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Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Whither goeth LiveJournal

So have you heard that LiveJournal might go under? Rumors are swiriling, bur really, it's hard telling. It doesn't really matter all that much to me as the LiveJournal account I have is used for one of two things - commenting on other LiveJournals and the rare occasions where I simply must post something that I don't want on the Blogger blog. The only reason I would not post something on the Blogger blog is if it is something I deem too sensitive, too personal, and/or when I am not in the least bit interested in a public explosion of anger and emotion and would prefer to do it in a more controlled environment. That has happened exactly 5 times in the last 2 and a half years.

However, I know a lot of people who are dedicated LJ users, not the least of which is Heidi. But many other people I know use LJ and really like it. Unfortunately, there is no really quick and easy way to back up Live Journal - something that I am finding all too apparent tonight. I have been trying to import Heidi's LJ into a Blogger account and all the tools I have been trying to use have been failing. The LJ2Blogger tool that I was trumpeting on Facebook earlier today is not nearly as functional as I was hoping. An attempt to install an updated version of it failed miserably. So then I went and used the "export blog" function on LJ which allows you to export a month at a time to an XML file. Blogger failed to recognize it when I tried to import the XML file there, but Wordpress did. Only trouble there is that it is not formatted for shit and I will have to go in and do a bunch of highly laborious formatting to make it look nice. And add to that, I'm not sure any of the pictures went across.

I think that the rumors of the death of LJ are very premature, but still, it never hurts to back something up, especially something that you've put 3+ years in to. I know that I have this blog backed up on Wordpress in case the unthinkable happens. It's not like it'd be the end of the world as we know it if the blog up and disappeared, but I would be sad. It is something that I am kind of attached to and even though I sometimes go back and read posts (especially from the early years) and cringe, it is a reflection of me, for better or for worse. And to have it disappear would be like losing a little part of me, silly as that may sound.

So I will continue to endeavor to back up Heidi's LJ. If I have tremendous success, I will let other fellow LJers know.

7 comments:

Yuяi said...

That really sucks about LJ. I cannot imagine the amount of stress that you are now under with its imminent demise. Hopefully it won't happen, but I agree that a good back-up is a great idea.

Anonymous said...

The thing he is not telling you is that HE instigated this backup, and every time I tell him not to stress about it, to just let it go, he sets his jaw and says "No" and tries again. He was also ready to (again, his idea, entirely) start copying and pasting the google reader log of my entries all the way from 2007 into a new blog until LJ returned and his backup attempts were able to resume.

You should all be very sad that you all can't be married to Dan. And no, you can't have him.

Dan said...

Actually, the Google Reader log goes all the way back to at least early 06, but who's counting? ;)

*smooches to Heidi*

Yuяi said...

Dan as "Man of the Year", I foresee. Or maybe the millennium, if Heidi has her way. :)

Anonymous said...

OK, I'm kind of freaking out. It took me a bit to even get started blogging after Heidi set me up, but now I really really like it, even though I only have about three readers. :) I really hope it's a rumor that LJ will disappear.

Anonymous said...

That's a load off my mind. I was kind of getting stressed thinking about it, and I'm definitely not that prolific.

xolondon said...

Did you try the Blogger backup tool yet? It's new. I was confused here - I think you're just talking about LJ right?