Migrating Subsites to Accounts

The need may arise to migrate from a subsite to its own standalone account. This process involves creating a new Oncord account and transferring all necessary data and configurations. While the process requires some manually importing and exporting data, it is not overly complicated.

For this article, the 'origin account' refers to the account that currently has an existing subsite. The 'destination account' is the account to which the subsite will be moved.

Plan the shared data separately. Exporting a design and its pages does not transfer shared contacts, sales or automation workflows. Decide which records belong in the new account and arrange their export/import or reconfiguration before switching the domain. Check forms, integrations and email settings on the new account too.

We recommend you take a backup of your account prior to performing the migration. This can be done under Settings > Backups.

The process to migrate from a subsite to an account is as follows:

Create a New Oncord Account
Create the new destination account using a unique domain. Oncord does not support two accounts with the same domain, so append '-new' to the domain. For example, use yourwebsite-new.com.
Export your Design and Pages
In the origin account with the subsite, go to Website > Designs. In the three dots at the top, click Export.
This will download a zip file.
Import your Design and Pages
In the destination account, go to Website > Designs. In the three dots at the top, click Import. Select your downloaded zip file and reimport the design.
Test the New Account
Click around the new account's website and confirm that all pages and forms work correctly.
Copy DNS Records
In the origin account, we recommend that you make a copy of all DNS records. Go to Settings > Domains, then copy the existing DNS records. Save these in a notepad / text file so you have them for a reference later.
Protect Oncord-hosted Email Before Unparking
If Oncord hosts email for this domain, deleting or unparking the domain also deletes its mailboxes and stored messages, email forwarders and auto-replies.

Before continuing, export and verify a copy of the messages you need to keep, and record your mailbox addresses, forwarders and auto-reply settings. Exporting your website design and pages does not include these mailboxes.

Parking the domain on the destination account does not restore the deleted email data. You will need to recreate the email accounts, import the saved messages and reconfigure forwarders and auto-replies. If you need help planning this, contact Oncord Support before unparking the domain.

Mailboxes hosted by an external provider, such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, are not deleted by this action. Keep and restore the provider's DNS records so email continues to reach that provider.
Delete / Unpark the Origin Subsite Domain
After protecting any Oncord-hosted email as described above, unpark the subsite domain from the origin account. Go to Settings > Domains. Right-click the subsite then click "Delete / Unpark". This will delete the domain and all the subsite pages off the origin account.
Park the Domain at the Destination
In the destination account, go to Settings > Domains and park the actual domain. Eg yourwebsite.com (without -new).
Reconfigure DNS Records
From the notepad file you created earlier, add any extra DNS records. This is done under Settings > Domains > Edit the domain.
Pay particular attention to the MX Records - these are where email is hosted. If email is hosted externally, select this in the DNS settings and add the MX servers in the external email hosts list.
Make the Domain the Primary
At this point, you will have two domains (yourwebsite.com and yourwebsite-new.com).
Right click yourwebsite.com and click "Make Primary".
Note: While it is normally instant, it may take up to a few hours for DNS and SSL certificates to install completely.
Unpark the '-new' Domain
As the '-new' domain was just a placeholder to allow the account creation, you can now right-click and Delete / Unpark this domain.