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If you are moving your site to a new domain or changing its URL, it is important to know what happens to your web push subscribers. Web push subscriptions are tied to the exact domain a person subscribed on, so a domain change does not carry those subscribers with it. This guide explains why, and what you can do.
Before You Start
- Know that a web push subscription belongs to the specific domain where it was collected.
- Understand that the browser treats a different domain, and even a different subdomain, as a separate site.
How Domain-Level Subscriptions Work
When someone subscribes, the browser ties that subscription to the origin they subscribed on, for example exampleA.com. If you later move to exampleB.com, the browser sees the new domain as a completely different site. Your existing subscribers cannot be moved or automatically re-subscribed to the new domain, because they never granted permission there.
This applies to subdomains too. Moving between a subdomain and a root domain, such as blog.example.com and example.com, counts as a change of site for the browser, not the same site.
What Changes and What You Can Do
- Existing subscribers stay attached to the old domain. They keep seeing the old domain in the opt-in and at the bottom of notifications. If the old domain is no longer live, those subscribers become unreachable.
- You build a fresh subscriber list on the new domain. Install PushEngage on the new domain and begin collecting new opt-ins there.
- You can point notification links to the new domain. If you set the URL on your notifications to the new domain, subscribers who click will land on the new site. For example, if you moved from
exampleA.comtoexampleB.com, a subscriber who originally subscribed onexampleA.comwill still see that domain in their opt-in and notification footer, but clicking the notification can take them toexampleB.comwhen you set the URL there. - One account can hold multiple sites. You can associate more than one website with a single PushEngage account, but subscribers cannot be consolidated across those sites into one list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will my subscribers follow me to the new domain?
No. Because subscriptions belong to the domain where they were collected, your existing subscribers stay on the old domain and cannot be re-subscribed to the new one automatically. You start a new list on the new domain.
Does moving between a subdomain and a root domain count as a domain change?
Yes. The browser treats a subdomain and a root domain as separate sites, so the same rules apply as a full domain change.
What happens if I take the old domain offline?
Subscribers tied to the old domain become unreachable once that domain is no longer live, since their subscription points to a site that no longer responds.
Can I still reach my old subscribers in the meantime?
Yes, as long as the old domain is live. You can keep sending to the old domain’s subscribers, and you can set the notification URL to your new domain so their clicks land on the new site.
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