Reclaim Domain

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  tamarashanice · Member · Jun 30, 2014 at 3:22 pm

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  Hi,

  I had an account open with WordPress last year and also registered my domain, tamarashanice.com, with you as well. I cancelled my hosting with Host Gator a few months ago because I became too busy to construct my website. I want to build my website over again and continue using my domain.

  However, I looked at the contact for my domain name and it is not me. It is locked and private and registered apparently (according to Host gator) with wildwestdomains. Why do I not have access to my domain? How do I get back my domain?

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

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  spencerwberry · Member · Jun 30, 2014 at 11:33 pm

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  You still own tamarashanice.com.

  You can access the domain from your Dashboard>Store>My Domains screen, where you can configure it for use here, or with Host Gator (or another host).

  You’ll want to access your WordPress.com dashboard, which you can get to from this link.

  Even when a domain is pointed away from us, like this domain, you can always access the WordPress.com dashboard from your original .WordPress.com address with /wp-admin added to the end. (so in your case tamarashanice.wordpress.com/wp-admin ).

  Let me know if you have any trouble.

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  tamarashanice · Member · Jul 3, 2014 at 4:12 am

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  Thank you for your response it was very helpful. One last question. Do I need to register with a hosting site? I can’t quite remember how this stuff works. I was in Domains and saw an option for a WordPress name server. I am looking to get started on my blog/website as soon as possible and would like to clarify on the necessity of having a host for my domain. If so, I will register again.

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  spencerwberry · Member · Jul 3, 2014 at 4:51 pm

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  Tamara,
  WordPress.com is a host in itself, so you’re free to point the name servers back to us and use our hosting. To do this:

  1. Navigate to your Dashboard>Store>My Domains
  2. Edit Domain (right side of the screen)
  3. Name Servers
  4. Use WordPress.com name servers
  5. Save Changes

  This kind of update can take some time to process (anywhere from minutes to 48 hours).

  If you wanted to go back to your self-hosted situation with Host Gator, you will want to renew or make a new account with them and go from there.

  If you don’t remember the differences between WordPress.com and WordPress.org, this document should help.

  Let me know if you need more guidance.

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  tamarashanice · Member · Jul 6, 2014 at 9:06 pm

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  What is the difference between self-hosting and hosting with WordPress?

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  spencerwberry · Member · Jul 7, 2014 at 2:13 pm

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  Tamara,
  You can read about the main differences here.

  When you self-host, you would be using the WordPress.org application, which is a lot more open to customization, but that also means it is easier to break. With WordPress.org, you can install plugins and modify themes and add code, but all of those components require some technical knowledge to configure or if problems arise. When self-hosting, you’d either use the WordPress.org forums for support or get support through your host.

  If you host with WordPress.com, which is us, you get support from Happiness Engineers like myself, but there are limits to the customization, such as our code limits, no way to install third party plugins, and themes have to be chosen from our curated list. That said, the experience is much more user friendly and designed for non-coders to make a site/blog with ease.