3. Domains

A DNS record is a database record used to map a URL to an IP address and serves to tell the entire internet universe– individual users, search engines, bots, and email providers– where to find your site.  If WPMU DEV is your host, then those records must be updated to point to our hosting.

DNS records, typically, are maintained by the provider from which you purchased the domain, and must be edited on that provider’s website. However, you can edit the nameservers at your domain registrar to point them to another provider or DNS manager if you wish.

The DNS records for each WPMU DEV hosted site can be found by clicking the DNS records link in the description at the top of the screen.

That will pop open a modal window where you can copy the records for your site, and replace the existing ones at your domain registrar.

The records you will be working with include:

• CNAME – A Canonical Name or CNAME record is a type of DNS record that maps an alias name to a true or canonical domain name. CNAME records are typically used to map a subdomain such as www or mail to the domain hosting that subdomain’s content. For example, a CNAME record can map the web address www.example.com to the actual website for the domain example.com.
• A record – An A record maps a domain name to the IP address (Version 4) of the server hosting the website.
• AAAA record – A records are used for conversion of domain names to corresponding IP addresses. IP Version 6 Address records (AAAA) (also a quad-A record) specifies IPv6 address for the given host. So it works the same way as the A record and the difference is the type of IP address. This record should be used in addition to the A record, wherever possible, as it represents the best practice and might even lead to performance improvements.

We recommend using the CNAME record if possible, as the CNAME would not need to be edited if your site’s IP address changes for any reason (during a site migration for example).

A CNAME record for your domain would look something like this at your registrar:

However, many registrars do not support using a CNAME for apex/top-level domains (like example.com), so you’d need to contact your registrar for support if you wish to use the CNAME.

The alternative is to simply use the standard A & AAAA records instead. Those entries would look something like this at your registrar:

From the Domains tab for your temporary site, click the Add Domain button.

In the Add a Domain popup, enter the domain name you would like to point to your site, omitting the http:// or https://. You must own the domain or have access to its DNS records to add it.

Notice the option to Also add www version of the domain. While www is no longer needed to access http and https domains, some users continue to use it. If no www version of a site exists, it is possible that these old-schoolers won’t be able to find the site.

Note also the option to Add DNS records. We strongly recommend managing the DNS of your domain with us, so this option is checked by default. However, if you prefer to manage the DNS at your domain registrar, you’ll want to uncheck this option and manually add the required records there. See the Registrar guides chapter in our Hub > Domains document for help with that if needed.

If you have followed our recommendation and selected the Add DNS records option to manage the domain’s DNS with us, you’ll then get a prompt to finish the setup by pointing your domain to our nameservers.

Clicking the Next button will redirect you to the DNS management screen for your domain in the Hub > Domains section. You’ll see that all the DNS records for your WPMU DEV hosted site have already been added.

Your next step will be to click the button to Import Existing Records (note that this button only appears here when adding a new domain to the Domains list of a hosted site and selecting the option to Add DNS records as noted above).

Clicking that button will pop open a modal window where you can click the trash icon to remove any records you do not wish to keep. Then click the Import Records button to finish.

If you need to add records manually afterwards, please see the Add or Edit DNS Records chapter in the Hub > Domains document for guidance if needed.

Now when you view the Domains list of your site, the new domain will appear along with any other domains associated with the site.

Once a domain has been added, the DNS Status and SSL Status will update nearly immediately if you are managing your DNS here in your Hub, and you had checked the option to Add DNS records for this domain as noted above.

If you are managing the DNS at your domain’s registrar, our servers will automatically try to locate the domain’s DNS, and then to create and add its security certification (SSL). These efforts will fail, however, until the DNS records at the registrar have been updated to point to WPMU DEV servers.

The image above shows a custom domain that has been added but for which the DNS records have yet to be properly updated.

Once you add your permanent domain name, update your DNS records. After the DNS Status and SSL certificate have successfully propagated, you should set the permanent domain as the site’s Primary domain. Note that both DNS and SSL are needed before you are able to set your permanent domain as primary

Remember to be patient with DNS propagation. This usually takes at least several minutes, but can take hours and, in rare cases, a day or more.

Once your DNS and SSL statuses have propagated, indicated by green checks, you can set the desired domain as Primary by clicking the Set as primary option from the dropdown under the three-dot icon next to the domain.

This will trigger a confirmation modal.

Click Set as primary to finalize the change.

Internationalized Domain Names (IDN)

Note that internationalized domain names are not supported by our email service. So if you need email accounts for your hosted site, please ensure you do not set an IDN as the primary domain. See our Emails documentation for details.

When you want to map custom domains to subsites in a WPMU DEV hosted multisite, there are just a few simple steps that must be taken for each such domain, but they must be done in order. Follow this guide to get things set up without error on your site.

Before proceeding with the steps below:

• Have you enabled multisite on your site? If not, go to the Tools tab for that site in your Hub and enable it now.
• If your multisite is subdomain-based, have you enabled the required wildcard certificate on it, and ensured that a wildcard (*) record exists? If not, see our Wildcard SSL Certificates guide for instructions on how to do that now.

Step 1 – Edit the Domain’s DNS

The first thing you need to do is edit the DNS of the domain you want to map so it points to your multisite. See the DNS Records chapter above for guidance with this step.

Note that you have 2 options for managing DNS: you can either edit the records directly at your domain registrar, or change the nameservers at your registrar to WPMU DEV nameservers and edit the domain’s DNS right here in your Hub.

See the Registrar guides chapter in our Hub > Domains document for help with either of those options.

Step 2 – Add the Domain to Your Hub

Once the DNS has been edited as above, add the custom domain under the Domains tab of your multisite, in exactly the same way as you added your main domain. See the Add a Permanent Domain chapter above for guidance with this step if needed.

Important: do NOT set any of these added domains as the Primary in your Hub. The Primary should be the domain you use for the main site of your multisite.

Wait until both the DNS and SSL icons for the added domain have changed to green checkmarks in your Hub. Once they have, your domain is ready to map to your subsite.

Step 3 – Map the Domain in Your Network Admin

Now go to the network admin of your multisite and click on Sites > All Sites in the admin menu. Hover your mouse over the subsite you want to domain-map and click the Edit action link.

On the next screen, replace the Site Address (URL) shown there with your custom domain. Note that the domain must be entered with the https:// and must include a trailing slash.

Once you’ve added the domain, click the Save button, and you’re done. Your subsite will now load at your custom domain instead of its original un-mapped URL.