Blogger to Joomla question

Blogger has an export feature that output xml
http://www.google.com/support/blogger/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=97416

There are a number of bulk import joomla extensionis
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/migration-a-conversion/data-import-a-export

You will also need to convert the output xml file from blogger to a format that bulk loading plugins use
different approaches will be needed depending on which tool you choose
You can find tools that convert xml to csv or you could use xslt to tranform the xml into a format that could be consumed by the xml based plugins

Are there any of those extensions that you would recommend?

Also ... will this import all images and comments etc?

For your purposes I'd recommend
http://extensions.joomla.org/extensions/migration-a-conversion/data-import-a-export/12816 

it imports images/meta data - I don't know about comments

Excellent, so these are the steps I need to take:

1) Export Blogger blog as XML
2) Install the J2XML extension for Joomla
3) Import XML into Joomla

With regards to the actual blog within Joomla, do you know what the default blog is like? Is it possible to get one that is identical or very similar to Word Press or Blogger?

Thanks for your help by the way ;-)

To the first part of your question
I'd put the steps as follows
1. Get Joomla configured and working like you want it, including the plugin
2. Export Blogger blog as XML
3. Make a backup copy of the XML
4. Convert the XML to the XML format that J2XML uses - this is the hard part - it would require some scripting or XSLT or utilizing som kind of mapping tool to transform the file.  Some of the other plugins work with CSV files which would allow you to do a conversion from XML to CSV and then use the plugin to import CSV
5. Import the XML
6. Validate the results in Joomla - make sure its doing what you expect. if not back to step 4

Joomla is much more powerful than a simple blog its a full blown CMS.  You can find joomla templates and plugins for just about everything.  Wordpress is another option you might want to consider.

Thanks ... I've already got Joomla configured and most of the site built using the beez template, the remaining things are the blog and a paypal shopping section.

So are you saying I need to choose and set up the blog in Joomla 1st and then import the XML, rather than the other way around?

yes you need to have the blog setup first so you can make sure the data you import gets mapped correctly

I have managed to import the XML into Wordpress ... is it possible to go from WP to Joomla, rather than the method you mentioned above>?

I am nearly at the stage where I am going to attempt this so your advice is appreciated very much.