Introduction
As Journal is accessed using your Falmouth IT Username and Password, editing access is revoked at the end of a staff or student's time at Falmouth University, which means that alumni will no longer have editing access to sites they created during their studies. Journal's are also archived after 3 years, so your work will not be hosted indefinitely.
For continued access to your site, there are two export options available. One is to export your site and import to a new WordPress site which is free but exported content often loses its formatting (see the Export to a new WordPress site guide).
The other option is to export your site and import to an Edublogs Pro site. This process involves paying an annual subscription for an Edublogs Pro account (US$39.95 as of May 2024). The majority of themes used in Journal are also available in Edublogs so providing that you select the same theme, exported content will not lose formatting. The Pro account also includes email support access for graduates needing assistance with importing settings and site duplication and it is possible to use a custom domain. If you wish to do this then please follow the steps in this guide.
Contents
- The four step process
- 1. Create an XML export file of your Journal site
- 2. Set up an Edublogs site
- 3. Upgrade your Edublogs site to a Pro Subscription
- 4. Import your XML file to your new Pro Edublogs website
- Custom Domain option
- Further support
To set up a new Edublogs Pro site using content from your Journal site is a 4 step process:
- Create an XML export file of your Journal site
- Set up an Edublogs website
- Upgrade your Edublogs site to a Pro Subscription
- Import your XML file to your new Edublogs Pro site
1. Create an XML export file of your Journal site
Go to 'Settings > Reading' and set the site to either allow or discourage search engines. If you are part of a class blog you will not have the permission to change the settings. If this is the case or you cannot find this option then please contact dlsupport@falmouth.ac.uk and a member of the Digital Learning Team will help you export your site.
From your Falmouth University Journal dashboard click 'Tools', then 'Export'. Select 'All content' and click the blue 'Download Export File' button. You will be prompted to download a file onto your computer. Keep the file format as 'XML text'.
2. Set up an Edublogs site
Go to https://edublogs.org/ and sign up for a new blog by either clicking the “Sign Up” or “Get a Free Blog” button. You can also use this link https://edublogs.org/#join-network, to go directly to the signup page.
Complete all the required fields in the signup form and select 'I want a site' (otherwise you’ll only create an account), then click 'Create A Site' to complete the site creation phase.
After receiving a success message, click on Go to Dashboard, which will take you to the backend of the newly created site.
You now have an Edublogs site but need to upgrade to an Edublogs Pro account before you can import your Journal site.
3. Upgrade your Edublogs site to a Pro Subscription
To upgrade, click the orange '+ Upgrade Blog' button (top right of your screen) to be taken to the Pro upgrade page.
Note: For a more detailed explanation refer to the Edublogs Pro upgrade guide.
4. Import your XML file to your new Pro Edublogs website
Before we start importing, it’s important to check that your Edublogs site’s privacy is set to “Public” in order to pull through media files correctly.
To do this go to your Dashboard, click Settings > Reading and ensure that your site visibility is either set to 'Allow search engine to index this site' or 'Discourage search engines from indexing this site.'
You also need to use the same theme that you used for your Journal site if possible.
To check/change themes, go to to Appearance > Themes locate the theme and activate it.
Note: If the theme you want is not available, you'll need to choose an alternative theme.
Once your upgrade is completed go to Tools > Import and click on 'Run Importer' under Advanced WordPress (recommended). Alternatively you can also click on 'Run Importer' under WordPress.
Select the XML file from your computer and click Upload File And Import.
You can then assign all posts and pages to your username and click Submit.
The import process will then begin and your posts and pages will start importing into your new site.
Note: For a more detailed explanation refer to the 'import content from another site' guide.
Custom Domain option
If you are continuing to add to your site and want to use it in a professional capacity to showcase your work etc., it may be useful to consider a custom domain for your site instead of the default mysite.edublogs.org. You can set up domain mapping to display a custom domain to your visitors by following guidance on the Domain mapping and using your own domain page.
Further Support
For general queries about Journal, students should first contact their module leader or personal tutor. For any other comments or issues within this guide, please contact the Digital Learning Team via dlsupport@falmouth.ac.uk. Alternatively, please refer to the help guides found on our Knowledge Base.
View the Accessibility Statement for all of our support guides.