Moving Website to WordPress

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  lifeinabedandbreakfast · Member · Feb 13, 2019 at 2:39 pm

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  I would like to eventually move my hotel booking site to WordPress. Am i able to create the website then update it to my new domain, so my old website can still be running whilst the other is being designed?

  Sorry if that’s a silly question or doesn’t make sense,

  Thanks!

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  mdtouchton · Member · Feb 13, 2019 at 3:59 pm

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  Hi,

  You can design your site in WordPress with it set to ‘private’ and then change it to ‘public’ once you’re ready. If you have a paid account, you can transfer the domain once you’re ready to set the site to ‘public.’

  Transferring a domain you already own to WordPress.com: https://en.support.wordpress.com/incoming-domain-transfer/

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  eight84 · Member · Feb 13, 2019 at 3:59 pm

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  Hi!

  Yes, you can do that, and it is not a silly question! It’s perfectly reasonable. There are a few things to know first:

  There are two versions of WordPress. There is the one here at WordPress.com, and there is the open source WordPress.org version.

  Review the differences here: https://wordpress.com/com-vs-org/

  Since this forum is for WordPress.com, here are a few WordPress.com things to know:

  1. To transfer or map a domain name to WordPress.com you will need an upgraded plan.

  This means that when you’re ready to go live you would need to transfer or map the current domain of your booking site to WordPress.com’s servers.

  2. Depending on the nature of your website, you may need a plugin to accept bookings. This would require the Business Plan.

  Do you know how your site is set up right now? What is the website address?

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  eight84 · Member · Feb 13, 2019 at 4:01 pm

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  Sorry, @mdtouchton I didn’t see your reply :)

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  mdtouchton · Member · Feb 13, 2019 at 4:04 pm

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  No worries, @eight84. Glad you did. Your reply was even more clear!

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  lifeinabedandbreakfast · Member · Feb 13, 2019 at 4:50 pm

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  Thank you so much, both responses are really helpful.

  It’s going to be for our Bed and Breakfast, so eventually i will be looking at taking bookings and payments etc through it. Our website is http://www.cliffhousenewquay.com and currently set up through our channel manager.

  The options on our website are very limited and based on templates so it’s really hard to stay with the times and add ChatBot’s etc as they just aren’t compatible.
  I was hoping I could spend however long I need getting the WordPress website looking clear and professional and then make the switch. I believe WordPress has a lot more options and flexibility than what I have with my Channel Manager!

  Thank you again, all this advice is really useful!

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  eight84 · Member · Feb 13, 2019 at 8:36 pm

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  WordPress does has a lot of options and flexibility.

  It does sound like you would need the Business Plan in order to add the features you are describing. (This is to host here at WordPress.com)

  The other option is to use a different web host and use WordPress.org software. Many hosts have one-click install options for WordPress so it really depends on how comfortable you are setting things up.

  Here’s that overview again of the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org: https://wordpress.com/com-vs-org/

  It’s definitely helpful to read through a few times so you can find what works best for you.