The Blogware blogging platform was a pioneering hosted content management system introduced by Tucows in 2003. Many thousands of users created blogs through innovative services offered by Tucows partners, including our own BlogHarbor service. Tucows recently announced that Blogware will soon be shut down and all Blogware blogs and content will be deleted on March 31, 2012.
We launched PressHarbor on July 4, 2007 to provide our Blogware customers looking to move to “self-hosting” on the up and coming WordPress platform with the ease,  simplicity, and peace of mind of our managed service. We’ve migrated many Blogware sites to PressHarbor over the past four years and have developed numerous techniques and custom tools to ensure the smoothest migration possible. Because of our extensive experience we are confident we can offer you the best, most complete migration of your Blogware site to WordPress.
We will be providing site migrations to our current BlogHarbor customers at no charge. If you are a Blogware user from another service provider, please read about our Blogware Migration Service.

Blogware Migration FAQs

What content can be migrated from Blogware to PressHarbor?

• All Articles from your Blogware blog can be migrated to your WordPress blog at PressHarbor.
• Photos in Photo Albums are migrated. Photo Albums become Categories of your WordPress blog .
• Comments can also be migrated. However, a bug in the Blogware export file causes the author information for a comment to not be retained. So all the comments when imported into WordPress are attributed to “Anonymous”. The problem is with the Blogware export file unfortunately so this issue would happen whether you move your Blogware site to PressHarbor or any other hosting service. Therefore, you can request, and in fact we suggest, that we do not migrate comments from your Blogware blog to your new WordPress-based blog at PressHarbor.
• URL Redirection – If you are currently hosting on your own domain name, or your current provider can point your existing blog address at your new PressHarbor-based domain, we will redirect your original Blogware URLs to your new WordPress URLs so not only will all your old links continue to work, but you will maintain your current Google ranking.
• All files uploaded to your blog’s File Manager will be migrated. So if you have uploaded images to accompany your blog articles for example, we’ll move those images to your new PressHarbor account.

What will not be migrated?

• The layout or Color Scheme for your blog will not be preserved. The WordPress Theme format is completely different from the Blogware Color Scheme format, so you will have to choose a new look for your blog. The good news is that in WordPress there are thousands of free themes available at the WordPress Themes Directory, or you can create your own custom theme.
• Sidebar components are not migrated. If you have created any custom components for your blog sidebar, you would need to recreate them on your new WordPress blog using WordPress’ Widgets feature. Neither custom components nor Favorites components are migrated.
• Attachments are not migrated unfortunately as they are not exposed by the Blogware migration tools. If you have added attachments to your articles, they will not be migrated to your new account.
• Trackbacks are not migrated.
• Blog Settings are not migrated. Since the Blogware system and WordPress system are so different, it is not possible to take any of the settings for your BlogHarbor blog and simply migrate them to your new WordPress blog. Please check out this excellent guide to WordPress Administration Settings for information on configuring the Settings of your new WordPress blog.
• Web Pages are not migrated. If you have any Web Pages, a special type of post which is not dated, you will need to re-create them using the analogous Pages feature in WordPress.
• Permissions are not migrated. Category settings and permissions work very differently in WordPress, and we are unable to apply any of the permissions in your Blogware blog to your WordPress-based PressHarbor account.
• User accounts are not migrated. So if you have users with permissions to your current Blog, those user accounts will not exist on the new WordPress site. You will need to reconfigure your site using the WordPress Roles and Capabilities framework.

Can I use my current blog address?

You’ll need your own domain name to blog at PressHarbor. If you don’t already have your own domain name, we’re offering a free domain name with all annual subscriptions.

I want to migrate my Blogware site to to PressHarbor. What should I do?

First step would be to place your order from one of the Order Now links on this page – be sure to use the coupon code BLOGWARE to receive a 10% discount on your hosting account.
You will be asked to create an Account with us along the way, you’ll use this account to register domains, order and manage hosting, and to submit support tickets. Once you have placed your order, create a Support Ticket and provide us with the following information:

• your current Blogware URL
• your Blogware provider
• your Blogware Username and Password
• where your current domain name (if you have one) is registered
• anything else you want us to know about your preferences on moving your site

We will work with you to gather any additional information required and will advise on a timetable for performing the content migration. Once we have completed the content migration, we’ll let you know how to preview your site prior to making any DNS changes, and once you are ready to commit to the move, we’ll provide instructions on making the DNS changes which will allow the Internet to see your site at its new location.

I have more questions about migrating. Where can I ask them?

Please feel free to contact us with any additional questions you have about migrating your Blogware blog.

[originally published on our BlogHarbor service]
Blogging is a powerful tool, and with that power comes responsibility. One of the most important considerations with respect to responsible blogging is the issue of copyright law. All bloggers should have a basic understanding of copyright law as it applies to publishing on the web, and how that law both guides the style and content which you can publish on a weblog but also protects your content from unauthorized use.
This page will provide some references on the topic of copyright law as it relates to blogging; we hope all BlogHarbor bloggers will take the time to review these articles to gain a deeper understanding of copyright law.
Copyright basics
A great place to start learning about copyright is at A brief intro to copyright by Brad Templeton. In this article, Brad defines copyright law and notes some introductory concepts as to what copyright law allows, what it prohibits, and what it protects.
Another article we recommend is 4 Basic Questions About Copyright and Weblogs, which answers these questions:

1. What Is Copyright?
2. Does copyright laws hold on the web and are they applicable to bloggers?
3. What is copyright infringement?
4. What types of copyright infringements do you often see bloggers commit?

Learning more about copyright
Another article from About Weblogs called 14 Copyright Tips For Bloggers provides tips for bloggers who wish to avoid copyright infringement problems, as well as tips for those whose copyrights are being infringed upon. A few of the tips they provide to bloggers looking to avoid copyright problems are:

1. Never copy the whole of anyone else’s material
2. Don’t just copy someone else’s stuff
3. Try to be proportionate
4. Acknowledge your sources if you do copy, and link to them

One of the most famous articles about copyright myths is 10 Big Myths about copyright explained, again by Brad Templeton. This article was originally penned in 1994 and was most recently revised in October 2004. Brad notes the 10 big myths are:

1. If it doesn’t have a copyright notice, it’s not copyrighted.
2. If I don’t charge for it, it’s not a violation.
3. If it’s posted to Usenet it’s in the public domain.
4. My posting was just fair use!
5. If you don’t defend your copyright you lose it.
6. If I make up my own stories, but base them on another work, my new work belongs to me.
7. They can’t get me, defendants in court have powerful rights!
8. Oh, so copyright violation isn’t a crime or anything?
9. It doesn’t hurt anybody — in fact it’s free advertising.
10. They e-mailed me a copy, so I can post it.

There’s even an 11th myth, but we won’t spoil that for you. Be sure to read Brad’s 10 Big Myths about copyright article reviewing these myths and provides insight into what’s really true about copyright law.
Summary
Understanding copyright law is a necessity for all bloggers and the articles we link to in this document will provide you with the detailed information you need to know about copyright. Respecting copyright guarantees that your blog does not infringe on the rights of others, and knowing the law can help ensure that your rights are protected.