Planned domain migration to Kinsta + Cloudflare — sanity check
We’re preparing to move from a legacy platform to a new WooCommerce build hosted on Kinsta.
The site is currently running on titanrings.co.uk (staging/test). The live domain will be titanjewellery.co.uk. We’re a few weeks from launch and planning the DNS switch via Cloudflare.
I’d appreciate a quick sense check on a few points:
Domain swap at Kinsta
Once DNS is pointed to Kinsta, is the correct approach simply:
• Add live domain in MyKinsta
• Update/set primary domain
• Run database search/replace
Wordfence 2FA
Is 2FA tied to the domain, URLs, or user/session data?
Any lockout risk during the domain change?
Cloudflare
Safe to keep existing Cloudflare Pro and just repoint DNS to Kinsta?
Email (Host-IT)
Email remains hosted externally with Host-IT.
As long as MX records stay untouched at Cloudflare, should mail flow remain unaffected?
Licences & redirects
I’m aware some plugin licences will need updating for the live domain.
We’ll also be implementing 301 redirects from legacy Sellerdeck URLs to the new WooCommerce structure.
Pitfalls / checks
Any known Kinsta / Cloudflare / WooCommerce / Host-IT email pitfalls I should double-check?
Goal is a clean transition without downtime or access issues.
Verify the domain (this creates the necessary networking piece in our Cloudflare configuration, as well as generating the SSL certificate)
Set the domain as the primary domain (which includes the search-and-replace)
Then point the domain, when all the rest is done
That will minimize downtime by ensuring the domain is in place with the necessary network configuration and certificates before pointing the domain.
With regards to Wordfence 2FA, the plugin may need to be deactivated temporarily if it is not working after the move. I believe whether or not it is domain-specific is dependent on its internal settings. If you require assistance with logging in, and are unable to deactivate the plugin via SFTP or through MyKinsta, please contact our Support team: Support - Contact Support - Kinsta® Docs
It is perfectly save to keep your existing Cloudflare account and simply point it to the site here at Kinsta. Please note that there is a specific DNS setup for these instances though; instead of an A record pointing to an IP address, it will be a CNAME record pointing to <sitename>.hosting.kinsta.cloud.
As long as the MX records remain untouched, mail flow should remain the same, with one caveat: if you are sending transactional mail through the site itself (such as password resets, or order confirmations), you may need to add
include:relay.kinstamailservice.com
to your SPF record to allow those emails to be sent/received properly.
Most redirects can be implemented directly in MyKinsta: WordPress Hosting - Redirects - Kinsta® Docs However if you have any where they are not working, or if you’re not sure, please contact our Support team.
If you do have any questions during any of those other processes as well, please don’t hesitate to contact our team
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