<p>To set up your own domain name for your site, you have two options:</p> <p>If you do not have a domain name and need to buy one, <a href="#option1">click here</a>. <br> If you already have your own domain name, <a href="#option2">click here</a>.<br> </p> <p><strong><a name="option1"></a>If you do not have a domain name and need to buy one</strong></p> <p>[host.name] offers a free domain name ending in .com, .net or .org to go with your site. To take advantage of this offer, follow the steps below. If you want a domain name ending in a different extension, you will have to buy your domain name from a domain registrar away from our site and go to <a href="#option2">If you already have your own domain name</a>. Before setting up your domain with your site, please note that you must pay for your [host.name] site.</p> <ol> <li>Click the <strong>'Edit Site' </strong>tab -><strong> 'Domain & Email'</strong>.</li> <li>Enter in the name you would like in the box and click on <strong>'Search'</strong>.</li> <li>If the domain is unavailable, you can choose from one of the alternate domains and click on the <strong>'Get the Domain' </strong>button or click <strong>'Back'</strong> on your browser to do a new search. <p>OR</p> <p>If the domain is available, click on the <strong>'Get the Domain'</strong> button.</p> </li> </ol> <p>You're done! Do not proceed to the <strong>'Domain Setup' </strong>page as this has been taken care of for you. Automatically our system will fix the DNS (domain name servers) settings for you for your domain name will be set up with our site. It just takes about 1 day for the domain name to start showing your site. </p> <p><strong><font color="cc0000">Important: Read the Notes at the bottom of this page for important info on how editing your site, adding links to your site and adding email is affected.</font></strong></p> <p><a name="option2"></a><strong>If you already have your own domain name</strong></p> <p>Before setting up your domain with your site, you must pay for your [host.name] site. After you have done this, please follow the steps below.</p> <ol> <li>First, you need to fix the DNS for your domain to: <p><strong>Primary DNS server:</strong> ns1.domaincityservers.com <br> <strong>Secondary DNS Server:</strong> ns2.domaincityservers.com </p> <p>Changing this information is different depending on your registrar. In most cases, there will be some online method of doing this. You will have to refer to the instructions available at your registrar. This usually is under topics like 'changing your website host,' 'changing your dns settings,' 'changing your name servers' or similar topic. If you have trouble, please contact our Support Team.</p> </li> </ol> <ol start="2"> <li> On your site, click the <strong>'Edit Site' </strong>tab -><strong> 'Domain & Email' </strong>-> <strong>'Domain Setup'</strong>.</li> <li>Type in your purchased domain name in the text box under<strong> 'Domain Name of Website' </strong>and click on <strong>'Save'</strong>.</li> </ol> <p>It takes us up to 4 hours for us to get your domain in our system and your DNS changes take a few business days for your domain name to propogate. <p><b>Note about editing:</b> For editing purposes, you edit on your [host.title] version of your site. Any changes you make there automatically show up on your domain. Basically, your domain draws all its information from whatever is on your [host.title] site. <p> <b>Note About Links:</b> Any links which are automatically generated by us will switch to your domain when you are on the domain name version of your site -- i.e. the index links. However, any links you insert yourself manually where you actually type in the web address (e.g. type out text, click on the LINK button and then enter in the web address to link to), you have to fix to your domain name and not to your [host.title] address. <p> All you have to do is go and edit the link and replace your [host.title] address with your domain address. Just highlight your link, click on the LINK button and make the correction. <p> <b>Note About E-mail:</b> Any email you had set up through your domain registrar stops working as soon as you change your DNS settings. Please note though that you can set up identical emails through us. Please see: <p> <a href="[kb]204[/kb]">I have my email set up with my domain registrar with my domain name. If I want to set up that domain name with my site, what happens to my emails?</a>