Moving .co.uk domains into WordPress.com
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To WordPress forums,
Hi, I’m hoping that someone here can give me a clear, up-to-date answer on transferring .co.uk domains into WordPress.com. The info I’ve found here suggests this can’t be done (except via Domain Connection/Mapping), but appears to be several years old, and I’m wondering if things have changed / improved recently.
I have 6 domains (3 x .com, and 3 x .co.uk), all currently registered with a domain registration company (https://www.123-reg.co.uk) here in the UK. I wish to completely get away from 123 Reg, and for all 6 domains to instead be within a new account on WordPress.com that I’ve just created. One of the .co.uk domains also has hosting (the other 5 redirect to that .co.uk domain), but since I want to redevelop this website from scratch, I don’t care what happens to the current content. I also have one email address associated with that domain, that I would like to set up within WordPress.com too.
I understand that transferring the 3 .com domains into WordPress.com is straight forward. However, I get the impression that it is simply not possible to fully transfer any .co.uk domains into WordPress.com – this is the part that I’d like a really clear answer to.
I’ve seen this (and other similar) page:
https://wordpress.com/support/tlds-with-special-policies/about-uk-domains/
and the last section seems to imply that you simply can’t transfer .co.uk domains into WordPress.com. Apparently, the only way to do this is to use Domain Connection/Mapping such domains from the previous supplier. This is not what I wish to do, since I’d like a clean break from 123 Reg, with everything handled in one place via WordPress.com.
Is there really no way to properly transfer .co.uk domains? I understand that cancelling the domains in my 123 Reg account is the wrong move here, no matter how quick I am, since I’m likely to lose control of them, but surely there’s a way that I can authorise the complete transfer of these domains, since I own / control them? If mapping is the only way, then so be it, but I’d much rather have everything fully in WordPress.com.
Apologies for the length of this posting, but I wanted to make sure I was clear. Thank you in advance for any advice you may be able to give on this.
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I’m afraid that currently there is no way to transfer an existing .co.uk domain to WordPress.com. You can buy new .co.uk domains here though. And you can map a .co.uk domain to a WordPress.com site. This appears to be something to do with the different way Nominet manages .uk.co domains. Perhaps it is a technical issue. Perhaps it is a cost issue. WordPress.com can’t transfer .fr or .de domains either for similar unexplained reasons.
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Thanks for your reply, themagicrobot.
Ok, so nothing’s changed over the past few years. Shame. It just seems messy to me to have to ‘map’ between different domain registration companies. Does this mapping process incur any sort of slow down for site visitors, do you think?
Also, presumably me trying to ‘work round’ this issue by cancelling these .co.uk domains in my 123 Reg account, and then immediately re-registering them in my WordPress.com account is a bad idea? I’m guessing there’s a very real risk that I’d lose control of them?
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Mapping/Connecting a domain may have caused a lag back in the olden days but with speeds nowadays I doubt it is an issue. For instance we are posting from the UK to a forum in the US and everything happens virtually instantly.
And it’s not possible to cancel a domain and immediately register that same URL elsewhere. There is a 90 day gap when the domain sits in no mans land and you never know exactly when it will be released. Domain squatters watch and catch domains to attempt to sell them back to you for a premium.
In fact I think custom domains are a bad idea for hobby Bloggers and only needed for businesses. A hobby blogger (who uses their own name in a custom URL) are trapped into a cycle of renewing annually forever. Failure to do so puts their name out there in the marketplace where others (often from China) will buy it and use it for good or bad, usually bad. I am quite happy with a free address ending in .wordpress.com. No one memorises addresses and find stuff via links and search engines anyway.
If you already own a domain name with another provider, you can use that domain with your WordPress.com site. Connecting (also called “mapping”) a domain to WordPress.com is free with any paid WordPress.com plan. Follow the steps in this guide to connect your existing domain name to WordPress.com. About Domain Connection Connecting (or “mapping”) a domain to your WordPress.com site means: -
Thanks again, themagicrobot.
Ok, I won’t worry about speed issues for mapped domains, then. And thanks for the reminder about the 90 days delay/risk – yes, definitely a bad idea!
Two more related, and (hopefully!) quick questions :
(1) My current website, very much in need of a major overhaul, is using http. One of the reasons (not the only one!) for wanting to switch to WordPress.com is that domains there have https support included (Let’s Encrypt, I believe), which is perfect for my needs. (My current domain registration company, 123 Reg, don’t offer Let’s Encrypt support, instead only providing paid https solutions – starting at GBP 72/year!) It’s not clear to me, though, how https support would work if I were to map the domain from my account with 123 Reg to the hosting at WordPress.com. Do I benefit from the hosting having https support built in, or is the https support done at the other end where the domain itself is registered? – meaning I’d have to pay 123 Reg for it.
(2) Also, what about the email address that I really can’t afford to lose access to? Could that be added at the WordPress.com end with the hosting, or would I have to maintain this at the domain end with 123 Reg?
Any thoughts on these two, please?
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You’d need at minimum a WordPress.com Personal plan for each site at £36 per year paid annually. You’d get https included. See the screenshot. I’m no expert on emails but I’m guessing it would be easier to leave things as they are rather than start afresh here. This thread is tagged to ask if a member of staff could be kind enough to advise further.
You can add an email address to your domain to look professional and strengthen your brand. This guide will show you how to create a new email address (or multiple addresses) with your domain. Set Up a Custom Email Address If you have a domain (such as yourgroovydomain.com), you can create email addresses that use that domain (like (email visible only to moderators and staff) and (email visible only to moderators and staff) -
I’ve no problem paying for hosting, etc., at WordPress.com, and will probably go for one of the higher cost ones.
But I’m still not clear : any idea exactly where the https sits in such a mapping situation? Would it be with the company I’m currently using for registering the domain itself, or would it come with the hosting at WordPress.com. I’m guessing it’s only one of those two options!
By the way, any idea why I’m not getting email notifications when this forum thread is updated? I’ve ticked the ‘Notify me of new replies’ option, but nothing arrives in my email account. Am I missing something?!
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Hi there! I believe you’re asking about the SSL certificate.
If your domain is linked to your WordPress.com hosted site with a Domain Connection, and the domain DNS points to the WordPress.com name servers, then the SSL is applied automatically. This means the domain will have the HTTPS://
I’m sorry, I don’t know why you wouldn’t get a notification for this thread. Usually, you would select the “Notify me of new replies” checkbox to get alerts. -
Thanks for the reply. Sorry, maybe it’s me, but I’m still not clear on this.
This .co.uk domain name currently has hosting attached with a domain provider here in the UK, but it is http and NOT https. They would charge me a fair amount of money just to have the https feature added, whereas I’d like to take advantage of the included Let’s Encrypt that comes with wordpress.com. (Plus I want to switch to yourselves for ongoing site development anyway!)
So, with the domain registration remaining where it is (and me NOT purchasing an https certificate with them), but the hosting being with wordpress.com, would visitors to the site experience an http connection (the solution therefore being that I would be forced to purchase a certificate with my current UK domain company), or would it be an https connection? i.e. Is the https secure connection part of visiting my website in this mapping scenario coming from the domain name side, or from the hosting side?
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As stated a few times already any domain hosted OR CONNECTED to a site here at WordPress.com get https.
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