Domain Name Registry

Introduction

If your website package permits the use of custom domain names, you have the option to register a domain name (E.g. www.MyScoutGroup.org.uk) through registrars like www.123-reg.co.uk. This domain can then be linked to your Scouts Online website instead of/as well as your sub-domain URL (E.g. MyScoutGroup.ScoutsOnline.co.uk).



Configuring Domain Name DNS

To direct website traffic from your new domain name to your Scouts Online website, you need to configure two 'A' records in your domain name's DNS settings. This can be done within your domain name registrant's control panel, following the instructions below:

  1. Locate the settings for your domain name and access the DNS (or advanced DNS) settings
  2. Add a wildcard (@) and a 'www' entry with the destination IP address set to 92.205.110.166

This should look similar to the following:

DNS Settings

In the example screenshot above, website traffic for both the 'www' and default (@) entries will be directed to Scouts Online hosting server platform (92.205.110.166), while email traffic will continue to be handled by the domain registrant (E.g. 123-reg.co.uk).

Please note that it may take up to 2 days for these changes to propagate and become active across the World Wide Web.



Inform Scouts Online - To complete the process

Once you have made the DNS changes to your domain name, please contact Scouts Online to inform us of your new domain name.

We will add your domain name to your website's Global Settings or Group Details admin page, and add an SSL (https secure browsing) certificate to your website.



Boost Your Website Visibility on Google

Submit To Google

Getting your website indexed by Google is essential to increase its visibility in search results. Here are the steps to submit your website to Google:

  1. Ensure your domain name is connected to your website
  2. Access your website using your domain name
  3. Log in as a SiteAdmin user
  4. Navigate to Admin/Page Management and click [Save] to update the website's site map
  5. Proceed to Admin/Group Details or Admin/Global Settings and click the [Submit Site Map To Google] button

Please note that it may take a week or two for Google to index and include your website in their search results.



Email Forwarding

At the time of writing this article, 123-Reg provides free email forwarding when registering a domain name. This feature allows you to set up email addresses specific to sections or roles, which can be sent to multiple leaders (E.g. scouts@MyScoutGroup.org.uk could send a copy of each email to the email addresses of all the Scout Leadership Team members.

You can set this up within the Control Panel as follows:

  1. Select your domain name and click [Manage]
  2. Click Manage Email
  3. In the [Create] drop-down-list, select Forward
  4. Enter your email address (E.g. scouts)
  5. In the Forward to field, enter all the email addresses of your Scout Leadership Team, separated with a comma (,)
  6. Click [Save & Exit]