Add & Connect Your Custom Domain (Web URL) To Your Site

One of the most exciting parts about building a website is when you can finally access your site using your own custom domain. While your Preview URL is helpful, it’s not something that just rolls off the tongue when announcing it from stage on Sunday 😅

If you have a dedicated IT person at your church, connecting your domain to your Nucleus Site might be something to pass onto them. But this guide will walk you through absolutely everything you’ll need in order to do it yourself, even if you’re completely new to the world of domains and DNS records. So don’t fret! We’ve got you covered 😉

Note: If you don’t have much experience with domains and DNS records, and terms like CNAME records and IP addresses sound foreign to you, we have an entire Overview Of Web Domains that might be helpful to reference as you make your way through the rest of this guide.

In this guide, we'll cover the following topics. Click on any one to jump ahead.

Stop! Do You Have A Previous Website?

If you’re coming from another website, it’s likely that you’re planning on using the same custom domain that’s currently pointing to your old website. If that’s the case, hold your horses and answer the following questions:

  • Have you reviewed your Nucleus website in its entirety? If not, we recommend doing this first before pointing your domain to your Nucleus website. (Regardless of whether you have a previous website or not, this is just a good idea in general 😉) But don’t worry! We have an entire Pre-Launch Checklist For Nucleus Web. Feel free to check that out so you don’t accidentally miss reviewing something super important.
  • Do you have a plan of revealing your new website to your church? If not, it might be a wise idea to develop a plan on how you want to launch your website. After all, you’re likely not just launching a new website, but also introducing a new next steps product at the very same time: The Launcher. We have an entire guide on how to Roll Out Nucleus To Your Congregation. If you’re utilizing any Nucleus product other than just Nucleus Web, we recommend checking that out.
  • Have you communicated with the rest of your church leadership that the new website is about to go live? If not, we recommend making sure everyone is on the same page before pulling the plug on the old website and pointing your domain to your new website. Minimize surprises and keep your job, right? 😆
  • Is your previous website an old Nucleus 1 website? If it is, and you were using Nucleus 1 Sermons, we’ve put together a guide on how to Connect Nucleus 1 Sermons With Your Nucleus 2 Website. If you want people to still easily access your sermon archive - or continue to receive updates to your podcast through the RSS feed generated by Nucleus 1 - this is very important to follow until we release the new version of Sermons in Nucleus 2.

If you’re good to go on all four of those counts - or perhaps none of this applies to you because you don’t have an old website - then it’s time to move on to the next question.

Stop! Do You Own A Custom Domain?

While we want to make sure Nucleus remains as user-friendly as possible, we also don’t want you poking around where you might not need to be 😅 If you don’t own a custom domain, chances are you don’t need to be adding domains to your Nucleus Dashboard.

If you don’t own a domain, but are in the market to purchase one, we recommend checking out GoDaddy.

If you already own a domain, but are looking to switch domain registrars, we also recommend checking out GoDaddy.

(And no, before you ask, we aren’t being paid to promote GoDaddy 🙈 They’re just the cream above the crop in our experience when compared to other domain registrars.)

Note: For more information about domain names, including tips and FAQs, click here.

If you do own a custom domain AND have passed through all the questions above to ensure that you’re truly ready to point your domain to your new Nucleus website, then congrats! You’re in the right place 😎

Add Your Custom Domain

To get started, click on Manage in Nucleus Web, and then select Domain & Redirects. Click here for a quick link.

To add a new domain, click the + Add New button.

Then, simply add your naked/root domain (so without www. as shown in the example below) and then type in a description name for it.

Then, click the Save New Domain button.

After this, you’ll see a few different pieces of information that might seem like complete nonsense: CNAME record, A record, random numbers and letters… Don’t worry! You don’t need to fully understand what each item is. But if you’re curious, you can learn more about domains and domain terms here.

First, you’ll notice that the connection status of your domain is pending. That’s okay! You haven’t pointed your A record for your domain to Nucleus’ IP address yet. Once you do, you can click the Check Now button.

Speaking of, let’s do that now!

Point Your Domain To Nucleus

For this step, you’ll need to leave your Nucleus Dashboard and login to your domain registrar. (That’s the company you purchased your domain from.) But keep your Nucleus 2 Dashboard open. You’ll need to reference the CNAME record information shortly.

Note: Because each domain registrar’s user interface is unique, the screenshots below might not look exactly like what you see. Thankfully, the principles and steps are almost universal across all domain registrars.

Once you’re logged into your domain registrar account, make your way to where you can manage/edit your DNS records for your custom domain.

Note: The instructions below are to create a new A record and new CNAME record. If those records already exist, feel free to either edit those, or delete them and then create new versions of them.

In your domain registrar’s system, create a new record with the following information:

  • Type: A Record
  • Name: @ (or your root/naked domain)
  • IP address / Value / Content: 15.197.132.55
  • TTL: 600 seconds (or as low as possible)

Note: If you have an A record set up for your previous website, you will need to delete that A record. For instance, if you're coming from a Nucleus 1 website, you will want to delete the A record with the IP address 159.89.233.110

Similarly, create another record with the following information:

  • Type: CNAME Record
  • Name: www
  • IP Address / Value / Content: COPY FROM YOUR NUCLEUS DASHBOARD
  • TTL: 600 seconds (or as low as possible)

This is where you’ll need to go back to your Nucleus Dashboard and copy the Content data for your CNAME record.

If you’ve accidentally closed the tab open to your Nucleus Dashboard, open another tab. Then go back to manage your Domain & Redirects in your Nucleus Dashboard. Click here for a quick link.

