How To Move Your Blog Post From Tumblr To WordPress Perfectly

Fenzik Joseph
Smack Thoughts
Published in
10 min readJul 31, 2023
Move your blog post from Tumblr to WordPress

Blogging is a popular form of online writing that permits you to share your ideas, attention, opinions, and experiences with a wide audience. There are many different blogging platforms available, which include Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr, and Medium.

Among these blogging platforms, Tumblr is a popular microblogging platform that allows users to post short-form content, including text, videos, images, and links. If you’re looking for a more casual and innovative approach to blogging, then you can choose Tumblr.

It’s a great platform for writing a blog. This social networking website was founded by David Karp in 2007. When it comes to writing a blog on Tumblr, you can access it in a variety of ways. Some bloggers use Tumblr as a platform for short-form content, such as photos, and quotes, whereas others use it to write longer blog posts on particular topics.

But Tumblr can’t compare to WordPress commonly when it comes to many features of blogging.

So, if you want to move your blog from Tumblr to WordPress, don’t want to worry. We have a solution for that. Moving your blog from Tumblr to WordPress can be a good decision if you’re looking for more adaptability and control over your blog’s design and functionality.

WordPress is a popular content management system. It offers a wide range of customization options, including thousands of themes and plugins to choose from.

It’s not a one-step process or an easy method to move your blog from Tumblr to WordPress.

After importing your content into WordPress you can start customizing your blog’s design and components. So if you want to take your blogging to the next level, WordPress is the right option and a great platform for you. It has a wide range of customization and powerful features.

Why Ought I Move My Blog From Tumblr To WordPress?

Tumblr is an ideal platform for bloggers to generate and share content quickly. Without having to worry about the proficient aspects of website design and conservation.

It also provides a social networking element, where users can follow each other, and reblog each other’s posts, involved in the discussion through comments and private messages. This makes it very easy for bloggers to connect with like-minded individuals and construct an association around their content.

Multiple factors may lead you to consider transferring your blog from Tumblr to WordPress. Here, let’s see a few reasons.

Customization

WordPress provides a greater degree of customization options than Tumblr. You can customize your WordPress site with plugins, custom code, and themes. It allows you to generate an eccentric look and feel for your blog.

SEO

WordPress is generally considered to be a more SEO-friendly platform than Tumblr. It offers several plugins and tools which will help you to improve your site’s search engine visibility, which can help to captivate more visitors to your blog.

Ownership

When you use Tumblr, you are inherently renting space on their platform. This indicates that Tumblr owns your content. They can delete it or make changes to their platform at any time. You have full ownership and control over your content with WordPress.

Community

WordPress has a large and active section of developers and users who create plugins, themes, and other tools that can help you to improve your site. This section can be a beneficial resource for learning and troubleshooting any issues that you may confront.

Scalability

Tumblr and WordPress are more scalable platforms. As your blog grows and you need to add more features or functionality, WordPress can hold those changes more easily than Tumblr.

Prepare Everything For The Transfer

Before moving your blog from Tumblr to WordPress, there are a few things that you have to do.

The first thing you have to do is export your Tumblr blog to a file. You can do this using Tumblr’s built-in export feature. This will permit you to transfer your blog posts, images, and other content to WordPress.

Then you have to select a WordPress hosting service that fits your needs and budget. Some famous options include Dreamhost, site ground, and Bluehost. After choosing your hosting service, install WordPress on your server. Contact your hosting provider if you do not find any WordPress installation option.

Continuing that, select a theme that is alike to your Tumblr blog’s design and layout. You can also choose from thousands of free and premium WordPress themes. Alter your WordPress theme to match your Tumblr blog’s look and feel. This may require tweaking fonts, colors, and other design elements.

Transfer Your Blog From Tumblr To WordPress

Once you have prepared everything, then you are ready for the transfer. And we will guide you on how to displace everything step by step. Whereas the process is almost straightforward, So let’s see how to do it!

Here are the steps to move your blog from Tumblr to WordPress:

1. Export your Tumblr blog

Log in to your Tumblr account.

Then, click on the account icon in the top-right corner and select “settings”.

Visit Settings in Tumblr

Click on the blog you want to export in the menu on the right side.

Select blog to export in tumblr settings page

Scroll down below and locate the “Export” section, and click on the “Export [blog name]” button.

Export Tumblr Posts

This will generate a .xml file containing your Tumblr content. You can save the exported file to your computer by clicking the Download Backup button.

2. Set up your WordPress site

Already, if you don’t have a WordPress account then you’ll need to set one up.

Select a hosting provider and install WordPress.

Many hosting providers offer one-click WordPress installation for convenience.

3. Import your Tumblr blog to WordPress

You can import content into WordPress by going to Tools >> Import in your dashboard.

Choose the “Tumblr” option from the list of available importers. If you don’t have the Tumblr importer installed, click on the “Install Now” link to install it.

Import Page in WordPress Tools Menu

Once installed, click on “Run Importer” to launch the Tumblr importer.

Run Importer In WordPress

The next page will show an URL like the below screenshot that asks you to register for an application on Tumblr. Creating the app provides a connection to the blog and Tumblr’s servers.

Import Tumblr page in WordPress

Click on the link that will take you to the Tumblr page. There click on the Register application button.

Register Application in Tumblr

You will need to provide information like application name, application website, app store url, application description, and default callback url. Others can be left blank.

