Migrating from an FTP custom domain to blogspot.com and maintaining Google links

So you may have noticed that the web address of this blog has changed yet again. I think this is now the site's third URL since I started the blog three and a half years ago, and I try to maintain some kind of continuity and functionality each time something here changes.

This change was forced upon me by Blogger, who have decided in their infinite wisdom to depreciate the option to publish your blog by FTP. This meant I could still use Blogger software, but had to switch the address the blog was at from http://jephso.spheresofchaos.co.uk/blog/ to a different, custom sub-domain or to using Blogger's free blogspot.com service. At first I wanted to switch services to Tumblr, but that had no feature to import my past posts from Blogger. Next I tried Wordpress, but their import feature didn't work, only importing about 5 of my posts. Also, you can't use custom templates on Wordpress very easily, so, as you can see, in the end I stayed with Blogger and went with a new URL of http://jephso.blogspot.com/.

But many of my pages get a lot of hits from Google, and so I wanted to make sure I didn't lose my recognition from Google in the switch. I also wanted to redirect my feed, so that anyone subscribed to the old feed (http://jephso.spheresofchaos.co.uk/blog/rss.xml) would be directed to the new one (http://jephso.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss).

Accurate redirects would mean that users would actually reach the content they were looking for, and apparently having accurate redirects helps Google update itself with your new page locations - one of the annoying things about having to switch is that Google no longer knows where your pages are until it has crawled them, which can take a while, and so the custom Google search tool on the right of my blog no longer works. This should become useful again once Google has crawled all my pages though.

Apparently Blogger will unveil a tool to migrate everything automatically for you soon, but it's not available yet. So in the hope that this info may be of benefit to others who are making the switch, here's what I did:

At first I redirected the feed by placing a .htaccess file in the jephso.spheresofchaos.co.uk directory which simply said:

Redirect 301 /rss.xml http://jephso.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

I then placed another .htaccess file in the jephso.spheresofchaos.co.uk/blog directory which said:

Redirect 301 / http://jephso.blogspot.com/

That directed all traffic from from my old posts to the new homepage. But I wanted to maintain page-to-page links, so that someone clicking on a Google link to one of my posts would go to the exact post they clicked on, rather than just the blog homepage. After playing around with .htaccess files for a while I found that simply placing the following .htaccess file in the jephso.spheresofchaos.co.uk directory did the trick:

Redirect 301 /blog/ http://jephso.blogspot.com/

Now when a user clicked on one of my old posts from Google they would be directed to the same post, but at its new location. One more problem though. At some point Blogger must have changed the way URLs for labels are formed. On my old blog a list of posts under one label, for example, books, would be listed at http://jephso.spheresofchaos.co.uk/blog/labels/books.html. But on my new blogspot.com blog it's listed under http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/books/. There didn't seem to be a quick-fix solution to solve this, so I created manual redirects for each label, resulting in a big .htaccess file that looks like this:

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/art.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/art/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/blogging.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/blogging/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/books.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/books/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/driving.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/driving/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/drums.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/drums/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/film.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/film/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/food.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/food/

Redirect 301 "/blog/labels/gamewave podcast.html" http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/gamewave%20podcast/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/gigs.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/gigs/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/internet.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/internet/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/japan.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/japan/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/japanese.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/japanese/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/job.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/job/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/music.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/music/

Redirect 301 "/blog/labels/pterodactyl squad.html" http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/pterodactyl%20squad/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/reaction__review.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/reaction%2Freview/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/sheffield.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/sheffield/

Redirect 301 "/blog/labels/spheres of chaos.html" http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/spheres%20of%20chaos/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/sport.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/sport/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/t-shirts.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/t-shirts/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/technology.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/technology/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/travel.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/travel/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/tv.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/tv/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/university.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/university/

Redirect 301 "/blog/labels/video games.html" http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/video%20games/

Redirect 301 /blog/labels/weather.html http://jephso.blogspot.com/search/label/weather/

Redirect 301 /blog/ http://jephso.blogspot.com/

Redirect 301 /rss.xml http://jephso.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Note that the order of the redirects is important. As browsers check the top entry first, you want specific redirects towards the top, then more general ones towards the bottom. Also note that if you have spaces or other punctuation in your webpages, you may need to add equivalent code or put speech marks around the addresses, or else they won't be read properly.

