Redirecting custom domain to wordpress
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Hi Guys,
I made a blog on wordpress some time ago.
Then I gave it a custom domain (socialalchemy.com.au).
Then I found I had made the site too busy, so I redirected it to a simple site at strikingly.com
Since then, i have rebuilt the initial wordpress blog, and now want to point the custom domain back to it.
(At this point, please note my Luddite tendancies…)
My custom domain is registered through MelbourneIT, but hosted through Hostgator.
I believe my emails are currently stored with Hostgator, and don’t want to disrupt any of those records.
I checked what I needed to do on wordpress, and got this instruction through you guys:“How to change your name servers
You can usually change your name servers at your domain registrar’s website, but the process is different for each registrar.
Please visit your registrar’s website or contact their support team for instructions on how to update your name servers.
Currently the name servers for this domain are:
NS6626.HOSTGATOR.COM
NS6625.HOSTGATOR.COM
Using the DNS tools provided by your domain registrar, remove any existing name servers and add the following:NS1.WORDPRESS.COM
NS2.WORDPRESS.COM
NS3.WORDPRESS.COM
Then come back here and try again. It may take several hours for our system to recognize the changes.”Hostgator advised:
“Thank you for contacting Hostgator.
If you do not email disruption, then the domain can either be pointed to the wordpress server using the nameservers at the registrar level, which you would have to change at the registrar and they do not seem to have been changed yet:
Domain Name: socialalchemy.com.au
Last Modified: 23-Jan-2014 19:27:41 UTC
Registrar ID: Melbourne IT
Registrar Name: Melbourne IT
Status: okRegistrant: Social Alchemy Pty Ltd
Registrant ID: ACN 118488798
Eligibility Type: CompanyRegistrant Contact ID: X126714636801316
Registrant Contact Name: MatthewDavid JONES
Registrant Contact Email: Visit whois.ausregistry.com.au for Web based WhoIsTech Contact ID: X126714636801316
Tech Contact Name: MatthewDavid JONES
Tech Contact Email: Visit whois.ausregistry.com.au for Web based WhoIsName Server: ns6625.hostgator.com
Name Server: ns6626.hostgator.comAnd after changing the nameservers, you would have to edit the zonefile at the other server to point the MX records to our Hostgator server.
The other option would be to leave the nameservers as they are, and we can point the domain to the wordpress servers via an A record on the zonefile, so we would need the IP of the server where the domain would be hosted. After we change the IP via an A record, we can leave the email routed through our server. “
Hostgator came back with this instrction:
“let us know the IP address for the WordPress servers, and we can change t he domain only to that IP address,”
Can you tell me the IP address for the wordpress servers so I can get the custom domain pointing back at the wordpress blog please?^^
Matt
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
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Hello there,
I’d be glad to help!
The best way to map a domain to a WordPress.com blog is to set your domain’s nameservers to the following values:
NS1.WORDPRESS.COM
NS2.WORDPRESS.COM
NS3.WORDPRESS.COMThis is because our IP addresses can change over time which would break your site.
After looking at your current domain mapping settings, I see that you have an MX record at WordPress.com that matches what you currently have setup with Hostgator’s nameservers as well.
You can verify this by going to Dashboard > Store > My Domains then clicking on “Edit Domain” and then “Edit DNS”.
Based on this, I would suggest setting your domain to use WordPress.com’s nameservers because:
– Your email MX records are already setup
– This will prevent your site going down if WordPress switches IP addressesIf you’d still like to use an A record at Hostgator that points to WordPress.com’s servers, please let me know and I’ll be glad to send that to you.
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Thanks so much!
That is a great help, and very clear directions.
I was able to get as far as ‘Edit DNS’ but was then unsure about how to use wordpress nameservers.
Can you please give me some further direction to do that?Sorry it took me time to get back to you- I couldn’t find the support ticket I posted, and my email on wordpress was pointing somewhere else I don’t have access to, so I couldn’t track it my end.
