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DNS Instructions Home

Steps to Launch Your Smart Sites Website

Launching your new Smart Sites website is the exciting last step in Implementation!
Below are the key steps you need to take in order to take your Smart Sites live

DNS Launch Guide

What is DNS? Think of DNS (Domain Name System) as the internet's phonebook, it connects your easy-to-remember website address (like yourschool.org) to the actual hidden computer servers where your new website lives. To officially launch your new website and make it visible to your community, you will need to update your existing DNS records to point to our servers. Because it takes a little bit of time for these new updates to spread across the entire internet, you may experience a brief downtime on your website.

To successfully transition from your current website to your new one, you will need to update your domain's A records and CNAME records in your DNS settings. This process simply tells the internet to stop pointing to your old hosting infrastructure and start pointing to our servers instead! You can easily generate the exact records you need using the DNS table below or reach out to your implementation manager for instructions. If you don't have a dedicated IT team or just want some guidance along the way, please don't hesitate to reach out to your Implementation Manager for support.

To minimize any potential downtime, we highly recommend lowering your current TTL (Time-to-Live) settings to the lowest possible value at least 24 hours before you plan to launch.

What is TTL? Your TTL acts like a refresh timer that tells the internet how often to check for your new website. By lowering it ahead of time, your site will switch over much faster! Even with a low TTL, it typically takes about two hours for these changes to fully "propagate" (or update) everywhere, so we recommend making these changes during a quiet time for your district rather than right before a major announcement.

How do I update my DNS settings?

To update your DNS settings, you will first need to log into your domain registrar's website. Your registrar is the company where your school or district originally purchased its website address (such as GoDaddy, Network Solutions, or CloudFlare). Once you are logged into your account, look for a section usually labeled "DNS Management," "Advanced DNS," or "Domain Settings." From there, you will be able to edit your existing A and CNAME records to match the exact values generated in the table below. Because every registrar's dashboard looks a little different, we have gathered detailed, step-by-step instructions for the most common providers below!

If you are unsure of who hosts your domain, you can use an online tool, such as, WhoIs and type your in your website URL and it will provide you with the company your domain is registered with.

DNS Information

The records needed to launch your website are located in the table below. If your district has additional campus websites (like highschool.yourschool.org), simply type those subdomains into the input box, and the table will automatically build your custom records for you! Log into your domain registrar to update your records, please ensure you copy and paste the Record Name and Record Value exactly as they appear in your generated table

Campus Subdomains

Enter any additional campus subdomains below. You can paste a comma-separated list, and they will automatically format when you click away.

Input

Required DNS Records

Record Type Record Name Record Value

Important Reminders:

To ensure your website goes live smoothly, please review your DNS settings carefully against the generated table.

  1. You must ONLY have the two A records listed in the table for your root domain (the "@" name). If you have any old or existing A records with the name "@", they must be updated or removed. (Note: A records with different names, such as "mail" or "ftp", will not affect your website and can be left alone).

  2. If you already have existing CNAME records for "www" or any of your campus subdomains, please update their values to match the records provided in the table rather than creating duplicates.

  3. Please ensure you copy and paste our DNS values exactly as they appear.

Failure to remove conflicting "@" A records or entering incorrect values will lead to DNS propagation issues, which will cause your website to be down for an extended period.

I Updated My Records, Now What?

Congratulations! The hard part is over. Before you do anything else, please email your Implementation Manager immediately to let them know your DNS changes are complete. We need this quick heads-up so our team can finalize your launch and apply your new security certificates!