IDN domain rejected by WordPress.com

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  cyrilhaldemann · Member · Apr 5, 2026 at 3:01 pm

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  Hi everyone,

  I recently purchased the domain noèr.ch via Hostpoint. The domain is active and visible in my Hostpoint dashboard, where it is also shown in its punycode form as xn--nor-7la.ch.

  When I try to connect this domain to my WordPress.com site, I run into two issues:

  1. If I enter the domain as www.noèr.ch, I get an error saying it’s not a valid domain.
  2. If I use the punycode version www.xn--nor-7la.ch, I now get the message:
     “This domain cannot be assigned to a WordPress.com blog because it contains an invalid term.”

  As far as I understand, IDNs (internationalized domain names) should work if entered in punycode format.

  My questions:

  • Does WordPress.com support domains with special characters like “è”?
  • Is this a known limitation or blacklist issue?
  • Has anyone successfully connected a similar domain?
  • Is there a workaround, or does this require manual approval from WordPress support?

  Any help or insights would be greatly appreciated!

  Thanks in advance 🙏

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  staartmees · Member · Apr 5, 2026 at 3:41 pm

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  The answer is very simple: wordpress.com doesn’t support domains with special characters.

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  melvend5 · Staff · Apr 5, 2026 at 9:54 pm

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  Hi there, @cyrilhaldemann
  
  Thanks for the detailed explanation.

  You’ve actually set everything up correctly on your end. The issue here isn’t with your domain or Hostpoint, but with a current limitation on WordPress.com.

  At the moment, connecting internationalized domain names (IDNs), like noèr.ch, even when using the punycode version (xn--nor-7la.ch) is not supported. Because of that, the system ends up returning errors like “not a valid domain” or “contains an invalid term.”

  We agree it’s a bit confusing since the domain itself is perfectly valid. It’s just not something our platform can accept right now.What you can do in the meantime

  • Use a domain without special characters (ASCII-only) and connect that to your site
  • Or keep noèr.ch with your registrar and set up a redirect to a domain that’s connected to your WordPress.com site

  I know that’s not the ideal outcome, especially if you were hoping to use this exact domain, but hopefully this clarifies what’s going on.

  Let us know if you’d like help setting up a redirect or choosing an alternative, happy to help!