I have updated my email address, so that problem is fixed for the future.I understand you directions, but am still a little unsure about how email works exactly.
I’m not quite sure about the consequence of changing MX records or A records on how emails are processed and stored.Email remains a bit of a Black Art, along with the rest of this thing called the interwebs.
Sigh….
I can now see how this is working (the url on wordpress is defaulting back to the hostgator directions which points to Strikingly website).
I can also read the details on ‘Edit DNS’ page which shows me how the site is set up, except that I don’t fully understand what it all means! :PI can read….comprehension remains the issue!
Getting the wordpress nameservers up and running would be great.
Help appreciated.Thanks,
Matt
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Hello again,
The MX record is the part of the domain name information that handles mail. The main thing to point out here is that once you switch the nameservers for your domain to WordPress, your domain’s email will still be configured the same as it is now.
As far as changing the nameservers to point to WordPress, you will have to do this with Melbourne IT, where your domain is registered. We do have instructions for many registrars, but I’m sorry to say that Melbourne IT is not one of them, so I’d recommend contacting their customer support.
Please set the socialalchemy.com.au domain to the following nameservers:
NS1.WORDPRESS.COM
NS2.WORDPRESS.COM
NS3.WORDPRESS.COMThis should be all that you need to get your WordPress.com site and email working with your socialalchemy.com.au domain.
Please let me know if I can help anymore!
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Thanks Eric,
Working to do that now.
Thanks again for your response.
And thanks for the explanation about email.Will get back to you once it is live!
Matt
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Thanks Eric,
Sorted.
MelbourneIT are literally unbelievable for their (lack of) response…
In the end, I worked it out, gained access to the page with the details, and changed the nameserver.
The transition occurred immediately.
I did an email test, and that looks like the connection is working fine too.I have learnt a little bit more, but still need to grasp a better understanding here.
Probably have everything a little messy with registery, hosting etc, but for the time being I am up and running.
Any advice or guidance welcome.Thanks again for getting the site back up on the interwebs.
Matt
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Hey Matt,
That’s great news!
It is usually easier to have domains and hosting taken care of at the same place, but as long as you got everything setup, that’s all that matters. :)
One last thing to point out is that changes to a domain can sometimes take a few days. So be sure to test your email, just to be safe, once a day for the next few days.
To test, feel free to send me an email at (email visible only to moderators and staff) and I’ll gladly respond when I get it.
Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any other questions or issues.
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Thanks Eric,
Yes, email seems to be hung up a little.
I am getting return test emails I send myself, but I just realised I don’t think I am getting out or receiving.Could you confirm your email address again so I could send you a test?
Thanks again for your help,
Matt
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(email visible only to moderators and staff) is my correct email.
Would you mind giving me the email your are using, and I will send you a test to see if you’re receiving properly?
This might help us debug where the issue is at.
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Hey Matt,
I sent you an email at 10:40am central time this morning. Please let me know if/when you get it.
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Nothing as yet… (and only one email has come through in the last 12 hours….) Still waiting… ^^
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I just received this error message (and still no mail), so I will close down Mail and reload: “There may be a problem with the mail server or network. Verify the settings for account “mail.socialalchemy.com.au” or try again.
The server returned the error: The connection to host 192.185.225.72 on port 110 failed.” -
That might have been a temporary gremlin. A test email is working again sent to my own address, but no other emails have been received which indicates there is a problem.
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Hey Matt,
I’m sorry that everything isn’t working out as well as I expected.
I went ahead and called Hostgator and they gave me an updated MX record that they reported would work:
gator3313.hostgator.com
I updated your MX record to point to this new address and now SMTP tests are successful! You can verify this yourself on the following link by clicking SMTP test:
http://mxtoolbox.com/SuperTool.aspx?action=mx%3asocialalchemy.com.au&run=toolpage#
I just sent you another test email. Please let me know if you receive the email and if you have any other questions or issues.
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Awesome!
Again, I’m sorry that everything didn’t work as well as I expected.
Please let me know if there’s anything else I can do for you!
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