How to connect a domain to your website

Connecting a domain means telling the internet which server answers for your name. There are two common ways to do it.

Option 1: change the nameservers

Nameservers decide who manages all the DNS records for your domain. When your host gives you two nameservers and you set them at your registrar, the host takes over the whole address book. This is the simplest option: after that, everything is managed in one place.

Option 2: add DNS records

If you want to keep managing DNS at your registrar, you add records there instead: usually an A record for the bare domain and a CNAME for www, pointing to what your host tells you.

How long it takes

Changes usually show up within minutes to a few hours. Nameserver changes can occasionally take up to a day or two to reach everyone, because networks keep old answers for a while.

Do not lose your email

If you already receive email at your domain, its delivery depends on MX records in the same DNS. Before switching nameservers, write down your current MX (and any TXT) records and add them at the new DNS provider. Otherwise your email can stop arriving until they are added back.

On Almulx: a domain registered with us

1. Open the Domains tab in your dashboard.
2. Choose Manage next to the domain.
3. Pick your website and connect it. DNS is already with us, so there is nothing to change elsewhere.

On Almulx: a domain registered elsewhere

1. In the Domains tab, choose Already own a domain? and enter it.
2. We show you two nameservers. Set them at the company where your domain is registered.
3. Back in your dashboard, choose Check again until the domain shows as active.
4. Add any email records you noted, then connect the domain to your website.

The domain stays registered where it is, and you renew it there.