I'm working on a redesign of an existing site that I'm hosting on Winhost. Rather than just try to completely develop the site on my local server and replacing the existing one when it is complete, I'd rather host the new site on a separate account so that I can have it all working without any downtime on the current site. Then when it's all working I just transfer the domain name over from the old site and close the original account. So the question is, can I open a new site without having a domain name assigned to it initially? I'm pretty sure you can just access it with an IP address, but just want to be sure. I should also mention that this will be a DotNetNuke site, so are there going to be issues with broken links once the domain is assigned after the site is complete? -Kyle
You can access it with an alternate URL that we provide. You have to enter a domain name when you set up the site, but it doesn't have to be a valid domain. It could even be a domain hosted elsewhere. As for broken links, that shouldn't be a problem, but if the DNN instances are not exactly the same you could have issues. The same as moving or recreating any site on a new server or account.
It appears I can't use a domain name that is already hosted on Winhost though. Can I make up an alternate domain name that isn't valid and then change it later after closing the other account that is currently using the domain name?
Yes, you can simply use any domain name and just change it later if you'd like. There is a tool in the CP which allows you to change the domain name.
It looks like the email won't work if you don't have the domain assigned. Lets say I have one site on Winhost called mydomain.com, then I create this new staging site called mydomain2.com. It appears that the mail.mydomain2.com server won't work when the domain mydomain2.com does not exist.
