Overview Of Web Domains
The world of web domains can seem daunting. From root and naked domains, to subdomains, to domain forwarding, there’s a lot of options and a lot of terms that the general population hasn’t heard of, let alone need to actually know about 🤓
Thankfully, we’ve laid out a quick crash course to get you familiar with various terms you might encounter as you point your domain to your website.
In this guide, we'll cover the following topics. Click on any one to jump ahead.
Important Definitions
Domain - A unique, branded name that identifies a website. (Think: your church’s website URL, like fakechurch.com.)
Root/Naked Domain - The baseline, simplest form of the domain you own. For example, not www.fakechurch.com, not fakechurch.com/staff-and-leaders. Just fakechurch.com.
Subdomain - A version of your domain with a prefix added to it. This could be as simple as www.fakechurch.com, but can be more creative like sermons.fakechurch.com. (A real example is maps.google.com)
Domain Registrar - A company from which you can buy domains (i.e. Hover or Namecheap.)
DNS Settings - Domain Name System (DNS) settings instruct domains to point to certain websites (e.g. your domain to your Nucleus website). Typically, DNS settings are accessed through your domain registrar’s system.
DNS Records - A list in your DNS settings that tells where your domain should point to, determined by each specific record in the list.
A Record - Not just a record, but an “A” record acts as a map that points your domain to your website. You can adjust this under your DNS Settings.
CNAME Record - A canonical name record points an alias domain (or subdomain) to another domain. A common use is when the www. version of your domain points to your root/nake domain. For example, www.fakechurch.com can point to fakechurch.com.
TTL - Time To Live is like an expiration time set on a DNS record query. The shorter the TTL is on a record, the more likely you are to see the most recent information pertaining to that record.
SSL - A Secure Socket Layer protects any information on your site from being compromised by unapproved third parties. A domain has an SSL certificate installed when you see https:// in front of it in the address bar of your browser, instead of just http://. Search engines, like Google, favor websites with SSL certificates in their search results. More importantly, an SSL certificate helps prevent your website (and any information entered in forms - or Flows 😉) from being hacked. But don’t worry - we provide you with an SSL certificate for free!
Two Points Of Management
Now that you’re an expert of all domain terminology, it’s time to take a look at where you’ll need to manage your domain in order to point it to your Nucleus website.
First, you’ll add your domain in your Nucleus Dashboard here. This will provide you with information regarding an A record and a CNAME record. So your first point of management is directly in Nucleus.
Second, you’ll need access to your DNS records so you can edit your current A record and CNAME record (or create new ones). These records are likely held within your domain registrar’s system (who you purchased your domain from).
Note: If you do not have access to this, you will need to send instructions to whomever does have access so they can create/edit records in order to point your domain to your Nucleus website. Those instructions can be found here, but we recommend reading through the rest before you look at those.
What Nucleus Does & Does Not Cover
At this point, you may be wondering, “What does Nucleus Web cover in terms of domain management?”
While you can build and host your website with Nucleus (which are big items if you ask us 😉), Nucleus is not a domain registrar. We do not sell domains or manage DNS settings. There are dedicated platforms out there that sell domains for cheap (sometimes for as little as $10/year!) and provide DNS settings & record management.
If you’re looking to purchase a new domain (or are thinking of switching domain registrars), we always recommend Hover or Namecheap. (Both - especially Hover - are more dedicated to domain hosting than other domain registrars.)
Now, most domain registrars will also try to sell you an SSL certificate. While this is very kind of them to offer, Nucleus actually provides you with a free SSL certificate, so you don’t need to pay for this 🙌
At the same time, Nucleus is not an email hosting provider. Email hosting allows you to use your custom domain as part of your email address, so everyone has unified email addresses. For instance, Click here to learn more. But there are others out there too that you can use.
So In Short, Nucleus Web Provides:
- Website building
- Website hosting
- SSL certificates
Nucleus Web Does Not Provide:
- Custom domains
- DNS settings/record management
- Email hosting