ellenkushner: (SWORDSPINT)
ellenkushner ([personal profile] ellenkushner) wrote2012-04-26 03:26 pm
Entry tags:

How do you back up LJ?

I got quite a scare a couple days ago, when the LJ site was down, and I realized that 7 years' of musings (including back when I was working on TPOTS & blogging about it!) could be quite simply gone in an instant.

I know there are ways to preserve it all, but am not quite clear on what is the best way to go about it.  Advise, please?

ETA:  I have a Mac.  And will Dreamwidth archive all the old posts as well, or just whatever new I put up once I've synched? And what if Dreamwidth sustains Alien Invasion & is lost forever, too?

I'm so ignorant.


Thank you.

ETA ETA:  I think I've got it - thanks very much to all who took the time to advise me!

[identity profile] trillian42.livejournal.com 2012-04-26 07:29 pm (UTC)(link)
I use this:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/ljarchive/
It may take a few tries the first time as it chokes on the size of the archive, but after that it runs smoothly. I've never had any security issues.
carbonel: Beth wearing hat (Default)

[personal profile] carbonel 2012-04-26 07:31 pm (UTC)(link)
LJArchive broke sometime last year, but there's now a fix.

I'm not sure if the fix for it has made its way to the SourceForge site, but here it is.

[identity profile] trillian42.livejournal.com 2012-04-26 07:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Odd... mine was working as recently as February, and I know I never did that.

[identity profile] taraljc.livejournal.com 2012-04-26 07:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I also use LJArchive--and the fix is easy to apply!

[identity profile] calimac.livejournal.com 2012-04-26 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
It's still not downloading comments, which it did until last summer.
carbonel: Beth wearing hat (Default)

[personal profile] carbonel 2012-04-30 04:08 am (UTC)(link)
That's very weird; the fixed version collected comments for me.

[identity profile] calimac.livejournal.com 2012-04-30 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
I tried downloading the fix again, and now the program isn't working at all. Whenever I hit "sync", I get this error:

System.UriFormatException: Invalid URI: The Authority/Host could not be parsed.
at System.Uri.CreateThis(String uri, Boolean dontEscape, UriKind uriKind)
at System.Uri..ctor(String uriString)
at EF.ljArchive.Engine.LJServerFactory.Create(String url)
at EF.ljArchive.Engine.Sync.ThreadStart()
carbonel: Beth wearing hat (Default)

[personal profile] carbonel 2012-04-30 02:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Huh. That's the kind of error I was getting before I downloaded the fix.

You might try dropping a note to the woman who commissioned the fix. She isn't a developer, but she paid someone who is.

[identity profile] calimac.livejournal.com 2012-04-30 02:42 pm (UTC)(link)
It's not like the error I was getting before, which only applied to the comments and was much longer.

I thought about writing the person, but I could find no e-mail address on the page you linked to, there were no links to other pages, and sliding up the directory chain didn't help either.
carbonel: Beth wearing hat (Default)

[personal profile] carbonel 2012-04-30 09:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Here's the blog post from the person in question. She responded to a query of mine when I was having download problems.

[identity profile] stormsdotter.livejournal.com 2012-04-26 07:41 pm (UTC)(link)
I made a DreamWidth account and transferred all my posts over there. I try to update from DW (which I have set to crosspost to LJ) and I'm only really still on LJ because that's where most of my friends post.

[identity profile] barondave.livejournal.com 2012-04-26 07:47 pm (UTC)(link)
That's what I did, too: used DW as an archive, though I have rarely used it for anything else.

Important posts I simply cut and paste into a small TextEdit file. Really important posts I turn into html and post on the romm.org site.
jazzfish: Jazz Fish: beret, sunglasses, saxophone (Default)

[personal profile] jazzfish 2012-04-26 08:06 pm (UTC)(link)
+1 for Dreamwidth. The import process is easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy, and as an added bonus they no longer require an invite code to create an account.
ext_1978: (Default)

[identity profile] nebst.livejournal.com 2012-04-26 09:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Another +1 for DW. The mirrored posts remain navigable the same way they are on LJ that way, which is nice.

[identity profile] wolfsilveroak.livejournal.com 2012-04-27 12:31 am (UTC)(link)
Another vote for DreamWidth. I also use InsaneJournal as well.

