Helpful Guide for Updating a Local Food Bank Website and Managing Domain Redirects
Supporting a Local Food Bank with WordPress: A Step-by-Step Approach
In an effort to assist a nonprofit organization, a designer is working to replace their compromised website with a secure, professionally managed WordPress site. This process involves two key tasks: launching the new WordPress website and properly redirecting their existing domain to ensure a seamless transition. Below is a professional overview of the challenges faced and recommended strategies to accomplish these goals effectively.
Understanding the Domain and Hosting Landscape
The organization currently owns two domains: one directly through WordPress?” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>WordPress and another related to landingsite.ai. The primary objective is to reassign the domain associated with landingsite.AI to point to the new WordPress?” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>WordPress site, allowing the old site to be decommissioned without incurring additional costs.
Access to Domain Management
The landingsite.AI domain is managed via an interface that indicates the domain was purchased through a third-party registrar, specifically GoDaddy, as confirmed by ICANN lookup. However, the client lacks direct access to the GoDaddy account, complicating direct management. The domain registrar’s interface offers DNS editing capabilities but lacks straightforward options for URL redirection.
Recommended Approach:
- Contact the registrar or domain manager: Since the domain is registered through a third party, identify who has access rights. If the client does not have an account, explore options for gaining control or transferring the domain to an account under your management.
- Use DNS settings effectively: DNS records such as A records or CNAMEs can point the domain to the new hosting server where the WordPress?” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>WordPress site resides. This method is generally preferred over URL forwarding for SEO and control reasons.
- Setting up redirects: Since DNS alone may not give full redirect control, consider implementing URL redirects at the hosting or server level once DNS points to the new site.
Uploading and Managing the New WordPress Site
With an existing offline WordPress site backup available, the task is to upload this to a hosting environment without disturbing the current live site. The considerations include:
- Creating a staging environment: To preview the new website, establish a subdirectory or subdomain such as foodbankdomain.com/preview. This allows testing without affecting the live website.
- Compatibility and updates: The existing themes and plugins are outdated and do not overlap with the current site setup, which simplifies testing since there’s no risk
