Taking your website live on Rapyd is the final step of setting your site up for your visitors. This guide assumes that you have already either built your site or migrated it to Rapyd, tested everything, tested everything again (a third time doesn't hurt), and you are ready to open up your website on Rapyd to the outside world.
If you have not already taken the steps mentioned above, please refer to the following Knowledge Base article for migration assistance. You can also reach out to our support team directly from the dashboard and request assistance in preparation for this final step.
We will need to perform three (3) steps to complete the process.
Step-by-step Guide
Step 1: Get your website's IP address
1. Log into our Rapyd dashboard and click on the site that you wish to get the IP address of.
2. Scroll down to the bottom of the Overview page and you will find your website’s IP address. Copy that and let’s proceed to step 2.
Step 2: Update the A record in your DNS Zone Editor
You will need to log into your DNS Zone Editor, this can be either from where you acquired your domain (Domain Registrar) or from a third-party DNS-hosting provider like Cloudflare.
From the dashboard home, go to the site that you want to add the custom domain for.
Click on Tools, then Domains
In the Custom Domain section, click Add custom domains. A pop-up will appear with instructions on what to do next. The next steps are as follows:
Copy your IP address.
Go to the service that hosts your domain's nameservers. This is not Rapyd. See below for common examples.
In your domain's DNS Zone Editor, create an A record for the domain that you want to connect to your site on Rapyd.
Type: A
Host: @ or yourdomain.com (depends on your DNS Zone Editor)
Value: IP Address
TTL: Automatic/Default or a shorter time
Wait until the A record has propagated. This can take anywhere from a few seconds to 48 hours, depending on your domain's nameservers. You can test using a a tool like whatsmydns.net.
Step 3: Add a custom domain to your site on Rapyd
Once propagation of the A record is complete, add your domain to the text area in Step 2 of the Add custom domain popup.
Click Add Domain.
This will set up the custom domain and begin the SSL installation process. This process can take between 5 and 10 minutes.
Once complete, your site will be live on Rapyd and people who visit your custom domain will see it!
You can learn more about managing domains on Rapyd here: How To Manage your Site’s Domain Using the Rapyd Dashboard
Additional Information
Where to Purchase a Domain
If you do not have a domain yet, you can use any domain registrar to register your domain. The popular domain registrars are NameCheap, GoDaddy, BlueHost and Domain.com, to name a few.
For steps on how to navigate your Registrar’s DNS Zone editor, you may refer to your registrar’s knowledge base for the exact steps. If you are not sure where to go, you can also chat with our support team and we will attempt look up your domain information and help guide you in the right direction.
Steps for Cloudflare DNS
To create a DNS record in the dashboard:
Log in to the Cloudflare dashboard
Select an account and domain.
Go to DNS > Records.
Click Add record.
Choose a record Type.
Complete the required fields, which vary per record. Particularly important fields (for some records) include:
Proxy status: For A, AAAA, and CNAME records, decide whether hostname traffic is proxied through Cloudflare.
TTL: Short for Time to Live, this field controls how long each record is valid and — as a result — how long it takes for record updates to reach your end users.
Comment and Tag: Record attributes meant for your reference.
Click Save.
DNS Propagation: Important Notes
Before making DNS changes:
It is best to schedule your DNS changes during non-peak times to minimize affected users
You can also inform them ahead of any DNS changes to avoid issues with transactions becoming out of sync while the DNS is propagating. Maintenance mode is another solution here.
During DNS propagation:
Please note that DNS propagation varies between DNS providers and it can take up to 48 hours for the DNS to fully propagate.
You may use DNS checking sites to check for the progress. Sites like the ones below are useful:https://dnschecker.org/ and https://www.whatsmydns.net/. To check, simply input your site’s IP address and choose the A record from the dropdown and search.
After the DNS propagation has completed:
Make sure to flush the cache from your browser to make sure your browser reloads the site from new platform - Rapyd. This will also prevent cache-related glitches where certain pages do not load properly due to a conflict between the information from the new server and the cached copy on your computer.
To flush the browser cache, you may follow the steps for your specific browser(s) from the guide that our team created https://support.rapyd.cloud/en/articles/8361948-how-to-clear-the-browser-cache
You've done it! Your site is now live on Rapyd and your users will get to experience the unparalleled performance that Rapyd offers!
If you are unsure of any of the steps in the process, please don't hesitate to reach out to our support team either through the dashboard at at [email protected]. We're always happy to help.