Add a subdomain or new domain name for WP in directory

It will mess up absolutely URLs, since you’ll be moving the files too, but there are lots of ways to fix that. ??

Just follow this guide: https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Moving_WordPress#Changing_Your_Domain_Name_and_URLs

well the catch is I wasn’t going to physically ‘move’ anything. Just point the domain to the directory its already in.
Knowing wordpress is somewhat finicky on that core…I’m not sure how the database would react. (And I’m sorry to note that Velvet Blues URL changer hasn’t worked for me the last few times. Too bad, it was very handy at one point.)

Personally, I prefer https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/better-search-replace/ instead of Velvet, it’s listed in the same guide.

You can still direct the domain to the subdomain’s directory when done, just change the two URLs at Settings -> General in the blog’s Dashboard first.

The main thing to avoid is running both sites in subdirectories of the same domain. Always use separate domains or separate subdomains.

well, the main site is in the root. There IS an older wordpress blog in a different subdirectory.
And then there is this new one in another subdirectory I was planning on pointing the ‘other’ domain too.

Ok, go for it then. Not sure what you’re asking for advice on.

Okay…here is what I’m trying to do.
I bought a new domain name from a different registrar than the first one. The first domain name is from Fatcow, the second from Godaddy.
The site is hosted on a different host entirely.

what I want to do is point the second domain name into a directory on that host that the other already points too.

This would be the ‘original’ domain being pointed to mysite.com
The new domain would be pointing to mysite.com/newwordpress which is where it was developed

The question is, how to do that so you see the new domain name ie newsite.com instead of seeing it redirect to mysite.com/newwordpress

Sorry if its confusing…I’m pretty confused myself because it seems like it should be doable, but even the ‘how to point domain’ is confusing me and then the whole absolute url thing in wordpress must be dealt with as well.

Ok, that’s not really a WordPress thing.

On the WordPress end, just make sure the two URLs at Settings -> General are correct before changing the domain.

As for directing the domain, you’ll need to check with your hosting provider.

?? Its not working. I have the domain pointed and masking set but wordpress is determined to show the ‘old’ domain and path.
What am I missing?

If you have Settings -> General set in your Dashboard, then what you do on the WordPress end is done. If you can’t access the Dashboard to do that, follow this guide: https://codex.www.ads-software.com/Changing_The_Site_URL#Changing_the_URL_directly_in_the_database

If the settings URLs are correct, then the issue is how the domain is directed, and you’ll need to contact your hosting provider.

If you’re just doing domain forwarding/masking through your domain registrar, it won’t work. The domain will need to be properly added to your server.

“Yes” to the above. The second domain needs to be an add-on at that server, and then use cPanel to assign it to the destination directory. Also, the first or “primary” domain at that host is not already pointed to that destination if that destination is a sub-folder and the primary is pointed/assigned to “root”. If I am seeing this correctly, here is what you have and want:
primary.com pointed/assigned to /rootfolder/
addon.com pointed/assigned to /rootfolder/addon/

In my own case and to help keep things logical and straight, I have this:

primary.com assigned to /rootfolder/ and then
redirected to /rootfolder/primary/ by using this:
https://my.bluehost.com/cgi/help/347
addon1.com assigned to /rootfolder/addon1/
addon2.com assigned to /rootfolder/addon2/
addon3.com assigned to /rootfolder/addon3/
addon4.com assigned to /rootfolder/addon4/

The question is, how to do that so you see the new domain name ie newsite.com instead of seeing it redirect to mysite.com/newwordpress

By doing the above, each domain has its usual ‘domain.com’ URL in the boxes at Settings > General and WordPress knows (and needs to know) nothing at all about its being in a sub-directory.