Skip to main content

Importing blog posts into Podia

Rodrigo avatar
Written by Rodrigo
Updated this week

If you're transitioning from a different service to start blogging with Podia, you can utilize Podia's blog importer tool to effortlessly import your blog posts to Podia.

This process is a one-time import and doesn't provide ongoing sync for new content between the platforms.

Before you begin: make sure to review the information in this help doc for a clearer understanding of what items can and cannot be imported.

Before you begin...

Podia's blog importer tool helps you import blog posts from other platforms to Podia, allowing you to quickly start your blogging journey with us!

It's important to note that while most content will be imported, the original design from your existing platform may not transfer over, resulting in a different appearance.

Given the unique nature of each platform, we'll make adjustments, but you may also need to manually fine-tune some aspects, as they might not align perfectly with your current setup.

Let's dive into what will and will not be imported and the changes you can expect in your imported posts.

What imports and what doesn't import?

Here's what will get imported:

  • Blog post content

  • Images

  • Embedded video players

  • Styling such as bold, italics, and strikethrough

  • Summary (will be added as an excerpt)

  • Author name

  • Post date

  • Categories (if they follow the RSS 2.0 specification)

Here's what doesn't get imported:

  • Draft posts and posts behind a paywall

  • Content from plugins

  • Custom styling or CSS

  • Tables

  • Tags and categories

  • Embedded code

  • Videos uploaded to blog posts and hosted on external platforms

  • Image captions

  • Subscript, superscript, and underline styles

  • Tracking pixels (such as ones coming from Google Ads, Hubspot, and other similar platforms)

A few things to consider...

In certain situations, we may need to slightly adjust your blog post to guarantee the best compatibility when transferring it to Podia.

Below are some changes you might notice in your blog post, depending on the kind of content it contains:

  • If we can't import specific images (e.g. the file is not available anymore), we'll add the source URL as text to help you find it and manually upload it to Podia.

  • H1s to h4s will be imported as-is. We'll transform h5s and h6s (and any other subsequent heading tags) into h4s.

  • We'll transform all image captions into paragraph tags.

  • We'll bring in content from tables + summary/details but we'll squish them together (tables/summary/details are not supported on Podia)

  • Subscript, superscript, and underline content comes over but styling will not be applied.

  • Small content comes over, but its styling might not. Small content styling gets applied to an entire paragraph and it won't come over if it's applied to a few words in the paragraph.

  • We'll bring in featured images and attach them as featured images to your post.

  • Emojis might be imported as images depending on the platform.


Importing blog posts

Here's how to import your blog posts using Podia's blog post importer:

  1. From your Podia dashboard, click on Blog in the sidebar menu.

  2. Click on the "..." option at the top of the page and select Import posts.

  3. On the blog importer page, enter your blog's feed URL or your main blog link and click Validate URL.

    • For better results, use your blog's direct feed URL.

    • If Podia fails to validate the blog link you submitted, go back and make sure you're submitting your blog's feed URL/main blog page.

  4. Confirm the title and number of posts of the blog you're importing from.

    • If you're seeing fewer posts than you currently have on your platform, make sure these missing posts are not set to draft/unpublished or behind a paywall.

    • Our blog importer tool only imports posts available through an RSS or Atom feed.

  5. Use the toggles to determine if you'd like the posts to be imported as published/unpublished and/or if you'd like blog categories to be imported as well.

    Categories can only be imported if present in the post element <item> in the feed and follow the RSS 2.0 specification.

  6. When you're ready for the import to begin, click on Import posts.

  7. Your import will start shortly and we'll begin creating the blog posts and adding them to your Blog CMS page.

    As the import is still running, you'll see a banner at the top of the page saying the import is still in process.

  8. You'll receive an email when the import finishes and you'll be able to access all of the imported posts from your Blog CMS page.

Please review your posts and their appearance before sharing them with your audience to make sure they align precisely with your vision.


FAQs & Troubleshooting

My import failed... HELP!

Check out this article on Troubleshooting issues with Podia's blog importer for more details.

Can I select just specific blog posts to import?

No. Once you submit your blog's feed URL, we'll import all of your posts.

You can always delete the ones you don't want or simply unpublish them once the import has finished.

Does Podia support importing posts behind a paywall?

No. We're not able to import posts behind a paywall.

Our blog importer tool only imports posts available through an RSS or Atom feed.

Quickly disable the paywall for your posts and ensure they're being picked by your blog's RSS feed, or manually add them to Podia.

Can I import current posts I have as community posts or site pages with the blog importer?

No. The blog importer only works for blog posts hosted outside of Podia through an RSS/Atom feed.

Community posts and site pages cannot be used with the blog importer and would need to be manually created as blog posts.

Can I re-submit my blog feed if I want to re-import blog posts?

Re-submitting your blog feed to re-import posts isn’t supported.

Podia will recognize posts that have already been imported and won’t create new entries or update existing ones.

To re-import blog posts, you’ll need to delete the previously imported blog posts first.


Still need help?

If you have any questions, send an email to [email protected] or click the purple help icon to send us a message 😄

Did this answer your question?