I believe that the "Wiki Fiction" album that currently has 19,800 items holds my most recent images.

Backing up WordPress blogs.

The old XML files for archives of a Blogger blog made use of urls to the image files such as https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8bCGSMwfMTA/V97gHx5pp0I/AAAAAAAAbH4/Koubm66S4jcSvGhuUPmD0D17Ek0xrRHoACLcB/s1600/c_telastid.png. Those old urls are still functional.

When a blog post from Blogger is transferred to WordPress (example) the image urls are switched to this format: https://exodemic.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/kalidstructure.png.

WordPress still uses XML files for exporting blog content. I just archived the contents of the Encyclopedia of Future Science in a 269 KB XML file. Back in 2013, that was a 195 KB file, indicating how little I have added to the encyclopedia since it was first created.

Image made by Gemini.

 I asked ChatGPT: Can WordPress import the content of Blogger service blogs that are backed-up in the new format using Takeout?

Image made by ChatGPT.

 ChatGPT: "Yes — in many cases, WordPress can import blog content from Blogger that was backed up using Google Takeout (i.e. the “new format”). What’s more — there are plugins and tools to smooth the process. Google Takeout’s Blogger export includes a file — typically named feed.atom — which encapsulates your blog’s posts, pages, comments, etc. There is a WordPress plugin — BtW Importer — designed specifically for this scenario. It accepts the .atom file from Takeout and migrates content into WordPress. It imports posts (with their original dates), embedded images, links, formatting, and more. The plugin can optionally download and store images from your Blogger posts in WordPress’s media library, and convert old Blogger URLs to WordPress-friendly links. After import, your blog content — posts, metadata, images tied to posts — should appear in WordPress as native content."

Next: Chapter 7 of "191988".

From the "Blogger Pictures" album in Blogger's "mediamanager".