Change the domain on an existing site?

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My client has an outdated site hosted on InMotion and we'll be creating a new site which will use his domain. However, he really wants to keep the old site up for (I'm guessing here) sentimental reasons.  Is it possible to give the current site a new domain (that he would register) and use his current domain on the new site?   This is one of the oddest requests I've had!  Thanks for any advice.

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IMH Support Agent 2
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Hello,

Thanks for the question about keeping up an old site and giving it a new domain name.

To start, when you think about websites, they consist of a domain name and the website files.  If you think of it in that way, then yes, it is possible to change the domain name and apply website files to a different name.  The main headache will be adjusting all of the old website files to use the new name.  This may involve changing several configuration files - depending on how the old site was created.

Another common practice is to KEEP the old site and simply put all of its files under a subfolder.  For example, you might have a folder called OLDSITE.  And maybe provide a link on the new site that links to the old site (I've seen people do that many times).  The URL for the old site would change based on the folder name where all the old files would go.  For example:  HTTPS:// OLDSITE/my_site.com. 


So, the answer to your question is "yes" it can be done, but you may have to change some configuration files to point to the new URL or new location of the old site.


I hope that helps to answer your question!  If you have any further questions or comments, please let us know.


Kindest Regards,

Arnel C.