I then went to Google and searched site:jephso.spheresofchaos.co.uk/blog/ to find all the links Google has to my old site. When doing this for yourself, remember to clear your browser's cache every time you make changes to the .htaccess file for the changes to be picked up.

Now all the old links run through to my new blog, and the new links should be picked up by Google soon. To be honest, this whole palaver has got me back into regular blogging again. I just hope Blogger don't decide to change anything again anytime soon, as this blog is now in its third incarnation. Classic templates (which I use for this blog) could be the next thing to go, but everything's sorted for now. And if you haven't subscribed to the new feed yet, make sure you do at http://jephso.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss.

The end?

I've been writing this blog for two years now, and after thinking about it for a while I've decided I'm going to take a break for a bit.

One of the main purposes of this blog has been to keep a diary of sorts for myself, but recently I've been wanting to write something a bit more in-depth and personal. So I think I'm gonna switch over to a writing an actual journal, Doug Funnie style, and see how that goes.

I know people might want to keep up to date with how I'm doing over in Japan, but my hope is that we'll still keep in touch via other means. And although there's not much there at the moment, I'm going to try and take lots of photos and upload them to my Flickr account while I'm over there.

Thanks to everyone who's read and commented on here, and don't forget about this blog/me completely. I've moved the blog homepage, but I'm keeping the feeds in the same locations, so stay subscribed, and I might be back at some point.

Housekeeping

The more observant of you may have noticed a few changes to the sidebar on the right recently. There's now a link to ジョーのブルーシート, which is a blog I've made for my Japanese language classes at uni. It's just a place to upload my weekly homeworks for others to read, and the teacher encourages everyone in our class to do it. If you don't read Japanese it's probably not that interesting, but if you do you might wanna take a look.

Also, I removed the Spottt thing that used to be there. It didn't really bring much traffic to the blog at all, and some of the images that were appearing didn't look too nice, so I took it down. But my hits have been increasing quite a lot recently - not quite sure why. I've found that every site I've created tends to constantly grow though, and last month's hits reached a record high. I think a lot of people come here through obscure Google searches, and it's quite interesting to look through my stats at the keyphrases. For example, if you search "sonic duvet cover" I'm currently second in the whole of Google, and third for "sumo wrestling cymbals"!

２学期

The second semester of my second year at university has been pretty decent so far. I'm taking modules in Japanese language, Japanese society and one called Web Journalism and the workload has been much lighter than last semester. This means I'm finding myself with free time, which feels quite weird after not having any for about a year and a half. I've realised that I actually find it quite hard to relax when I have nothing to do now, 'cos I'm just so used to constantly working.

I think one of the reasons for the decrease in the amount of work this term has been due to me taking Web Journalism. The course seems to be intended for journalists who wish to learn something about working with the internet, and so far has involved a general study of the 'net as well as some basic web design. As I spend so much time on the internet it all comes fairly easy to me, and even the journalistic side shouldn't be too hard, as with things like the podcast I've already been creating some form of journalistic content.

Also, for the language part of my degree our teachers are encouraging the class to start writing a blog. So instead of writing out our weekly compositions on a sheet and handing it in, we'll all have our own blog where we write weekly posts for the teachers and everyone else to read. The idea is that we'll continue writing while we're out in Japan too. I think it's pretty cool that our teachers are embracing the web in this way.

Spottt

You might have noticed a new addition to the sidebar on the right of this page. After finding out about Spottt through another blog I decided to sign up. There have been a few services of this type springing up over the past few weeks; here's how Spottt works:

"If you have a website, blog, or MySpace profile, you can use Spottt to get people to your page without paying for advertising. Spottts are 125 x 125 pixel graphics that link from your web page to another, and vice-versa. For every two times a Spottt is shown on your site, your Spottt will appear once on another site."

Quite a useful thing to be involved in, it's fairly simple to implement and you can view stats on things like how many times your ad has been shown and how many times it's been clicked on. Also, adds a nice dynamic to your page I think.

Using the BBC iPlayer service I recently watched a documentary called Factory: Manchester from Joy Division to Happy Mondays. It's a film about the independent record label Factory Records which began in Manchester in the late 1970s, releasing music from acts such as Joy Division and New Order. I was familiar with what happened with Factory and the people involved as I'd seen the film 24 Hour Party People, a retelling of the whole story starring Steve Coogan as Tony Wilson, the guy behind Factory. And it is a really great story, very interesting and entertaining. It's no longer available through BBC iPlayer, but if you're interested in the history of British music then definitely check out either of these films.

