Changing Registar - Proper Sequence So I Don't Lose Everything

[wisedave]

Hello,


I have asked my website host to begin the process to release my domains so I can transfer them to Namecheap. They sent me a form to fill out that is asking several questions I am unclear on (see attached).


I have four domains I am going to transfer. Two domains just sit there and do nothing. I purchased them to protect our business name. They are a .net and .org. One domain name is a .com that we use for our emails. We also have a new wordpress site that we are going to start using for our main business site. The domain we currently use for our site is a .co.uk domain. We don't have any kind of emails systems set up for that....just the website.


All of these domain currently re-direct to the .co.uk domain.


There are two things I am nervous about....the first is how do we transfer these and not have the website drop off the face of the earth? I am worried that 'the button is pushed' and then when somebody types our domain in their browser, searches for us etc....they get an error.


The other thing is our emails. We will be using Liquid Web for our email hosts. How do I make sure that my emails don't get lost in space?


There has to be some logical and natural progress for all of this and I have yet to crack the code!


Any help to bring me back down to earth would be appreciated. I havent' started the process with Namecheap as of yet because I don't know where to begin.


Many thanks!


-Dave

[weegillis]

It sounds like a name server transfer, not a registrar switch. You mention having a new hosting plan ready to go. Do you have full FTP access on that plan (through another access point, such as the control panel, or another FTP login)? If so you're half way there. Now it is just up to you to have the site(s) uploaded to the new server, and have your existing host transfer the namespace.

There shouldn't be twenty questions. All they need to know is the name servers and the transfer can be completed from their end. They won't be moving any files, but all will be lost, so don't rely on the old host as a back up. You should have your complete site and all contents on their servers backed up locally so when it goes off line you haven't lost anything. This would apply to the mail server, as well. Back up all folders and files. The propagation over the DNS should take no more than a few hours, or a day at most. Search doesn't care about your name servers, only your domain, so there should be no ill effect, particularly if the new site is 'wired' exactly the same as the old one.

[jhannawin]

There are so many potential issues here that I'd be very careful. If you don't have the expertise/experience I would pay someone who does to get it all done. These self-manage portals are fine, allowing you to do very powerful things, but if you are unsure about what you are doing you can end up in a world of pain.

If you want more detail from forum members, I suggest you publish the domains in full so that people can point you in the right direction.

[LD]

I'm commenting just on the website aspect here and am assuming it's transferring domain names between registrars.

Transferring domains between registrars, while hosting a live site should be transparent. In other words, this action should not compromise a current site's "up time". Assuming you are dealing with reputable registrars, both existing and the new one.

As mentioned in a previous post here, the nameserver changes with respect to the domain names in question will update ISP's domain databases to point web requests to your current host environment. Changes can take between a few hours (locally) and 24 hours or more, for the rest of the world.

[deepsand]

We really do need to know if this a change of Registrar, a change of Host, or both.