POINTING YOUR DOMAIN NAME TO YOUR WEB HOSTING

Now you've purchased a domain name, and you've purchased your web hosting. Are they talking to each other yet? If you type www.mydomainname.com into the web browser, will your website come up yet? No, not yet. You haven't connected the two.

Should you connect the two right away? It depends again! Most hosts provide a temporary domain name that's somewhat obscure. For example, the domain name we're using for Fictitious Elementary School is www.joomla24hourtrainer.com. (OK, the name is not a really good match for the elementary school, but it's a great match for the book!) However, until you connect the domain name with your Rochen hosting, the temporary website address is tofino.directrouter.com/~joomla24.

Of course, it's unlikely anyone will type this name into a web browser and find the website, because who would think of that to find Fictitious Elementary School? Therefore, in many cases you may not wish to connect your domain name with your web hosting until you're ready to launch the site. In fact, “launch” may consist of connecting the hosting and the domain name.

Connection between the domain name and the web host happens through something called the domain name server, DNS, or name server. When you receive your welcome e-mail from your web host, it should contain this information. They will tell you to go to your domain name registrar to enter the DNS information. Use the login for your registrar (which I told you to save!), ...

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