9  Site

Use the license for another domain name if the current one no longer represents the current content.

Note that no content editing can occur on the current site while awaiting transfer, so complete any content changes that need to be on the site for the new domain before invoking this action.

This function co-registers a new domain name against the license with the current domain name. After a grace period of 24 hours, the old domain name is deregistered, so Smallsite Design must be installed on the new domain's server during the grace period and its rudimentary content overwritten with the current site's content archive available from the Download link at the end of the Details section. After this, the new site will have exactly the same content as the old one had, but its content and structure is free to be edited as required. Before expiry, the process can be cancelled using the Cancel the transfer action.

The site for the new domain should be ready to run before attempting transfer, which means that the server should be hosting the domain. The new domain name should be set at its registrar to point to the domain's hosting servers so that it can be found on the internet, which can take up to 48 hours after the change. cPanel must have automatically installed its site certificate, which can take up to a couple of hours, but that can only happen after the site is accessible through the domain.

This action will test if the new domain name can be accessed. If this access generates an error, a warning with the return code will be shown below its field, which can be ignored, though at the risk of not being able to install to the new domain's site. 400 series codes indicate the target site was reached but a home page could not be displayed, which is alright as one will be provided during installation. 300 series indicates redirection and 500 series indicates server issues, both of which need to be resolved with the hosting provider before attempting transfer.

After a domain transfer grace period expires, the existing site will be completely deleted, but all requests will be redirected to the new domain with the same page path, so people with existing links will still find the content. Leave the redirection in place for several months before using the domain for other content. If the domain name is not required any more, do not renew it and it will eventually lapse, preventing the site from being reached. If an addon domain, it can then be deleted in cPanel.

If the transfer operation was meant to be cancelled before the expiry, use a Transfer domain action on the new site to revert the license back to the current site's domain. Before that new transfer's grace period ends, perform a new installation on the current site and overwrite it with the content archive available from the new site's Details section. After expiry, the site for the newly abandoned domain will be deleted, the domain unregistered, and redirecting back to the current domain.

If the content archive available from the Download link at the end of the Details section is not downloaded, after the grace period expires and the current site is automatically deleted, its content is lost forever. It is good practice to periodically create and download a content archive on the Import page so that the consequences of such procedural lapses will involve the least amount of content loss. A day or so of content loss is much easier to regenerate – even if not exactly – than a whole site's worth!

If the domain has become deregistered, perhaps by using the Deregister a domain action on the current or another site, the current transfer action is abandoned.

Stop the current domain name transfer.

This action deregisters the new domain from the license and cancels the grace period and any actions that would have happened upon its expiry. This might need to be done to edit some content before transferring the domain, as that cannot be done while within the grace period. This is the only action available on this page if a transfer is in progress.

If cancelled, the new site's domain will be deregistered, with the consequences described in If deregistered.

Register the current site's domain with a license.

For normal operations, the license number is not required. It is not stored in the site, but is only available in the email and the invoice from the seller, or by using the purchaser's account with the seller to view the invoice. If all access to the license number is lost, no actions in this section can be done unless another license is purchased and this action used to register the current site's domain with it.

A domain can be registered to multiple licenses, allowing for lost licenses, but only when a domain is deregistered from all licenses will it be considered deregistered.

Deregister a domain from one of the licenses with which it is registered.

When access to a license number is lost, another license must be purchased and the Register the domain action used to register the domain with it. If the original license number is later found, the domain name can be deregistered from one of the licenses using this action, freeing up the license to be used for another domain or given away. Just note which license the domain is now registered to so a failed action or installation from using the wrong license is avoided.

When deregistered, the consequences are as described in If deregistered. If the site is to be no longer used for Smallsite Design, using the Uninstall the site action will delete all the content and files.

This action defaults to using the current domain, but can be used to deregister any domain from its license. This allows freeing up a license for a domain whose site has been deleted or abandoned so that it can be used for another domain or given away. Because this can be done by anyone who knows a license number and the domain registered to it, license numbers should be kept secret and made known only to those who can be trusted.

A site that is no longer needed for Smallsite Design can be removed.

This action removes all files of the current site, freeing up the site for other purposes, while showing a 404 page error until other content is provided. If no longer wanting to use the license for the domain name, use the Deregister a domain action before using this.

Of course, this action cannot be done from an installation whose domain now points to another hosting server, because it will be inaccessible from the internet. In that case, the files will have to be deleted using the File Manager page in cPanel, as per the Delete a site procedure.

When a site is not registered, while it is still publicly available, management operations are severely limited.

A site's domain can become deregistered by a Deregister a domain action or a Cancel the transfer action that left its transfer target site that way. While its content may still be publicly visible, after the next master manager login a ***** NOT REGISTERED ***** message will be shown at the bottom of each page, and only the master manager will be able to login thereafter. The Work list page will have a solitary jump to the Site page, which will only have the actions of Register the domain to continue using the site or Uninstall the site to remove it, though the latter will still be an active but empty site for the domain for some other purpose.

If a domain cannot be re-registered to a license again, the license may have another domain associated with it. This is possibly because someone else has found out the license number and deregistered the original domain. Unless that other domain is known, the only actions available are to purchase a new license and register using it, or uninstall the site. Even if the other domain is known, the license is compromised, so a new license will have to be purchased and kept secret.