Moving from Textpattern to Perch. Perhaps

Posted on 05 August 2013 by Clive Walker in Perch Textpattern

I wrote this post a while back. The content can still be relevant but the information I've linked to may not be available.

I've been thinking about this blog recently and have almost made the decision to move over to Perch as the CMS. I've set-up a local testing server with database and Perch installed and used this Textpattern to WordPress export script to get an .xml file of my Textpattern blog (posts, comments etc). Then, I used the import WordPress function that is built into Perch Blog to import everything. It all worked very well. There are a couple of minor problems but a recent update to the script has already addressed one of those.

What will I write about on the new blog?!

So, I have a working blog in Perch with all 400 old posts transferred. I should be good to go? Well, almost! First, I want to sort out the plethora of small but important things for a new blog. The URL rewrites, the redirects from old to new posts, CSS and layout, and how the blog will be organised (categories, tags). It's this latest thing that has slowed me down. In the course of doing this, I've been wondering about a deeper issue. What will I write about on the new blog?!

In the past, I've written a few good posts and some CSS tutorials (great for learning about something yourself, by the way), many that are mediocre (and will probably get deleted in the final move) and a few more that are rubbish (many have been deleted already). Overall, I need to decide if moving from Txp to Perch is worth it. It clearly isn't if I don't have subjects in mind.

I'm already writing for several other websites

So, I'm still thinking on this. I'm already supporting and writing for several other websites, for example, Clive Goes Cycling and CVW Web Design with regular posts and not doing so well with Horsham Pub Guide. So, I'm struggling to raise the enthusiasm for more.

Perhaps this is digital writer's block? Anyway, there's no deadline on this so I'll spend a few more days pondering, then decide. I know that I can write a few personal “what-I'm-doing" blog posts so that's probably what will happen if I make the move from Txp to Perch. Perhaps.