Transferring to Vodahost - advice please

[Mark Andrews]

I have taken on the role of updating and running the websites of an organisation I am involved in and am thus far impressed by Blue Voda and Voda Host. I am yet to take on Voda Host but will be doing so. However I need to seek advice.

We are in the process of having our two domain names transferring in the organisations name (they are currently in the name of the designer of the site - no idea why they were not registered in the organisations name originally - well before my time) once we have done this I then want to switch the hosting from the original hosting company to Voda Host.

We have two domain names, one is a .com and the other ends .org.uk.

The .org.uk is the main site currently and if you use the .com address you are taking directly to the .org.uk site (both addresses take you to the same site, the .org.uk one).

So which domain name do I use for the free transfer?

I notice the free domain transfer does not apply to sites ending .org.uk. So if I use the .com site for the free transfer, can I then add the .org.uk site as an additional domain on the hosting account or not? or is there an additional cost for adding a .org.uk site as an additional domain?

Can anyone please advise?

Also I want to totally change the organisations site. by designing a whole new website using Blue Voda. Can I possibly do this whilst still keeping the old site up and running? Or do I need to remove the old site and put up an "Under Construction" message, which i do the newly designed site?

We also want to have a passworded Members only section on the new site, is that possible using Blue Voda? and is it possible to add a Message Board like WOW BB or something similar, but we want one that does not have any kind of adverts on, weare happy to pay for the adverts to be removed. We want the message board to be integral and not direct our Members away from our website.

Sorry if this is a long message, but I would genuinely like help and advice.

Thank you

[Bethers]

Re: Transferring to Vodahost - advice please

For your circumstances, why not just keep those domain names where they are - point the name servers as needed - and get yourself a NEW domain name for the free one - and use it however you'd like.

You can build in BV off-line - so you wouldn't have to transfer the site until you have it built. So, yes, it could stay online as is until you are ready to change the nameservers.

Yes, you can do a password protection Members Only section.

[navaldesign]

Re: Transferring to Vodahost - advice please

We have two domain names, one is a .com and the other ends .org.uk.

The .org.uk is the main site currently and if you use the .com address you are taking directly to the .org.uk site (both addresses take you to the same site, the .org.uk one).

So which domain name do I use for the free transfer?

Depends on how you have made the second site redirect on the first one: it might be through Parking, or through a redirect. In any case it should be the main site to be transferred. As Beth pointed, you can simply point both sites in your VH account, the first one being the main account, and the second one added as addon. Adding addon domains in your account is free.

Also I want to totally change the organisations site. by designing a whole new website using Blue Voda. Can I possibly do this whilst still keeping the old site up and running? Or do I need to remove the old site and put up an "Under Construction" message, which i do the newly designed site?

.

You can get a VH account, and start building your new site whilst the old one remains live on the old hoster. Or, you can copy all the files from the old hoster to your new VH account, so your site will be allive also on the VH account (using either transfer or pointing of your site to the VH account). Whilst the old site is alive you can build the new one and when ready, replace the old pages with the new ones.

We also want to have a passworded Members only section on the new site, is that possible using Blue Voda? and is it possible to add a Message Board like WOW BB or something similar, but we want one that does not have any kind of adverts on, weare happy to pay for the adverts to be removed. We want the message board to be integral and not direct our Members away from our website.

You can build a members section in BV. However, the member section can be done in two ways:
1. Through a password protected folder: you can setup such a folder in your Control Panel. However, the passwords must be manually setup by you, and then you should mail the members to let them know the login details.
2. OR, you need a login script that will allow members to self-register and activate their account.

depends on how you want it to work.