/ Support / Guides / Domains / Connect Existing Domains / Free Parking

This guide will take you through each step on how to connect your existing domain with Free Parking to your Dazzly website. If you don't yet have a domain see our guide to registering a new domain with Dazzly.

time required 10-20 minutes

If you haven't already, please make sure you have signed up to a monthly or annual plan in order to proceed with connecting your domain. View our guide to choosing a plan or pricing page for more information.
Please note: This guide is for existing domains already purchased with Free Parking. For new domains, we recommend registering through Dazzly.

  1. Sign-in to Dazzly and go the 'Domains' page

    Firstly, login to dazzly and go the 'Domains' page in the menu. Click the blue 'Connect Existing Domain' button.

    screenshot showing the dazzly domains page
    The 'Domains' page within dazzly
  2. Add your existing domain

    In this example we'll be using our existing domain: mountalbert.co.nz

    Enter your existing domain name (without the www) and then press 'Add Domain'. Once you have done this it will take several seconds to process after which you should then see your domain added with the status: Pending

    screenshot typing in existing domain name
    Enter in your existing domain without the www.
    screenshot showing connected domain pending
    Domain added to Dazzly as Pending.
  3. Click the blue 'Setup Required' button

    This will open up a window showing you the next steps you need to take. Dazzly will attempt to detect which provider your domain is currently with and direct you to the correct guide.

    You should see a red 'required' label next to Step 1 along with the first DNS record we need to set.

    screenshot showing 'setup required' button
    Click the 'Setup required' button.
    screenshot showing 3 steps to connect your existing domain
    3 Steps are required to connect your domain to dazzly.
  4. Login to your Free Parking account

    Login to your Free Parking account open external link icon and select your domain, for this example we're using mountalbert.co.nz

    screenshot of the Free Parking login page
    Login to Free Parking to manage your Domain.
    screenshot of free parking dashboard page
    Once you login to the dashboard, select 'Domains' at the top of the page and then 'Manage'.

    If you already have an existing website online and you're not comfortable making changes to your domain records, get in touch with your local IT support and they can help you through this guide.

  5. Create the record from Step 1

    Scroll down to the 'DNS Settings' section, click the menu button and then click 'Add Record'.

    screenshot showing the add record ui in Free Parking
    screenshot showing the record type dropdown in Free Parking
    Select CNAME Record from the dropdown and then click/tap the 'Add' button to show the new record inputs.

    Copy the text from the first line of Step 1 into the first text box.

    screenshots showing copying the first part of the CNAME record to Free Parking
    Copy the text from the first line and paste into the field in Free Parking.

    Copy the text from second line in Step 1 into the second input field.

    screenshots showing copying the second part of the CNAME record to Free Parking
    Copy the text from the second line and paste it into the second field in Free Parking.

    Click the 'Update' button to add the record.

  6. Wait for the record to be verified

    After successfully adding the CNAME record from Step 1, we need to wait a few minutes for Dazzly to verify the record. You can periodically click the 'Check Status' button to check if is has been verified.

    Please note in rare cases it can take up to 48 hours for Domain record changes to take effect.

    screenshot showing the 'check status' button
    Click the blue 'Check Status' button to check if the record has been updated.

    If the record is still not verified after 15-30 minutes or so please contact support and we can look into this for you.

  7. Create the record from Step 2

    Once the record from Step 1 is verified, you should see a green 'complete' label next to Step 1. Step 2 should now be showing another CNAME record. If no new record is showing, click the 'Check Status' button to check again.

    Back in Free Parking we need to remove the existing 'A' record for www. Go to the A Record section, press Update and then Delete on the www record.

    screenshot showing delete A record within Free Parking
    Delete the existing 'A' record for www.

    Next, we need to add a CNAME record again just like we did in Step 5.

    screenshot showing add new record within Free Parking
    Add a new CNAME record.

    Enter www into the first input field in Free Parking. Then copy the value from Dazzly into the second input field in Free Parking.

    screenshots showing the www record within Free Parking
    Verify that www is in the first field, and the value (ending in cloudfront.net) is in the second field.

    Click the Update button to save the record.

  8. Create the record from Step 3

    In Free Parking, under the A Record section, press update and check for an existing record that has an empty field in the left/first box. We want to update the record that is blank, e.g. mountalbert.co.nz (no characters/letters before the domain name). If this record exists you can update, otherwise create a new record as in step 5.

    Copy 13.211.41.71 into the second input field.

    screenshot showing updating an A record
    Make sure the left field is blank and the second field is 13.211.41.71

    Click the Update button to save the record.

  9. Wait for the records to be verified

    Like the first record we had to enter, these last 2 records will also take a few minutes to verify. You can click the 'Check Status' button to periodically check this.

    screenshot showing 'check status' button to check domain status
    Click the blue 'Check Status' button to check if the records have been updated.

    If the record is still not verified after 15-30 minutes please contact support and we can look into this for you.

  10. Your existing domain is successfully connected to your Dazzly website!

    Once the last 2 records are verified, your domain is now connected to your Dazzly website. Sometimes it can take several minutes for this to fully take effect across the Internet, but you should be able to type your domain into your browser to visit your new website!

    screenshot showing all 3 DNS record steps complete
    All the steps will show complete when the records have been successfully updated.
    screenshot showing domain successfully connected to your website
    Your domain will be marked as Active once the setup is complete.

    If your website is still not showing after 1 hour, please contact support and we'll look into this further.