Canvas Docs

How To Move A License To Another Domain

A license activation is tied to the address it was made on, so when a site changes address, the activation should follow it. Canvas treats this as routine, because it is: domains get renamed, sites move hosts, staging copies go live. This page covers the automatic path, the manual path, and the one distinction that prevents most mistakes, moving versus activating anew.

Move Or Activate: Decide First

Ask one question, does the old address stop being a live site, and the answer picks the operation:

  • Yes, the site is moving. Migrate. The activation transfers to the new address, no extra seat is spent, and the activation's history (its original activation date) is preserved.
  • No, both addresses stay live. That is two sites. Leave the old activation alone and activate the new site with the same key, which spends a second seat within your plan's allowance.

A migration moves the single activation, so migrating while the old site still serves visitors would leave it unlicensed.

The Automatic Migration

In most moves you do nothing. On your next visit to the WordPress admin after the address change, Canvas notices that the site no longer runs on the licensed domain and migrates the activation itself. You can confirm on Canvas > License: the Licensed domain row shows the new address and a Moved to this domain row records the date, while Activated on keeps the original date, because the move is part of one activation's history rather than a new activation.

When The Automatic Move Does Not Complete

Starting screenthe WordPress admin of the moved site.

Two handles appear, and either one finishes the job:

  • An admin notice states that the site domain has changed and the license needs re-activating for this domain, with a Re-activate Now button.
  • The Canvas > License screen shows a warning naming both addresses, the one the license was activated on and the one the site runs on now, with a Migrate License button that asks you to confirm the move.

Select either button once. The warning clears when the migration succeeds.

Note

The automatic migration and the admin notice both come from the Canvas Core plugin. On a site running the Canvas theme without that plugin, neither appears, so use the Migrate License button on Canvas > License instead. It moves the activation the same way and keeps the original activation date, so the end state is identical.

Pitfalls

"Migration failed. Please re-activate your license." The service could not complete the transfer. The reliable fallback is on the same screen: select Deactivate, then activate the key again. The end state is identical apart from the activation date, which restarts.

The domain warning shows on a staging copy. A staging copy carries production's licensed domain in its copied database, so the warning is describing reality, not asking for action. Migrate only when this copy is about to become the live site; Moving Between Staging And Production covers the workflow.

The old site lost premium after a migration. The activation moved, which is what a migration is. If the old address was meant to stay live, activate it again with the same key as its own seat.

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