There of course are many amazing resources that helped me tremendously while working through the transfer such as importing posts, fixing my links, and so on in this process. I am not going to repeat whats already out there but instead link you to a couple sites that I found helpful for your review.

mamablogga.com the-ultimate-guide-to-migrating-from-blogger-to-wordpress

moving-from-blogger-to-wordpress-maintaining-permalinks-traffic-seo/

migrating-from-blogger-to-wordpress.html

But when it game to transferring my feed and keeping my Google Friend connect in place, these were are a couple of the things that I wasnt able to find as much information on.

DISCLOSURE- I am not claiming to be an expert. I am not guaranteeing 100% issue free success. I am only putting down my journey and what worked for me down in hopes that someone may benefit from my experience.

Here are a few key items you need to pay attention to when transitioning blogs and some mistakes NOT to make.

• FEED BURNER- There is a plugin called Feedburner Feedsmith that is suppose to help you re route your feed to the new location. I was unable to get this to work for the first month! The trick to this is- that you have to upload it to your plugin menu and DO NOT ACTIVATE IT! Go to your hosting account and move it out of its folder and into the main plugin folder all by its self. It did not work for me untill I did this. You do not have to burn a new feed. You only change the source address in feedburner from your blogger address to your wordpress feed address. The feed address that all are subscribed to should be entered in the feedsmith pluggin. This will keep your email subscriptions.
• If already had your domain through blogger or if you are just adding a new domain. Keep the domain name you are using in the blogger settings menu for forwarding. In blogger also make sure the same feed address is listed as above for forwarding. NEVER ever put your feed URL in your feedburner forward to section. Your feed will break! Hear me. Will not work and fixing it is not guaranteed.
• FRIEND CONNECT- From what I understand Blogger has combined the Friend Connect and Google Reader feature in to one Widget that works in your blogger dashboard to benefit blogger users- As we know if you add someone on google friend connect they will pop up in your google reader (in the bottom of your blogger dashboard) But in saying this- You can use your Friend Connect Gadget on your wordpress page and show all of your friends/followers on your new wordpress site by changing the advanced settings on your google friend connect widget to allow your “domain address” to use your “blogspot” device.
• To allow use of your current Friend Connect on your WordPress Blog you need to change your FC advanced settings in your google dashboard (or my account from blogger) or just click here. The setting’s menu is hidden (at least for me) Once you long into FC In the address bar of the page copy the long string of numbers at the end of the URL which is your friend ID. Then use the following link. http://www.google.com/friendconnect/admin/site/advancedsettings?id=# (replace the # with your friend ID) This will drop you into your advanced settings menu in the case you cant locate it. In the second field add the alternate address of your WordPress domain. This is you giving your permission to let this domain use your friend connect gadget with your followers on it. In the general settings also change your primary URL to your domain. This will allow google reader to grab feed from your new domain address.

• Do NOT delete your blogger blog. You are still going to use it! for certain things! For example all picture links are part of blogger. WordPress does not host them.
• Do NOT put your wordpress feed address in your blogger feed section. Refer above…

I have been on wordpress for a month now and after fixing all my issues, figuring out how to change things, maintain things, etc. Hopefully you can use these skips and skip directly to enjoying how much wordpress has to offer! The possibilities are endless and exploring has been a blast! I hope you can already see all the new options on my blog and hopefully this make surfing easier for you going forward!

If you have tips or tricks to add to this please let me know! I honestly dont know much else in regards to all of this besides what I posted here. I wish you luck if you decide to take the same “leap” in the future! I just wanted to share what I knew and hopes it may help you!

These are not posted in order of favorites. But just posted Alphabetically.