Also, the Beets t-shirt I mentioned here came in the post the other day. My t-shirt addiction continues...

ORESKABAND

For some reason blogging on a Thursday just feels right.

I've been ill again. Illness sucks so much. It doesn't put everything on hold, it just slows things down and makes them unenjoyable. But this is like the 2nd or 3rd time I've been ill already this semester. Anyway, I'm getting better now.

I think I've found my new favourite band. Watch this video and tell me you expected 5 girls to come round that corner, 3 of them with brass instruments. You didn't did you.



They're called ORESKABAND.

This Is England

I went to see the film This Is England last Friday. I'd been wanting to see it ever since it came out, and as they were showing it at my university union for only £1.80 I decided to go along. It was one of the best films I've seen in a while; probably the best British film I've ever seen.

The film was set in the 80s, and as well as using 80s fashion, housing, cars etc. there was a slight grain to the film, which made it feel authenticly 20 years old. The acting was realistic too - something I really enjoy in film. I love films like this, or TV programs like The Office, where it just feels like things aren't scripted - it really helps immerse you. I also enjoyed the elements of ska music and the exploration of the skinhead movement. I find it interesting how this culture is split so markedly over issues like nationalism and immigration. Definitely check it out if you get the chance.

While checking out my web stats I came across a site called Technorati. I'd heard about it before but never visited. It basically indexes blogs, allowing you to search through them and see responses and popularity for certain blogs. This blog is on there, and it's always nicely narcissistic/strange to find sites like this that hold information about you.

The other day I read about Radiohead and their new album. Radiohead are one of those bands that a lot of people seem to like, but that I've never really checked out properly, and the stuff I have heard isn't that interesting. They've set up a site though where you can download their new album In Rainbows before it's released as a CD, and the twist is that you can set the price of the download, even download it for free. It's quite a novel concept, and I doubt that Radiohead will end up making much money through this venture, but it's great to see such a massive band circumventing the music industry in this way (I didn't actually download the album, as you had to sign up for an account or something).

Websites

I recently started writing for a gaming blog called 8bit Hero!. Kerri, the guy who runs the site, contacted me through the Gamewave Podcast, and I'm going to try and write something every so often, probably based around video game music.

Another website/netlabel that I'm involved with is Mega Twerp, which has just undergone an update and re-design after a few months' downtime. My band, Spheres of Chaos, have made a release through Mega Twerp and I highly recommend checking out some of the other artists on there too. It's all really good video game influenced music, but there's a massive range of styles on there, which is great - an alternative to the more strict sounds of 8bitpeoples and Betamod (actually, Betamod and Mega Twerp are both maintained by Tony Gallo/Player Two). I look forward to hearing even more awesome music from MT in the future.

Friday

It's the end of another week. I have quite a few things to do this weekend. I have to pick up some new hi-hat cymbals from a drum shop in Rotherham. The manufacturer's website describes the cymbals as having an "Explosive, clear and open sound with a meaty and cutting chick", which is the kind of sound I'm going for (I like reading descriptions of cymbal sounds like this, it's interesting to see sounds put into words).

It's been surprisingly hard to get hold of the exact cymbals I want, and as I've ordered them by putting down a deposit I have to purchase them without actually having a chance to test them out beforehand (I have listened to some audio samples on the manufacturers website, but it's not the same). In my experience, specific drums and cymbals are quite hard to get hold of. Shops generally carry only popular lines, are often more expensive than internet shops and there aren't that many drum shops around. The alternative, buying through internet shops, means you can't test items out before purchasing them though. This shop in Rotherham is relatively big, and it's good to see so many drum related objects in one room.

Also this weekend, I have the podcast to record and I should be going to an all day metal festival in town with a friend.

Recently, a friend and I restarted work on a documentary we originally conceived just under a year ago. It's going to be a documentary about what's fashionable and cool, much inspired by the work of Morgan Spurlock, Michael Moore and other similar documentary makers. We did some filming a while back, but we've been too lazy or had too many commitments to make any real progress on it. I've always liked documentaries - they can be much more engrossing than movies because they're dealing with real life - and I'm quite excited to start work on this project again.