Click to Copy the content for your CNAME record. Then paste it in the IP address / Value / Content field for your CNAME record in your domain registrar.

Once you’ve created (or edited) your A record and CNAME record in your domain registrar’s system, save those changes.

Check/Verify Your Connection

Remember seeing that the connection status of your domain is pending? Let’s fix that now.

To verify the connection of your domain with your Nucleus, go back to your Domain & Redirects in Nucleus Web and select Website URL. Click here for a quick link.

Then, click the Check Now button. If the connection is good, after the circle spins a few times in the button, a checkmark should appear beside the Status.

If the connection status remains pending, that’s okay! This likely just means that you very recently made changes to your domain’s DNS records. Just wait a few minutes and try checking the connection again.

After the status says your domain is connected to your domain, in most cases, it should only take about 5-10 minutes before your website comes up on your screen when you enter your domain into your web browser. That being said, depending on the domain registrar and a host of other factors, it can sometimes take up to 24 hours for the changes you’ve made to your DNS records to propagate the internet worldwide. So if it takes longer than 5-10 minutes, don’t panic. It might just take a few more minutes than expected.

Note: It’s always good to double check that the information you edited in your domain registrar’s system is correct, though if the connection status says your domain is connected, likely everything is accurate.

One trick to try if your site still isn’t loading in your browser after 10 minutes is to open up a private window. If your site loads there, that’s great! It means you did everything correctly and it’s just a caching issue in your browser. (Which just means you need to clear your browser’s cache.) To learn how, simply do a quick Google search: clear chrome cache (or whatever browser you’re using).

Another tool you can use is https://whatsmydns.net. Type in your church’s domain and hit Enter on your keyboard. You’ll want to see Nucleus’ IP address load across the board. (That’s 15.197.132.55) If you see this in some places, but a different IP address in others, that just means the changes you made are still propagating the internet across the world. You can keep checking to see the progress of where those changes still need to take place.

If you find yourself in a situation where your website isn’t loading when you enter your domain in your web browser and it’s been 24 hours since you connected your domain to your Nucleus, let us know and we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction 😊

Email us at hello@nucleus.church 👍

Do You Have Multiple Domains? (Domain Forwarding)

While not common, it’s possible you might have multiple custom domains that you want to point people to your Nucleus website. While you can only technically connect one domain to your website, you can always set up domain forwarding in your domain registrar for any other domains you want to take people to your Nucleus website.

For instance, perhaps your church created your first website and used the domain fbccwv.com (which was some acronym for your church’s previous name). Since then, your church now has a new name (Church in the Mountains) and you want your domain to reflect that, so you purchase a new domain: mountains.church.

In this case, you could connect mountains.church, and then set up domain forwarding so that when someone types fbccwv.com in their web browser, they will be forwarded to mountains.church. This allows you to use your new domain for all promotional materials, as the domain you use during church announcements, in emails, on social media, etc. but still let people who might be familiar with using the old domain to still access your new Nucleus site.

So how can you accomplish this? With domain forwarding of course 😎 For this, you’ll need to access the domain registrar for the other domains you want to forward. (This could be within the same domain registrar for the domain you connected with your Nucleus site.)

Because each domain registrar has their own system of how to forward domains, we recommend searching through your specific domain registrar’s help articles or getting in contact with their tech support for guidance on this. That being said, there are a couple of tips we can provide:

Set Up A Permanent (301) Forward/Redirect
  • There are usually two options presented when forwarding a domain: a permanent (301) or temporary (302) redirect. Since you no longer want to be promoting this other domain and have no intentions of going back to using it as your main domain, choose to set up a permanent (301) redirect.
  • Permanent redirects aren’t actually permanent in the sense that you can’t make changes to this later. It just means that it’s not just a quick temporary redirect you’re making.

Forward To The Secure Version Of Your Domain

  • While Nucleus will always load the secure version of your website (because we provide the SSL certificate for your domain), it’s always better to choose to forward to the secure version of your domain regardless.
  • The difference between the secure and not-secure version is the difference between the https:// and http:// in the URL in the address bar of your web browser.
  • This means that when you go to your Nucleus website, it will always load with https:// rather than http://
  • If you have the option to choose whether to forward to the https:// or http:// version, choose the https:// version.

Forward With Or Without Masking?

  • Masking allows people to type in an old domain for your church’s website, and continue to see that old domain in the address bar of their web browser, even though they’ve technically been forwarded to a different domain.
  • It’s up to you whether you want to forward with masking, but since you shouldn’t be promoting any other domain besides your main domain, we recommend forwarding without masking.

What Next?

And just like that, your domain now should be pointing to your brand new Nucleus website. Rejoice! 🎉 All your hard work is now available for the world to see! Go on. Tell your friends and church leadership to check it out. We know you want to 😉

If you’re interested in learning about domain redirects within Nucleus’ Dashboard, click the article below:

If you were previously using Nucleus 1 for your website and also utilized Nucleus 1 Sermons, it’ll be important that you follow our guide on how to connect your Sermons to your Nucleus 2 website. (This is simply an interim measure until the new version of Sermons is introduced in Nucleus 2.)

And if you’re utilizing any of our other products and you haven’t checked out our rollout guide, it’s definitely worth your time to check that out.

Otherwise, if you haven’t explored any other products Nucleus offers, now is the perfect time to do so! If nothing else, at least check out The Launcher and Nucleus Prayer. After all, they’re free 😎

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