Add-On Domains in cPanel

What is an Addon Domain?

An addon domain is a term that cPanel uses for adding another domain to your hosting account. An Addon Domain basically tells the server "I own this domain and now I want to host it on this server and do something with it."

While a subdomain is a branch off of your current domain (i.e. test.yourdomain.com), an add-on domain is a separate, fully functional domain added to the hosting account you already have (i.e. yourseconddomain.com)

Obtaining an Addon Domain

You can buy a new domain name directly from us through your client portal. Click on Domains in the left sidebar to expand the menu. Click on 'Register a New Domain.'

...or you can transfer a domain you have from another registrar to your Rockaway Hosting account. For this post, we'll go over how to set up a new domain (purchased from us) first and go over how to transfer a domain from another registrar at the end.

If you'd like to transfer a domain from another registrar, jump down to the transferring a domain from another registrar section of this tutorial.

Setting up your new domain

For the purposes of this tutorial, let's say you just purchased javatuesdays.com as a second domain, and now you'd like to add it to your cPanel has an addon domain.

After purchase, head to your cPanel, scroll down and click 'Addon Domains'.



Next, type in your newly purchased domain in the 'new domain name' field. (The 'subdomain' and 'Document Root fields' will populate automatically.) In our case, I am going to remove the ".com" from my "Document Root" folder, but that is only for my convenience when using FTP, you do not need to do this.



Note: You also have the option of creating a new FTP account that has access to the content on your domain. You also do not need to do this, but you may want to if you'd like to give someone else FTP access to your site. Your existing FTP credentials will allow you to get access to all of your Reclaim sites.

Once you're done setting up your domain options, click 'Continue' and wait a few seconds for your changes to the process. That's pretty much it!

Installing applications on your addon domain

Once your domain is set up, you can select and install applications like WordPress or Omeka like normal. Find out how to get started with WordPress here, or learn to work with Omeka here.