[identity profile] autographedcat.livejournal.com 2012-04-26 07:43 pm (UTC)(link)
Two ways I know that are efficient (I use both).

ljArchive is a windows program that can do it. Someone recently posted a link to an updated version. It pulls posts and comments.
(Not sure if you're a Windows, Mac, or Windows user, let me know if you want the link.)

Another way is to set up an account on Dreamwidth and have it mirror your journal. Unless you start posting on DW and crossposting automatically to LJ (which I do, invisibly), you'll need to periodically resync, but it services as a great mirror, and if LJ goes down completely your entire blog is already extant, and you just have to give out the new address.

[identity profile] aynatonal.livejournal.com 2012-04-26 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)
I've used http://www.ljbook.com/ a couple of times to back up my journal to PDF. It asks for your password, but if that's something that makes you feel wonky, you can change it right before and after. It's been a trusted option for years, and is often recommended for this kind of thing.

[identity profile] rarelylynne.livejournal.com 2012-04-26 08:01 pm (UTC)(link)

*dons librarian/archivist hat*
As others above have said, the LJ archive app is nice. You can also consider looking at the Internet Archive/Wayback Machine's FAQ to see if you might use their ArchiveIt service, or at least submit your LJ for crawling.

http://archive.org/about/faqs.php

Once you've settled on a place for your literary papers, you might want to discuss how they plan to archive your digital presence, too.

:-)
Edited 2012-04-26 20:02 (UTC)
pameladean: (Default)

[personal profile] pameladean 2012-04-26 08:52 pm (UTC)(link)
I too have set up a Dreamwidth account and regularly import my LJ journal over there. I am too inept to figure out the mirroring thing.

My computer hated LJArchive years ago and I haven't ventured near it again. Given that this is several computers ago, I should probably take a look at it. Anyway, it looks as if you could get plenty of impromptu technical support from just the commenters so far, should it decide to kick up its heels and sneer at you.

P.
dreamflower: gandalf at bag end (Default)

[personal profile] dreamflower 2012-04-26 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)
I use Dreamwidth. I only use it when LJ is unavailable, but it only takes a few minutes to import every post you've made there.

After that, just import again every few weeks to keep up with your new posts. Or you could crosspost but I don't know how to do that from LJ to DW-- only the other way around.
dreamflower: gandalf at bag end (Default)

[personal profile] dreamflower 2012-04-26 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)
You can import every single post you've ever made including comments in only a few minutes.

As for if it sustains an Alien Invasion, I think that will be the least of our worries. However, you will not have any worries about evol sponsors taking offense to your posts and trying to remove things-- DW is totally fan-run, and is under the umbrella of the Organization for Transformative Works.
ext_3722: (Default)

[identity profile] lian-li.livejournal.com 2012-04-27 12:38 pm (UTC)(link)
(Not quite -- DW is actually an entirely separate entity to the OTW and a commercial enterprise.)
ext_28880: Gift from Frodosweetstuff :) (Default)

[identity profile] lbilover.livejournal.com 2012-04-27 01:05 am (UTC)(link)
Someone else mentioned LJ Book and I think that's a good addition to Dreamwidth. You'll have a complete copy of your LJ in pdf that you can save to your hard drive. I have multiple LJs and I back them all up with LJ Book just in case. It'll save comments, too, if you want.

[identity profile] fairjennet.livejournal.com 2012-04-27 03:14 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, Dreamwidth will archive all your old posts. Basically, what you would do is sign up for a Dreamwidth account, then import your existing posts to your new DW account. Dreamwidth is pretty user friendly, and it's run by some awesome people. They even have a guide for livejournal users (http://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=121). Their FAQ (http://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=127) explains the import process pretty clearly. It took me about five minutes, and I'm no computer whiz.

Unfortunately, as far as I know, there's no way to set up livejournal to automatically crosspost new entries to dreamwidth. You can, however, set up a dreamwidth account that automatically posts entries made in dreamwidth over to livejournal. Here's the FAQ (http://www.dreamwidth.org/support/faqbrowse?faqid=98) about crossposting. (I'm too lazy to completely switch over to dreamwidth, but many people seem happy reading and posting in livejournal from dreamwidth.)

I don't know what to do about Alien Invasions. Cower under the bed? ;)