1. Akismet- This site is free for personal use and has saved me from so much headache. I no longer have to sort through comments to determine which have been left by a spammer or a loyal reader. It sends suspicious comments to a que to be dealt with later. In my experience all comments Akismet has caught has been 100% spam!
2. All in One SEO pack- This creates a box at the end of my post that I can enter relevant key words for my post for the bots to read. This really helps my post hit the net in the manner it was intended.
3. Comment Luv-This is a plug in I do especially love. It allows you to offer a link back to your reader through their comment and also scope out their site easily in return!
4. Contact Commenters- This is such a great resource! This allows you to send a message to all commenter’s on a certain post, see which reader has posted the most comments in a specific period of time and more!
5. Fast and Secure Contact Form- An easy contact me form. You can adjust settings easily and just copy a bit of script into the page you want it to pop up on.  Your email isn’t visible for the spam bots and readers can easily send you a message!
6. Featured Content Gallery- A super simple post slideshow you can add to your blog template that will show users featured posts and pictures that you have chosen!
7. FT Signature Manager- Easily add a custom signature to all of your blog posts effortlessly. You can set it to pop up automatically or turn it off on certain posts where it is not needed! It allows html as well so your signature can contain an image!
8. Link Within-This creates post thumbnails at the bottom of every post with other related or similar  posts. I love that it creates a picture for readers to click on. Easier to notice than missing a tag line containing a link for example
9. Shadow Box JS- This shadow box is very similar to a light box. But when I have tried to use lightboxes it disables over java functions on my site. This one allows my pictures to pop up in the middle of my page error free.
10. Twitter Goodies- I have tried a few different Twitter Widgets for WordPress and this one is my favorite. It looks very nice and clean as well as it is very easy to adjust the settings from your dashboard.
11. Video Sidebar Widgets- I love this because you can add up to 6 you tube videos and they will randomly change on your side as people land on your page. Great way to keep the content fresh for your users as well as give more you tube videos some love!
12. Vistor Maps and Whos Online- Love this! You can see who is on your blog at anytime. You can also see what brought them there! There is also an option to view bots too. So you can see for example which blog page google is currently indexing!
13. WordPress Gravatars- You can use this to create a custom gravatar for your site. So if your reader doesnt have one it will display one of your choosing instead of the blank ones that are default!

I hope you found this information useful! There are definitely alot more plug in options that I probably don’t know. But theses I have had alot of success with!

I think with this said, not every designer has the ability to come up with a design you will love. I think its important to take somethings into consideration before deciding who you will hire.

1- I think its important to choose a blog designer that has the style that you love. Its easy to see some sites full of pretty classic designs and others with funky modern ones.  You see maybe they specialize in a certain shape of layout that comes pretty standard in all their work.  If you tend you like alot of what they have created you are probably in the right place. But if you are finding yourself not excited by much- its probably best to keep looking.

2- Communication is huge! My personal blog is a window to my heart. Its all people know about me up for display on that computer screen. It shows my personality and my interests all wrapped up! You need to feel completely comfortable communicating with your designer so they are understanding the message you are trying to send with your design.

3- Make sure changes are allowedor understand what you might be stuck with if they are not. I notice on some sites people say that they will only make up to 3 changes to your design. This I understand because a lot of work goes into creating the design and changing it. But even with that said. If there is a part of your blog you are not liking… You should be able to have that fixed. You need to love it in the end. Enough Said.

4- I know cost is an issue too. Everyone loves free layouts but wants to have an original site.  Think about what you want to come with your site and if those extra features are included with your design. Consider the time spent on your layout, how much you are asking and if it makes sense.  Is their a guarantee with your design?  Paying a price to designer may promise for you to get exactly what you want and make sure its stays functioning. Honestly with as many designers as there are, I don’t believe you have to pay alot to get a great design!

I hope this has helped you a little. Any other questions. You can find me right here!

xoxo, Sara

STYLISHBLOGDESIGN.COM

Check it out!!!

Please use the contact me box and I will respond to you within 24 hours. Please let me know your website address. The colors you like and if you have an idea for your banner. Do you want your image? A cartoon or another image? The more details the better! Looking forward to hearing from you!

Still lots of custom Blogger and WordPress custom Layouts and Templates for your blogger and WordPress (self hosted) designs.

I am also now offering Twitter Backgrounds for your site. Free with any blog design!

Any questions, please use the contact me tab!!

I just finished a twitter background for a twitter user rjizzle707. This is a black, white and grey design with the Sick Wid it Logo and contact information.

See the attached custom WordPress Blog Design for The Makeup Snob.com Beauty Blog. The colors are Black, White and Red and Polka dots theme. There is also a custom twitter background attached as well

This blogger blog design was made for Jacqueline at a Brilliant Brunette.com A Beauty Blog that focuses on makeup looks and product reviews.