transfer to existing domain

  • Unknown's avatar
    christ788324578 · Member ·

    Hi guys, I’m looking at transferring our domain to wordpress.
    We currently have a website built on weebly and it is active with many pages but we want a fresh start.

    We would like to build the website on wordpress whilst keeping the current website live until we are ready for the transfer.
    What are the steps we need to take?

    Thanks for your help in advance

  • staff-zinnia · Staff ·

    Hi –

    Thanks for writing to us.

    The first thing to consider is which version of WordPress is going to work best for you. What happens at WordPress.com is a bit different from using the WordPress installation.

    Those differences are outlined here: https://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/

    You can definitely keep the Weebly site active until you’re ready for the WordPress one to be live.

    Do you have a custom domain already? There are 2 ways to point it to WordPress.com. It could be mapped or transferred to us here.

  • Unknown's avatar
    christ788324578 · Member ·

    Thanks for the reply.

    it would be the business plan that we will go for.

    We have our own domain it is hosted by fatcow.

    Simply I want to be able to start building the website on wordpress. and then when it is ready switch the domain over.

    How should i proceed?

    Do I purchase the business plan first and start building on http://www.obmghk.wordpress.com and then switch over http://www.obmghk.com?

    Thanks

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    Hi there,

    I would recommend start the WordPress.com site, add the Business Plan. If you don’t plan on using any plugins or custom themes, you should be able to then proceed building your site, and when you’re ready to switch, add the domain mapping upgrade, change the domain’s name servers at Weebly to point the domain to us, and then start the transfer.

    We recommend adding the domain mapping first, before you transfer, as a transfer can take about a week to complete, and you can’t make changes to the domain during that time. If you map the domain here first, it will already start showing your site even while you’re waiting for the transfer to finish.

    If you plan on using plugins on your site we’ll need to do it a bit differently. To install plugins on your site you must first have a domain connected, so in that case you’ll have to create a subdomain to use as a temporary domain here on WordPress.com.

    In your Weebly account, you’ll need to edit your domain’s DNS to create a subdomain. We explain the process here:

    https://en.support.wordpress.com/domains/map-subdomain/#mapping-a-subdomain-to-a-business-plan-site

    That will allow you to set up that site the way you want. Then once you’re done, contact live chat support and we can help you switch the subdomain for the actual domain, before you proceed to transfer the registration to us.

    I know I’ve thrown a lot of info at you here, so let me know if you have any questions. Once you have the Business Plan you’ll also have access to live chat support who can walk you through these steps again.

    But the gist of it is what you want to do – hold off on transferring the domain to us so the Weebly site stays online while you work on the WordPress.com one – is possible :)

  • Unknown's avatar
    christ788324578 · Member ·

    Hi Kokkieh,

    Thanks for the reply. Yes we will be wanting to install plugins and a theme

    From the Plugin we would like drop down boxes on our menu links ie services – (drop down box) design, install, service and supply etc.
    we had this in mind https://www.megamenu.com/

    From what you are saying I’ll be unable to work on http://www.obmghk.wordpress.com unless i edit my domain’s DNS to create a subdomain.

    You also said we should do domain mapping, i had a look at what it was but still wasnt too sure what it meant.
    Simply put, we want to be able to work on this new website- install a new theme that we plan to buy and have plugins. We want to keep building up the website and when we are ready we can transfer domain http://www.obmghk.com from the website we have built on weebly.

    Does this process require domain mapping, what will it do in simple terms?

    Sorry for so many questions

  • Unknown's avatar
    brookedot · Member ·

    Hi there,

    Your understanding is correct, to access uploading a theme and plugins to your WordPress.com Business Plan you will need to map a subdomain over at Weebly while you build the site. Once you are finished you can transfer the domain obmghk.com to WordPress.com or update the name servers at Weebly to point to our servers.

    The business plan does not currently support building your site on the wordpress.com subdomain.

    Once you’ve upgraded your site to the business plan and added your domain you’ll be able to get started uploading plugins, including Mega Menus and your theme.

  • Unknown's avatar
    christ788324578 · Member ·

    Thanks for the reply bdukes,
    I was wondering if it were possible to have a page that is only available to people who have a log in. I would be able to control what content they receive.

    An example of what i want is, there may be 3 types of customers.

    1- normal customer (see’s Recommended retail price or doesnt see anything at all)
    2- whole sale customer (sees a page with all the different pdfs of their price lists specific for wholesale)
    3. distributor customer (sees a page with all the different pdfs of their price lists specific for distributors

    I want them to be able to log in and download price lists, these 3 clients have 3 different price lists, (retail, whole sale and distributor) I want to be able to control what price lists they can see based on the type of client they are.

    Is this something I would need a developer for or is this some sort of plug in I can download? Your help would be appreciated

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    You should be able to do this using a memberships plugin. We recommend the WooCommerce Memberships plugins (you will need WooCommerce itself also installed to use that plugin), as WooCommerce is owned by the same company that owns WordPress.com, which means we know that plugin works here and we’re able to provide you with support for it. It does come at an additional cost, though:

    https://woocommerce.com/products/woocommerce-memberships/

    There are other membership plugins available as well, but at this time they don’t work great with WordPress.com Business Plan sites. We’re working on improving support for them, though, and you can always try one and see how well it works if you’d prefer not to pay for the WooCommerce one to start with.

  • Unknown's avatar
    christ788324578 · Member ·

    Hey Kokkieh,

    Sorry for not replying sooner. Having a quick browse the plugin doesn’t seem to fit exactly what we want.

    We’ve been considering the idea of doing wordpress.org since it is customisable. Since we have a feeling we need to consult a developer on how to do what we need to regarding the login system.

    So we already own obmghk.org and is hosted by fatcow too. We just need to follow the steps that is provided by https://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress#Famous_5-Minute_Installation and we should be good to start building whilst our .com site is obviously unaffected since it is a completely different website. Does this sound right?

  • fstat · Staff ·

    Hi there,

    We just need to follow the steps that is provided by https://codex.wordpress.org/Installing_WordPress#Famous_5-Minute_Installation and we should be good to start building

    Exactly. If you need further assistance you can always ask over at the WordPress.org forums:

    https://wordpress.org/support/

    whilst our .com site is obviously unaffected since it is a completely different website.

    You’re right. Your .com site is hosted elsewhere (Weebly) and will be unaffected by the building of the .org.

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