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This guide will take you through each step on how to connect your existing 1st Domains domain to your Dazzly website. If you don't yet have a domain see our guide to registering a new domain with Dazzly.

10-20 minutes

Updated: Jan 30 2024

If you haven't already, please make sure you have signed up to a monthly or annual plan in order to proceed with connecting your domain. View our guide to choosing a plan or pricing page for more information.
Please note: This guide is for existing domains already hosted with 1st Domains. For new domains, we recommend registering through Dazzly.

Sign-in to Dazzly and go the 'Domains' page
Firstly, login to dazzly and go the 'Domains' page in the menu. Click the blue 'Connect Existing Domain' button.
The 'Domains' page within dazzly
Add your existing domain
In this example we'll be using our existing domain: mountalbert.co.nz
Enter your existing domain name (without the www) and then press 'Add Domain'. Once you have done this it will take several seconds to process after which you should then see your domain added with the status: Pending
Enter in your existing domain without the www.
Domain added to Dazzly as Pending.
Click the blue 'Setup Required' button
This will open up a window showing you the next steps you need to take. Dazzly will attempt to detect which provider your domain is currently with and direct you to the correct guide.
You should see a red 'required' label next to Step 1 along with the first DNS record we need to set.
Click the 'Setup required' button.
3 Steps are required to connect your domain to dazzly.
Login to your 1st Domains account
Login to your 1st Domains account and then select 'Manage Domains & Services'.
Login to 1st Domains to manage your Domain.
Once you login, select 'Manage Domains & Services'.
If you have an existing website online or if you're not comfortable making changes to your domain records, get in touch with your local IT support and they can help you through this guide.
Select your domain and manage DNS records
Under Manage Domains & Services, find your domain. In this example we are using mountalbert.co.nz. Click on your domain to go the management page for that domain, and then click Manage DNS Zone Records.
Select the domain you wish to connect to Dazzly.
Click Manage DNS Zone Records.
Create the record from Step 1
Click the 'Add Record' button and choose CNAME from the dropdown menu.
Click/tap the 'Add Record' option and choose CNAME to show the new record inputs.
Copy the text from the first line of Step 1 into the 'Host Name' input text box in the new row.
Copy the text from the first line and paste into the Host Name field in 1st Domains.
Copy the text from second line in Step 1 into the 'Value' field.
Copy the text from the second line and paste it into the Value field in 1st Domains.
Click the 'Update' button to add the record.
Wait for the record to be verified
After successfully adding the CNAME record from Step 1, we need to wait a few minutes for Dazzly to verify the record. You can periodically click the 'Check Status' button to check if is has been verified.
Please note in rare cases it can take up to 48 hours for Domain record changes to take effect.
Click the blue 'Check Status' button to check if the record has been updated.
If the record is still not verified after 15-30 minutes or so please contact support and we can look into this for you.
Create the record from Step 2
Once the record from Step 1 is verified, you should see a green 'complete' label next to Step 1. Step 2 should now be showing another CNAME record. If no new record is showing, click the 'Check Status' button to check again.
Back in 1st Domains we need to check for an existing 'CNAME' record for www. If this record exists then select it, and then click the Update button. Otherwise Add a new record with the CNAME type.
If this record does not already exist, then Add a new record with type CNAME.
In 1st Domains, check that the left side under Host Name is your domain name with the www. in front of it. In this case: www.mountalbert.co.nz. Copy the value from Dazzly into the Value field.
Verify that www is in the first field on the left, and the value (ending in cloudfront.net) is in the second field.
Click the 'Update' button to save the record.
Create the record from Step 3
In 1st Domains, in 'DNS Settings' we want to update the A record for your domain, e.g. mountalbert.co.nz (no characters/letters before the domain name). Select this record and click the 'Update' button.
Make sure your are updating the A record for your domain.
Copy 13.211.41.71 into the Value input field.
The Host Name part should only have your domain.
Click the 'Update' button to update the record.
Wait for the records to be verified
Like the first record we had to enter, these last 2 records will also take a few minutes to verify. You can click the 'Check Status' button to periodically check this.
Click the blue 'Check Status' button to check if the records have been updated.
If the record is still not verified after 15-30 minutes please contact support and we can look into this for you.
Your existing domain is successfully connected to your Dazzly website!
Once the last 2 records are verified, your domain is now connected to your Dazzly website. Sometimes it can take several minutes for this to fully take effect across the Internet, but you should be able to type your domain into your browser to visit your new website!
All the steps will show complete when the records have been successfully updated.
Your domain will be marked as Active once the setup is complete.
If your website is still not showing after 1 hour, please contact support and we'll look into this further.