Point HostGator DNS to WP Engine

 This article will walk you through configuring your DNS to point to WP Engine if you use HostGator as your domain registrar. This phase is necessary for your custom domain to go live on the WP Engine platform.

NOTE: Please add your domain to the User Portal before proceeding with these measures.

Table of Contents

1. Step 1: Locate your DNS information in the User Portal 2. Step 2: Log into HostGator 3. Step 3: Update DNS 3.1. Option A: Point Nameservers to Cloudflare 3.1.1. Change Existing Records 3.1.2. Name server update 3.2. Option B: Point HostGator A Record

Step 1: Locate your DNS information in User Portal

The first move is to go to your WP Engine User Portal and find your CNAME and A Record. This information can be found on the Overview page for your development environment.

Keep this page open as you go through the steps below to make copying easier!

Step 2: Log into HostGator

Open a new tab and enter your credentials to access the HostGator Customer Portal. When you log in, you'll see a summary of your account. From here, go to the "Domains" tab, which will take you to the "Manage Domains" screen.

In the list, choose the domain you want to point to WP Engine. We'll walk you through plugging the WP Engine settings into your HostGator account in the steps below.

Step 3: Update DNS

It's now time to copy the settings from the WP Engine Overview page and paste them into your HostGator account. It's time to make a decision before proceeding:

• Option A (preferred): use Cloudflare as your nameservers. DNS changes aren't needed if your site is migrated internally with WP Engine.
• Option B (which is still acceptable!) is to point your A record to WP Engine. This will work perfectly, but if your website is ever moved to a new server, you will need to update your DNS records. This approach keeps HostGator in control of your domain and DNS management. Please note that unless you have a web hosting package with HostGator, you will not be able to self-serve this choice. Otherwise, you'll have to contact HostGator C.

Option A: Point Nameservers to Cloudflare

Cloudflare is a tool that lets you maintain your DNS data, as well as features such as CDNs, SSL certificates, and determining how to manage traffic to your website. Cloudflare's higher-tier plans provide additional features such as advanced DDoS security.

To use Cloudflare, you must first open a new tab and navigate to www.cloudflare.com. To get started, create a free account and enter your domain name here. You will be asked to choose a plan when Cloudflare queries your current DNS information. We chose their free plan for the purposes of this post.

Change Existing Records

After you've chosen a plan, Cloudflare will show you your current DNS records with HostGator and allow you to edit them. Remove the current A record for your root domain and replace it with a CNAME pointing to your WP Engine CNAME from your User Portal's Overview tab.

Now double-check the "www" record. Is it referring to the WP Engine CNAME or your key domain? Either of these would do and would not necessitate any changes. If your "www" record is pointing to an IP address, you'll need to repeat the steps for your "www" record. Continue after saving your preferences.

Name server update

Two Cloudflare nameservers will be shown, which should be entered into the HostGator dashboard. Make sure you've clicked the "Domains" tab in the HostGator dashboard tab and selected your domain from the list. Click the gear button, then the left-hand “Name Servers” tab. Select “Manually set my name servers” and type in the Cloudflare name servers, then save.

All that's left now is to wait for the reforms to take effect. It can take some time for name server changes to take effect, but once they do, your domain will be pointed to WP Engine! As you wait for propagation, double-check that you've followed the steps in our Going Live guide. Visit Cloudflare Best Practices to learn more about Cloudflare's other offerings, such as CDN and SSL.

👉 Also, you can read:Connecting a HostGator domain to your Squarespace site

Option B: Point HostGator A Record

Before you go any further, keep in mind that you won't be able to make these improvements unless you have a HostGator hosting kit. You may also request these updates by calling HostGator Customer Support.

Select "Hosting" from the HostGator dashboard, then "Domains" from the drop-down menu.

Select “Advanced DNS Zone Editor” from the drop-down menu.

You'll be guided to a page where you can look at your current DNS records. Find your www record's CNAME record and the A record for your root domain.

Now, update these records to fit the A records and CNAME records from your WP Engine User Portal's Overview tab. Feel free to adjust the "TTL" in this step, which is the amount of seconds it takes for the changes to take effect.

When you've finished editing both documents, press the Edit Record button to save your work. After that, all you have to do now is wait for propagation! In the meantime, go over our Going Live guide to making sure you haven't forgotten anything.