Changing and Editing Your DNS
When do you need to change your DNS and why.
There will be times when you need to change the Domain Name Server (DNS) Settings. The two most important will be:
- When you first set up your website
- When you want to move your website to a new host or to a new server
A bit like changing banks, people do not move their DNS frequently, but it should really be seen as mosre like changing your phone number, something that is pretty easy to do, but which requires you do some other things to make sure it works quickly and effectively.
We should briefly remind you that there are two components to a live website - the first is your domain name (dot.com dot.co.uk etc) and the second is your choice of host (a quick plug for our own hosting, but, frankly there are loads of good hosts out there). If your domain name provider and your host are the same thing, then there is no need to adjust DNS as the various records will already have been set up correctly. If you do it yourself (and we strongly recommend you keep the two separate), then you need to ask your host for the new DNS you need to refer to. These will always read:
ns1.theservername.com
ns2.theservername.com
and sometimes, though not always
ns3.theservername.com
Changing the settings
- Go to your management settings in cPanel, or, if your host does not offer cPanel, then the place they indicate to manage the settings for your account
- Find the Name Server settings
- Indicate that you want to use third-party servers. This may be in the form of a checkbox, or similar indicator that you want to control the settings this way
- Enter the DNS settings you got from your new hosting provider
- Save the settings
- These will take up to 48 hours to be recognised
That's all there is to it.
