How to Properly Move Your Blog from Tumblr to WordPress

Do you want to move your Tumblr blog to WordPress?

WordPress is the most powerful website builder and blogging platform in the world. It gives you complete freedom to build any website that you want.

In this article, we will show you how to move your blog from Tumblr to WordPress properly.

Why You Should Move Your Tumblr Blog to WordPress?

Tumblr started out as a fully hosted microblogging platform and gained popularity among the more casual bloggers.

However, it offers limited ability to monetize the content. Users find it difficult to design their blogs and connect their content to eCommerce and subscription features.

WordPress, on the other hand, is the most popular blogging platform in the world. It powers more than 43% of all websites on the internet.

It gives users more flexibility to design websites, add an online store, offer membership features, and more.

To learn more about WordPress and what you can do with it, please see our complete WordPress review with pros and cons.

There are two types of WordPress.

First, there is WordPress.com, a hosted platform, and then there is WordPress.org, also called self-hosted WordPress. To understand the difference, please see our comparison of WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org.

We recommend using WordPress.org because it allows you to build any website. It also gives you access to all powerful WordPress features out of the box.

Things You’ll Need to Move Tumblr to WordPress

To start with WordPress.org, you’ll need a domain name and a web hosting account.

We recommend using Bluehost. They are an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider and one of the largest hosting companies in the world.

They are offering WPBeginner users a free domain name, a free SSL certificate, and a discount on hosting. Basically, you can get started for $2.75 / month.

If you can spend a little more, then we recommend SiteGround. They are also an officially recommended WordPress hosting service.

Note: Bluehost and SiteGround don’t allow the hosting of adult content on their servers.

If your Tumblr blog contains adult content, then we recommend Hostinger. They are also on our list of the top WordPress hosting companies.

Once you have purchased hosting, the next step is to install WordPress. Most hosting providers offer 1-click WordPress installation. If you cannot find the option, then ask your hosting company, and they will install WordPress for you.

Alternatively, you can follow our step-by-step guide on how to install WordPress to do it yourself.

After installation, you’ll reach the WordPress dashboard screen, which looks like this:

Moving Your Content From Tumblr to WordPress

First, you need to visit the Tools » Import page and click on the ‘Install Now’ button below Tumblr.

WordPress will now fetch and install the Tumblr Importer tool for you.

Once done, click on the ‘Run Importer’ link to continue.

On the next screen, you’ll need to provide OAuth Consumer and Secret keys. These keys allow your WordPress site to connect and import your content from Tumblr servers.

To get these keys, you need to click on the URL shown on the screen.

This will take you to the Tumblr website. If you are not logged in, then you will be asked to log in.

After that, click on the ‘Register Application’ button to continue.

Next, you need to fill in the ‘Application Name’, ‘Application Website’, ‘Application Description, and ‘Default Callback URL’ fields. All the rest can be left blank.

For the website and default callback URL fields, you need your WordPress site’s full URL. You can use anything you want for the Application name and description.

Once you are done, click the ‘Register’ button at the bottom to continue.

Tumblr will now register the application and return you to the application dashboard.

From here, you can copy the consumer key. You need to click on the ‘Show Secret’ to reveal and copy the secret key.

You now need to go back to your WordPress admin area, go to the Tools » Import page, and rerun the importer.

You can enter the keys you copied earlier in the importer settings and click on the ‘Connect to Tumblr’ button.

On the next screen, you need to click on the ‘Authorize this application’ button.

This will take you to Tumblr, where you will be asked to allow the app to connect with your account.

Click on the ‘Allow’ button to continue.

Next, you’ll be redirected back to your WordPress site, and the importer will now show your Tumblr blogs.

Simply click on the ‘Import this blog’ button next to the blog you want to import.

The importer will now start importing your content from Tumblr to WordPress. This may take some time, depending on how much content you have.

Once finished, you will see the success message.

You can now visit the Posts and Pages sections of your WordPress blog to see your imported content.

You can also visit your WordPress website to see how the posts are displayed on your live website.

Redirecting Tumblr Visitors to Your New WordPress Blog

Now that you have imported the content, you will want your Tumblr visitors to be able to find your new blog.

To do this, you need to edit your Tumblr blog’s theme. First, go to the Tumblr settings page.

From here, it will show you a list of blogs you have created under your Tumblr account.

Click on the blog name that you want to edit to open its settings.

This will open your blog settings.

On this screen, you need to click on the ‘Edit theme’ button to continue.

Next, click on the ‘Edit HTML’ option under the theme name.

This will allow you to edit the HTML code of your Tumblr theme.

Tumblr will now show you the HTML code of the theme.

