Step #7 -- Personalize Your Church's Web Address
(Note: if your church already owns a website domain name, you can skip to process #2 and continue from there.)
You have completed the first six steps for creating a great church website. You have interesting articles, events listed on your calendar, ministry information, and lots of other good things for visitors to see. Now, your website is ready for visitors! The last step for success is choosing a website name for your church. This is called a domain name or URL.
You may ask, “Why do we need a new name? We were given one by Adventist Church Connect.” You are right. When you signed up for this website you were giving a temporary web address. This address contained your church name and a couple of numbers followed by AdventistChurchConnect.com. You can use that name for as long as you want – it will always be part of your site. But you need a name that is easy to remember and matches your church.
This is an important decision that should not be made by an individual or small committee. Your new web domain name will start to appear everywhere – your church bulletin, announcements, and advertisements will all have this new address. Talk with your pastor because it is possible that the proposed name should be taken to the church board for approval.
Once you decide on a new web domain name (URL), there are four steps to follow in order to fully integrate your customized domain name. The first two steps are usually done together. The last two steps (3 and 4) will need to be followed by your website administrator. It is important to make sure that your browser is not blocking pop-ups, as this is very important to the success of this process.
Read through all of these steps before you begin, as some steps are completed with a single action and others require that you wait for the Internet to process your request. We suggest that you print this process off so you can refer to it as you complete each step.
1) The first step is to purchase a domain name. If you already have one, skip this step. A domain name is the "www.yourchurchname.org" that you type into the address field of your browser. There are many companies with whom you can obtain and register your domain name. Some popular ones are www.register.com, www.networksolutions.com, and www.godaddy.com.
Note: Do not include the "www" or "http://" in the "New Domain Name" box.
2) You will need to supply Name Server information to the company that you pay for your domain name (from step one). This information is then automatically given to a domain name server (DNS). A name server is a server that directs visitors using your domain name to the computer where your website is running. The name server information for your Adventist Church Connect website is as follows:
ns1.AdventistChurchConnect.com
ns2.AdventistChurchConnect.com
Note : Do not remove any Parked Domain names.
3) Next, have your site administrator (this may be you) log into your church site using the "www.churchname##.adventistchurchconnect.org" address and click on "Admin Management." When the page refreshes, click on the "Site Configuration & Navigation" link. On the "Main" tab, locate the box labeled "Domain alias(es)." Enter your church's new domain name in this box and click the green "Save and Exit" button located at the bottom of the page.
Note: It may take up to 48 hours for Name Server information changes to
take effect. This must happen before step 4 can be completed. Be patient.
4) The last and final step is as important as all the other steps. Have your site administrator (logged in from step 3) click on "Admin Management." When the page refreshes, click on the "Email & Server Configuration" link. A new browser window will open (it will look different) with a title "cPanel X." You will see a number of icons. Click on "Parked Domains" (usually the third icon at the top). Enter your new domain name in the box labeled "New Domain Name:" and click the "Add Domain!" button. Don’t forget click the "LOGOUT" button in the upper right-hand corner of the cPanel X page.
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