The Domain Name System turns a name people remember — yourdomain.com — into the addresses computers use. Each domain has a zone: a small table of records that answers questions like "where is the website?" and "where should mail for this domain go?".
Nameservers hold the zone
Your domain's nameservers are the servers that hold its zone. Records only take effect on the nameservers the domain actually uses:
- If your domain uses our nameservers, you edit its records in the control panel — see Manage your DNS records.
- If it uses another host's nameservers, you edit its records at that host. Changes in our control panel will have no effect until you point the domain back to us.
The record types
| Type | What it does | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| A | Points a name at an IPv4 address | Your website: yourdomain.com → 203.0.113.10 |
| AAAA | Points a name at an IPv6 address | The same, for IPv6 |
| CNAME | Points a name at another name | www → yourdomain.com, or a service like a shop platform |
| MX | Says where mail for the domain is delivered | Your email provider's mail servers |
| TXT | Holds free text | SPF, DKIM, and "prove you own this domain" checks |
| SRV | Advertises a service on a host and port | Calendars, chat and VoIP services |
| NS | Delegates a subdomain to other nameservers | shop.yourdomain.com handled somewhere else |
Names, values and TTL
Every record has three parts.
- Name — which name it is for. Leave it empty for the domain itself, or type the part in front:
www,mail,shop. - Value — the answer: an address, a hostname or a piece of text.
- TTL — time to live: how long other servers may remember the answer before asking again. A short TTL makes changes arrive faster; a long one means fewer lookups.
Tip
Planning a move? Lower the TTL of the records you'll change a day before, then change them. Everyone picks up the new answer quickly.