Domain name

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  jinhaar · Member · Dec 20, 2019 at 5:39 am

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  Hi Support;

  I have recently joined WordPress for a new project that I am not sure that will proceed or not. So I wanted to start with the free website option to set up a mock up of the website and operate test runs in order demonstrate the website and once the decision is made to go ahead then upgrade and set up a proper domain name but have 2 questions.

  1. Who owns the ‘temporary’ domain name? In other words, can I cancel the ‘temporary’ domain and upgrade it to a formal domain name or does the ‘temporary’ domain name belong to WordPress and I have to set up a new domain name.

  2. How easy is it to migrate the contents from the free platform to the upgraded platform?

  Thanking you in advance for your prompt reply.

  Regards
  Jin Haar

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  kokkieh · Staff · Dec 20, 2019 at 8:10 am

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  1. Who owns the ‘temporary’ domain name? In other words, can I cancel the ‘temporary’ domain and upgrade it to a formal domain name or does the ‘temporary’ domain name belong to WordPress and I have to set up a new domain name.

  You own it, in that once you register it, you’re the only person who’ll ever be able to use it. You can transfer it to someone else, you can delete it, or you can replace it with a custom domain if you prefer. If you upgrade to a custom domain, the free address will still continue to exist in the background, and you can switch back to using it at any time.

  But the free address is also a subdomain on a domain that belongs to us, so you can’t use that free address with a site hosted anywhere else – it can only be used on WordPress.com.

  2. How easy is it to migrate the contents from the free platform to the upgraded platform?

  Nothing migrates. If you upgrade a free site to a paid plan, we just activate the additional features included in the plan on the existing site. Regular visitors to your site might not even notice anything has changed.

  If you add a custom domain, anyone who visits the site via previously shared links to the free address will still also reach your site, as we automatically redirect the free address to the custom domain.

  Let me know if you have any more questions.