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Forward your domain to another website

Angus
Updated

You can send visitors from one of your domains to another website. For example, you can send people who type your old domain to your new website. You set this up in the IT Solver dashboard.

What forwarding does

  • Forwarding works for your domain with and without www. For example, example.com.au and www.example.com.au both go to the new address.
  • Forwarding does not change other subdomains, such as shop.example.com.au.
  • Forwarding keeps the page path and the query string. A visitor to example.com.au/contact goes to the same /contact page on the new website.
  • If the new address has a path, the visitor's path goes after it. For example, if you forward to https://www.example.net.au/shop, a visitor to example.com.au/contact goes to https://www.example.net.au/shop/contact.
  • The forward is permanent (a 301 redirect). This tells search engines that the website has moved.
  • Forwarding does not change your email. Email to your domain continues to arrive as before.
  • While forwarding is on, visitors cannot see a website that is hosted on this domain.

Before you start

  • You must be an Owner, IT manager or Web designer for your business in the dashboard. A Billing only user can see the forwarding page but cannot change it. Refer to What each dashboard role can do.
  • The DNS for your domain must be managed by IT Solver. If it is not, the Website redirect button does not show. Do the steps in Change nameservers or move your DNS to IT Solver first.
  • The nameservers for your domain must already point to IT Solver. If you started to move your DNS to IT Solver but did not switch the nameservers, the DNS tab shows "They are not live until you switch the nameservers" and does not show Website redirect. Website redirect still shows under Common actions on the Overview tab, but a forward that you save before the switch does not reach visitors. Finish the switch in Change nameservers or move your DNS to IT Solver before you set up forwarding.
  • The domain must not be in the middle of a transfer to IT Solver. Refer to Check a domain transfer, resend the approval email or try again.
  • Make sure that the new website works before you forward to it.

Forward your domain

  1. Sign in at dashboard.itsolver.net.
  2. Select Domains, then select the domain that you want to forward.
  3. On the Overview tab, go to Common actions and select Website redirect. You can also find Website redirect on the DNS tab when your nameservers point to IT Solver.
  4. In Forward this domain, select Forward this domain.
  5. Under Send visitors to, choose one option:
    • To send visitors to another domain on your account, select An existing website. In Existing website, choose the domain. Under Use, select www or root. Choose www if the website opens at www. followed by the domain. Choose root if it opens at the domain alone.
    • To send visitors to any other website or to a specific page, select A web address I enter. In Manual web address, type the full address, starting with https:// or http://. For example, https://www.example.net.au.
  6. Select Save forwarding.
  7. Make sure that you see Website forwarding saved. In the Forwarding section, Forwards to shows the new address.
  8. If a red error message shows instead, read the message. Correct your choice and select Save forwarding again. If the message is about Cloudflare or DNS, contact IT Solver.
  9. Open your domain in a private browser window to test the forward.

An existing website always sends visitors to a secure https:// address. The list shows only the other domains on your business account. You cannot forward a domain to itself or to its own www address.

Change where your domain forwards

  1. Open Website redirect for the domain, as in steps 1 to 3 above.
  2. Choose the new destination under Send visitors to.
  3. Select Save forwarding.

Stop forwarding

  1. Open Website redirect for the domain.
  2. In Forward this domain, select Stop forwarding this domain.
  3. Select Save forwarding.
  4. Make sure that you see Website forwarding stopped.

When you turn on forwarding, the dashboard can change or add the website DNS records for the domain and www. When you stop forwarding, the dashboard puts back the records that it changed. If someone edited those records after you turned on forwarding, the dashboard does not overwrite them and shows an error. In that case, contact IT Solver.

Check the forwarding status

The Forwarding section on the Website redirect page shows the current setup:

  • Forwarding shows On or Off.
  • Status shows the progress of the setup:
    • Ready: the forward is set up.
    • Pending Setup: the dashboard has not finished the setup yet.
    • Error: the setup did not complete. The error message shows below it in red.
    • Not Configured: forwarding is off.
  • Forwards to shows the address that visitors go to.

The domain's Overview tab also shows where the domain forwards. Look in the Website forwarding section, or in the Website row of How your domain works.

Examples

  • You changed your business name and bought a new domain. Open Website redirect on the old domain. Select An existing website, choose the new domain, and select Save forwarding. Old links and business cards still bring people to your website.
  • You bought the .com version of your .com.au domain to protect your name. Forward the .com domain to your main website with An existing website. Your email on the main domain does not change.
  • You want a short domain to open your booking page. Select A web address I enter and type the full address of the booking page, for example https://www.example.net.au/book. Visitors to the short domain arrive at https://www.example.net.au/book/, with a slash at the end. If a visitor types a page path, the path goes after /book. Make sure that the booking site opens these addresses correctly.
  • Your browser asks you to enter a URL, or the dashboard shows "Forwarding destination must be a full http:// or https:// URL". Type the address again with https:// at the start, then select Save forwarding.
  • The dashboard shows "Choose a different website address to avoid a redirect loop". You entered this domain or its www address. Enter a different website, then select Save forwarding.

Still have a problem?

Questions? Email support@itsolver.net or phone 07 3123 6000.

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