Custom domains

Any published site can serve on your own domain. There are two situations, and the wizard handles both:

• A new or unused domain — nothing is live on it today. This is the quick path: add one DNS record and wait for it to go green.
• A domain that is live somewhere else — you’re migrating an existing site to Hoversite. Use the certificate-first migration flow so your visitors never see an error.

Connecting a new domain

1. In your site’s Hosting panel, choose Add domain and enter your domain (adding both example.com and www.example.com is recommended — see canonical domain below).
2. The wizard shows you the DNS record to add at your registrar — usually a single CNAME.
3. Add the record at your registrar and leave the Hosting page open. It checks your DNS every few seconds and flips the domain to Live on its own. Most domains go live within minutes; DNS propagation can occasionally take up to an hour.

Your HTTPS certificate is issued automatically — there is nothing to buy, upload, or renew.

Migrating a live domain (zero downtime)

If your domain currently serves a website, don’t change DNS first. The order that avoids downtime is: get the certificate ready, then flip DNS.

1. Prepare (24–48 hours before, optional but recommended): at your registrar, lower the TTL on the records you’ll change to 60–300 seconds. This makes the eventual switch propagate in minutes instead of hours.
2. In the wizard, use the “Get the certificate first” flow. It gives you a small TXT record to add — this proves you own the domain without touching where the domain points, so your current site stays untouched.
3. Wait for the wizard to show the certificate is ready. Your existing site is still serving normally.
4. Now make the DNS switch shown in the wizard (replace your existing record with ours). Because the certificate already exists, the moment DNS propagates visitors get your Hoversite site over valid HTTPS — no certificate-error window.

What the statuses mean

Status	What it means	What to do
Issuing your HTTPS certificate…	We’re provisioning the certificate.	Nothing — usually under a couple of minutes.
Certificate ready — waiting on your DNS	Everything on our side is done.	Add (or switch) the DNS record at your registrar. This is the only step left.
DNS found — finishing activation…	We can see your DNS change and are activating.	Nothing — moments away.
Live ✓	Your domain is serving your site over HTTPS.	Celebrate. If you still see the old site, that’s your local DNS cache — see troubleshooting.
Blocked	Something specific is in the way — the wizard names it.	Follow the fix it shows, then it continues automatically. See troubleshooting for the common blockers.

A domain sitting in “waiting on your DNS” is not stuck — it’s waiting for a change only you can make at your registrar.

Canonical domain

When both example.com and www.example.com are live, pick one as the main address in the Domains card; the other permanently redirects to it (an HTTP 308). One canonical address avoids SEO penalties from duplicate content and keeps analytics in one place.