Point Squarespace DNS to Flywheel

Flywheel provides each site with an IP address to which domains can be pointed. This is useful if you own, for example, mystunningwebsite.com and would like it to resolve to a Flywheel site.

If you’re brand new to the world of domain names, some of the terminologies may seem a little confusing. Feel free to reference our Glossary of DNS terms if you ever feel stuck.

Step 1: Add the domain to your Flywheel site

1. From the site’s Overview tab, go to the Domains section and click the + Add Domain button to add the domain you’d like to point to Flywheel.
   
2. Next, fill out the domain information as described below.
   
   1. Domain: Enter the URL (without a prefix). Example: mywebsite.com
   2. Primary domain: Check the box if you want this to be your primary domain (if this will be your site’s main URL).
   3. www: By default, the www version of the domain will be added, but you can uncheck the box to skip this step if needed. Example: www.mywebsite.com.

   Then click Next.

   Note

   In the background, our system will automatically update all appropriate URL references in the database to this new primary domain.
3. Click to copy your new DNS records to your clipboard. We recommend keeping this tab open so you can easily copy them from here and paste them into Squarespace’s DNS editor.
   
   You will need to copy all the records you see in the table. For example:
   • A record (This is your Flywheel site’s IP address)
   • CNAME record (The CNAME record is only required if you’re adding the “www” version of your domain. If you’re not, the CNAME isn’t required and won’t be displayed in the list.)
   • TXT record

Step 2: Log in to Squarespace

1. In the Home menu, click Settings, then click Domains.
2. Under Squarespace domains, click the domain name.
3. Click DNS Settings.

Step 3: Configure the A record

You may see several types of DNS records already configured, especially if your domain was pointed to a different host previously. For now, we’re just going to be concerned with the A record, since it’s the record responsible for pointing your domain to your site on Flywheel.

1. In the Website Defaults section, hover over the records, then click the trash can to delete your default records. Your domain can’t point to another site when these defaults are in place. You can always add them again if you need them later.
2. Scroll down to Custom Records.
3. From the Record drop-down menu, select A.
4. In the Host field, enter @.
5. In the Data field, enter the IP address you copied earlier.
6. Click Add, then click Save at the top of the page to complete the process.

Step 4: Configure CNAME record for www

If you added the www version of your domain earlier, you’ll want to set up a CNAME record as well. A CNAME (aka canonical name) points a subdomain to another domain name.

For example, with a CNAME in place, visitors entering www.mywebsite.com in their browser will be redirected to mywebsite.com. Without a CNAME record, visitors will instead reach an error page.

1. In the Website Defaults section, hover over the records, then click the trash can to delete your default records. Your domain can’t point to another site when these defaults are in place. You can always add them again if you need them later.
2. Scroll down to Custom Records.
3. From the Record drop-down menu, select CNAME.
4. In the Host field, enter www.
5. In the Data field, enter the site’s primary domain.
6. Click Add, then click Save at the top of the page to complete the process.

Step 5: Add a TXT record

The TXT (or Text) record is used to verify that you own and control your domain, and prevents unauthorized use of your domain.

Open DNS settings for the domain, scroll down to Custom Records, and add the following information:

• Click Add record.
• Type: TXT
• Host: Paste the host/label text string from your Flywheel DNS details.
• Data Paste the destination/target text string from your Flywheel DNS details.
• Click Save

Note

For more information, visit Squarespaces’s help article on TXT records.

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Step 6: Confirm your changes using Flywheel’s DNS checker

After a short propagation window, your site should be connected to Flywheel! You can use our built-in DNS checker to confirm your settings.

1. Go to your site’s Overview tab on the Flywheel dashboard.
2. Click Refresh Status in the Domains section.


Once your site is pointed to Flywheel, the status will switch to ✅ Connected and the domain registrar will be displayed as well.



Note

DNS propagation times: DNS by nature can take 24-48 hours to fully propagate across the entire internet, though you will generally see much quicker propagation.

Note

Custom name servers: If you’ve made changes to your DNS records but nothing seems to be happening, your domain may be using custom nameservers instead of Squarespace’s defaults. This means that Squarespace’s DNS settings will not have any effect. In this case, you will need to adjust your DNS settings at the name server’s admin panel instead. This situation is most likely when a proxy like Cloudflare or Sucuri is being used. You can confirm the name servers in use by following Squarespace’s help article.

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Need help?

If you have any questions our Happiness Engineers are here to help!