Want to use custom domain

  • Unknown's avatar
    hawkin · Member ·

    To use custom domain, is it either:
    -paying for a plan that includes this for free?
    -or pay $13 a year to use custom domain, even on a free plan?

    Or is the $13 on top of a plan?

    WP.com: Yes
    Correct account: Yes

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

  • fstat · Staff ·

    Hi there,

    paying for a plan that includes this for free?

    Yes, this is the first option. Please note that the domain is free for the first year. After the first year, the domain and the plan will renew individually.

    or pay $13 a year to use custom domain, even on a free plan?

    This works too. However without a plan the domain will redirect to the free .wordpress.com address.

    If you have any other questions, just let me know and I’ll be happy to help.

  • Unknown's avatar
    hawkin · Member ·

    I don’t want a redirect (HTTP 302), but rather A & CNAME record registration towards the WordPress.com site.

    Is this possible with both options, or does your answer suggests only a plan will support this?

    PS: I will register a .no domain, so the free year isn’t really of interest since WordPress.com does not register that TLD.

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    To have your WordPress.com site appear at your own domain, you need to be on a paid plan. It doesn’t matter whether you register the domain with us or with someone else, or whether you point the domain to us using name servers or A records.

    Our Domain Connection upgrade to use a domain registered somewhere else is only available as part of a paid plan. That cannot be bought as a stand-alone upgrade.

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    Just to be clear, there’s no additional charge on top of the plan to connect your existing domain, and you can connect as many domains as you want for free, as long as you have a plan.

    The only additional cost on top of a plan is if you bought the domain directly from us, in which case the first domain is free for the first year, and all additional domains and subsequent renewals will have an additional cost.

  • Unknown's avatar
    hawkin · Member ·

    Ok, thanks, that clarifies I need to be on a plan for what I want to do.

    But what is the $13 a year for then? Does it only give the ability for a redirect (HTTP 302). That option was bit diffuse what it covered.

  • kokkieh · Staff ·

    We used to have a stand-alone domain mapping upgrade (now called domain connection), that cost $13 a year, but that was discontinued several years ago, and that upgrade is now only available as part of a paid plan except for a few legacy customers who are still able to renew their pre-existing domain mapping upgrades.

    If you’re seeing an option to add a domain connection upgrade for $13, can you tell me exactly where you’re seeing it? You should not be shown that option anywhere, so if it’s visible to you, it’s a bug.

    The only other domain-related upgrade we offer is the Site Redirect upgrade, which also costs $13. That upgrade is to set up a 301 redirect to send people away from your WordPress.com site, to a completely different website hosted elsewhere, so that’s not what you need in this case.

    https://wordpress.com/support/site-redirect/

  • Unknown's avatar
    hawkin · Member ·

    Ok, its clear to me then I need to have a plan, no problem.

    But if going to Upgrades>Domains>+Add a domain>Use a domain I own>
    When writing in a domain from TLD outside of WordPress.com only 1 selection is possible:
    Connect your domain
    Keep your domain with your current provider and point it to WordPress.com
    $13.00/year

    So that’s what confused me. You should probably update that.

    (PS: Im an old user of WordPress.com, but never had any plan to my sites)

  • staff-mckluskey · Staff ·

    Is this what you see, or are you referring to some other screen?

  • Unknown's avatar
    hawkin · Member ·

    Yes that’s correct staff-mckluskey.

    I see I get the same selection (but then = 0 in cost) if I preselected a plan.

    So in my logic paying 13 a year would be a possibility to connect my own custom domain, without signing up to a plan.

  • staff-totoro · Staff ·

    Hi there,

    As others have said here, the only way to have a custom site address (instead of a “wordpress.com” address) is by first purchasing one of our plans.

    If you were moving to WordPress.com from somewhere else, and wanted to make sure you did not lose any traffic (from the old site URL) you can pay extra to connect it, but it will redirect traffic to the “wordpress.com” address that all sites without a plan use.

    To make your site use the custom address instead of the “wordpress.com” address is extra though, you can only get that via a plan.

    You’ve now had 4 answers from staff, all saying that you need a plan to set a custom address… your issue is with the messaging on that page that it needs to be clearer? We’re happy to share that feedback with our team, but it will not change the fact that you will need a plan to set a custom address in this case.

  • Unknown's avatar
    hawkin · Member ·

    I have solved my needs and have signed up for a plan (that was anyhow what we planned for). So my problem has been solved.

    But the screen fresatomica and me referred to are imho confusing.
    It looks like you could get the custom address without signing up for a plan.

    Sorry for the noise, it was just a feedback from a confused customer.

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