How your website gets its address

Your website doesn't need a domain to go live. It goes live on a free address straight away, and your own domain can become its address whenever you're ready. Until your domain really works, your links stay on the address that does.

Live on a free address

Before your website is live, only people with its preview link can see it. One button, Go live, publishes every written page that isn't published yet, and puts your website live on a free address. It usually answers within a few minutes, and you can leave the page while it starts up.

Your own domain, connected

You can connect your own domain at any time.

• If nothing answers on your domain yet, your website goes on the domain itself. If something already does, your website goes on an unused address beneath your domain, and what's there is never taken over.
• If the platform can't already see the domain is yours, you add one record where you bought it, to show it is.
• If your domain needs pointing here, the page shows the record to add where you bought it. It starts working a few minutes after the record is added, and the page checks by itself.

Each domain shows Working, Needs attention or Waiting for the record. It only says Working once your domain really answers with your website, over a secure connection. Until then, it's checked again every 10 minutes for its first 2 hours, then less often.

Where you see it

1. 1

   Your website's Overview shows its Preview address. Only people with the link can see it.

2. 2

   Go live shows the free address it will be live on.

3. 3

   One button puts it live, and publishes your pages with it.

4. 4

   Under Your own domain, type your domain and press Connect, whenever you're ready.

Put your website live and Use your own domain take you through each step.

Why it works this way

Your domain becomes your main address the moment it works, and the free address keeps working too. Until then, your links and emails stay on the address that works, so no one is sent to a dead end. And a website already on your domain is never taken over.