Provide your website url in the application website and default callback url fields.

Submit details to register an application in tumblr

After you are done, configure recaptcha. Then click Register.

Tumblr will register your application and then provide you with the OAuth consumer key and secret key.

Import tumblr to wordpress get consumer and secret key for tumblr application

Copy the consumer keys and paste them in the oauth consumer key field in the import Tumblr page on your WordPress.

Click on show secret key to reveal it. Copy and paste the secret key into WordPress.

Paste consumer and secret key in import tumblr page

Click Connect to Tumblr button and again click Authorize the application button.

Click authorize the application import tumblr

It will take you to the Tumblr page. Click Allow to grant access to some of your data and the permission(s) for the application.

Click allow to provide permission to the application

Now you’ll be redirected back to the WordPress dashboard and the page will show you all your Tumblr blogs.

Tumblr blog listed in WordPress import Tumblr page

Just click ‘Import this blog’ next to every blog to import the blogs to your WordPress posts.

Wait for the import process to complete.

Tumblr blog import status in progress

During this process, you have to note the speed of the transfer which depends on various factors including the size of the blog. Kindly exercise patience and allow the tool to work its magic. Once it’s done, the importer tool will show you a finished status.

Tumblr blog import to WordPress status finished

You can open the post. There you can see all the posts that have been imported on your WordPress dashboard. Now you are ready to take them over. You can edit, add featured images or do anything you want to do.

4. Review your imported content

Once the import is complete, go through your WordPress site and make sure that everything looks good.

Check your posts, pages, images, and other content to ensure that nothing was lost or flawed during the import process.

5. Redirect Tumblr blogs to WordPress

If you are running a successful blog on Tumblr, it is quite common to keep the audience.

Since you have transferred all your content to the new WordPress blog, it would be wise to redirect your Tumblr visitors to the new site.

Go to your Tumblr account and click on the blog you exported.

Select edit theme in Tumblr settings

Select “edit theme” followed by “Edit HTML”.

In the HTML code of the theme, paste the below code below the <head> tag.

<meta name=”description” content=”Link will redirect to the same post on my new blog”>

<script type=’text/javascript’>

let new_slug = window.location.pathname;

let new_root = “http://your-new-wordpress-site.com”;

let new_url = new_root + new_slug;

document.write(`<link rel=”canonical” href=”${new_url}”>`);

</script>

Replace the placeholder “http://your-new-wordpress-site.com” with the actual URL of your website.

Then paste the below script inside the <body> tag

<script type=’text/javascript’>

let new_slug = window.location.pathname;

let new_root = “http://your-new-wordpress-site.com”;

let new_url = new_root + new_slug;

window.location.href = new_url;

</script>

Click the “update preview” button and after that click the “save” button to save changes.

So far, all our efforts will effectively redirect your Tumblr visitors to your newly created WordPress website. Have you ever had the experience of visiting an old Tumblr blog, only to be met with an unwelcome error message when clicking on a particular post or page? It’s an annoying experience that can leave a sour taste in your mouth, especially if you were hoping to revisit some nostalgic content. To deal with this, you have to set up another redirection in WordPress.

Install a Redirection Plugin

Go to plugins, then add new ones.

Search for the “Redirection” plugin. Install it and activate it.

Follow Tools >> Redirection.

Click on the buttons to complete the setup.

Visit redirection page in tools menu wordpress

Go to the “redirects” tab. In the “add new redirection” section, fill in the source and target url appropriately.

Choose the “regex” option on the right side.

Click on the “Add Redirect” button.

After doing this, the settings will be saved. Certainly, all the visitors to your Tumblr blog will be redirected to your new WordPress blog! Well done; you have moved your Tumblr blog to WordPress successfully.

Post-transfer Tasks

After moving your blog from Tumblr to WordPress, there are a few important things you must do to make sure everything is set up accordingly.

Set up 301 redirects from your old Tumblr URL to your new WordPress site to ensure that your visitors are directed to the right pages. This will also help you to preserve your search engine rankings.

Next, check your permalink structure to make sure it matches your old Tumblr URL structure. If not, you should set up redirects from the old URLs to the new URLs.

Install essential plugins such as social media sharing plugins, SEO plugins, and caching plugins to improve the production and functionality of your site. Run a site speed test to make sure your site is loading. Slow page load times can negatively affect user experience and SEO rankings.

Add google analytics to your site to trace your visitors and their behavior. This will help you to understand your audience and enhance your content and marketing efforts.

Customize your site by choosing a theme, adding widgets, and creating custom pages. Make sure your site is visually engaging and easy to navigate.

By following this, you can ensure that your blog is set up properly and ready to attract visitors and grow your audience.

Conclusion

Well, moving your blog from Tumblr to WordPress can be a bit of a daunting task, but with the right preparation and tools, it can be done smoothly and expertly. If you follow one after each step of this guide, then your blog should be transferred successfully to WordPress.

It seems like an end maybe, but it’s not like that. It is just the beginning of your new blog. Once everything is set up and running smoothly, you can enjoy many benefits that come with using WordPress for your blog including greater control, flexibility, and customization options.WordPress offers more options than Tumblr. So take your own time and learn more about WordPress to improve your blog like never before!

Take your time and check out our import and export tool for WordPress to efficiently migrate your WordPress content.

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