Originally posted on February 9, 2025 @ 5:12 pm

Introduction

Migrating from WordPress to BlogEngine.NET involves transferring website content from the WordPress CMS which is PHP and MySQL-based to BlogEngine.NET which runs on ASP.NET and SQL Server/XML storage.

WordPress

It is a platform that creates, manage, help to suggest hosting services and allow its platform users to publish web-page(s) with the use of Internet Service Providers.

WordPress is the most popular website building platform that requires no programming (coding) skills as it is designed with pre-loaded templates which is editable/adjustable to the taste you so desire it.

Although, WordPress as a content management system is of great value to anyone with coding or and graphics design skill.

The Uniqueness of WordPress

Amongst other website building platforms, WordPress is likely to be preferred to other platforms with some of the reasons as listed below;

1. It has a responsive design layout
2. It is highly flexible with free and open source
3. It is great pick for beginner of website designers

WordPress has two categories of website namely;

1. wordpress.org; is a self-hosted web-page where you personally engage the services of a hosting provider like namecheap.com, godaddy.com etc.
2. wordpress.com – Already hosted site which is managed by WordPress

BlogEngine.NET

This is an ASP.NET based platform that helps to create and manage blogs that mainly operates on Microsoft .NET framework.

BlogEngine.NET is not user friendly to developers of blogs but requires an adequate knowledge in .NET

However, BlogEngine.NET has built-in theme with its appearance modification

BlogEngine.NET has its unique features that is desired by developers and thereby make it their choice for building a website blog

1. Comes with built-in SEO tools to optimize blog visibility
2. The resources used from other website building platform is higher than BlogEngine.NET, thus it is preferred.
3. Some developers like to engage the ASP.NET based solution
4. It is free and open source web blog building platform

2 Core Relationship of WordPress and BlogEngine.Net Platforms

1. Window Server – WordPress can be installed using PHP Manager but BlogEngine.NET runs natively.

The best option for the dual hosting is a Windows Server with IIS and PHP support.

2. Database – BlogEngine.NET uses XML or SQL Server while WordPress uses MySQL server with no default MySQL support

This did not stop their relationship as they can share the same SQL server database with different table prefixes to prevent conflicts in their usage.

5 Stages of Migrating WordPress Contents into BlogEngine.NET?

Simply say that, transition Between BlogEngine.NET and WordPress is without downtime –

furthermore, a strategic migration steps is enforced to ensure the website visitors do not experience any form of interruptions, i.e. keeping both webpages up and running

1 – Set Up BlogEngine.NET on a subdomain and configure IIS and SQL server;

Why? It is useful for testing environments, blogs, or separate site sections if the need arises.

How do you set up a sub-domain?

1. Log in to your hosting control panel
2. Create the subdomain (enter the subdomain name) and choose the main domain
3. Install or upload a website to the subdomain
4. Configure SSL (HTTPS) for the Subdomain
5. Test the created subdomain

2 – Backup and Export Content from WordPress with the following steps

1. Login to your WordPress Admin Dashboard.
2. Go to Tools > Export.
3. Select All Content (includes posts, pages, comments, categories, and tags).
4. Click Download Export File (this creates an XML file).

When successfully exported, convert the WordPress XML file to BlogEngine.NET format, because BlogEngine.NET do not support direct WordPress import.

BlogEngine.NET format include;

1. BlogML (.xml)
2. SQL Database (.bak/.sql)
3. XML file storage 

3 – Import Data to BlogEngine.NET

1. Login to BlogEngine.NET Admin Panel.
2. Go to Settings > Import
3. But if BlogEngine.NET does not have a direct import tool, manually copy-paste posts into the Admin Panel under New Post.

4 – Transfer Images and Media

1. WordPress stores images separately in the wp-content/uploads
2. Manually download these images and upload them to BlogEngine.NET media storage.
3. Update image URLs in BlogEngine.NET.

5 – Redirect Old URLs

If you are moving from WordPress to BlogEngine.NET but wish to keep the same domain, you can use 301 redirects in your hosting settings to avoid broken links.

6 – Test Your Blog

1. Review imported posts for formatting errors.
2. Test internal links to ensure they are working.
3. Verify the configuration of the SEO settings.

How to Undo the Migration of BlogEngine.NET into WordPress?

Step 1 – Set Up WordPress on a Staging Environment

• Install WordPress on a temporary domain or subdomain and configure PHP, MySQL, and WordPress plugins.

Step 2 – Export Content from BlogEngine.NET

Locate Settings in Dashboard → Export Blog.

Export all posts, pages, and comments as an XML file and if using an SQL Server database, you may need to manually export using SQL queries.

Step 3 – Import Content (Exported File) into WordPress Platform

Options to Engage;

1. Use a plugin like WordPress Importer to import the XML file.
2. After exporting SQL data, use WP All Import or manually migrate the tables.
3. Verify  and import all posts, pages, and comments.

Step 4 – Redirect Old URLs to WordPress URLs

BlogEngine.NET uses different URL structures than WordPress. It is important you use 301 redirects in web.config (for IIS) or .htaccess (if migrating to Apache).

Step 5 – Final Testing & Domain Switch

• Test the new WordPress site for functionality, broken links, and design issues.
• Once verified, update the DNS settings to point your main domain to the new WordPress site.
• Keep the old BlogEngine.NET site live in a backup state for a short period (just in case).

Remember to create a backup system that will keep the old site up and running in case of eventualities.