Also, I read recently that Rage Against The Machine, one of my favourite and most personally influential bands, are reforming for a performance at a Californian music festival called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April of this year. I was really surprised to hear this. Maybe it's because I wasn't a fan of RATM whilst they were together and have no experience of them being part of current or new music. In a way, I kind of like the fact that they're not together any more. Their last album really wasn't that good.

My friend Ben Nuttall recently put up a link to this blog on his blog, so I thought it'd only be fair to mention him back. In fact, it might be a good idea to put up my own 'blog roll'. Ben's cool, he's into parkour and Tenacious D.

Partwork magazines

I bought the first issue of one of those partwork magazines today - you know, those ones which appear at the start of the year with a really cheap price, then sell for the rest of the year at a much higher price, by which time no-one is buying them. This one is called Manga Force and each issue you get a very thin magazine along with an anime DVD (the magazine title might confuse some people). I normally dismiss this type of magazine, after laughing at the advert - usually the gifts are something silly like hand-painted soldiers.

I haven't really watched much anime or read much manga, even though I'm interested in Japanese culture and starting my course has motivated me to watch more anime and read more manga. I've enjoyed the majority of what I've seen so far and I thought this magazine would be a good opportunity to watch some cool anime and expand my collection of DVDs. Also, in February I'm beginning a module in East Asian cinema, so I would like to view a few more East Asian films than I have already, which isn't too many. It's just a shame that the price of the magazine leaps from £2.99 to £8.99. It'll be interesting to see how far I get.

I've been playing around with the feed setting for my blog recently. There's a link in the sidebar on the right to the correct feed now.

November 21st

I can never really think of good titles for my blogs, as I end up talking about more than one subject, and unfortunately, they are often not related. But that's one of the cool things about blogs.

I think I might try and get back into blogging. Not that I've ever been into it in a big way, but I enjoy it for a number of reasons. Rather like a diary it helps you keep a record of what's happening in your life at the same time as mulling things over and discussing them. But blogs are more public than a diary, and so allow you to share experiences with other people all around the world through the internet - I just never quite know how much detail to apply. And although it would be cool if lots of people read my blog, it's not the only reason I'd write blogs.

I also have a chance to practice grammar and such, even if my digital scribblings are quite colloquial.

Today I received two albums in the post. One was the new Killswitch Engage album and the other was the E.T. soundtrack. E.T. really is an amazing film. I love nearly all Spielberg films. I also love those which were shot in the 80s, therefore E.T. fits the bill nicely. Every time I watch it I feel as if I want to live in Elliott's town and ride bikes around the streets - I think the mark of a good film or TV programme is one which draws you in so much that you want to be part of what is happening. In fact, I love E.T. so much that I chose Elliot as my middle name.

The E.T. score was written by John Williams, probably the best movie music guy around (responsible for Star Wars and Jaws also, if you didn't know). I'm not usually into classical-type music much, but when I can link it to a good film I enjoy it much more.

Today was the day when Amazon.co.uk were offering pre-orders for the Wii. I forgot, and was at university for much of the day, and apparently all pre-orders had been made within the first 5 minutes anyway. I guess there'll be some in stock in time for Christmas.

Another thing which I forgot about was the fact that November 21st is No Music Day. I first read about this event in a music magazine, and the article which described the day sounded rather morbid. Despite this I became interested. There is no set aim behind the day, but basically the idea is that people go without music for a day. I thought this would be a challenge and one that would make me think about how I value music. I wondered whether I could go the whole day without hearing music - this would be very difficult (I would not have been able to watch TV, or the film I talk of later, for example). In the end I completely forgot about the day, but hearing about it has made me want to cut down on how often I listen to music, and I will try to hold a No Music Day of my own soon.

Music has become too easy to get hold of, too cheap. Although inventions such as the iPod are great pieces of machinery, they are partly to blame. I'm almost at the point where I need to hear music all day, like it's a fix, part of an addiction. And I don't like that, as afterwards I feel unfulfilled. I think the less I listen to music, the more I will come to appreciate it and not view it as a simple piece of entertainment, but as something more meaningful.

Also, today I saw Grave of the Fireflies for the first time, an anime movie famous for being incredibly sad. Whenever I would speak to anyone about the film the first thing they would say is that they nearly cried, or did cry. The film was very sad, and although my friends did, I didn't come close to crying. I was expecting myself to, simply because everyone else had said they did, and I wonder whether I am out of touch with my emotions or that I cannot fully immerse myself in a film. I hope not, and I don't think so either.