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Changing Your WordPress Domain Name

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Last Updated: July 21, 2015 1:51 PM

If you want to change your WordPress® site's domain name, you can use your WordPress control panel. However, you must also move your WordPress site's files to the proper location and make sure your new domain name's DNS is set correctly.

Following these instructions will make your existing WordPress site inaccessible for at least 24 hours. We recommend ensuring you have access to both your WordPress files and the new domain name's DNS before attempting these steps.

This article makes the following assumptions:

NOTE: WordPress installations managed through Value Applications can no longer be managed using Value Applications once you complete this process.

Changing the WordPress Domain Name for the Primary Domain

If you have a Managed WordPress account (more info), use the instructions in Change your account's domain.

You need to update your domain name in the WordPress control panel and the Hosting Control Panel.

To Change the WordPress Domain Name for the Primary Domain

  1. Log in to your WordPress control panel (http://coolexample.com/wp-admin, where coolexample.com is your domain name).
  2. Click Settings, and then click General.
  3. In the WordPress address (URL) and Site address (URL) fields, enter the new domain name or URL you want to use, and then click Save Changes.
  4. Change your hosting account's primary hosted domain name to the new domain you want to use. For more information, see Change your account's domain.
  5. Return to your site and log in to your WordPress control panel (http://coolexample.com/wp-admin, where coolexample.com is your domain name).
  6. Click Settings, and then click Permalinks.
  7. Reset your WordPress site's permalinks. For more information, see Fixing Permalink Issues with WordPress.

Changing Your WordPress Domain Name to a Subdomain

When working with subdomains you need to make updates in the WordPress control panel and the Hosting Control Panel.

To Change Your WordPress Domain Name to a Subdomain

  1. Copy the files from your old WordPress location to the new one. For more information, see:

    NOTE: If you want to move your WordPress site to your root directory, select the html directory in the FTP File Manager.

  2. Log in to your WordPress control panel (for example, if you installed WordPress at the root level, go to http://coolexample.com/wp-admin, where coolexample.com is your domain name).
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Complete the following fields:
    • WordPress address (URL) — Enter the fully-qualified domain name for your WordPress site's new location. For example, http://coolexample.com/new/ where coolexample.com is your domain name and new is the new directory for your WordPress site.

      NOTE: If you want to move your WordPress site to your root directory, do not enter a directory after your domain name.

    • Click Save Changes
    • Site address (URL) — Enter the same address you entered in the WordPress address (URL) field.
  5. Reset your WordPress site's permalinks. For more information, see Fixing Permalink Issues with WordPress.
  6. (Optional) Redirect your old WordPress directory. For more information, see Redirect URLs with Your Hosting Account.

If you continue to find broken images and hyperlinks throughout your site, you might need to clean your site of outdated links. For more information, see this Search and Replace Plugin in the WordPress repository.

For more information, see Move your WordPress site to a different directory.