Transferring or using a .co.uk domain to square

[DawnW]

I have a well established .co.uk domain (so I don't really want to change the domain name) hosted with TSO Host uk. I set up a Square free website to test it out and like it. The online store works well, with everything connected to my Square POS etc so I thought I would upgrade with Square and transfer my domain but before I did I want to do some research. I have just read that Square doesn't host .co.uk domains? So, do I have any options here (go easy with me, I'm not too techy)?

I want to develop my Square website and happy to ditch my old website content hosted by TSOhost but I want to keep the co.uk domain address. I thought it would be a straight forward move to Square and leave TSOhost but looks like it's not so simple?

Advice welcome ... but keep it simple please 🙂

[Sam_400º]

You can use your .co.uk domain with Square no problem at all. 

I've not read about the not being able to buy a .uk name through Square, but as you already own it we've not got any problems. 

Mine is managed through GoDaddy (the same provider Square uses too) and mapped to Square. You can move your domain to any supplier, so if you don't want to leave it with TSOhost you can move it. 

This is the support documents for connecting domains that are set up with 3rd parties.

So, on your checklist:

1) See if you can manage your DNS settings with TSOhost separately from your website
1a) Move your domain to GoDaddy or 1and1 etc where you'll have full DNS control if TSOhost doesn't let you.

2) Upgrade your Square site and follow the support document above with a cup of coffee. Take your time, it's not too hard but probably have to read a few bits twice! 

3) Be patient - things can take a day to update. Trust yourself that you've done good job and take it on the chin that it's all gone funny for a little bit! 

[DawnW]

Hi Sam, thank you for your reply. I think I can 'connect' my co.uk domain to Square but not 'transfer' it. I read this article https://squareup.com/help/gb/en/article/7024-transferring-your-domain-to-weebly and it mentions "Note: At this time, we can only accept ‘.com’, ‘.net’ and ‘.org’ domains for transfer." Unless this is an old article or I'm not getting the point?

I though it would have been easier if I was maintaining my website on Square and using Square to host it too. I would only be paying Square and not both Square and TSOhost but if that's what I need to do it's not so bad I suppose, if I can just get my head round the techy bit!

Am I correct with this? If so, I will need to 'connect' my Square website with my current hosting company and continue to use TSOhost for hosting.

Am I on the right track?

Dawn

[Breffni · Accepted solution]

Hello @DawnW @Sam_400º, thanks for working on this! 

I can confirm that it's not currently possible to transfer a .co.uk domain to Square Online at the moment.

The backstory, TLD stands for Top Level Domain and refers to the bit of a domain after the "dot" - like .com or .info. There are 2 main types of TLDs: Generic Top Level Domains (gTLD) and Country Code Top Level Domains (ccTLD).

Generic TLDs are available for anyone to use regardless of location and include TLDs such as .com, .net, .org and .info, etc. 

Country Code TLDs are specific to each country and the use of these domains is restricted to residents of those countries. At the moment, Square can only transfer generic TLDs. 

In this case, you will need to connect your domain to use Square, which means your billing will remain with your current host, so yes, it looks like you've understood everything correctly here 🙂 

If you connect your domain, your site will be unpublished for around 24/48 hours. The process is as outlined here. 
 

Let me know if you have any questions! 

[DawnW]

Hi Breffni,

Thanks for your input on this and for clarifying everything about TLDs (that’s something else I’ve learnt today!)

I think I now have a plan and hopefully I can manage to connect. 🤞

Regards

Dawn

[Breffni]

Super, sounds good! Let us know if anything comes up @DawnW 

[Hhibbard3D]

ive been trying to chnage my nameservers  

[tonydow]

You could use Web Forwarding so anyone accessing your current website name will be automatically redirected to your Square site. Your website host should be able to set this up or you may be able to do it yourself on their website.

Example :  Typing www.theungratefulwench.co.uk takes you to https://the-ungrateful-wench.square.site

[GreenMachine1]

Has Square been updated to allow .co.uk sites to work with transferring domain yet? 

I cannot afford to pay the amount Square have increased the subscription this year (more than double!) just to allow me to use the same website name (other benefits are of no use to me).  But equally I need to continue to use my existing .co.uk website as that is on all of my branding.

[Sam_400º]

Hey @GreenMachine1 - I think there's some misunderstanding here. 

To use a custom domain you need to have the Square package that supports this. It's not supported on the free plan. 

This situation is the same if your domain is with Square or any other provider. So I don't think this will change the situation even if Square could port in your .co.uk

The alternative you have is to set up a redirect with your provider to your free Square.site address. This means that anyone visiting your .co.uk will be redirected to your live site. 

[GreenMachine1]

Thank you for clarifying. I had understood from above comments that I couldn’t redirect a .co.uk site to my free square site but if I can do that then I’ll use that route. I set it up to redirect with my domain provider and didn’t work but it I’ll leave it for a few days and see if it will redirect after that.