How can I point a non-inmotion-hosted domain to the inmotion nameservers without losing the email addresses associated with the old domain?

Avatar
  • Answered
I run the website for a small library. I recently built a website for our library that is hosted by inmotion. Previously, the library had a Wordpress template website hosted by the State Library of Kansas. Because I did not control the domain name associated with the previous website, I purchased a new domain name and placed redirection code in the header of the old Wordpress site.

However, I later discovered that the old site and domain had been hacked some time ago and was causing Viagra and Cialis ads to appear in Google search results for our library. Because the old domain still exists and contains several files, the hack persists in our search results even though no one uses the old website any more. I have attempted to find the code causing the problem but have been unsuccessful.

In lieu of fixing the coding problem, I asked the techs at the state library to point the old domain name at inmotion's nameservers and shared IP address. Then I would be able to completely dismantle the old website without losing the convenient redirect for longtime users.

Unfortunately, I still have 2 email accounts attached to the old domain, which will cease to exist if I point the old domain name at inmotion's nameservers. Is there any way I can preserve these emails despite dismantling my old domain?

The techs at the state library sent me the zone file for the old domain and thought that I could use that to attach the email addresses to the new host, but I don't know how to go about doing that.

Sorry for the long message!
Avatar
Arn
Hello Bohlingc, I'm sorry to hear about the problems that you've been having with the hack issues. In terms of the email, when you change the name servers, both web AND email traffic come along with that change. So typically, you would only need to worry about about migrating old email from the account into the new email server which will with InMotion if you're pointing to our name servers. I'm not sure how your email was previously setup, but if you're using POP, then typically the emails would reside on the computer you use to access the account, as opposed to the server. If you were using another system (such as a Microsoft Exchange server), then you might need to go through some email migration if you were using IMAP. Check out this article for more information on that topic: Transferring Emails from your Old host Email addresses are tied to the domain name, so at worst, you would have to re-create the email accounts on our end, then migrate old emails into your email client. Hopefully, the article I provided will give you the information you require. I think this will answer your questions, but if you require further information, please let us know. You can also contact our live technical support department 24/7 via phone/email/chat. Regards, Arnel C.