Domain setup

These instructions point your domain to Nicer Site's server. They apply to a website hosted by us. Replace the example example.fi with your own domain.

1. Agree on a time for the change

Contact olli@nicer.site before making changes. We will confirm that your site is ready to publish and that the server address below is correct. We will also agree on a time when we can activate your domain promptly after the DNS change.

Changing DNS alone does not activate your website at its own address. The address may stop working between your change and our activation. We cannot promise a transfer without an interruption.

If you use email on the domain, tell us before the change. We need to check that your mail service does not depend on the addresses being changed. Keep your email MX and TXT records, and records such as mail and autodiscover.

2. Update the DNS records

On your computer, open your DNS provider's control panel in a browser. DNS settings are often managed by your domain registrar or current hosting provider. Take a screenshot or export a backup of the existing records before editing them.

Open the DNS settings for the correct domain and set these values:

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

@ means the domain without www. Some control panels use an empty name field or the full domain instead. TTL sets the cache duration; the default is fine.

• Edit existing A records. Do not leave the old web server's IP addresses on the same names. Add a record if it does not exist.
• If www is a CNAME pointing to your own domain (example.fi), you can keep it instead of an A record. If it points to your old provider, replace it with the A record in the table. A name cannot have both a CNAME and an A record.
• Also check the AAAA records for @ and www. These hold IPv6 addresses. Remove addresses pointing to the old server or replace them with an IPv6 address we have confirmed. Do not put the table's IPv4 address in an AAAA record.
• If you use Cloudflare, set these web records to DNS only. Proxy addresses will not pass our activation check.

Save the changes and check that the control panel shows the new values. Do not change nameservers for this transfer. If you also need to move DNS to another provider, arrange that with us separately before making changes.

3. Tell us the records are saved

Email olli@nicer.site with your domain name and confirm that you have saved the changes. We will check DNS and activate the domain. An HTTPS certificate is obtained automatically during activation. We will confirm when the website works at both addresses.

DNS caches may take minutes, hours or longer to update, depending on the previous TTL values. If the check does not pass yet, we will tell you what needs fixing or when we will try again. Keep your old hosting, email and DNS services until we have confirmed which ones you still need and that the transfer is complete.

4. Check the website

After our confirmation, open your domain in a browser both with and without www. Both addresses should open the new website over HTTPS without a certificate warning. If you use email on the domain, also test sending and receiving a message.

If anything is unclear, send us a screenshot of the DNS records before making changes. Do not send passwords or login codes.