# Your domain name What the records in our email do, the one record you must never delete, and signing in after your site moves. Source: https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/setup/your-domain-name/ Your domain name is the address people type to reach you, such as `example.com`. This page explains how it comes to point at your new website, and what changes for you when it does. ## What this is Your domain stays where it is. We are not taking it over. It stays registered with your registrar, the company you bought it from, and you keep full control of it. DNS is the address book of the internet. It says which computer answers for your domain name. The lines in that address book are called records. To move your website, you add a few of them. We email you the exact records for your domain. This page says what that email means, so none of it is a surprise. Nothing changes for visitors until those records are added. Your site keeps working the whole time. There is no rush and no risk in reading first. ## Two records for each name Each name needs two records, and they do different jobs. The first one is the traffic record. It sends visitors to your website. It is the one that makes the site show up. The second one is named `_acme-challenge`. It is how your SSL certificate is issued and renewed. That certificate is the padlock in the browser bar, and the `https://` in front of your address. Without it, browsers warn people away from your site. **Warning** The `_acme-challenge` record is permanent. It is not a one time check. Your certificate renews itself about every 90 days, and it uses that record to do it. Delete the record and nothing looks wrong at first. Your site keeps working for weeks. Then the certificate runs out, and every visitor sees a security warning. Never delete it. Tell us first if anyone plans to tidy up your records or move your domain. ## What our email lists Two placeholders stand in for your own details below. `example.com` stands for your domain. `0000aaaa1111bbbb` stands for a long code. Our email carries the real code for your site. Everything else, including `hosting.lrithost.com`, is exactly what you enter. ### A main domain | Type | Name | Value | What it does | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | ALIAS | `example.com` | `hosting.lrithost.com` | Sends visitors to your website. | | CNAME | `_acme-challenge.example.com` | `example.com.0000aaaa1111bbbb.dcv.cloudflare.com` | Keeps your padlock valid. Permanent. | | CNAME | `www.example.com` | `hosting.lrithost.com` | Sends www visitors to your website. | | CNAME | `_acme-challenge.www.example.com` | `www.example.com.0000aaaa1111bbbb.dcv.cloudflare.com` | Keeps the www padlock valid. Permanent. | ### A subdomain on its own | Type | Name | Value | What it does | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | CNAME | `shop.example.com` | `hosting.lrithost.com` | Sends visitors to your website. | | CNAME | `_acme-challenge.shop.example.com` | `shop.example.com.0000aaaa1111bbbb.dcv.cloudflare.com` | Keeps your padlock valid. Permanent. | ## Why a main domain gets four records People type your address both ways. Some type `example.com`, and some type `www.example.com`. Both have to work, so we set up the www twin as well. That is two names, and two records each. A subdomain such as `shop.example.com` is one name, so it needs only two. ## At the root, ALIAS and not CNAME The root of your domain is the bare name, `example.com`, with nothing in front of it. A CNAME is a record that points one name at another name. DNS does not allow a CNAME at the root. That is a rule of DNS itself, not one of ours. Your registrar has a record that does the same job in a way the rules allow. Companies give it different names. Look for **ALIAS**, **ANAME**, or **CNAME flattening**. Any of the three is the right one. **Contact support** Contact us if your registrar offers none of those three. Do not put a plain CNAME at the root instead. It can break your email and your other services. Tell us who your domain is registered with, and what record types the screen offers you. Email [support@lookoutridgeit.com](mailto:support@lookoutridgeit.com). [Getting support](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/help/getting-support/) says what to put in the message. ## Before you add the records **Warning** Look for old `_acme-challenge` records first, on the same names. A past host often leaves one behind, as a TXT record, which is a plain note in the address book. Delete those old ones before you add ours. If one stays, your new certificate quietly fails to come through, and nothing tells you why. Every `_acme-challenge` target is different. The name it belongs to is built into the value. The one for `www` is not the one for the plain name, even though they look alike. So copy and paste each value from our email, one at a time. Do not type them by hand, and do not reuse the first one. One wrong character fails in silence, and you find out weeks later. Then add each record at your registrar, exactly as our email lists it. ## What happens next Once the records are live, your certificate is usually ready in minutes. Your site then answers on your own domain, with the padlock in place. From then on we watch your certificate for you. It renews itself, we keep an eye on it, and we reach out in good time if anything needs doing. You do not have to track any dates. ## The switch Once your domain opens your website, we switch your website over to it. You do not need to do anything for this part. In the admin panel, this is the **Change domain** button. It sits beside **Site URL**, under **Admin**, then **Settings**, then **General**. It checks that your new domain really opens your website, and only then changes the **Site URL**. That is the address your website puts in its emails and hands to search engines. **Warning** Leave **Change domain** to us. If its check fails, it offers to use the new address anyway. A wrong address breaks the links in your emails and in search results. Nothing on your pages looks wrong, so you would not know. ## After the switch A passkey only works at the web address where it was made. The passkeys you made before the switch do not work at your new domain. You make a new one there. 1. Open your website at your new domain, and add `/_emdash/admin` to the address. 2. Sign in with an email link. [Signing in](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/start-here/signing-in/) has the steps. 3. Go to **Admin**, then **Settings**, then **Security**, and click **Add Passkey**. [Settings](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/admin/settings/#adding-a-passkey-on-another-device) has the steps. Still signed in at the old address? Go to **Admin**, then **Settings**, then **General**. A box there says **You're signed in at** the old address. Its **Continue on** button takes you to your new domain and signs you in there, with no passkey needed. Then add a passkey. Other people who sign in to your panel need to know too. On the same screen, the **Email users** button sends each of them a link to the new sign-in page. [Getting support](https://docs.lookoutridgeit.com/help/getting-support/) says how to reach us if anything here does not match what you see on your screen.