First, you need to paste this code snippet right after the <head> tag:

<!-- Inside head -->
<meta name="description" content="this is a legacy blog page, and will redirect to the same post on my new blog">
<script type='text/javascript'>
   let new_slug = window.location.pathname;
   let new_root = "https://example.com";
   let new_url = new_root + new_slug;
   console.log(`<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"" + ${new_url} + "\">`);
</script>

Don’t forget to replace example.com with the actual URL of your new WordPress blog.

After that, you need to paste this second piece of code right after the <body> tag:

<!--Inside of <body> -->
<script type='text/javascript'>
    window.location = new_url;
</script>

You can now click on the ‘Update Preview’ button and then click on the ‘Save’ to store your settings.

This code will send your Tumblr visitors to your WordPress site. However, users visiting a specific page or post will see a 404 error. That’s because the URL format of Tumblr and your WordPress site are different, so you will need to redirect users to the correct posts.

Setting Up Redirects in WordPress for Your Tumblr Posts

There are two easy ways to set up redirects in WordPress for your Tumblr posts. We will show you both of them, and you can choose one that best suits you.

1. Set Up Redirects Using All in One SEO

All in One SEO for WordPress is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market. It allows you to easily optimize your WordPress website for search engines.

It also comes with a powerful Redirection Manager, which we will be using for this tutorial.

First, install and activate the All in One SEO for WordPress plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the All in One SEO » Redirects page. Under ‘Add New Redirection’, you need to enter the following values:

Source URL: ^//post/\d+/(.)

Target URL: /$1/

Don’t forget to check the ‘Regex’ box under the Source URL option.

After that, click on the Add Redirect button to save your changes. All in One SEO will redirect users to the correct articles on your site.

2. Set Up Redirects Using Redirection

This method is helpful if you are not using the All in One SEO plugin.

First, you need to install and activate the Redirection plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the Tools » Redirection page to configure settings. Under the ‘Add new redirection’ section, you need to add redirection using regular expressions like this:

Source URL: .*/post/\d+/(.*)

Target URL: /$1

After that, check the ‘Regex’ checkbox and then click on the ‘Add Redirect’ button to save your settings.

That’s all. Your Tumblr blog posts will now redirect to the correct article on your new WordPress blog.

Congratulations! You have successfully moved your blog from Tumblr to WordPress.

Things to Do After Moving From Tumblr to WordPress

Now that you have moved your content from Tumblr to WordPress, you may want to explore WordPress, learn the basics, and take advantage of this powerful platform.

Following are a few pointers to help you get going.

Set Up a WordPress Theme

The first thing most users want to do after moving to WordPress is to change their blog’s design. WordPress comes with thousands of free and paid WordPress themes to choose from.

Here are some of our expert picks of the best WordPress themes for different kinds of blogs:

• Best free WordPress blog themes
• Best WordPress magazine themes
• Best free WordPress photography themes
• Best Tumblr Style WordPress themes

Need help setting up a new theme? See our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress theme.

Installing WordPress Plugins

Next, you would want to take advantage of WordPress plugins. WordPress plugins are like apps for your WordPress site and allow you to add new features to your website, like adding a contact form, installing Google Analytics, adding membership features, and more.

However, choosing the right plugins can be overwhelming for new users. That’s why we have compiled a list of essential WordPress plugins that you can install.

Learning WordPress

WordPress is quite easy to use and manage. However, there is a learning curve involved whenever you start with a new platform. This is where WPBeginner can help.

WPBeginner is the largest free WordPress resource site for beginners. We have lots of helpful content that is created specifically for beginners, business owners, and bloggers.

Following are a few of the helpful resources you will find on WPBeginner (all of them are completely free):

• WPBeginner Blog – The central place for all our WordPress tutorials and guides.
• WPBeginner Dictionary – Our WordPress glossary will help you quickly familiarize yourself with the WordPress lingo
• WPBeginner Videos – New WordPress users can start with these videos to master WordPress.
• WPBeginner on YouTube – Need more video instructions? Subscribe to our YouTube channel with more than 294,000+ subscribers and 52 Million+ views.
• WPBeginner Engage – WPBeginner’s Facebook group has 95,000+ active users. It is a good place to ask your WordPress questions and get answers from the WPBeginner community.
• WPBeginner Blueprint – Check out the plugins, tools, and services we use on WPBeginner.
• WPBeginner Deals – Exclusive discounts on WordPress products and services for WPBeginner users.

Many of our users use Google to find answers on WPBeginner by adding ‘wpbeginner’ at the end of their search term.

We hope this article helped you move your blog from Tumblr to WordPress. You may also want to see our actionable tips to drive traffic to your new WordPress blog.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.