How to connect your own domain

In short

Your site always stays available at its free address (yoursite.hosting.nostr.africa), even while your own domain is being connected.

What you need

• A Nostr Africa Hosting plan with a website (Starter, Business or Pro).
• A domain you own, bought from a registrar (the company you pay for the domain, for example Namecheap, GoDaddy or a local .rw registrar).
• Access to your domain's DNS settings: the login for your registrar's website (or for Cloudflare, if your domain uses Cloudflare). If someone else set up your domain, ask them for access or send them this guide.

Ticking “also www” counts as part of the same domain, not an extra one.

Step 1 – Add your domain in the portal

1. Sign in at hosting.nostr.africa.
2. Click Websites in the menu, then click your site's address.
3. Scroll down to the section Your own domain.
4. Type your domain, for example example.com (no https:// needed).
5. Leave also www.example.com ticked if you want www.example.com to work too (recommended).
6. Click Add domain. The page now shows the exact DNS records to create, including your personal verification code.

Step 2 – Add the DNS records at your registrar

Copy the values from your site page: your verification code is unique, and the examples below use example.com and yoursite.

For a main domain (example.com)

For a subdomain (shop.example.com)

Registrar examples

Menu names change from time to time and we can't check every registrar's current screens, so treat these as a guide. The record values themselves are always the same.

Namecheap

1. Sign in, open Domain List and click Manage next to your domain.
2. Open the Advanced DNS tab. Make sure the domain uses Namecheap's own DNS (“Namecheap BasicDNS”); if it shows other nameservers, edit the records there instead.
3. Delete any existing URL Redirect Record or parking CNAME/A record for @ and www.
4. Click Add New Record: TXT Record, Host _nostr-verify, Value your code. Then A Record, Host @, Value 107.221.178.148. Then CNAME Record, Host www, Value yoursite.hosting.nostr.africa. Save each one (green tick).

GoDaddy

1. Sign in, go to My Products / Domain Portfolio, choose your domain and open DNS (“Manage DNS”).
2. Edit the existing A record with Name @ (often “Parked”) so it points to 107.221.178.148. Remove any other @ A records and any AAAA records.
3. Add New Record: Type TXT, Name _nostr-verify, Value your code.
4. Edit the CNAME record named www so its value is yoursite.hosting.nostr.africa. If you use GoDaddy “Forwarding” for the domain, turn it off.

Cloudflare

1. In the Cloudflare dashboard select your domain and open DNS → Records.
2. Add record: TXT, Name _nostr-verify, Content your code.
3. Add an A record: Name @, IPv4 107.221.178.148; and a CNAME: Name www, Target yoursite.hosting.nostr.africa.
4. Important: click the orange cloud so it turns grey (“DNS only”) on the A and CNAME records. With the orange cloud (“Proxied”) our check sees Cloudflare's addresses instead of ours, and the SSL certificate cannot be issued.
5. Delete any AAAA records for @ or www.

Local and other registrars (including .rw registrars accredited by RICTA)

Every registrar looks different, but they all have a page called something like DNS, DNS Management, Zone Editor or Manage Records. Create the three records from the table above. If you can't find it, or your registrar manages DNS for you, send them this message:

Step 3 – Wait while we check (automatic)

You don't need to do anything else. We check your DNS automatically: every 2 minutes for the first hour, then every 15 minutes for a day, then every hour for 7 days. After that, or any time you've just fixed something, click Check now on your site page.

How long? Usually 5–30 minutes after you save the records. Some registrars take a few hours; in rare cases DNS changes take up to 48 hours to spread around the internet. Once your DNS is correct, the SSL certificate is normally ready within a minute or two.

What the statuses mean

We email you when your domain is verified, when it's live, and if there's a problem.

Step 4 – Make it your main address (“Make primary”)

When the domain is Active, it already shows your website. Click Make primary to make it the address WordPress uses for its links, so visitors and search engines see your domain. It takes about a minute. If your site doesn't load correctly on the new address, we automatically switch back. The line Main address on your site page shows which address is in use, and use yoursite.hosting.nostr.africa switches back to the free address.

Removing a domain

Click Remove next to the domain and confirm. If it was your main address, your site first switches back to yoursite.hosting.nostr.africa; then the domain and its certificate are disconnected. You can then delete the DNS records at your registrar. To add it again later, use Add domain: you'll get a new verification code, so update the TXT record.

Troubleshooting

Need help?