Connecting your domain

Your domain is your web address, such as mydogwalking.co.uk. You can keep it with the company you bought it from: you don't need to transfer it and you don't need to change nameservers. You only change one DNS record.

The domain wizard walks you through this. Open Settings › Domain › Set up your domain. Most of it takes around five minutes, although DNS changes can take a while longer to update.

Don't have a domain yet? Soon you'll be able to search for and buy a domain right here in PawLoop, and we'll connect it for you automatically. Until then, you can buy one from any domain company, such as 123-reg, GoDaddy, Namecheap, IONOS or Cloudflare.

Before you start

You need two things:

1. Your domain login: the company where you bought your domain.
2. Your PawLoop hosting IP: shown in the domain wizard. Keep it open, because you'll copy this into your domain provider.

Step by step

1. Enter your domain in PawLoop. Use the main domain only, mydogwalking.co.uk, not www.mydogwalking.co.uk.

2. Sign in to the company that manages your domain and find the DNS area. It may be called DNS settings, Manage DNS or DNS records. You'll see a list containing records such as A, AAAA, CNAME, MX and TXT.

3. Add or update the main A record:

   Type	Name / Host	Value / Points to	TTL
   A	@	The IP address shown in PawLoop	Automatic or default

   @ simply means your main domain. If your provider doesn't accept @, leave the Name or Host box blank instead.

4. Remove records that conflict. For your main domain, remove any old A record for @ that points to a different IP, and any AAAA record. Leave MX and TXT records alone, because they're used for your email.

5. If you use Cloudflare, set the A record to DNS only (grey cloud, not proxied) while your domain is being connected.

6. Save the DNS changes. They're often visible within minutes but can take several hours to update everywhere.

7. Check the connection in PawLoop. In the wizard, choose Check my domain. We'll confirm your domain points to the right place, and your secure HTTPS certificate is prepared for you.

8. Publish your website (Publishing your website).

What your DNS should look like

The layout varies between providers, but the important information is the same:

Only the A record is for your PawLoop website. Your email records should normally stay as they are.

If your domain isn't connecting

PawLoop says my DNS isn't connected. Check that the A record uses @ and points to the exact IP shown in PawLoop. If you changed it recently, allow a little more time.

I have more than one A record for @. Your main domain should only point to the PawLoop hosting IP. Remove old A records that point to previous website hosts.

I can see an AAAA record. Remove the AAAA record for your main domain. An old IPv6 record can send some visitors to the wrong server and stop the secure certificate being created.

My provider doesn't allow @ in the Name box. Leave it blank instead. Look for wording such as root domain, apex or main domain.

Should I change my nameservers? No. Changing nameservers can affect your website, email and other services. You only need the A record.

Should I add www? No. PawLoop uses your main domain without www.

Will this affect my email? Changing the website A record shouldn't affect email. Don't remove MX or TXT records.

My website says it isn't live yet. Good news: your domain has reached PawLoop. Publish your website and the temporary page is replaced automatically.

Need a hand?

DNS can look more complicated than it is. If you're unsure which record to change, don't guess. Keep your DNS page open and email us a screenshot of the records you can see.