How to Migrate to Dreamwidth
Updated as I learn new tricks
Dreamwidth was founded by ex-LJ staff members and the Dreamwidth code is a fork of the LiveJournal open source code (which just means that the software that runs Dreamwidth is based on LiveJournal’s code base). So the features (journals, commenting) should feel pretty familiar to anyone who has used Live Journal. Dreamwidth does not include advertizing. There’s the added bonus that you can subscribe to someone’s feed without friending them and allowing them access to your personal posts, which seems useful to me (especially during the "getting to know you" stages of online friendships). I’m also looking forward to being able to search my own journal (I’m always trying to find a lost post about something or other, I haven’t always been good about tagging my journal entries so I can find them here).
Added bonus for data nerds like me, Dreamwidth publishes their site stats. The LiveJournal Statistics page has been down for several years. The last time I managed to take a screen shot was 2012. (I’m a data nerd, I wanted actual proof that the site was dying before I fled.)
If you want to move to Dreamwidth:
Read the Guide to Dreamwidth for LiveJournal users.
There are a few Live Journal features missing. The two biggest things are no advertising, and DW does not have an official mobile app. But LJ no longer supports their mobile app, and this page lists workarounds for mobile users.
Create a free account OR Buy a Paid account if you prefer. (They’re slightly more expensive than Live Journal, but Dreamwidth is ad free, I’m happy to pay to support that!)
If, like me, you’re an icon addict, buy more icons so that your posts have their proper icons when you migrate (and so that you can migrate your entire icon collection).
Import your LiveJournal to Dreamwidth. This may take hours or days, depending on how many journals are waiting in line ahead of you. (FYI Your friends-locked posts will have a padlock icon, private posts will have one of those little red circles with a slash through it.) If you import your journal more than once, you'll get duplicate entries. (I imported mine in 2010, so all my earlier posts are now duplicates.)
ETA April 10 The importer is still running, we swear! It's just very busy.
Find your friends (put their screen name in the search box and select "Site and Account" from the menu before you hit search).
Friend people (From their profile page click Subscribe to read their posts, and/or Grant Access to add them to your friends circle. From their journal page, click the Add To Your Circle link up in the header and either subscribe and/or grant access.)
Start making posts.
Dreamwidth was founded by ex-LJ staff members and the Dreamwidth code is a fork of the LiveJournal open source code (which just means that the software that runs Dreamwidth is based on LiveJournal’s code base). So the features (journals, commenting) should feel pretty familiar to anyone who has used Live Journal. Dreamwidth does not include advertizing. There’s the added bonus that you can subscribe to someone’s feed without friending them and allowing them access to your personal posts, which seems useful to me (especially during the "getting to know you" stages of online friendships). I’m also looking forward to being able to search my own journal (I’m always trying to find a lost post about something or other, I haven’t always been good about tagging my journal entries so I can find them here).
Added bonus for data nerds like me, Dreamwidth publishes their site stats. The LiveJournal Statistics page has been down for several years. The last time I managed to take a screen shot was 2012. (I’m a data nerd, I wanted actual proof that the site was dying before I fled.)
If you want to move to Dreamwidth:
Read the Guide to Dreamwidth for LiveJournal users.
There are a few Live Journal features missing. The two biggest things are no advertising, and DW does not have an official mobile app. But LJ no longer supports their mobile app, and this page lists workarounds for mobile users.
Create a free account OR Buy a Paid account if you prefer. (They’re slightly more expensive than Live Journal, but Dreamwidth is ad free, I’m happy to pay to support that!)
If, like me, you’re an icon addict, buy more icons so that your posts have their proper icons when you migrate (and so that you can migrate your entire icon collection).
Import your LiveJournal to Dreamwidth. This may take hours or days, depending on how many journals are waiting in line ahead of you. (FYI Your friends-locked posts will have a padlock icon, private posts will have one of those little red circles with a slash through it.) If you import your journal more than once, you'll get duplicate entries. (I imported mine in 2010, so all my earlier posts are now duplicates.)
ETA April 10 The importer is still running, we swear! It's just very busy.
Find your friends (put their screen name in the search box and select "Site and Account" from the menu before you hit search).
Friend people (From their profile page click Subscribe to read their posts, and/or Grant Access to add them to your friends circle. From their journal page, click the Add To Your Circle link up in the header and either subscribe and/or grant access.)
Start making posts.