Mapping your DreamHost domain to Placester [Classic]

Katherine Ramirez Updated by Katherine Ramirez

 This article will show you how to Map your DreamHost domain to Placester.

Mapping is the process of replacing your existing Placester domain with a custom one you have purchased from a third-party provider.  Placester always recommends that you map your domain rather than forward it.  To find out more about the difference between mapping and forwarding click here. 

In order to take care of mapping your DreamHost Domain to your Placester site, you will need to change both your A-Record (IP address) and CNAME (hosting platform) to Placester specific settings.  The article on this page will walk you through this process.   

 

Having DreamHost map your Domain

If you are going to have DreamHost take care of Domain Mapping for you.  You will want to provide them with the following settings for pointing your site to Placester.

1. Forwarding: OFF

2. Nameservers: Set to DEFAULT

3. A-Record: 184.169.141.142

4. CNAME: domains.myrealestateplatform.com   

After this is done move down to the bottom of the document and follow the instructions for your Placester site.

Mapping your DreamHost domain yourself

Click Login in the top right to get logged in. If you can't remember your password, click Reset Password. 

If you're having trouble logging in, submit a question through DreamHost's support page or visit their support wiki.

Domains > Manage Domains

Within your Main Menu in the left sidebar, select Domains, then Manage Domains.

DNS

You'll see a list of all of your domains registered with DreamHost. Click the DNS option under the domain that you'd like to use.

Nameservers

Within the DNS settings page, first make sure that the nameservers are set to the DreamHost default settings. This will look like:

ns1.dreamhost.com

ns2.dreamhost.com

ns3.dreamhost.com

If your nameservers look like this, you can move to the DNS Records section.

If they look different, you'll have to update them. If you were previously using a different website provider with the same domain, they might have mapped your domain to that website using nameservers. If you didn't set up an email address through that website provider, reset the nameservers to the DreamHost default nameservers.

If you had an email set up through your previous website provider, resetting the nameservers might interrupt your email service. If that is the case, please get in touch with your email provider to determine how to move forward with the DreamHost default nameservers and mapping your email through MX records rather than nameservers. They should be able to help you with this. 

Update DNS Records

You'll need to add two custom DNS records within your DreamHost Account.

Step 1: Add an A-Record

  • Name: leave this blank
  • Type: A
  • Value: 184.169.141.142
  • Comment: leave this blank

Click Add Record Now! once this information has been entered.

Step 2: Add a CNAME 

  • Name: www
  • Type: CNAME
  • Value: domains.myrealestateplatform.com
  • Comment: leave this blank

Click Add Record Now! once this information has been entered.

This is all that needs to be done within DreamHost. If you have any trouble adding these custom DNS records, submit a request through DreamHost's support page.

Once you’ve completed these settings, log in at placester.com to access the back end of your site and complete the final step for domain mapping. 

On your Customizer Dashboard click the three dots next to Edit Site.

This will bring you to the Custom Domain slide out.

Custom Domain Slide Out

When you first click on the Custom Domain slideout you will see that the default domain that was provided when your site was created is selected. You’ll want to select Custom Domain to add your Custom Domain.

Within the custom domain section, add the custom domain that you're looking to use. Use only lowercase letters, and be sure to include “www” when adding in your URL. Example: www.placester.com

Then click Save.

DreamHost Support

If you run into any trouble, we recommend speaking with DreamHost directly as it is their product.  You can reach them through their support page here.

Troubleshooting

If you've made all of these changes and are finding that your site still isn't loading, here are some potential causes: 

1. Caching: You have a cached copy of the site on your browser. Try clearing your cache, using a new browser or testing the site on a mobile device.

2. Propagation: DNS adjustments take longer to propagate with certain domain registrars. We like to test and make sure everything has propagated using www.WhatsMyDNS.com.

3. Errors in Site Settings > Custom Domain: make sure that you included the www before the custom domain and you didn't use any capital letters. Otherwise, the site will not load.

Pro Tip: DNS Tools

Here are some DNS tools that we recommend: 

- Use WhoIs.com to find out where a domain is registered and the status of a domain

- Use WhatsMyDNS.net to check the current DNS records of a domain

Need More Help?

For questions, concerns, or feedback, please chat with our team: https://app.placester.com/chat

How did we do?

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