Redirect domain from another registrar to wordpress site, using free WP plan
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I currently have a domain (URL), from which I want to redirect to a site hosted on wordpress.com, and be able to connect via https too, using WP SSL certificate, which apparently is included with the free plan. is it possible? If yes, then how? Using A Record? How would I find the A Record for my site hosted on WP?
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hi there!
The proper way to use a custom domain with a WordPress.com site (so that it gets our free SSL as well) is to upgrade your site to a WordPress.com plan, add a domain connection, and then point the domain to your WordPress.com site.
- A WordPress.com plan gives your site additional features, including the ability to set a custom domain as primary. We can help you choose a plan for your site. Please let us know more about your site (what’s the site for, and what features do you need on this site) so that we can suggest the best plan for you.
- A domain connection is included with WordPress.com plans. This lets you configure your WordPress.com site so that it loads with your WordPress.com site.
- You also need to point the domain to your WordPress.com site. Since your domain is registered elsewhere, you need to “tell” it to load your WordPress.com site. This isn’t exactly a redirect. There are two ways of doing this:
- Change your domain’s nameservers
- Add IP addresses. Here’s how to locate the IPs.
- Finally, set the domain as the primary address.
When all of that is configured, your domain will load your WordPress.com site.
Please feel free to tell us more about your site so we can suggest a plan and more personalized guides for you.
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What if I transfer my domain to WP, would I still need to upgrade to a paid plan, or I would be able to redirect from that WP controlled domain to the existing WP site and use SSL, using the existing free plan ?
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Hi there,
You are referring to http://silvertrailapartments.com/ yes?
Your domain registrar may offer to connect this on their end (they sometimes call this “domain masking”) and it can make your site appear to use that address, but unfortunately it’s not a proper connection in that it does not allow us to add SSL. Additionally, to search engines the site is available at both addresses at the same time, which can lead to issues with showing up in search results.
Instead I would recommend that you consider our Personal Plan, which will allow you to connect your custom domain so that your site appears at one address only (silvertrailapartments.com) and has SSL for a secure https connection. The plan will also turn off the ads we show on free sites to cover our costs, and will give you access to private email support for any questions you have.
Once you have upgraded, let us know and we can walk you through connecting your domain and verifying SSL. Thanks!
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My question was about Transferring my domain from the current registrar to WordPress.
This way both: domain and website would be controlled by WordPress.
I’d be paying for the domain registration and re-registration. Sorry if that wasn’t clear from my previous message.
I would like to keep the site itself on free plan.
Would it be possible to have the WP controlled domain to connect to WP site and use SSL with such configuration.
I have a few other domains which I may transfer to WP if this would be possible.
Please let me know,
Thank you
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Hi there!
A WordPress.com plan is needed to set a custom domain as the primary address on a site, regardless of whether the domain is registered with us or elsewhere.
You can register, transfer, or connect a domain to a WordPress.com site, and the domain will redirect to that site when correctly configured, but in order to set the domain as the primary address (so that the .wordpress.com address is not shown), your must upgrade to a WordPress.com plan.
As staff-totoro mentioned above, you may want to start with the WordPress.com Personal plan, which is our cheapest plan to use a custom domain with your site (plus a number of other features that come with the Personal plan). You can upgrade to a higher plan if needed in the future, but without any paid plan, you won’t be able to set your domain as primary or use our free SSL certificate with it.
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As a free site, the A records would be the same as for the Personal plan:
https://wordpress.com/support/domains/connect-a-domain-alternative-method/As it is, if you do transfer the registration here to WordPress.com, then once the domain is transferred over, you’ll find a “Use WordPress.com Name Servers” button in the domain settings which would point the domain towards our servers automatically, which negates the need for A records:
https://wordpress.com/support/domains/change-name-servers/#if-your-domain-is-registered-with-usThis setting will also mean that our system can automatically issue SSL for your domain.
However as my colleagues noted, you may find you’d need a plan in order to set your domain as the primary domain! If you’re not intending to use your domain as the primary address and you’re happy for it to redirect to http://silvertrailapartments.wordpress.com/, then it’s no issue to keep the site on the free plan of course.
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Thank you for explaining this to me.
I’m still a bit confused about primary domain. If I transfer my domain to WP and then try to access it’s URL, what would happen? Will it be (can it be) connected to let’s say: http://silvertrailapartments.wordpress.com/ or it will not be with the existing free plan? -
>> Otherwise, your domain will redirect to your free *.wordpress.com URL.
By “your free *.wordpress.com URL.” do you mean: http://silvertrailapartments.wordpress.com/ ?
But this is what I exactly trying to do: redirect my to be newly transferred/registered WP domain to the: http://silvertrailapartments.wordpress.com/
So, is this how it is going to work?
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Saving money by pointing your domain here to a free site has a number of downsides as pointed out by @staff-totoro
Your domain registrar may offer to connect this on their end (they sometimes call this “domain masking”) and it can make your site appear to use that address, but unfortunately it’s not a proper connection in that it does not allow us to add SSL. Additionally, to search engines the site is available at both addresses at the same time, which can lead to issues with showing up in search results.
Instead I would recommend that you consider our Personal Plan, which will allow you to connect your custom domain so that your site appears at one address only (silvertrailapartments.com) and has SSL for a secure https connection. The plan will also turn off the ads we show on free sites to cover our costs, and will give you access to private email support for any questions you have.
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Than you for this info.
But my question was: if I have domain registered by WordPess, according to the answer above: “your domain will redirect to your free *.wordpress.com URL”
Does it mean that my domain registered by WordPress will be pointing to http://silvertrailapartments.wordpress.com/ by default? -
The ads aren’t a good look on a site promoting a business. Different people in different areas see different ads. This is what I see/.
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Isn’t your domain with Tucows? If you transferred it to WordPress.com you’d be paying them for renewing the domain so there would be no financial saving there and without a paid plan the ads would still show
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This is good point, I do not see any ads because of my setup, but apparently other people do.
I’m just trying to get understanding what it means:
“While you can transfer a domain without a plan, to have your domain be your primary domain, you need a paid plan. Otherwise, your domain will redirect to your free *.wordpress.com URL.”
in one of the replies above
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>> If you transferred it to WordPress.com you’d be paying them for renewing the domain
By transferring, I’m mean transferring domain registration to WordPress and paying WordPress for the renewals.
Hope this clears my intentions.
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I don’t think many people just buy a new domain here or just transfer an existing domain on its own to WordPress.com without a plan for the number of reasons outlined already. Yes if your custom domain stays where it is and was connected/masked to here or even if it was transferred to WordPress.com it would work after a fashion. Anyone typing that address into a browser or clicking on a link to that address would get the free site and the free site address showing though.
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Got it, so, if I understand it correctly, after transferring domain registration to WP:
- no masking
- SSL would work
- domain URL would open the free site automatically, no need for me to do anything, just transfer domain registration
- WP would still make some money, right?
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I’m not saying that WordPress.com paid plans are great. But as a business owner I found years ago that people don’t like seeing “not secure” and no https in their browser bar. And as an owner of a free (hobby) site here I have seen the ads multiply. Sometimes my posts have numerous horrible ads surrounding my content. In life today you get what you pay for so paying nothing has its limits.
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