What Does Domain Pointing Mean?
When you point to a domain, you connect your domain name to the correct server that stores your website’s data. This way, you can connect with different service providers and have the optimal setup for your website.
Note: For DNS to resolve correctly, make sure that the domain is added to a hosting plan first before pointing it anywhere else. This will ensure that the domain will have an active DNS zone.
There are two ways to point your domain to EnCirca:
- Changing the nameservers to your domain name at your registrar. This method is recommended since your DNS zone will be automatically configured to match EnCirca's IP address. Plus, it allows you to transfer the control of your domain settings to EnCirca, making management convenient.
- Pointing the domain name via a TXT or ALIAS record. This method requires you to add or update an ALIAS or TEXT record connected to the DNS records. That way, your domain control stays in the registrar.
Changing Domain Nameservers (Recommended Method)
The process of changing nameservers on various registrars is quite similar. Here’s what you need to do to point your domain name to EnCirca:
- Login to EnCirca (https://manage30.encirca.com/)
- If needed, search for your domain.
- Click on the domain you want to change
- Click on the Nameservers tab
- Delete all values (if any) from the nameserver fields and replace them with EnCirca’s nameservers, which are:
- standard1.encirca.net
- standard2.encirca.net
- Save your changes.
- It might take up to 24 hours for DNS to fully propagate worldwide.
Adding a TXT record or updating an A or CNAME record
If you want to keep your existing nameservers, you must then update certain A, CNAME, ALIAS or TXT records to validate your EnCirca domain and update A or CNAME records.
For instance, if you have a domain named domain.tld and want to point it to your hosting, you may need to update DNS records. You will be given the following pieces of information:
- Name/Host – the domain or the subdomain you want to point to. Some registrars use the “@” symbol instead of a name to represent the root domain.
- TTL – is short for time-to-live. It determines how long the server caches DNS-related information before refreshing it. The default value is usually 14,400 seconds.
- Type – the record type.
- Record/Address – the target IPv4 address.
To update your records at EnCirca:
- Login to EnCirca (https://manage30.encirca.com/)
- If needed, search for your domain.
- Click on the domain you want to update
- Click on the DNS tab, then click on "Manage DNS"
- A tab will open to update your DNS
- Use the info provided by your hosting provider to update your DNS records.
- Save your changes. It might take up to 24 hours for DNS to fully propagate worldwide.