You being here means that you are about to go live, you have your new website completed enough for others to see it. Or, you are just looking to add a new domain to your already existing hosting account with us.
IMPORTANT NOTE
If you are NOT ready to launch your site, DO NOT DO THIS STEP. Your site will be live and your temporary domain will disappear and no longer be available.
Current Domain a ShareFaith Website
Please be aware that if the domain name that you want to use is already attached to a ShareFaith website, you will need to reach out to the Support Team for assistance with getting the domain connected to a new ShareFaith site.
How to Launch My Site
- From your WordPress menu, select the Domains found under the Sharefaith menu option as shown here. If you are using a Sidekick theme, you will need to first select the Advanced button at the bottom left of your screen.
- You will now be presented with the option to either Purchase A New Domain through ShareFaith or Use A Domain That You Already Own based on which button you select as shown here.
Transferring your domain to ShareFaith?
If you are planning on transferring your existing domain name to ShareFaith, please see how to transfer your domain to us below.
- Click on the Use a domain you already own button.
- Type your domain name into the domain field that you will be presented with.
- On the next screen, you will be asked if you want to point your domain name to ShareFaith or transfer the domain over to ShareFaith. If you are wanting to proceed with just pointing your domain to ShareFaith, select the Point my domain to my new website button. If you would rather transfer the domain to Sharefaith, please refer to the Transferring Your Domain Name to ShareFaith tutorial.
- You will then be presented with a screen that will display the correct A Record IP Address for your website. Please be sure to copy that IP Address down somewhere safe before proceeding by selecting the arrow button to proceed with this process.
- Lastly, you will be presented with a screen asking to confirm the decisions that you have made. If everything looks to be in order, select the checkmark button.
Purchasing a New Domain or Registering Elsewhere?
However, If you are planning on purchasing a new domain name or keeping your domain registered where it currently is and just pointing it to our servers to send it live, please refer back to Going Live: Which Option is Right For Me
Update Your DNS
While these are the last steps that you will need to take within your Sharefaith website, you will still need to access your domain registrar account and update your DNS records within that account. There are two different ways to point your domain, let's learn about each.
Option 1 - A Name Record
A Name Record: This points your domain to look at your website on our Servers. Use this method, when you want to keep your current email provider and do not want to switch settings. A drawback would be: If you ever need to set up a subdomain for your website, it will need to be created both with your domain registrar and within your Sharefaith hosting control panel.
- Locate the A Record IP Address that you copied down from Step 4 above.
- Follow the instructions that your current domain registrar gives you to change, or, create your A name record in that account.
- Please be aware that it can take up to 24 hours for these changes to take full effect.
Option 2 - Name Server Records
Name Server Records: Updating these will fully point your domain to our servers and your domain will be fully controllable within our system. Use this method when you want to keep your current registrar, but also want to have full functionality in our system.
Here are the Name Server records that you will need to use to point your domain to our servers:
sfname1.sharefaithwebsites.net
sfname2.sharefaithwebsites.net
Finally, follow the instructions that your current domain registrar gives you to change your Name Server records. Please be aware that it can take up to 24 hours for these changes to take full effect.
Search Engine Visibility
It's important to ensure your website appears in search results. You have the option to hide specific pages or even the entire site. This feature can be useful when you're editing, allowing you to keep your site hidden until it's ready to be published.
Once your site has launched, please follow these instructions to make sure your site is visible in search engines.
- From your WordPress Website dashboard, click Settings
- Click on Reading
- Verify that the Search Engine Visibility checkbox is unchecked. Check the box to stop your site from showing up in Search Results.
- Click Save Changes
Please Note: We recommend using Google Chrome or Firefox to access Sharefaith.com. Do not attempt to download using Internet Explorer.
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