I need to change the nameserver.

To point the domain you registered at WordPress.com to another server (hosting service), please follow the instructions here:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/domains/change-name-servers/#changing-domain-name-servers

Note you will need to obtain the name server values from your current host. You should be able to find them on their support documentation, or contact them and ask for the information. (Name servers may be referred as "nameservers" or "NS records" instead.)

Hope this helps - let us know if you have any more questions!

I'm glad it's working as desired now. :)

Got it 100% working using the "primary domain" function. As a (now) paying customer, let me recommend that this functionality/feature be included in the support documents instead of only hiding in the forums. (sorry if it's actually in the documents and I missed it...)

I setup a custom DNS Record for the MX Record which I copied from the original DNS Registrar/Hosting+E-mail Provider. I also copied a CNAME record for a "mail" alias. I included this only because the custom DNS records from the original DNS Registrar/Host included it.

It turns out the organization never actually used the fullname.org for e-mail at all, and forwarding actually wasn't setup. In some big picture, it'd be a nice if it were enabled (just in case), but it's not necessary.

The full name is the "real" domain they prefer. The preferred behavior is browsing to the abbreviated domain immediately transfers the user to the full name domain. (thru DNS, I think) How can I do this after using changing the fullname.org nameservers to the WordPress.com nameservers?

In this case, just map both domains and set the desired domain as the primary. The secondary domain will redirect to the primary as you describe: http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/map-existing-domain/

As for the MX records, you'll need to get the full MX records and add them to your Custom DNS panel: http://en.support.wordpress.com/domain-mapping/custom-dns/

Also, the WordPress.com blog I intend to map is http://thebwfp.wordpress.com.

The current full name domain is http://www.thebillyweeksfellowshipprogram.org/.

The abbreviated name is http://www.thebwfp.org.

Sorry the original post is so long, but I'm not familiar with DNS enough to be able to use the correct terminology, so if I try to shorten the question, I'm afraid I might use the wrong terms and make it more confusing for everyone.

I've studied the WordPress.com mapped domain documents and I see that they include some notes that changing the nameservers will ignore all other DNS records at the current registrar, but you can apply custom DNS records thru the WordPress dashboard once you've enabled domain mapping (but not A records). The problem here is that I don't have much experience with DNS beyond just setting a nameserver.

The organization owns two domains; one is, let's say, "fullname.org", the other is an abbreviation, let's say "fn.org".

The full name is the "real" domain they prefer. The preferred behavior is browsing to the abbreviated domain immediately transfers the user to the full name domain. (thru DNS, I think) How can I do this after using changing the fullname.org nameservers to the WordPress.com nameservers? A custom "A Record" in the domain setup in the WordPress dashboard (but I think the WordPress support docs say this isn't possible?)? Abbreviated domain should simply go to fullname.org domain without the user seeing anything other than the URL changing immediately after typing the abbreviated name. I guess I would update the fullname.org nameservers to the WordPress.Com nameservers, then change something else in a custom DNS record on the abbreviated domain (keeping the same, non-wordpress.com, nameservers, but I don't know specifically what I would change.

They also have email accounts hosted at the current provider. Based on the mapping a domain documents for WordPress.com, I think I can simply add the current MX records to the WordPress domain options after I purchase the Domain Mapping upgrade. Is this accurate? Also, the current setup captures emails sent to both fullname.org and (abbreviated) fn.org by silently redirecting emails sent @fullname.org to @fn.org (the opposite of how the website redirection works).

Summary:

1. About to turn-on mapped domains upgrade, but don't want to change the nameservers until I have a plan for all details. Can't pay for the Domain Mapping until I change the nameservers, so I'm unfortunately not a WordPress.com paying customer yet.
2. Domain registrar is not WordPress.Com
3. Need two different domains to go to the same WordPress blog. (willing to pay for this feature --as in, pay to map two domains to the same blog on WordPress.com, then choose one as "primary"-- but WordPress documents don't show if a feature like this is available). Do this via a custom DNS record at the current registrar? What would that custom DNS record be?
4. Need email sent to either domain to continue functioning. (details above) I have the MX records from the registrar saved, but I don't see how it handles the case where there is redirection from fullname.org domain to abbreviated name domain.

Current registrar and hosting service is yola.com.

Thank you for your time and help (in advance)

-Dan

I have cleared browser cache.
I have tried the process 2-3 times with no success.

I submitted a support request on 2/11 and have not received a response 4 days hence.

I look forward to hearing from a Happiness Engineer. Thank you!

Thanks verymuch for the assist macmanx

Please let us know if you need any further assistance!

I purchase the CSS upgrade for: http://melbournemakerfaire.wordpress.com/
I want to transfer it to: http://makerfairemelbourne.wordpress.com/

Thanks for you help.

I'm brand new to Word Press, but I have a long history with programming languages, I've worked with simple Websites, Wiki's and have spent a lot of time in the past working with (mostly static) HTML.

I've recently set up my own wordpress.com site, and did a small amount of development on it. It's a sister site for an existing WordPress.com site managed by someone else. One of the things I was advised to do was pay for the Custom Design upgrade so that I could use an existing custom CSS. I did this and the CSS upload worked fine.

I realised after a couple of days that I wanted to change the site name to avoid confusion when communicating the site address to the public. I went and registered the new site name on wordpress.com, then I exported the original site and imported it into the new site. That all worked fine, except the custom CSS changes didn't come across.

My problem is that the Custom Design upgrade doesn't appear to apply for the WordPress.com user, but instead it annoyingly appears to apply for each individual website. And my attempts to find a way to transfer the upgrade haven't turned up anything sensible so far.

So, is there any way to:

a) transfer the Custom Design upgrade from the original site to the new site?
b) rename the existing site to use the new site name?

If b) is a viable option, now that I've done the importing and a little setup work, what do I need to "undo", in order to complete a rename?

I'm a little pressed for time (aren't we all?), so any help very much appreciated!

Thanks in advance,

Maker fairy (aka PaulZee)

These forums are for those hosted here on the wordpress.COM free hosting service and things here work differently and our answers typically will not work for you.

If you do not know the difference, see this support document: http://en.support.wordpress.com/com-vs-org/ .

I've been working on a new portfolio site locally using WordPress.mu in hopes of eventually swapping out my old site. Tonight, I made that transition, and as soon as I linked to the new database I noticed the theme's format fell apart. The URL of the broken site is:

http://born-and-raised.com

And here's a link to theme, titled GracePhotoblog:

http://7879designs.co.uk/demo/gracephotoblogtheme/

This was my first time transferring a wordpress site, so any help would be really appreciated.

Thanks!

After you're done, you can go to Upgrades > Domains on your dashboard and change the primary domain back to the custom domain.