How to Add Domains to Your Hosting Account

You can host more than one website on a single hosting account by adding extra domains to it. The steps depend on whether your account uses cPanel or DirectAdmin, which you can check in your welcome email or the client area.

Before you start

Check these points before adding a new domain:

• The domain must already be registered, either with Hostking or another registrar
• Your hosting plan must allow additional domains
• The domain's nameservers should point to your Hostking hosting account, so the site goes live once added

Adding a domain

cPanel

1. Log in to cPanel and go to the Domains section
2. Click Create A New Domain
3. Type the domain name you want to add in the Domain field
4. To host a separate website on this domain, clear the Share document root checkbox and set a document root (folder) for it, or use the one cPanel suggests
5. To make the domain simply mirror your existing site instead, tick Share document root
6. Check the subdomain name cPanel suggests, or enter your own
7. Click Submit

cPanel creates the new domain with its own folder, so you can upload separate website files to it. You can also set up email addresses and FTP accounts for the new domain, within the limits of your plan.

DirectAdmin

1. Log in to DirectAdmin using the URL in your welcome email or client area
2. Go to Account Manager then Domain Setup
3. Click Add New in the top-right corner
4. Enter the domain name, without www, http:// or https:// in front of it
5. Set the bandwidth and disk usage limits for the domain, or match them to your main account, and choose options such as SSL, CGI and PHP access
6. Click Create to finish

A new folder for the domain appears, with its own public_html folder as the website's root directory. You can switch between domains using the domain selector in the top-right corner of the panel.

Pointing the domain to your hosting

If the domain was registered elsewhere, update its nameservers to the ones Hostking provided in your welcome email or client area. DNS changes can take a few hours to propagate before the new domain works correctly.

Troubleshooting

• Domain already in use: a domain can only be added to one hosting account at a time, so remove it from any other account first
• Site not loading after adding the domain: this is usually DNS propagation, which can take several hours; check that the nameservers are set correctly
• "Domain not registered" error: register the domain before trying to add it to your hosting account
• No option to add more domains: your plan may have reached its domain limit; check your plan details in the client area
• Can't find the right folder to upload files: check the document root you set when adding the domain, as this is where its website files belong

If you are still stuck, contact Hostking support via live chat or by opening a support ticket from the client area.