Summer is quickly coming upon us, and it’s that time of year to start working on Summer of Code proposals. As you may remember, I participated in the Summer of Code last summer by creating a podcasting plugin for WordPress. This year I hope to participate again, adding something that will hopefully be included in WordPress’ core: an AtomPub-based content importer for Movable Type and TypePad. What follows is my proposal. Any and all feedback is welcome.
What is AtomPub?
AtomPub is an established standard for editing web resources (RFC 5023). Through AtomPub, content and media can be retrieved and edited with ease. Many content management systems have started implementing the standard, including WordPress as of version 2.3. Movable Type and TypePad, the targeted import environments, have added official support as of the beginning of this year.
What would an AtomPub-based Movable Type / TypePad Importer Bring to WordPress?
The number one added benefit of an AtomPub-based importer would be convenience. Currently, importing from Movable Type / TypePad requires an export file to be created. While uploading this file is easy enough, the process could be simplified.
By importing through AtomPub, only the URL location of the former blog and login credentials are needed; similar to the way the current Blogger importer works. The importer would be able to retrieve all required content information and complete the process with a single click, entirely over the internet.
My Proposed Solution
- Import all content information (posts, pages, categories, tags, etc) from an AtomPub-based Movable Type / TypePad installation in as few clicks as possible.
- Investigate providing a media import option. This option, if feasible, would import all media (pictures, etc) from a TypePad / Movable Type installation into WordPress 2.5’s new media manager, copying the content to /wp-content as needed.
- Investigate the possibility of extending AtomPub-based importers to other blogging platforms.